Why We Built VapeBeat

We test vapes so you don’t waste money on bad ones.

That’s it. That’s the whole thing. But since you’re on the About page, you probably want a bit more than that, so let’s go.

VapeBeat has been covering the vaping industry since before half the brands you know existed. We’ve seen the good (pod systems going from clunky plastic bricks to genuinely great devices), the bad (remember when every tank leaked constantly?), and the ugly (we don’t need to name names, but you know who you are).

Here’s what we actually do, day to day:

We buy devices, test them properly, and tell you the truth about them. Not “this product was provided by the brand for review” fluff where everything magically scores 9/10. If something is overpriced, underpowered, or just plain bad, we say so. Loudly. With evidence.

We cover vape news without the clickbait. The industry moves fast and regulations move faster, so we track what matters and cut out what doesn’t. You get the story, not the spin.

We write guides that actually help. Not the kind that state the obvious for 2,000 words to hit a word count. The kind where you close the tab knowing more than when you opened it.

And we do it all for one type of person: someone who wants straight answers without having to wade through manufacturer marketing copy dressed up as journalism.

Ten Years In, Thousands of Products Later

VapeBeat launched in 2015 after founder Richard Goodwin quit smoking and switched to vaping.

Like many new vapers at the time, he found the market confusing. Reliable advice was hard to come by, products varied wildly in quality, and most websites simply repeated manufacturers’ marketing claims.

Drawing on his background in digital publishing, he set out to build the resource he wished had existed when he was trying to quit smoking.

Over the following years, Richard assembled a team of people with genuine, hands-on experience across the vaping industry.

That included long-time reviewer Drake Equation, whose encyclopaedic knowledge of vape hardware helped shape VapeBeat’s testing standards,

Christopher Horton, who brought more than 15 years of experience in vape retail and distribution, and tobacco harm reduction expert Dr. Marewa Glover, who advises on the science and public health side of vaping.

That means when we review a product today, we’re not comparing it against the last few devices we tested. We’re comparing it against more than a decade of experience and thousands of products that have passed through our hands.

We’ve tested everything from early box mods and rebuildable tanks to pod systems, disposables, nicotine pouches, CBD products, dry herb vaporizers, desktop vaporizers, dab rigs, and cannabis concentrates.

We’ve seen the industry evolve from bulky, leak-prone hardware into the sophisticated devices available today.

That perspective matters. When we say a vape kit offers exceptional flavour, a pod lasts longer than average, or a device isn’t worth your money, those opinions are grounded in years of real-world testing, not manufacturer specifications or first impressions.

Today, VapeBeat covers far more than nicotine vapes.

We write about nicotine pouches, tobacco harm reduction, cannabis vaporizers, concentrates, CBD products, smoking cessation, vaping regulations, and the technology shaping the future of reduced-risk nicotine products.

The products may continue to change, but our mission hasn’t: to give adult smokers and existing vapers honest, experience-led information they can trust.

The VapeBeat Store (UK)

If you’re in the UK and you want to actually buy something rather than just read about it, we’ve got you covered there too.

The VapeBeat Store stocks a curated range of UK-made bar salts, because the domestic stuff is genuinely better and you shouldn’t have to settle for whatever mystery liquid came bundled with a cheap disposable.

We also carry the most popular refillable pod vapes, the ones we actually recommend in our reviews, not just whatever someone paid us to shift.

Everything in the store is there because we’d use it ourselves. That’s the bar. It’s a short list by design.

If that sounds like you, you’re in the right place. If you’re a brand hoping we’ll go easy on your product in exchange for a press kit and a LinkedIn connection request, you’re very much in the wrong place.