Complete Guide to Cheap E-Cigarette Starter Kits UK

• A starter kit is a rechargeable, refillable device sold with everything you need to start vaping in one box. Browse the full range of vape starter kits to see what’s in stock.
• Cheap no longer means poor. Budget kits from Innokin, Smok and Vaporesso now come with mesh coils, USB-C charging and reliable batteries.
• Our three picks: the Innokin Endura S1 for pure simplicity, the Smok Alike 40W for battery life and durability, and the Vaporesso XROS Mini for a compact kit with flavour to match.
• Refilling beats replacing. With disposables now banned in the UK, a refillable kit and a bottle of nic salt e-liquid is the cheapest way to vape by a long way.
• Look after it and it lasts. Charge before it’s flat, change the pod when flavour drops and keep it out of the heat.

Why buy a starter kit rather than a basic vape?

A starter kit bundles the battery, the pod or tank and a coil into one package, so there’s nothing else to buy except e-liquid and, on some kits, a USB cable. That’s the appeal for a new vaper: open the box, fill the pod, charge it and go. Modern budget kits are built with dependable batteries, improved coil technology and designs that look far better than the price suggests, which is why so many smokers now start with one instead of an expensive mod.

The other reason is cost over time. Single-use disposable vapes were banned in the UK from 1 June 2025, and even before the ban they were the most expensive way to vape once you added up a week’s worth. A refillable kit is bought once and then topped up with a 10ml bottle of e-liquid and the occasional replacement pod or coil. You recharge instead of throwing the battery away, you refill instead of buying a whole new device, and the waste that goes in the bin shrinks to a pod every week or two.

If you’d rather not fill anything at all, prefilled pod kits are the legal replacement for disposables: a rechargeable battery with snap-in pods that arrive already filled. They cost a little more per ml than refilling, but they’re still far cheaper than the old disposables were.

What makes a good cheap starter kit?

Price alone tells you very little. Cheap kits from unknown brands and cheap kits from Innokin or Vaporesso sit at similar prices, and the difference is entirely in how they’re built. These are the five things that separate a kit you’ll still be using in six months from one that ends up in a drawer.

Reliable battery capacity. Anything from 650mAh upwards will get a light vaper through a day. If you vape all day, look for 1000mAh or more so you’re not hunting for a charger by mid-afternoon. USB-C charging is now standard and worth insisting on.

Easy refilling. A top-fill or side-fill pod with a rubber bung is quicker and far less messy than an old bottom-fill tank. It also means less chance of a leak in your pocket.

Comfortable design. Pen shapes suit ex-smokers who like a familiar draw; slim pod kits suit anyone who wants it to disappear in a pocket.

Quality mesh coils. Mesh heats faster and more evenly than a traditional wire coil, which means better flavour, smoother vapour and more consistent performance from the first fill to the last. Most decent kits now ship with mesh pods as standard. Spare coils and pods should be easy to find and cheap to buy.

Simple operation. Inhale activation, or a single button at most. A beginner doesn’t need a wattage menu; a kit that just works when you draw on it is the one that keeps people off cigarettes.

The best cheap starter kits we sell

These three kits are the ones we recommend most often to customers who want a proper device without spending much. They cover the three most common briefs: as simple as possible, as tough and long-lasting as possible, and as small as possible without losing flavour. All three are on the starter kits page.

Innokin Endura S1 Refillable Pod Kit

The Endura S1 is the kit we hand to someone who has never vaped before. It’s a slim, lightweight pod device with no buttons and no settings: fill the 2ml pod, draw on it and it fires. The grip is comfortable, the mouth-to-lung draw is close to a cigarette and the flavour from the built-in coil is smooth and clean. It’s also the natural next step for anyone who was using a basic disposable and wants the same feel in a kit they can refill and recharge. Innokin has been making beginner kits for well over a decade, and it shows.

Spec: 650mAh battery, 2ml refillable pod, 0.8Ω mesh coil, inhale activated. Innokin rates the kit for up to 7,000 puffs. Best with 50/50 nic salt e-liquid.

Smok Alike 40W Pod Kit

The Alike is for the vaper who wants a bit more than the basics without paying mod money. The 1600mAh battery is the biggest of the three by a distance, so heavy vapers get a full day and then some, and the 40W output with adjustable wattage lets you tune the vape as you get more confident. What really sets it apart is the build: it’s waterproof, dustproof and shockproof, so it survives building sites, kitchens and being dropped on the pavement. If your last kit died because you treated it badly, this is the one.

Spec: 1600mAh battery, up to 40W adjustable output, refillable pod, mesh coils, tri-proof body. Works with nic salts or freebase 50/50.

Vaporesso XROS Mini Pod Kit

The XROS Mini is the balance point between the other two. It’s small enough to forget it’s in your pocket, but the 1000mAh battery is plenty for a day and the XROS pods are some of the best-flavoured in the budget category. Adjustable airflow lets you tighten the draw for a cigarette-like pull or open it up for more vapour, and the leak-resistant pod design is the reason so many people who start on an XROS never move on. It suits beginners and experienced vapers alike, and the wider Vaporesso XROS range uses the same pods, so upgrading later is painless.

Spec: 1000mAh battery, 2ml pod with a 1.2Ω coil, USB-C charging, adjustable airflow, leak-resistant pod, draw or button activated. Best with nic salts.

All three use refillable pods and charge over USB. Specs are taken from the product pages at the time of writing.

How to choose the right kit for you

Work through these five questions in order and the right kit usually picks itself. For a deeper version of the same process, read our guide on how to choose the right vape kit.

1. 1
   Match the battery to how much you vape. A few puffs on breaks: 650mAh is fine. All day at a desk or on the road: 1000mAh minimum, and the 1600mAh Smok Alike if you hate charging.
2. 2
   Decide how much you want to fiddle. If the answer is “not at all”, choose an inhale-activated pod like the Endura S1 or XROS Mini. If you like to tune things, adjustable wattage or airflow is worth having.
3. 3
   Be honest about build quality. If your phone screen is cracked, buy the tri-proof kit. A plastic pod device treated like a set of keys will not last, however good the brand.
4. 4
   Insist on mesh coils. They give better flavour, smoother vapour, faster heating and more consistent performance than old round-wire coils, and they cost no more to replace.
5. 5
   Think about where it lives. Commuters and travellers want something slim and light. If it’s going to sit on a desk most of the day, size matters less and battery matters more. Our round-up of compact all-in-one kits covers the smallest options.

Does cheap mean low quality?

Not any more, provided you stick with a known brand. Today the manufacturers who sell the most kits in the UK, Innokin, Vaporesso, Smok, Aspire and Uwell among them, put the same rechargeable batteries, refillable mesh pods and USB-C ports in their budget kits as in their premium ones. The premium kit gets a screen, a bigger battery and a metal body. The vape itself is often much the same.

Where cheap does still mean poor is with unbranded kits from marketplaces. The saving is small and the coils, pods and batteries are usually the parts that fail. Brand reputation matters more than shaving a pound or two off the price, and it also means spare pods will still be on the shelf next year. Every kit on our vape kits page is genuine UK stock from the official distributor.

One more cost to plan for: from 1 October 2026 the Vaping Products Duty adds £2.20 per 10ml plus VAT to every bottle of e-liquid. The kit itself isn’t taxed, so a cheap starter kit becomes slightly better value after the duty, not worse. We’ve explained the numbers in our vape tax guide.

Which kit fits which vaper?

If you already know what you care about most, this table gives the short answer.

Still undecided? Our best pod kits for beginners and best vape kits in the UK guides widen the shortlist, and if you’re switching from cigarettes the best kits for ex-smokers focuses on the draw and strength that make the change stick. If you already know you want more power and bigger clouds, skip the starter category and read about box mod kits instead.

Pairing your kit with the right e-liquid

A cheap kit vaped with the wrong liquid feels like a bad kit. The Endura S1 and XROS Mini are mouth-to-lung pod devices with coils around 0.8Ω to 1.2Ω, and that kind of coil wants a thin 50/50 e-liquid. The Smok Alike also takes a 0.4Ω mesh coil at 25W, which suits a thicker 70/30 liquid at a lower strength. Thick 70/30 shortfills made for sub-ohm tanks will wick slowly, burn the coil and taste harsh.

For most ex-smokers the answer is a 10ml nic salt e-liquid at 10mg or 20mg. Salts are smoother at higher strength, so a 20-a-day smoker gets the nicotine they’re used to without a rough throat hit, and a 2ml pod of 20mg goes a surprisingly long way. Lighter smokers, or anyone who finds 20mg too much, should start at 10mg. A pack-of-cigarettes-a-day habit is roughly one 10ml bottle every three to five days in a pod kit. If you’re not sure where to start, our guide on how much nicotine to vape works it out for you.

Looking after a cheap kit so it lasts

The gap between a budget kit that lasts a year and one that dies in a month is almost always care rather than build. A few habits make the difference.

Charge before it’s flat. Running a small lithium battery to empty over and over shortens its life. Plug it in when the light goes red, and use the cable it came with or a standard phone charger rather than a fast charger.

Keep the pod and mouthpiece clean. Wipe the mouthpiece with a tissue daily and clean the contacts between the pod and battery every week or so. Sticky residue is the most common reason a kit stops firing.

Keep it out of the heat. A dashboard in summer or a radiator in winter thins the e-liquid and makes pods leak, and heat is bad for the battery too.

Change the pod when flavour drops. A burnt taste, less vapour or a gurgle means the coil is done. Don’t push through it; a fresh pod costs less than a coffee.

Avoid knocks. Pods crack and batteries loosen when a kit is dropped. If drops are inevitable, buy the tri-proof kit.

Find your cheap vape starter kit

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