On Friday May 12th I visited the UK Vaper Expo 2023 for a nosey around and thought I would share with you the experience!
Upon entry to Expo I was given an IVG goody bag with 2x 10ml nic salts and a disposable vape. That started the day off nicely!
Atmosphere
I have to admit the atmosphere was pretty flat. This of course could be down to the fact it was the Business to Business (B2B) Trade day?
There was nothing happening on the stage – when I went on the Saturday last year there were DJ’s and giveaways. Behind the stage were Bumper Cars and again these were empty. How sad would it be being the only person in a Bumper Car!
It was only obvious how busy the arena actually was when you looked at the food and seating areas with all chairs and tables taken. So there was a deceptively decent turn out.
There were less interactive stands this time too, in the past there were Basketball and other Arcade games on the stands.
There were a few “spin the wheel” and small scale prize games on some stands and there was a Crazy Golf set up as well. I didn’t get to see who was hosting the Crazy Golf as there were people playing every time we went past and we were in the way!
FeelM had a Darts game which I didn’t understand! I thought I had won a prize – then the lady on the stand told me to scan a QR code with my phone. It led me to their Instagram page, I said I wasn’t on Instagram and they lost all interest in me! I was stood there like a Muppet holding some darts!
The Ohm Zone had a good amount of traffic with e-liquid stands and DIY Rebuildable supplies.
As expected there were tons of Disposable Vape brands. The majority of which I had never heard of! I would say that 75% of the exhibitors were disposable only brands.
The Exhibitors
I got a lovely warm welcome from Abu, Umar and Hamzah at the combined OXVA, Choppa Vapes and Crystal Clear e-liquid stand. They were showing off the new Xlim Pro and the OXVA Artio kits. Another lovely soul Dr Vapes also popped to say Hi.
Left to right = Umar Khan, Umar Ali and Doodhi.
Over at the Innokin stand some vape royalty had arrived for the occasion – Phil Busardo and Dimitris Agrafiotis – who were lovely!
Every time I walked past the stand they were deep in conversation with Expo visitors and were always happy to have a chat.
Phil and Dimitris chatting with visitors
I finally got to talk to them and they remembered me from last year when they modelled some of the new Innokin releases for me! I asked if there were any new products they wanted to model for me this time – but sadly no! However they did pose with the new Endura S1 RRD.
Phil had come straight off the plane to Expo, poor chap was shattered, but every time I saw him he was smiling, chatting to people and having a laugh.
I Saw Vaping Bogan a few times but sadly he was busy every time I went past the stand.
Best vape of the day goes to Aquios! We tried some of the Aquios bars, and my mate and I thought they were epic. I know early models of Aquios devices were a bit weak, but the flavour and smoothness of these were incredible even at 20mg Nic Strength!
Mr Water (as he introduced himself) told me all about the sustainability of the Aquios Bar range. Such a lovely chap who was super enthusiastic about the technology and a credit to the company.
Mr Water is in the Aquios Baseball cap!
The Aquios Bar main body is made of Cardboard with Silicone plugs at either end. Remove the plugs and the battery and internal components can be easily split up for recycling.
Voopoo and Zovoo had a great stand with a “spin the wheel” game to win prizes. I won a USB charging cable and my friend won some Voopoo bags! I got a great welcome from the people here plus a few Zovoo DragBar Z700 SE Disposable Vapes which were being handed out to passers-by.
The stand featured a One Motorsport Mercedes AMG GT4 (I think?). I have tried asking for more details but nothing so far.
However it looks to be the same as the one below but with Voopoo X Zovoo livery.
The Ypsilos CBD stand put a big smile on my face. If you see them at any conventions go and give their devices a try – they are epic products! Such a nice bunch of people too!
I nipped over to the WVA (World Vaper’s Alliance) and met Michael Landl finally in person – I have had many Zoom conversations with him so it was great to see him in real life.
Left to right = Jodie, Michael and Ashley
I also had a chat with the representatives of IBVTA (Independent British Vape Trade Association) and Vapouround Magazine.
The UKVIA (UK Vaping Industry Association) had a stand but sadly the Director John Dunne was busy every time I visited but I did get to meet Grahame Woods pictured below.
Uwell gave me a display model of the new Caliburn A3S. The guys really went above and beyond! They had no stock of the A3S as it was only just released, so they gave me the Black one off the display. There was no box or accessories but it is so nice to be able to have one to photo!
I also saw a new Caliburn which has not been released yet with a Flower shaped fire button. Wish I could remember what it was called but it had 2 coils in and you could switch between them or use both at once to get 3 different resistances. It possibly used the Caliburn G coils but I am not 100% sure.
One brand was called Cak Vape – which made me bost laughing every time we walked past it. I bet those on the stand were perplexed at why people were giggling.
Lost Vape and Evolution Vapes had a joint stand and they were a friendly bunch.
Elux had a vape collection point for recycling.
They were promoting sustainability and you could dispose of any type of disposable vape on their stand. This is a great initiative!
IVG were promoting the first 2400 puff TPD compliant disposable – it contains 4 pods and you can switch between flavours.
Photo courtesy of the IVG Facebook page
It comes in 20mg Nic Salt strengths and you can mix and match the flavour pods installed.
The most attractive device of the day was from ThatThat called the Encore. So many disposable vapes are flooding the market so it is hard to stand out.
Image courtesy of the thatthat_Official Instagram page
But this device was stunning! It reminded me of one of those old Microphones and the flavour did not disappoint either. There was a full size 12ml version and a mini TPD version. I tried 2 of these and both the flavours were amazing. If they brought out a refillable version I would buy one there and then – absolutely gorgeous. Sadly I didn’t get a photo.
The lovely people at Pod Salt gave me 20 different flavours of their 10ml Nexus Nic Salt e-liquids – keep an eye out for a future review!
My Thoughts
My heart went out to the person walking round in CBD Gummies packet. I bet they were boiling, but stayed upbeat and friendly every time I saw them! Perhaps the Gummies kept a smile on their face!
Unfortunately I found some of the personnel a bit dismissive on a few stands. Most of the time the language barrier proved to be an issue. Stands guilty of this were Smok, Smoant, Freemax, Suorin and Kanger.
Didn’t see Geekvape, Aspire or Hellvape at the Expo which is a surprise with them being such large brands. Also there were a few empty stands which seemed a shame.
All in all a decent expo experience, even if it was dominated by disposables and the atmosphere was a bit flat.
Seeing social media posts of Saturday and Sunday there seems to be a lot more excitement with events on the main stage.
Thank you to all who showed me a warm welcome – it was very much appreciated!
Let me know in the comments section how you found the Vaper Expo 2023 experience!
Vaper Expo 2023 Gallery
Here are all the pictures I took whilst on my visit – have a look for yourself if you were there on Friday 12th!
Click on the Thumbnail image to see the full version!