Steve K's Vaping World

The Rocket 580 – an e-cigarette starter kit geared toward women

The Rocket 580 available from Vapor Alley is an e-cigarette clearly aimed at female vapers.  At first I thought this was cynical pandering on the part of electronic cigarette manufacturers.  However, women represent a large part of the e-cigarette audience and even the major e-cigarette brands like V2 Cigs are getting in on e-cigarettes designed specifically for women.  Also, a female coworker giggled and commented how cute the Rocket 580 looked, so perhaps they are on to something with this idea.  Despite clearly not being a woman, I thought I would get in touch with my feminine side and write a little Rocket 580 e-cigarette (for women) review.

What’s in the Box

Inside the Rocket 508’s green display box you’ll find the following goodies:

• 2 (very pretty) 1100 mAh batteries
• 2 matching cartomizer sleeves
• 3 bottom coil cartomizers
• 5 cartomizer tips
• USB charger
• AC to USB adapter
• 1 printed instruction manual

Design

The most obvious feature of this e-cigarette is the designs.  Vapor Alley features three different patterns for the Rocket that generally feature floral designs and fashion colors.  Beyond the fashionable design, there’s nothing else particularly geared toward women with this e-cigarette.  There’s new jewels or bedazzled carrying case.  In fact, the instruction manual features an all-black model in its illustrations.

The e-cigarette is a fairly large eGo-sized affair, featuring a 1000 mAh battery.  However, unlike the eGo, the Rocket 580 is not 510 threaded.  Rather it features an KR808D-1 thread for the battery connector along with the standard eGo cone thread. There are a few other devices on the market in this configuration, like the SmokeZilla kit I reviewed several months ago.

The battery also features LEDs at the end of the battery toward the top that show remaining battery charge in addition to the standard button LED (both light up blue).  The Rocket battery also features a 3 click on/off feature which makes it easy to carry the device around in a pocket or bag (promised not to pander, must not say purse).

The main attraction (beyond the fashion statement) of this e-cigarette starter kit, however, is the unique cartomizer setup.  The cartomizer is somewhat similar to the eGo-W.  It features an inner part that slides in a metal tube where the tip fits to give the assembled e-cigarette a unified appearance.

There are even windows along the sides of the sleeves for e-liquid level viewing. The cartomizer threads via the larger outer threads, rather than the battery connector threads.  Which unfortunately meant that I wasn’t able to test the cartomizer on my ProVari or anything because I don’t have such an off-the-wall adapter for this purpose.

Interesting Cartomizer Design

The strange threading arrangement isn’t the only unusual thing about the Rocket 580 electronic cigarette.  The Rocket 580’s cartomizer is a bottom coil clearomizer.  Actually, the design is more like an atomizer tank than a cartomizer.

The bottom-most portion of the 580’s cartomizer is essentially a very fat bridgeless atomizer.  In the center of the atomizer is the heating coil embedded by a ceramic cup, similar to a CE2 engine.  Surrounding the heating coil in the center is the same steel mesh that covers standard atomizer bridges.

A clear acrylic tube then fits over the atomizer assembly.  The tube features an inner air chamber that leads to the top and two wicks inserted through two holes in the bottom of the tank.  The wicks do not contact the heating coil directly, rather, they come into contact with the mesh surrounding the heating coil.

Unfortunately, that acrylic chamber can only hold about 1ml of e-liquid despite its large size.  The good news is it is topped off with a single silicone cap that both makes it simple to fill this cartomizer and does a great job of preventing leaks and condensation build up and weeping that plagues the eGo-W.

I only wish that I could put this cartomizer on a variable voltage device to see how well the design holds up with more voltage than the somewhat pedestrian battery that comes with the Rocket 580 kit.

Performance

Despite the interesting and unheralded design of the cartomizer in the Rocket gear, I can’t help but think the battery is holding the device back.  Performance isn’t terrible, however it’s nothing to write home about either.

The Rocket 580 performs about as well as most other eGo style e-cigarettes.  Vapor production is moderate.  Flavor is good, although that’s only after you run through the first tankful of liquid.  I found the first tank had a very distinct purfumey taste to it which had to be worked through.

As I hinted at before, there were no leaks with this device, which is great considering the spotty track record some bottom coil devices have.  Filling the cartomizer was a snap, just pull the tip and metal sleeve off, lift out the silicone cap, use the bottle to fill the chamber directly (careful not to get liquid down the center tube) and go.

The large battery merrily chugged along for several hours.  Those of you who are less aggressive with your vaping frequency may even get a full day out of a battery charge.

Too Long, Didn’t Read

In general, I’d say many e-cigarettes perform better, but very few look as good doing it. The Rocket 580 features a very unique cartomizer design, which feels like it is being held back by the under-powered eGo style KR808 batteries. Still I’ve seen worse performing devices that didn’t look half as good.  If you want a device you can take for a night out on the town, the Rocket 580 may be the perfect accessory. You can pick yours up at Vapor Alley.

Pros

• Fashion-forward look
• Long lasting battery
• leak-free design
• easy to fill

Cons

• Funky taste from new cartos takes a while to wear off
• Mediocre performance
• Low capacity cartomizers
• Does not use standard eGo threading

Details

Product Name: Rocket 580-F
Available From: Vapor Alley
Price: $59.99
Threading: KR808D-1 (cartomizers are proprietary)
Voltage: 3.4v regulated
Battery Capacity: 1100 mAh

Disclosure: This product was provided by Vapor Alley for review purposes.  I feature affiliate links for Vapor Alley