CE3 XL Review title image

CE3 XL Clearomizers Review – Better than the Smokymizer?

Alternative CE3 Review

CE3 XL Review title image

I’ve done a CE3 review before.  This is a totally different design with the same name (they are simply called the CE3 XL Clearomizers). The CE line of clearomizers have a somewhat confusing lineage.  This new CE3 is yet another entrant in the bottom-coil cartomizer race.  This CE3 is not produced by the same company as the Smokymizer.

Not only is there countless revisions from the original manufacturer in the wake of the CE3 Smokymizer, but there are tons of alternatives inspired by the same design.  You would think the knockoff wouldn’t be as good as the original.  That’s not necessarily the case.  Read the rest of the alternative CE3 XL Clearomizers review to find out more.

If you want to play along at home, you will find the CE3 XL Clearomizers at Vapor Alley.

What’s in the CE3 Box

Like the original CE3 Smokymizer, you get stuff in the box along with the clearomizers.  Here’s a run-down of what’s  packed in with your clearos.

  • 5 CE3 clearomizersCE3 XL Review kit image
  • 1 2.5ml syringe
  • 2 fine gauge blunt needles
  • 1 rubber drip tip
  • 1 poorly written illustrated card with filling instructions

CE3 Design

If you read my original CE3 review, I have a pop quiz for you.  What’s missing from the above list?

If you said tweezers, you’re absolutely right!  There is no little rubber “bung” you have to fiddle with when filling this CE3.  There is of course a syringe and needle, as the clearomizer is filled the same way as a traditional CE2.

Essentially, everything is different about this CE3 from the original Smokymizer.  I’d say whoever came up with this design was more inspired by the CE2.

Basically the XL is an upside-down CE2 on steroids.

CE3 XL Review disassembled imageLet’s start with the outside.  The tube itself is a plain tube, no weird moldings or anything like that.  The tube is made of the cracking-resistant plastic that is found in the CE3 and newer CE2s.

The CE3 tube will even accommodate a standard drip tip, which is great news if you’re like me and hate that little rubber one that comes with many clearomizers.

Inside the tube is a more robust version of the CE2 engine.  The coil is situated on the bottom and attached to the battery connector. The coil features two stubby wicks protruding from the sides. There are notches in the coil cup to allow the wicks to stick out.

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A metal tube assembly fits over the heating coil part.  The part that slides over the coil assembly is a sort of metal cylinder with a flange.  This flange allows the top part to completely seal the coil portion from the liquid contained in the cartomizer.

Atop the air chamber cylinder is a tube.  It’s sort of similar to the CE2 except it is larger in diameter and made from a thicker steel than the CE2.

There’s a little lip at the top of a tube where a silicone gasket sits at the top to seal in the e-liquid.

Filling the CE3

Filling the impostor CE3 is via a small pin hole in the gasket.

The cartomizer holds around 1.4ml of e-liquid.  Per the instruction card, insert the needle into the gasket, and then hold the clearomizer upright (with the battery connector pointing toward the heavens.)

Inverting the XL clearomizer this way prevents any liquid from being forced out of the battery connector by air pressure.  I did occasionally get a little e-liquid dribble out of the syringe when doing this.  Unlike pretty much every other bottom-coil solution, I had no issues with e-liquid leaking out the battery connector once filled.

As an added bonus, the CE3 clearomizer even holds on to its payload when fitted with a third-party drip tip.  This was one of my biggest beefs with the old G4 style clearomizers.

In addition to the rubber drip tip, each carto is equipped with a soft silicone cap.  You can use those as well if that’s how you roll.

One small quirk I did notice with these.  Leave a small amount of air in the tube when filling. I found that the CE3 had some trouble wicking when there was no airspace left in the tube.

Using the CE3

Not constantly lubricating my e-cigarette with liquid is obviously a good start.  The real question is how does it perform?

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ce3 xl review on egoIn general the clearomizer style e-cigarette cartomizers have a bit of a reputation for being finicky. Bottom-coil clearomizers, doubly so.  Let’s just say I didn’t have a lot of faith in these going into my evaluation.

At first, my fears were justified.  Vapor production wasn’t all that impressive, and I got more than my share of dry hits.

That cleared up once I got about 3/4 of the way through the first fill of the CE3.  After that, things smoothed out quite a bit.  Apparently this is one of those clearomizers that need a break-in period before they open up.

As a side note, the cartomizer I pulled apart to photograph for this review worked just fine on the first fill after I reassembled it.  That makes me think that the wick has to loosen up a bit before it performs to its fullest.

Once my CE3s started working at their peak, they were a pretty good vape.  While I wouldn’t call the vapor hot, it was certainly much warmer than I’m used to on bottom coil devices.

This may be partly because I was running the cartomizers slightly above 4 volts.  Considering these are around 2.4Ω devices, that’s pretty impressive since CE2 style cartomizers often have a hard time keeping the coils wet above 3.7v.

Vapor production is excellent in these devices even at 3.7v.  That’s actually similar to a CE2 when it’s working right. Similarly, flavor is good as well.  I’m not very sensitive to it, but I know some people pick up a plastic taste from CE2s.  I imagine that may be the same here since the CE3 is still made from the same tube materials.

Cleaning the CE3 XL Clearomizer

If you’ve ever tried to clean the original Smokymizers, you know that the cleaning instructions included with those devices are something of a cruel practical joke.

Despite not having disassembly instructions on a little card, you can actually put these CE3s back together!

Pulling the CE3 apart is the same as any other clearomizer.  Remove the silicone gasket that’s inside the tube right above the metal stem. Attach the device to a battery (preferably one you don’t care about) and gently wiggle the tube back and forth while pulling.

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ce3xl review disassembled image 2The metal tube assembly may stay behind in the tube, but it can just be pushed out.  Clean the coils as per your normal ritual (dry burn, ultrasonic cleaner, alcohol, flamethrower, whatever).

Stick the metal assembly on top of the heating coil.  Make sure there’s no gaps between the two parts, and there’s no big gaps between the wicks and the side of the coil assembly.  Push everything back in the tube.  Slide the silicone gasket back into the tube from the top and reseat it on the metal stem.  You might need to use tweezers to line everything up there. You have to make sure the gasket seals the top of the tube to prevent e-liquid running back into the tube.

Of course, if you were into that sort of thing, you could also cut the tube in half, toss out the metal top piece and have a pretty nice dripping atomizer.

Too long; didn’t read

ce3 xl review atty mod
You didn't think I'd do it, did you?

The generically named CE3 is clearly a knockoff of the CE3 Smokymizer.  Rather than stealing the same design, the manufacturer built something better.  I’m not quite sure why they used the CE3 name to be honest.  The device still requires a syringe to fill, but not tweezers.  There are also no leaks, and it’s possible to put these things back together again.  This is one of those cases where the imitator succeeds the original.  You can pick a pack of these up at Vapor Alley and see for yourself.

Pros:

  • Good performance
  • Tubes made of improved plastic
  • Easy to reassemble
  • No leaks
  • Can use your favorite drip tip (probably)

Cons:

  • So-so performance until device breaks in
  • Requires a syringe to fill
  • Poorly written instruction card
  • Probably won’t people who aren’t fans of clearomizers

Details:

Product: CE3 XL Clearomizers
Available at: Vapor Alley
Price: $10.95/5 pack
Threading: 510
Resistance: available in 2.4, 2.7 and 3.1

 

Disclosure: I feature affiliate links and banners for Vapor Alley.

Steve K

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15 Comments

  • I've been looking for a good fallback option in case I don't like my eGo-c setup (getting ready to drive home and pick it up) and I think you may have won me over. I absolutely love your reviews and have based a few of my decisions on them, thank you so much for taking the time to do this!

    I think you should add a rating system in different areas (specific to the category) and keep an on-going table of your ratings so it's more easy to compare products you've reviewed! Just an idea. ;)

    • Hey thanks! And if you don't like them, it was my evil twin Joey that wrote the review ;-) When I first started doing this I used to use a 5 "star" system (I used "somethings", 4 somethings out of 5). But as things kind of evolved, I noticed my style was more to describe a product and then let the readers decide if it works for them or not. I've seen a few products that I didn't like, but others love. It just proves how much things are about personal preferences. I have toyed with the idea of doing some sort of user generated ratings going on, I just haven't quite figured it out yet.

      • Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love the in-depth description of the items and how they function! I just have found myself making a matrix manually for items in the same category to try and narrow down choices for new items to try, and I'm very lazy at heart.

        My only real complaint? I can't find anywhere that has this in stock other than Vapor Alley, I'm going to try them on a standard ego battery so I would like the 2.4ohm version. At least until I pick an easily-portable 3.7 mod of some sort, like taking the plunge and trying the e-power.

        Thanks again for doing these reviews! Great information, always.

        • You never know, I'm always trying to come up with new features and stuff, so maybe I can work on some sort of ratings thing at some point. As far as those CE3s, the only place I've seen them is Vapor Alley too, they sort of came from left field. Usually when something decent comes out, it doesn't take long for other stores to start stocking them.

          • Well, the great thing is that wordpress development is pretty straightforward and easy! I'm subscribed to your feeds and will be watching your site closely, so if the feature shows up I'll probably do a little dance. ;)

            Been looking for a good clearomizer solution for awhile now, haven't even tried the Fluxomizers or the Vision ones yet, may try those while waiting for these to come in stock.

  • I've been using them for few weeks and love them! Very easy to take apart and clean, no dry hits, my drip tip fits with no problems, and above all, no leaks at all. Also nice draw, compared to Stardust I am using right now, which is much tighter draw. Vapor/flavor is also very nice.
    IMHO, this thing is built like a tank (armored vehicle, not liquid container:) ).
    Last night after trying somehow to clean Stardust, I took out again CE3… Much, much better. And with eGO cone (had to enlarge opening on the cone to allow air to pass, was too tight) it looks OK.

    • Since they were called CE3s I was expecting them to be a cheap knockoff. I was pretty surprised with how good they work.

  • Hi, Steve.

    So tell us about the one you cut down. Any caveats about using a conventional drip tip? (i don't like the little rubber ones.)

    Thanks for a good review.

    • Standard drip tips work fine (either on my little conversion there, or using the cartos straight out of the box). Once you remove the innards, the heating coil is directly exposed.

      It's actually a really good dripping atomizer. I use mine to sample new juice flavors. It's easy to rinse out since there's no bridge and the tube can easily be removed to expose the heating element.

      Another nice bonus is that if you over drip like me (I'm really bad at dripping) the liquid pools up on the side between the coil assembly and the tube, rather than leaking out the bottom like a traditional atomizer.

  • A rec from a friend and re-reading your review with the idea of using one of these for dripping without leaking prompted me to buy a pack. I will be curious as to how they perform as a dripper compared to my favorite, the 901 atty that leak like a sieve if I'm not careful.

    Errol

  • I'm very impressed with how good they work for me. They have very good flavor, no dry hits and no leaking with the two I've tried so far. I don't like the looks or the tiny fill hole and wish they held at least 2,5ml but overall for the price they are very good!

  • Never thought about cleaning a clearomizer and reusing it. Liked the old G4s, but they did have problems. Want to get back to clearomizers, these V2s are leaking and seem to have limited capacity. Wouldn't want to try to open/clean one of these V2s. Maybe I'll give these "CE3"s a try. Great site, keep up the good work :)

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