IQOS vs. Cigarettes: What’s the Difference?

While there are a few alternatives to smoking on the market these days, it's not often people take the time to understand them all. So here we will explore the differences between cigarettes and heated tobacco :

What’s different?

The main difference between IQOS and cigarettes is combustion. When you light a cigarette, the oxygen in the air combine with the tobacco to create self-sustained burning.
When a cigarette burns, the tobacco reaches a temperature of over 850°C at the tip of the cigarette.
This creates harmful and potentially harmful chemicals, which are then inhaled. By contrast, heated tobacco only heats the tobacco up to 350°C and precisely controls the temperature to make sure the tobacco doesn’t burn. This means that instead of smoke, IQOS produces a nicotine aerosol.

What’s similar?

IQOS provides similar satisfaction as a cigarette* - From sensory experience to flavor. Here are some of the main similarities between the two:

Nicotine

IQOS produces about the same amount of nicotine as an average cigarette. To be clear, IQOS is not a cessation product, but rather an alternative way to consume tobacco.

Taste
One of the biggest attractions of IQOS is the deep and rich tobacco flavor that it produces. Without burning it, the real flavor of tobacco is released.

Ritual

In fact, for many adult smokers, an important part of cigarettes is the ritual behavior - from the weight of it in the hand to the time it takes to smoke. IQOS lasts about the same time as a cigarette (six minutes or 14 puffs, whichever comes first).

* Clinical studies conducted in a three-month period in the US and Japan with 160 adult smokers, in real-life conditions