Heated tobacco gets lumped in with vapes one day and with cigarettes the next. It’s neither, although it borrows a little from both.
Heated tobacco is a tobacco product that uses an electronic device to warm processed tobacco to around 250-350°C (480-660°F) instead of burning it. The tobacco gives off an aerosol that contains nicotine, which is addictive. You’ll also see it called heat-not-burn.
What are heated tobacco products made of?
Two parts: a rechargeable device and a tobacco stick that goes into it. The device does the heating and the stick holds the tobacco.
The device packs a battery, a heater, temperature sensors and a small processor into a pocket-sized body. The stick is short and paper-wrapped, with a section of reconstituted tobacco (tobacco that’s been ground up and pressed into a thin sheet so it heats evenly), a cooling section and a filter. Each stick is made for one specific system, so a stick from one brand won’t work in another brand’s device.
How does heated tobacco work?
The device heats the tobacco to a set temperature that stays below the point where it would catch fire. So instead of burning, the tobacco releases an aerosol, a fine mist of tiny droplets in air. Sensors hold the temperature steady and the device ends each session by itself.
A session goes roughly like this:
- The stick goes in, and the device either detects it or gets switched on.
- The heater warms up to working temperature and signals with a light or vibration when it’s ready.
- For the rest of the session, the processor keeps the temperature steady, correcting for the cooler air pulled through with every draw.
- A timer ends the session and the used stick comes out in one piece.
| Interesting fact
In a 2025 study presented at CORESTA, signs of combustion appeared once tobacco sticks were heated to about 400°C (750°F) in normal air. Heated tobacco devices are designed to stay below that line. |
What types of technology do heated tobacco devices use?
There are four main designs, and what separates them is where the heat comes from.
The first to sell widely was the blade or pin, a heated blade that sits inside the tobacco and warms it from the inside out. Induction works like an induction hob: a magnetic field heats a small metal strip built into the stick, so nothing in the device touches the tobacco. External chamber devices go the other way from a blade, wrapping heated walls around the stick and warming it from the outside in.
The fourth design heats air. It’s warmed inside the device and passes through the tobacco, taking the heat with it. PLOOM AURA is one example. Its HEATFLOW technology is designed to keep the tobacco at a steady temperature through a five-minute session, and the device starts heating on its own when a stick goes in.
How is heated tobacco different from cigarettes and vaping?
Cigarettes burn tobacco and heated tobacco warms it without burning, while vapes skip tobacco leaf altogether and heat a nicotine liquid. Here’s how they line up:
| Cigarettes | Heated tobacco | Vapes | |
| What is used | Tobacco leaf | Processed tobacco leaf | Liquid with nicotine, no tobacco leaf |
| How it is heated | Lit with a flame, then burns | Electronic heater | Electronic coil |
| Typical temperature | About 700-950°C at the burning tip | About 250-350°C | Varies by device and power setting |
| What is released | Smoke | Aerosol | Aerosol |
| What is left | Ash and a stub | The used stick | An empty pod or tank to refill |
| Contains nicotine | Yes | Yes | Usually |
Heated tobacco and vapes are the pair people confuse most. Both run on batteries and both produce an aerosol, but only heated tobacco uses actual tobacco.
How are heated tobacco products regulated?
As tobacco. In the UK and the EU, heated tobacco is classed as a novel tobacco product, with an age limit of 18 and the same advertising restrictions as other tobacco products. In the US it falls under FDA tobacco rules and you have to be 21 to buy it. Rules vary by country and do change, so it’s worth checking what applies where you live.
| By the numbers
Awareness has roughly tripled in eight years. ASH’s 2025 survey found that 28% of adults in Great Britain had heard of heated tobacco, up from 9% in 2017, while 0.7% currently use it. |
How long do heated tobacco devices last?
Mostly as long as the battery does. Like a phone, the device runs on a lithium-ion cell that loses a little capacity with every charge cycle, so an older device gets fewer sessions per charge. Cleaning the heating chamber regularly and keeping the device out of hot cars and direct sun both help.
Can you recycle heated tobacco sticks?
Used sticks normally go in general waste, unless the manufacturer runs a take-back program in your area. The device is a different matter. Because it has a lithium-ion battery, it belongs at an e-waste collection point, never in the household trash.
