Two of the questions I get most often from people comparing heated tobacco devices are, on the surface, completely unrelated. One is about battery life. The other is about capsule devices being a waste of money. But they are the same question, and if you work it out properly it saves you a lot of confusion.
The question is: what does one session actually cost me?
Once you frame it that way, the format of the device stops being a preference and becomes a number, and the numbers are much more interesting than the spec sheets suggest. The Ploom TECH+ looks like the bargain option until you count capsules. The HEATX 1 looks like the worst battery in the range until you notice it is also the one that finishes a stick instead of binning it.
Let me work through it properly, and let me be upfront that the real answer depends on stick and capsule prices in your market, which I cannot know.
Pulze, Imperial Brands, Ploom and Japan Tobacco figures come from their published specifications. HEATX figures come from our own product documentation.
Two formats, two sets of numbers
| Device | Type | Weight | Battery | Per charge | Preheat | Session | Stick format |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pulze 3.0 | Stick device, inline ceramic | About 57 g | 1850 mAh | 25+ sticks | About 20 s | 5 min, no puff cap | iD and iSENZIA |
| Ploom TECH+ | Capsule device | About 37 g | 480 mAh | About 20 capsules | Not published | 5 min | Ploom capsules |
| Ploom with2 | Capsule device | About 43 g | 610 mAh | Not published | Not published | 5 min | Ploom capsules |
| HEATX 1 (MRT0) | Stick device, 360° resistive | 48 g | 1350 mAh | 15 sticks | 20 s | 240 s | TEREA |
| HEATX 2 (GEN2.0) | Stick device, 360° resistive | 66 g | 1800 mAh | 20 sticks | 30 s | 250 s | TEREA |
| HEATX 3 | Stick device, GEN3.0 dual zone | 100 g | 3200 mAh | 30 sticks | 20 s | 320 s | TEREA |
| HEATX 5 (GEN 5.0) | Stick device, 360° resistive | 64 g | 2000 mAh | 20 sticks | 30 s | 270 s | TEREA |
| HEATX 6 (GEN 6.0) | Stick device, 360° + airflow | 90 g | 2600 mAh | 20 sticks | 30 s | 240 s | HEETS |
Look at the Ploom row again. 480 mAh, about 20 capsules per charge, and the capsule is a small thing that holds less tobacco than a full stick. The battery number looks terrible in isolation and the per-charge number looks fine. Both are true, and together they tell you the device is doing a small amount of work quickly.
The HEATX 1 looks like the opposite: 1350 mAh, only 15 sticks per charge, the lowest endurance in the range. Also both true. And neither number tells you the important thing, which is how much tobacco you actually get through.
The reuse factor, which changes the whole calculation
This is where the format question gets interesting rather than ideological.
A Ploom capsule is the entire heating unit for that session. When the five minutes are up, it is spent and it goes in the bin. There is no second pass and no way to get one, because the capsule and the heating tube are a single consumable arrangement.
A HEATX stick is heated by a 360° circumferential element, which wraps the outside and heats inward. That is what allows a stick you have already used once to go straight back in for another session. The HEATX 2 does 16 puffs on the first pass and 13 on the second, 29 in total from one stick. The HEATX 1 has the same two-use behaviour with its Standard and Boost modes. The HEATX 3, 5 and 6 share the same circumferential principle.
So when you work out your effective sessions per charge, the arithmetic looks nothing like the spec sheet:
| Device | Listed per charge | Effective sessions per charge | Reason |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ploom TECH+ | About 20 capsules | About 20 | Capsule is spent after one session |
| Pulze 3.0 | 25+ sticks | 25+ | Single-use stick format, but a generous count |
| HEATX 1 | 15 sticks | About 30 | Each stick gives two passes |
| HEATX 2 | 20 sticks | About 40 | Each stick gives two passes, 29 puffs total |
| HEATX 3 | 30 sticks | About 60 | Each stick gives two passes |
| HEATX 5 | 20 sticks | About 40 | Each stick gives two passes |
| HEATX 6 | 20 sticks | About 40 | Each stick gives two passes |
I have left the Pulze at 25+ sessions because the Imperial Brands product uses a single-session stick format, and I have no basis to claim a second pass there. That is exactly the point of the comparison: not all stick devices work the same way, and the HEATX range does something specific.
The last row of the table is the number I would put in front of someone who thinks the HEATX 1 is the weak option. Fifteen sticks becomes roughly thirty sessions.
Now the money, and where I have to be careful
Here is where I stop and put a caveat, because this is the part where a confident-sounding article usually goes wrong.
The cost of a session is the cost of the consumable divided by the sessions you get out of it. That is straightforward. The problem is that the price of a TEREA stick, a Ploom capsule and an iD stick varies enormously by country, by retailer and by whether you are buying a carton or a single unit, and I do not have reliable current pricing for your market.
So rather than inventing a monthly figure, I am going to give you the formula and then the one thing that reliably moves it.
The formula: consumable price divided by sessions per charge gives you the consumable cost per session. Multiply by how many sessions you have per day and by 30 for a monthly figure. Then divide the device price by that monthly consumable spend and you have the number of months until the device pays for itself.
The one thing that reliably moves the result: a second pass cuts the consumable cost per session roughly in half, because you are buying one stick and getting two sessions out of it. That is a structural advantage, not a pricing claim, and it holds wherever you buy your sticks.
The manufacturer makes a version of this argument for the HEATX 5, claiming a price around half that of mainstream devices on the logic that two packs of sticks cover the cost of the device. That is a manufacturer claim and it depends entirely on local pricing, so treat it as a starting point for your own arithmetic rather than a fact.
What the Pulze gets right, and it is not nothing
The Pulze 3.0 is a genuinely excellent little device and I do not want the format argument to bury that.
About 57 g, which is lighter than every HEATX model except the 1. 1850 mAh, about 85 minutes to charge, about 20 second preheat, and a five minute session with no fixed puff cap. The inline ceramic rod heating from the inside out is elegant. Intense and Mild give you two temperature choices. The 5 segment LED tells you the battery state without a screen.
It also does iSENZIA, which is tea-based and nicotine-free. If you have moved toward nicotine-free options, no HEATX device currently does that, and that closes the question regardless of any of the cost analysis above.
And 25+ sticks per charge on 1850 mAh is a better endurance figure than anything except the HEATX 3.
What the Ploom gets right
Thirty-seven grams. That is genuinely remarkable, and the Ploom TECH+ remains the lightest heated tobacco device I know of. The 480 mAh looks weak but the capsule is a small consumable, and about 20 capsules per charge with a 60 minute charge means the device is genuinely ready to go again quickly.
The five minute session is also longer than the HEATX 1, 2 and 6 at 240 or 250 seconds.
The problem is not the device. The problem is the closed format. Ploom capsules come from Ploom, in Ploom formats, and the refill economics are set by the manufacturer. If the price per session works out for you, it is a fine purchase. If it does not, no amount of good hardware fixes it.
Where I would not buy
The HEATX 1 at 15 sticks per charge is the lowest endurance figure in the range, and if you are away from a socket regularly, that is a legitimate reason to pick something else. The HEATX 3's 120 minute charge is the longest in the range too.
The Pulze is the one I would be most careful about recommending against, because of the nicotine-free iSENZIA option, and because 25+ sticks on 1850 mAh is a strong endurance number.
And the whole format argument collapses if your sticks are HEETS. Only the HEATX 6 takes HEETS, and if that is what you have, the Ploom and the Pulze are simply not in the conversation.
What I would buy
Buy the Pulze 3.0 if you want something lighter than 60 g, the fastest preheat in this comparison, a session that does not cut off on a timer, or the iSENZIA nicotine-free sticks. It is a well-judged device and 25+ sticks per charge is a real strength.
Buy the Ploom TECH+ if 37 grams is the priority and the capsule cost per session works out where you live. Just do the arithmetic before you commit, and know that you are buying into one manufacturer's refill schedule.
Buy the HEATX 3 for maximum endurance and control, 3200 mAh, 30 sticks, four temperature modes and a 320 second session. Buy the HEATX 2 for the flattest body and 29 puffs from one stick. Buy the HEATX 1 for the lightest option at 48 g. Buy the HEATX 5 for a metal shell and a single button. Buy the HEATX 6 if you have HEETS sticks or want hybrid heating.
Every model, with full specifications and photos, is on chillmistvape.com.
Health, law and where to buy
Heated tobacco is not harmless. Avoiding combustion reduces exposure to a number of the toxicants in cigarette smoke, but it still delivers nicotine, and nicotine is addictive. Nothing here is medical advice and nothing in this article claims that any device is safe.
If you do not already use tobacco or nicotine, there is no reason to start. Check the age limits and the tax rules where you live, since both differ by country and change. Buy from licensed sellers only. The Pulze, Imperial Brands, Ploom and Japan Tobacco figures used here come from those manufacturers' published specifications; the HEATX figures come from our own product documentation. Compare the numbers, then decide which device fits how you actually use a heated tobacco device.