I’ve tested a lot of vapes for this site. Pod kits, box mods, disposables — if it heats nicotine liquid, I’ve probably burned through a few pods on it. And somewhere around device number 50, I started noticing a pattern: every few months, someone in a boardroom greenlights a feature that makes absolutely no sense.
Not bad features. Not undercooked features. I’m talking about features so aggressively pointless that you stop mid-puff and ask yourself: “Why does this exist? Who asked for this? What problem does a vape with a step counter actually solve?”
Here’s my list. If you’ve been vaping for more than a year, I guarantee you’ll recognize at least one.
1. Smart Vapes: Bluetooth, Calls, and Games on a Disposable
This is the current champ. Walk into any vape shop in 2026 and you’ll find disposables with touchscreens, Bluetooth speakers, and app connectivity. The Airfuze Smart 30K lets you take phone calls through your vape. The Craftbox V-Touch has a full touchscreen interface. The Swype is literally a disposable phone that also vapes — Business Insider reviewed it as a “dumb phone” alternative.
Let me be clear: a disposable vape costs $15-25 and lasts maybe two weeks. And you’re supposed to pair it with your phone, install an app, and set up custom wallpapers on a screen that’s going in the trash before your next payday.
These features exist for one reason: to stand out on a shelf. They have nothing to do with improving your vape experience. They’re marketing dressed up as innovation. And the e-waste from a touchscreen disposable that gets tossed after 15,000 puffs should bother you more than it does.
2. Joyetech Ocular-C: The MP3/Step Counter/Vape Mod
2016 was a wild time. Joyetech looked at the booming vape market and asked: “What if a box mod could also replace your iPod Nano and your Fitbit?” The Ocular-C was born — a 150W dual-18650 mod with a 1.68-inch color touchscreen that played MP3s, counted your steps, and stored photos for custom screensavers. It even had a headphone jack.
Think about this for a second. You’re carrying a phone in your pocket that does all of these things better. Instead of using that, you strap two 18650s into a brick that plays music through a headphone jack while you vape. The RRP was £90-100. It’s the kind of device that makes you wonder if anyone at Joyetech had ever actually used an MP3 player before designing one.
3. Uwell Amulet: The Vape Watch
In 2019, Uwell — the same company behind the excellent Caliburn line — released the Amulet. A vape you wear on your wrist like a watch. It had a 360mAh battery, a 1.6Ω pod, and a tiny LED screen that displayed the time. The idea: wear it like a watch, unclip it when you want to vape.
I tried to imagine the use case here. Are you in a meeting where pulling out a vape is too obvious, yet unclipping your watch and puffing on it is somehow discreet? Are you jogging and need both nicotine and the time equally urgently? At £35, it failed on both fronts — the battery died too fast to vape through a day, and as a watch, it was outclassed by a $10 Casio. Some products make you wonder if the engineering team was just bored.
4. Lost Vape Ursa Pocket: The Vape Game Boy
Lost Vape makes some good hardware. The Centaurus M200 I reviewed recently is one of my favorite mods this year. So when they released the Ursa Pocket — a pod system shaped like a retro game controller with a full OLED screen and three built-in games — I had to check if I was being pranked.
The games: a slot machine, a puff-count competition, and a Tamagotchi-style virtual pet that you “feed” by vaping. Let that sink in. A device that gamifies nicotine consumption, aimed at a market already under scrutiny for youth appeal, with a Tamagotchi that rewards you for puffing more. It’s not just pointless. It’s actively irresponsible.
For what it’s worth, the Ursa Pocket is banned in the UK now. Probably for good reason.
5. SMOK Mag: The Gun Trigger Mod
SMOK went through a phase around 2016-2017 where they released a new kit every few weeks. Most were forgettable. The Mag was not. It was a 225W dual-18650 mod that loaded batteries like a gun magazine — you slid a spring-loaded magazine into the bottom of the device, complete with a trigger-style fire button.
Aesthetic choices aside, the magazine mechanism was objectively worse than a standard battery door. It added bulk, the spring mechanism wore out over time, and swapping batteries took longer than a hinged door. The only thing it did better was look like a prop from a Call of Duty game. Which, I suspect, was the entire point. Sometimes a product tells you everything about its target audience without saying a word.
6. Triple-Tap Control on the Caliburn G5
I just finished testing the G5 for a full review, and I have to call this out. Uwell’s triple-tap control lets you tap anywhere on the device body to adjust settings. In theory, it’s a neat touch. In practice, it works about 80% of the time — and only when your hands are completely dry and you tap with deliberate force.
Wet hands from washing? It ignores you. Light tap because you’re relaxing? It ignores you. Pocket jostling changes your wattage accidentally? Yes, that happens too. After three weeks, I defaulted to the fire button for adjustments and only used triple-tap for screen brightness. It’s a solution in search of a problem — the fire button already worked fine.
Not every feature needs to be a gimmick — some improve the experience: the jog dial on the Centaurus M200, the top-fill pod design on the XROS series, the COREX coil platform. Triple-tap control though? is what happens when a product manager needs something “new” to put on the box and nothing actually useful is ready.
The Honorable Mentions
A few more that almost made the list:
- LED tips that simulate a burning cigarette — The first e-cigarettes had red LEDs on the tip to look like a real cigarette. It served no function. It just made the device look more like something you were trying to quit.
- Vapes with AI voice control — Yes, there are disposables now with voice assistants. Why? Nobody knows. Yet they exist.
- Vape phone case — A phone case with a prefilled pod in it. You vape through your phone. It didn’t take off. It didn’t deserve to.
- Puff counters on disposables — A screen that counts your puffs on a device you throw away in a week. The number means nothing because there’s no standard for what counts as a puff. Though it does look impressive on the box.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do smart vapes actually work for taking calls?
They work, though the experience is worse than just using your phone. The microphone and speaker quality on a $20 disposable is exactly what you’d expect. You’re better off using your phone for calls and your vape for, well, vaping.
Are vapes with games banned?
The Lost Vape Ursa Pocket has been effectively removed from the UK market due to concerns about youth appeal. Other regions haven’t banned them yet, and regulatory scrutiny is increasing globally for devices that gamify nicotine consumption.
What should I look for in a vape instead of gimmicks?
Focus on coil longevity, leak-proof design, battery life, and reliable draw activation. A comfortable mouthpiece and an airflow control that stays where you set it matter more than Bluetooth or touchscreens. Check our best pod vapes guide for devices that get the basics right.
The Real Question
Here’s what I’ve learned from testing all these: the best vape features are the ones you stop noticing after a day. A comfortable mouthpiece. An airflow slider that stays put. A fill port that doesn’t make you reach for a napkin. These things don’t sell devices at the counter, yet they’re what make you keep using one months later.
The most pointless features are the ones designed to sell the first device, not the ones designed to make you happy you bought it. Screens on disposables, Bluetooth pairing on a $20 throwaway, games that encourage you to puff more — these exist because the industry is addicted to novelty the same way some vapers are addicted to nicotine.
I’ll take a well-executed basic device over a gimmick-loaded smart vape any day. Give me a reliable coil, a leak-proof tank, and an interface I can use without a manual. Everything else is just noise.
What’s the most pointless vape feature you’ve come across? Drop it in the comments — I’m curious if I missed any.
Health warning: All nicotine products carry health risks and are intended for adults of legal age only. This article is for informational purposes and does not constitute medical advice.
Related Reading
- Lost Vape Centaurus M200 Review — a mod that proves good design doesn’t need gimmicks
- Uwell Caliburn G5 Review — triple-tap control tested and scored honestly
- Best Pod Vapes 2026 — devices that focus on what actually matters
- How Long Does a Vape Last? — puff count data, not marketing claims
Kevin Li — Founder & Editor, VapeObservation.com Kevin reviews vape products hands-on, prioritizing real-world performance over manufacturer claims. His goal: honest, practical advice that helps everyday vapers make informed choices. Before launching VapeObservation, he was a longtime vaper frustrated by promotional content disguised as reviews. Every article on the site reflects his commitment to data-driven, reader-first testing.
