20mg suits people who want a strong, quick hit from fewer puffs. 10mg suits people who vape little and often through the day. Neither is the grown-up choice, and picking the wrong one is the fastest way to fall out with a perfectly good pod kit.
The short version
- 20mg is the UK legal maximum and matches most bar-style pod kits.
- 10mg holds half the nicotine, so it suits frequent, longer sessions.
- A full 2ml pod at 20mg holds 40mg of nicotine; at 10mg it holds 20mg.
- Nicotine is addictive. If you feel dizzy or queasy, you are taking in too much.
The difference in plain numbers
The number on the bottle is milligrams of nicotine per millilitre of liquid. A 10ml bottle of 20mg salt contains 200mg of nicotine in total; the same bottle at 10mg contains 100mg. Same flavour, same volume, half the nicotine.
Because nic salts are smoother than freebase, both strengths feel gentler on the throat than you might expect. That smoothness is exactly why it is worth thinking about the choice rather than grabbing the top strength by default. You will not feel 20mg scratch your throat the way 18mg freebase does, so the warning sign people rely on is missing.
Most people settle the question within a few days of trying one strength, and the signs are easy to read once you know them.
Who usually picks which
There is no official chart, but shop experience points to some clear patterns. People switching from roughly a pack a day or more often start at 20mg. People who smoked lightly, or who have been vaping for a while and want to vape more freely, often land at 10mg.
How you vape matters as much as how you smoked. If your pod is in your hand all day and you take a few puffs every few minutes, 10mg spreads the nicotine across all those sessions. If you prefer a handful of satisfying puffs then put the kit away for an hour, 20mg delivers that in fewer draws.
Both strengths are widely stocked, so switching later is easy and cheap.
Nicotine per pod fill
Most refillable pods hold 2ml, the legal maximum for a tank or pod in the UK. Fill one with 20mg salt and it holds 40mg of nicotine. Fill it with 10mg and it holds 20mg. A 5mg salt drops that to 10mg per fill.
That is a handy way to sanity-check your choice. If you get through two or three pods a day at 20mg, that is a lot of nicotine, and dropping to 10mg would let you keep the same habit with half the intake. If you barely finish one pod a day at 10mg and keep reaching for the kit, 20mg may suit you better.
Remember that you do not absorb every milligram you inhale, so treat these as totals in the liquid, not figures for your body.
Find your starting strength
Answer honestly, because the right strength is the one that matches your habits rather than the one that sounds impressive. If you land between two answers, start lower: you can always go up, and going up costs a single bottle.
Nicotine is addictive, and too much at once can make you feel dizzy, lightheaded or sick. If that happens, stop, take a break and drop a strength. Salts in either strength are stocked across our nic salt range, and most flavours come in 5mg, 10mg and 20mg so you can keep a favourite while you experiment.
How do you tend to vape?
Start at 10mg. Frequent puffs at 20mg add up quickly.
20mg is likely to feel right, as it delivers more in fewer puffs.
Stay at 20mg in a refillable pod for the same feel, or try 10mg if you found yourself chain vaping.
Try 10mg salt. It will feel smoother than your old liquid at a similar strength.
Switching strength without the misery
Some vapers like to move from 20mg to 10mg over time, simply because they prefer vaping freely without as much nicotine. If that is you, a gentle change tends to be easier than a sudden one. Expect to puff a bit more for a week or two after dropping, which is normal.
A simple trick is to mix bottles of the same flavour: one 10ml at 20mg and one at 10mg in an empty bottle gives 20ml at 15mg. It is a clean halfway house, and it uses up anything you already own. Keep the flavour the same during the change so you are only adjusting one thing at once.
- Week 1 and 2Vape 20mg as normal and note how many pods you use a day.
- Week 3 and 4Mix 20mg and 10mg of the same flavour 50:50 for a 15mg blend.
- Week 5 onwardsMove to straight 10mg. Expect a few extra puffs at first.
- Check inIf you are chain vaping all day, go back to 15mg for another fortnight.
Test yourself
A quick scenario to check the idea has landed. You have been using a 20mg bar-style pod kit and now you vape almost constantly, getting through roughly three pods a day. You are thinking about changing to a refillable kit such as the Uwell Caliburn G3 Lite, and you want to keep vaping in much the same way without taking in quite so much nicotine.
Which bottle makes most sense to buy first? Have a think, then pick. If you get it right, the 10ml range has most flavours in both strengths, and our guide to e-liquid for heavy smokers covers the other end of the scale.
Which strength fits someone who vapes constantly through the day?
Quick answers
Is 20mg nic salt too strong?
For many heavier smokers it feels right. For frequent vapers it can be a lot, and feeling dizzy or sick is a sign to drop down.
Is 10mg nic salt the same as 10mg freebase?
The nicotine content is the same. The salt version feels noticeably smoother on the throat.
Can I mix 10mg and 20mg nic salts?
Yes. Equal amounts of the same flavour at 10mg and 20mg give you 15mg.
What strength are bar-style pod kits?
Most bar-style prefilled kits in the UK are 20mg, the legal maximum.
