Lost Mary Tappo Prefilled Pod Kit
Love the taste of disposables but hate the waste? Well Lost Mary have the answer with their new Tappo kit
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Here at Potv, we have long championed the need for responsible vaping practices, especially when it comes to disposable vapes so when our good friends at TECC emailed in to ask if we’d like to review the new Lost Mary Tappo kit, we jumped at the chance. You see the Tappo is a new type of disposable in that it isn’t actually a disposable, but it certainly looks and feels like one with some nice improvements thrown in for good measure.
By now, I think most people are aware of the Lost Mary brand, if you haven’t used them, you most certainly will have seen discarded ones littering most streets in the UK, they are one of the main disposables brands and are instantly recognisable thanks to their distinctive shape. But what if you can keep the same form factor, style, and user friendly design but make it reusable? Well that is exactly what Lost Mary have done with the Tappo.
So how have they done it and, more importantly, does it still have instant appeal? Well the answer to the first bit is very simple, instead of being one fully enclosed device that has to be thrown out when the battery and/or e-liquid is finished, the Lost Mary Tappo now features a rechargeable body and replaceable, prefilled 2ml pods which can be swapped out when empty. Basically, they have taken everything that has made the regular Lost Mary great (depending on your perspective) and have turned it into a pod kit focused on complete ease of use. As for the second part of the question, well keep reading to find out how successful the idea is.
Unboxing
The box is slightly larger than its fully disposable relatives, but not by much. To all intents and purposes, it looks like a Lost Mary. Opening the box, the whole unit is sealed in a plastic tray with a tear through back which also doubles up as instructions (note to self…read the instructions!). There is no charging cable or extra accessories, but I think most people will have charging cables lying around and this helps to keep the price down.
The body is also sealed with a transparent wrap which I assume is to keep the metallic finish in tip top condition, and the pod has a seal to prevent the battery connecting along with a plug in the mouthpiece similar to any other regular disposable. To get things going, just pull off the seals, flick out the plug and pop in the pod. The pod is held in place with magnets, these hold fast and also make sure the mouthpiece is perfectly lined up. There is a slight rattle where the pod is seated, but the magnets are strong and there is no fear of things coming apart.
In Use
Now this is where reading the instructions would have been a good idea, but I’ve been vaping since 2011 and I fell into the trap of assuming that I know everything I need to know so it was a surprise when after a few vapes, I started to get dry hits which only got worse. I was just about to message TECC to say that I had a dud unit when I had the brilliant idea to check the instructions and it turns out that I had missed a very important step. To use the pods, you have to squeeze the base of the pod up which breaks a hidden seal and releases the e-liquid. Once I had done that, all the flavour came rushing through and the dry hits were gone. I admit that sometimes I am an idiot, but I know I am not the only one who doesn’t do instructions so I felt it was important to fess up to my rookie mistake so hopefully I can prevent someone else from doing the same and feeling disappointed.
Now things were working as they should, it was just a case of vaping, and from here on it, I might as well have been vaping a regular disposable, totally effortless and full of flavour that is incredibly hard to beat and has been a major part of why disposables are such a massive hit.
The Flavours
There are four base kits to choose from, each coming with a different colour and a different flavour:
- Dark Bronze comes with a Blueberry Sour Raspberry pod
- Silver Stainless Steel comes with a Strawberry Ice pod
- Green Pink comes with a Watermelon pod
- Blue Green comes with a Lemon Lime pod
I was sent the Blue Green/Lemon Lime flavour. I think Lost Mary have chosen the basic selection well, they are probably the four most popular disposable flavours on the market at the moment.
On top of these four flavours, there is also a large selection of pod packs to with the kit. Each pack contains two pods so you will be getting 4ml to keep you going. The flavours are:
- Banana Ice
- Blueberry Sour Raspberry
- Blue Razz Lemonade
- Cherry Cola
- Kiwi Passion Fruit Guava
- Lemon & Lime
- Mary Turbo
- Mix Berries
- Peach Ice
- Spearmint
- Strawberry Ice
- Strawberry Raspberry
- Tropical Fruit
- USA Mix
- Watermelon
I was particularly impressed to see a tobacco flavour. As disposables are now probably the most common starting point when moving to a smoke free system, I have been wondering for a while why there aren’t more tobacco options available. Not everybody wants to jump straight in to full on super sweet fruity flavours, so this is a great option.
Tappo vs Regular Lost Mary
If the Tappo wants to make an impression and get people using it, it needs to stand up well to its disposable counterpart so I also picked up a Lemon Lime BM600S from my local vape shop so I could do a proper side by side comparison. Looks wise, there is no competition, the Tappo looks fantastic with its metallic body. It is a lovely looking thing with its smooth lines and beautifully rounded edges. It is the same basic shape, but everything just feels more premium.
Size wise, the Tappo is slightly bigger, both the width and depth have a slightly chunkier feel. Personally I prefer the size, it just feels more reassuring when you hold it. The extra size is more than just for the looks, under the hood there is a 750mAh battery instead of the 550mAh in the disposable version, and those pods take up a little more room too.
When it comes to the flavour, there is very little in it. They both use mesh coils which are superb for delivering hit after hit of fully saturated flavour. If I had to be really picky, I would say the BM600S is slightly sweeter whereas the Tappo is more nuanced, with the lemon lime, you get a smidge more of a sharp citrus kick which again I prefer. But the differences are very small, and I don’t think they are big enough to make any meaningful difference.
To sum it up, if you are already comfortable with the shape and feel of a Lost Mary disposable, you will find it no effort to switch up to the Tappo.
All Day Vape
By now the Tappo seemed like the obvious choice, but we also have to cover battery life, ease of use, and finally price.
Battery life is a no brainer, you are getting a bigger battery which will obviously last longer than the original Lost Mary. There is a little light which acts as your battery indicator (Green 50% - 100%, Blue 20%- 50%, Red less than 20% so get your charging cable handy!). Charging is via USB-C and with the battery only being 750mAh, charging is pretty fast, but really I would recommend buying a couple of kits so you can always keep one to use and one to charge in the background.
Ease of use, well if you can use a disposable, you can use the Tappo, it is exactly the same. It works on an auto draw system so you just put the mouthpiece to your lips and inhale. The resistance is roughly the same, maybe fractionally tighter but once again, the difference is so subtle that it shouldn’t make any difference. The only real change is the shape of the mouthpiece which is wider and more like a conventional pod kit, but it also feels nicer as the quality of the materials is better.
Finally the price, and this is where the Tappo scores the knockout blow. Whilst the BM600S is £4.99 vs the Tappo which comes in at £8.99, the former is a one-time use thing so every few days you need to shell out another fiver to replace the whole unit. With the Tappo, you only need to buy refill pods which are £5.99 for two, so you are getting double the amount of e-liquid. I’d say this make the Tappo system a relative bargain in the grand scheme of things.
Final Thoughts
I love the flavour you get from disposables, I’ve tried not to as ethically they make me uncomfortable, but they just taste so damn good, but I would have no qualms about using the Tappo as it gives you all the convenience and all the flavour with a fraction of the waste. Economically it is also a better deal and all round, the Lost Mary Tappo is just better in every department.
9.5/10 – The Tappo is the future of disposable vapes, and from here the future is looking rosy
Michelle (Purplefowler)
Reviewer at POTVWhen her usual forum closed, Michelle found herself in a brave new world full of excitement that something fresh and new was happening. A few days later she somehow found herself on the moderating team and is still not really sure how that happened. Even stranger, she slowly worked her way up to admin and now helps behind the scenes, liasing with vendors and coordinating social media but she can still be found making smutty comments on the forum. If all that wasn't enough, she also is a proud member of the Potv review team specialising in E-liquid reviews for the discerning vaper.
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