Behind the scenes, the operations of the popular vape company, Kangertech.
Kangertech: Company Overview
Whether you’re a long-time vaper or just starting out in the vaping world, you’ve probably heard of Kangertech. One of the biggest names in the vaping market, the Chinese company is responsible for the Protank, Evod, Subtank, clearomizer , and many other popular starter kits on the market today. If you’ve never tried a Kangertech product, you’ve probably seen plenty of people using it.
Brief History of Kangertech
Kangertech is headquartered in Shenzhen, one of China’s wealthiest cities in the Guangdong region. Founded in 2007 by Danny Chu and Lu Dilin, by 2013 they had 3,000 employees, producing hundreds of thousands of vape products for consumers every day.
Kangertech’s first high-end product, the Protank, was launched in 2013. It was a milestone in the transition from disposable e-cigarettes and cartomizers to reusable tanks . While other tanks were available at the time, including Kangertech’s own clearomizers, the T2 and MT3, the Protank was a huge success with its sleek design, solid construction, and convenient, efficient coil swaps. The fact that the tank body was made of glass instead of plastic was a major breakthrough, allowing even notoriously “tank-busting” e-juices like cinnamon and anise to be used without worry. Growing from this famous brand, the Protank has become a popular tank line, regularly updated to incorporate new innovations in vaping technology.
Spoiler alert: Although it’s based in China, the word “Kanger” actually comes from India. It’s the Kashmiri name for a container filled with hot coals that’s placed under clothes to dry them. While there are plenty of modern mods that produce a lot of heat, don’t be fooled into using them to keep warm in cold weather.
Reputation from Kangertech products
Kangertech tanks are popular with beginners because they are affordable and easy to use. While they don’t have as many features as the high-end models, they do provide a great starting point for new vapers .
Along with the Protank clearomizer, came major developments like the Subtank, one of the first atomizers designed for sub ohm vaping . It was released in 2014, and attracted a lot of attention from vapers who wanted to try sub ohm vaping but were put off by the hassles of RDAs , coils, and wicks. The Subtank Mini and Subtank Nano were later released, which were more compact and efficient. The Subtank Mini was very popular with vapers who wanted to get a big hit without having to worry about the bulky size of the Subtank.
Although “Made in China” products have been viewed with suspicion, all Kangertech products are meticulously designed with strict quality and safety standards. Company co-founder Danny Chu told the New York Times in 2014, expressing his concerns about lax quality control from some small factories in his home country of China: “There are a lot of small factories here, with 10 to 20 workers, and they don’t have quality control or safety certification for the materials they use. Some of their products are painted with too much paint. That’s not good at all.”
However, there are times when their products don’t live up to their own standards. And depending on who you ask, the answer will be “some” or “many.” Some older Kanger tanks had manufacturing defects that caused them to leak frequently (though Kangertech was always quick to fix the problem). Likewise, there have been numerous reports of the original Subtank leaking due to poor quality gaskets. Its follow-up, the Subtank Mini, has largely fixed this problem. And while Kanger’s Dripbox has been praised by consumers as an affordable option for those who want to try out the squonking mechanism, it’s still a low-end product and not a high-end product from Kangertech.
Kangertech's impact on the market
Kangertech is one of the biggest companies producing starter kits, but why? There are many reasons for this. Since their headquarters are in China, their manufacturing costs are much lower than those from the UK or Europe, so their finished products are also much cheaper. Knowing that this will make consumers feel worried about the quality and safety of their products, they have a reassuring statement on their website that says “Kangertech products are CE, RoHS tested and certified and they have also passed the rigorous ISO 14000 standard of the International Environmental Management System.”
Aesthetically, Kangertech products are very neat, clean, easy to hold, and their functionality is simple enough for even beginners. Although many of Kangertech’s mods look very small, they still have basic functionality and don’t make you feel like you’ve wasted your money.
But more than that, Kangertech is very responsive to new innovations and knows how to keep up with the general market. When the top fill mechanism became popular, they quickly integrated it into the Subtank Mini. They listened to the feedback and complaints from customers and improved their products later. For example, the sub ohm coil was initially a bit bulky, but now it is compact, allowing more juice to be poured into the tank while maintaining the same quality as before. And the Dripbox, although it is not too highly rated, is still a cheap device if you want to try a new way of vaping.
Kangertech's featured products
Up to now, Kangertech has owned a fair amount of products, and most of them are very well received by the public such as Topbox Mini, Subox Mini, Protank... and most recently the Subox Mini C product, a combination of Protank 5 and the upgraded version of Kbox Mini.
And speaking of starter kits, we cannot miss the starter kit that many new vapers love from Kanger, which is the Topbox Mini.
Kangertech: Final Thoughts
Through their efforts, Kangertech has become one of the pillars of the vape industry. They have always stood firm no matter how volatile the industry is. We can be sure that Kangertech will continue to bring products to the market, and will still be a “savior” for those who want to quit smoking, or for vapers who want to take their level to the next level.
