These custom cells are made and sold for the GH device, the whole batch just gets the blue GHB2 wrappers, and all that pass a capacity test threshold are being sent as part of the order quantity to HL, and then eventually passed on to an end user.
If the mAh tolerance is tighter than with previous batches there's not much to worry about, but the extent of that variability is what we are facing as users. Worst case a cell might perform for a relatively shorter period, in terms of each charge cycle and the overall charge cycles, but the cell health is still more dependant on the way the cell is used over it's lifetime. I seem to get a couple of years out of a cell, the lesser quality ones only manage fewer chambers per charge for a similar time. They still rip, just not as hard or for as long.
When you have the right hopper and battery combo, it doesn't leave much to be desired. Using the worst quality cell (obviously my opinion is bound to what I have experienced) certainly leaves something to be desired, but without direct comparison, it's not as big a deal as say the GH running cool to begin with (I guess if the cell isn't working than it would be).
The target capacity is ample (not ridiculous, but impressive given the size and the energy at hand), the portability of the device and the size of the spare cells sits well, it's easy to stash a few wherever for travel and the pen is pen size (just about) and instantly pocketable (which is funnily rare for a portable). The GH is remarkably efficient, much more so than any of my 18650 vapes. A big benefit with the small cells beyond portability is the rapid charging. Charging my Box mod is an ordeal that I don't have to bother with often because the GH is so superior to anything that plugs into my box mod that I simply don't use it. But when I want to, I typically have to wait a day to do so... I just checked it and it tells me that the batt balance is out, so it must be charged to power up.. I could get a single cell box mod, but then I'd be charging for long stints frequently and the whole thing is undesirable (plus they're hard to find in Aus for a reasonable price, mods and batteries that aren't fake).
Good quality 18650s don't cost much less than a GHB2, but you can rest assured that if you pay for it you can get a better QA with 18650s. That's the only benefit I'm seeing. The difficulty with that size is that many cells are very cheap and bad quality (not to mention all my LG HG2's keep failing as they are getting stretched to max spec) and consumers would be open to using any cheap old thing, which would further disrupt the user experience with their vape. A lot of the high power demand 18650s specify the cells they require or are pre-packaged in a pack like the Ghost. 510 vaping has been less than ideal, GH vaping has been exactly ideal despite the previous failures I was having years back.
I think the GH is more than fine as it is and I'm happy HL decided to push with this design form factor.
It is a pity that the price has escalated but the reasons stated are real, if you have a nose in that side of affairs, nothing fishy is going on. It is a bummer though.
It would have been a much smoother transition to the higher price if stock remained available, but I understand that isn't what happened. That was a rather unfortunate turn of events in a difficult time, but people still only have one lure to get snagged, as you say
@biohacker larger vapes might open the possibilities, but the GH is probably still better in its certain ways.
I'm more interested in leaving Li-ion alone than anything else, or at least seeing solid state tech arrive.
Interested to see GHB3s come to fruition in whatever fashion that arrives. I'll be waiting.
I haven't felt the need to buy new cells yet, though it's tempting and I probably will soon.
My most recent purchase from 2018 had 2 okay and 1 bad cell, they all work just fine to this day, but I actually marked one from that PO and it turned out to be the worst of all my cells from much earlier. Most are still going. I have an embarrassing amount of these blue cylinders lol!
I basically just use 4 atm, I find that is a golden qty for perpetual GHing.
