ARC DC16000 Disposables Review

Design & Build Quality

The ARC DC16000 isn’t shaped like a typical, boxy disposable or even a tube shaped one. It has a weird but cool ‘two-part’ design consisting of two tubes: one for the battery and one for the ejuice tank. This two-part design looks different and sets it apart from other disposables but this comes at the cost of comfort. It’s not very comfortable to hold and it feels awkward to grip.

This two-part design also makes it feel bulkier than it really is. It’s not too big of a device at 86mm tall, 48mm wide, and 35mm thick at its largest points. The ejuice tank half of the device is larger than the battery half, so these measurements don’t tell the full story. But even though it’s a rather good size, the two-part, two-tube design makes it feel larger than it really is. I have to give it to ARC for designing something different though. 

The battery portion of the DC16000 features a shiny finish and is painted a solid color. This same color extends down to the base of the disposable and also lightly tints the bottom of the ejuice tank. An ARC logo can be found on the front of the battery and the flavor is printed on the back.

The ejuice tank is completely clear (aside from the little bit of tint near the bottom) so the contents are completely visible. ARC doesn’t specify exactly how much ejuice is inside of each device but I’m guessing it’s somewhere between 15-20ml.

I prefer a visible ejuice tank over an ejuice indicator because it’s easy to know how much ejuice you have left just by looking at the tank. Ejuice indicators are helpful but this is much less obscure.

Another bonus feature that the clear ejuice tank allows is a little light show with each draw. A blue/green LED lights up, very brightly if I may add, during each draw and stays lit for a few seconds afterwards. Normally I wouldn’t be a fan because of how much attention it draws but you can turn the LED off by taking three quick puffs. 

The mouthpiece is duck-bill shaped and a nice width at 19mm wide. It’s thin but I found that the shape and width made it really enjoyable to vape on.

On the top of the battery, next to the mouthpiece, is a gorgeous, super clear and high-definition display. It’s simple and only displays your battery percentage, a lightning bolt icon, and a green LED ring, but it’s the highest-definition screen that I’ve seen on a disposable yet. You can’t pick out individual pixels at all because it’s very high-resolution.

It’s important to note that the lightning bolt icon sits underneath the percentage so that you read it correctly. You don’t want to be thinking that you have 99% battery when really it’s 66%. It’s not a huge deal really but I thought that I would mention it!

On the bottom of the battery is the Type-C charging port and next to it, on the bottom of the ejuice tank, is the airflow adjustment. The airflow dial is made of plastic and wiggles a bit in place so it feels a little cheap. It also takes a lot of force to open the dial up on some of my devices. The dial provides an audible click for each setting at least.

Airflow

ARC has designed the ARC DC16000 to be usable for RDL and MTL vaping and from my testing, I can say that it’s pretty good for both, just not for tight MTL vaping. There are three airflow settings which can be set by rotating the dial on the bottom of the device:

• RDL: Two airflow holes open
• MTL: One airflow hole open
• Tight MTL: RDL: No airflow holes

With the airflow dial entirely open there are two airflow holes visible. I get a nice restricted direct lung draw like this and a lot of vapor too. Closing off one airflow hole gets me a mouth to lung draw with a little restriction and which isn’t too loose.

I liked vaping with both of the aforementioned airflow settings but I preferred the MTL airflow better. The last setting though, completely closing the airflow, feels like a struggle to draw on. There’s just not enough airflow for it to be pleasant and I feel like I’m on the verge of collapsing a lung each time that I try to take a draw. The vapor also gets pretty harsh.

Before you say that this last setting isn’t meant to be used, ARC states themselves on their website that there are “3 choices from MTL to RDL” for the airflow so I don’t think I’m wrong to assume that this closed off airflow position was meant to be used. Either way, it’s not my cup of tea.

Features

Besides the adjustable airflow and really high-quality screen, the ARC DC16000 is straightforward and uncomplicated. It’s good for up to 16000 puffs which is a lot even by modern standards.

You can see the ejuice through the clear tank and you can check your battery life after each draw by glancing down at the battery percentage indicator. 

This is one of the best implementations that I’ve seen for tracking your ejuice and battery on a disposable because it’s intuitive and doesn’t require any extra steps or problem solving to figure out exactly where your device’s levels are at. 

A brilliant feature on the ARC DC16000 is that the extremely bright LED lighting can be turned on or off by taking three quick puffs on the device. No need to blind yourself in the dark or attract unwanted attention when you’re out and about in public!

The 800mAh battery is more than enough for a solid two days of vaping. I’ve vaped two of my devices completely out of ejuice and I was able to recharge each of them three times. The ejuice ran out almost in sync with the battery life after the third charge so, counting using it right out of the box, I got about four full charges of vaping out of each device.

Charging speed is an area that could use some improvement; it takes about an hour and thirty-five minutes for a complete charge.

Flavors

ARC has come out with twelve flavors for the DC16000. Out of the twelve, I’ve tried five and I liked all of them. Like most disposables, the options are mainly fruit flavors with some ‘ice’ flavors in there too. The flavors for the DC16000 are:

• Blue Razz Ice
• Blueberry Watermelon
• Cherry Lemon
• Cherry Strawberry Kiwi
• Juicy Peach Ice
• Kiwi Bubble Gum
• Miami Mint
• Paradise Sunrise
• Pineapple Coconut
• Pink Lemonade
• Strawberry Dragon Fruit
• Watermelon Ice

Watermelon Ice

Like taking a bite from a real watermelon, Watermelon Ice has a sweet but watered-down taste. There’s no artificial tasting flavors here which is great if you’re not a fan of super sugary and sweet watermelon vapes. There’s a nice aftertaste too. The icy cooling is mild but enough to notice after taking a few puffs.

Blue Razz Ice

This blue razz flavor has more punch and more ‘oomph’ than others that I’ve had. The blueberries and raspberry flavors are strong and tangy right from the inhale. There’s some artificial sweetness to bring the flavor up a notch too. Mild cooling is present but it’s subtle enough that even vapers who don’t like ‘ice’ flavors can enjoy it.

Paradise Sunrise

This mix of fruits is pretty close to a taste of paradise! There’s mango, orange, and passion fruit flavors all mixed and mashed together. The Passion fruit and mango flavors are very strong but I don’t taste the orange flavor as strongly. I think this is done on purpose because the sweet mango and passion fruit are complemented by the tangy orange perfectly and this wouldn’t be the case if the orange flavor was too strong.

Pink Lemonade

Sweet but sour lemon flavor and maybe a touch of raspberry is what I taste in this flavor. The ‘pink’ part of the flavor is hard to put a finger on but there’s definitely a little more going on with this flavor than just lemonade. Lemonade is the main flavor though and the sourness is just enough to be pleasant and not overwhelming. The (what I think is) raspberry twist is nice too.

Blueberry Watermelon

The balance here is about 70% watermelon and 30% blueberry so it’s mostly a watermelon flavor. The touch of blueberry is nice though and I taste it most at the beginning of the inhale and at the end of the exhale. Don’t expect too much blueberry from this flavor and you’ll enjoy it.

How do they vape?

ARC DC16000 disposables are only available in 5% (50mg/ml) nicotine strength. You might think that they’re extremely strong as a result but I found them to be really smooth and sneaky with how satisfying they are. The draw is so smooth that you might think that chain vaping them isn’t going to be an issue; that is, until you get hit with a massive head rush!

With how strong the flavor is, they have to use a mesh coil. It’s not specified by ARC but the flavor is too strong and distinct to be produced by any other type of coil. The vapor and flavor are both just really great from the DC16000.

I really like the MTL draw from leaving just one airflow open. It’s the perfect mouth to lung draw for my liking and the flavor and warmth from the vapor is similarly perfect. There’s nothing wrong with the RDL airflow setting either, I just like the MTL setting better. If you’re a RDL vaper you’ll get a nice draw by leaving the airflow open.

Vaping with the DC16000 is good for another reason that has nothing to do with the performance and which I mentioned earlier. Being able to quickly see how much ejuice is left inside by looking at the tank takes away a lot of the anxiety that comes with disposables. Even the battery indicator is in the perfect spot to see how much battery life you have left after you take a puff.

Verdict

ARC may be a new name in the disposable game but their first device, the ARC DC16000, has a lot to offer. The design is a polarizing feature and some will love how different it is while I’m sure that others would prefer a more ‘normal’ design. But no matter what you think of the looks, you can’t deny that the clear ejuice tank and HD battery percentage screen are convenient.

There are some small issues with the ARC but for a first device from the company, I think that they did a good job. The issues aren’t deal breakers by any means and are more like small problems and minor inconveniences like the difficult airflow dial on some of my units and lack of airflow on the third airflow setting.

Overall, the ARC DC16000 is a really good choice if you’re looking for a high-puff count disposable vape with tasty flavors that also makes it easy to know exactly when you need to order a replacement. RDL vapers and MTL vapers alike will like the airflow options.

Have you used the ARC DC16000? What do you think? Leave a comment down below!

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