The new Geek Bar Pulse 2 is finally here. Vaping fans across the United States have set the forums alight with discussions of the long-awaited sequel to America’s most popular vape, and everyone has noticed that the device has a very interesting marketing claim. Although the Geek Bar Pulse 2 has the same amount of e-liquid as the original Pulse, Geek Bar advertises that it delivers 66 percent more puffs before running out of vape juice. How is that possible?
In this article, we’ll investigate whether the Geek Bar Pulse 2 really lasts longer than the original Geek Bar Pulse and explore what makes the claim possible.
What Does Geek Bar Claim?
The official claim is that the new Geek Bars last 66 percent longer than the old ones. The official specs of the Geek Bar Pulse and Pulse 2 are as follows.
- Geek Bar Pulse: Delivers 15,000 puffs in the single-coil mode and 7,500 puffs in Pulse mode.
- Geek Bar Pulse 2: Delivers 25,000 puffs in the single-coil mode and 15,000 puffs in Pulse mode.
Both devices contain 16 ml of e-liquid, which is why some people are dubious as to whether the Pulse 2 really lasts longer.
Does the Geek Bar Pulse 2 Last 25,000 Puffs?
No. It’s very unlikely that you’ll get anywhere near 25,000 puffs out of the Pulse 2. With that having been said, though, it’s unlikely that anyone gets 15,000 puffs out of the original Geek Bar Pulse in real-world use either. Vape manufacturers have always overstated their devices’ capabilities to a certain extent, and the claimed puff count of the Pulse 2 is mostly a matter of Geek Bar keeping up with what other manufacturers are claiming these days for new devices with similar amounts of vape juice. We’ll discuss that at greater length in a moment.
The Geek Bar Pulse 2 definitely does last noticeably longer than the original Pulse, though, and we’ll explore the reasons for that next.
Why Does the Geek Bar Pulse 2 Last Longer?
The reasons why the Geek Bar Pulse 2 lasts longer than the original Pulse essentially come down to the fact that it wastes less vape juice. In any disposable vape, a fairly significant amount of e-liquid doesn’t get used and ends up being thrown away instead. That’s because of a design inefficiency; some of the e-liquid gets stuck in the corners of the wick instead of absorbing to the middle, where the heating coil is. Geek Bar’s improvements center around correcting that issue. Next, we’ll discuss the two main improvements that allow the Geek Bar Pulse 2 to last longer.
Upgraded Wicking Material
One of the biggest reasons for e-liquid waste in disposable vapes comes down to how the devices work. The e-liquid is held in a wick, which may be made from cotton, synthetic fiber or a blend. The wick is stored in a plastic container that prevents leaking, and the heating coil is at the center of the container. The e-liquid that’s close to the coil vaporizes when you use the device, and fresh vape juice replaces it via absorption.
The problem with this system is that some of the e-liquid never actually reaches the coil. It remains stuck in the corners of the container and is ultimately thrown away.
One of Geek Bar’s major advancements with the Pulse 2 is the use of a proprietary air-bonded, non-woven fiber for the wick. The fiber encourages more efficient capillary action, allowing more of the e-liquid to reach the coil for vaporization instead of being discarded.
Speculatively, the Geek Bar Pulse 2’s other wick enhancements may also include a change in the structure of the e-liquid container and a gradual gradient in the wick’s pore density from the outer edges to the inner portion. Geek Bar’s official claims don’t mention these improvements, but they could also contribute to more efficient e-liquid usage.
New Chipset
The other major enhancement that improves the efficiency of the Geek Bar Pulse 2 is the use of a new chipset that governs the device’s operation. Geek Bar calls the new chipset the Vapor Processing Unit or VPU. They claim that the VPU improves e-liquid retention and flow rate by about 30 percent, drastically increasing the new device’s puff count without an increase in the e-liquid supply.
At this point, we’ll have to speculate again because the VPU is proprietary, and discussing the specific improvements in the new chipset would only help the competition. However, some of the ways that the new chipset could potentially encourage more efficient e-liquid usage may include:
- Automatic detection of coil residue for better load balancing between the two coils.
- More efficient coil operation to produce puffs that use less e-liquid without being less satisfying.
- An algorithm that causes the coils to operate more conservatively, using less e-liquid as the device reaches the end of its e-liquid supply.
Disposable vapes are more advanced than you might think, and any of these improvements could allow the Geek Bar Pulse 2 to produce more puffs than the original Pulse without having more e-liquid.
Keeping Up with the Competition
Although the Geek Bar Pulse 2 does last longer than the original Pulse, the fact still remains that you’re probably not going to get 25,000 puffs out of the device. The higher advertised puff count is partially because the Pulse 2 actually is more efficient and partially because it’s necessary in order to keep up with the competition.
Other disposable vapes are hitting the market with much higher advertised puff counts even though they generally contain about the same amount of vape juice as the Geek Bar Pulse 2 – and even less in some cases. This almost forces Geek Bar to increase the Pulse 2’s advertised puff count because it might otherwise be seen as obsolete even though it’s a new release. In that sense, we should probably be glad that Geek Bar at least isn’t exaggerating to the same extent as the competition.
What Really Matters When You Compare Vapes
If you’re an existing Geek Bar fan, there’s a good chance that puff counts don’t matter that much to you because you’re probably going to try the Geek Bar Pulse 2 either way. For those who are considering different brands, though, we have a bit of advice about comparing disposable vapes: Ignore the puff counts because they’re essentially made up. Only two things really matter when you compare vapes.
- How much vape juice do the devices contain? It’s possible to use e-liquid more efficiently – as we’ve seen with the Geek Bar Pulse 2 – but increasing the amount of vape juice is still the most effective way to make vapes that last longer.
- How many days does a vape last for you personally, given your individual usage habits?
If you know how long a vape lasts for you, it’s easy to figure out which device is most cost effective because you can simply divide the price by the number of days it lasts. If you do that, you’ll likely find that the Geek Bar Pulse 2 is extremely competitive even though the advertised puff count isn’t quite as inflated as it is with some other vapes.
