
We have been selling IQOS devices since 2017, being one of the first UK websites to sell them. We have gone from the early IQOS 2.4, to the 2.4 Plus, IQOS 3, IQOS 3 Duo to the IQOS ILUMA. We are now very happy to say that we have our hands on the very latest IQOS device, the IQOS ILUMA i and as is traditional we are doing one of our product reviews.
IQOS ILUMA i Review
Unboxing.
As is commonplace these days with most decent products the packaging is absolutely top notch. It comes in a sleek white box with everything well packaged.
Below are a couple of pictures of the box and how the product looks upon first glance. It comes with the main device, the holder, a USB-C cable and some instructions. I chose Sienna TEREA for this review as I really like a strong tobacco flavour.
The Setup
Firstly it needed a full charge. This took around 90 minutes. If you leave the holder inside the charger it will charge the holder and then continue to charge the main unit, so you can get going very quickly right away. There is a progress light on the top of the main unit that is in increments up to 5. You will see it pulsating through these 5 lights as you progress through the charge. There are also 2 dots next to this bank of 5 lights, this tells you if the holder is charged or not. When it has 2 dots lit up that means your holder is good to go. If it has one dot then you are good for one session. It takes such a short amount of time to charge the holder it is worth waiting for the 2 dots.
The holder itself feels really good quality. It is of a light alloy construction and feels really good in the hand. This is easily the best holder from all of the previous iterations of the IQOS. It is lightweight and ergonomic.
One thing is clear, it looks like IQOS have designed this to be as simple as possible because simple is good. No messing around pressing buttons etc.
Getting started
To start your experience you simply insert one of the TEREA sticks into the top of the holder and it will vibrate once, then begin the pre-heating process. It is very quick, taking around 21 seconds to be ready. When the holder is ready it will vibrate once again.
The TEREA tobacco stick is slightly wider at the filter end than at the tobacco end, so it is impossible to insert the stick in the wrong way round.
The TEREA sticks that come with the IQOS ILUMA i contain tobacco and they look a lot like mini-cigarettes. They come in packs of 20 sticks. The tobacco is heated, not burnt. This is where the phrase “heat not burn” or “heated tobacco” comes from.
The digital screen on the side of the holder is intuitive too, telling you exactly how long an experience that you have remaining depending on the speed of your own individual puffs. This device is specifically designed to be as close as possible to a regular cigarette so you get around 6 minutes or 14 puffs, whichever comes sooner.
There is a white line all around the outside of the digital display. As you are puffing away you will see this line gradually diminish in a counter-clockwise direction. This means you can see exactly where you are at. When your experience is coming to an end you will get yet another vibration. This means that you have a couple of puffs remaining in this particular session.
If you remove the used TEREA and the touchscreen shows a “0” or if the display starts flashing “0” that means that the holder needs recharging.
During this IQOS ILUMA i review I was easily getting 17 puffs out of each TEREA stick. I was also constantly able to get 3 uses per single holder charge. This is an improvement over the IQOS ILUMA which only allows 2.
Pausing your experience
A new feature on the ILUMA i is the “pause” feature. This means that you can pause your experience for up to 8 minutes. This is done by swiping down on the touch screen to put the device into pause mode. To resume you slide upwards on the touch screen and simply carry on.
The Experience Itself
So how does it perform? It performs very well and as expected. These devices have always been very reliable. They used to have buttons to press but now the whole experience has been streamlined. Nobody wants to be messing around pressing buttons, they want a nice simple experience. You simply pop the TEREA stick in, wait 21 seconds and vape. Nothing could be simpler.
As said before the IQOS is specifically designed to replicate the smoking experience, so the amount of nicotine and the duration of each TEREA tobacco stick is as close to a regular cigarette as possible. There is virtually no smoke and because of this the actual tobacco plug can be a lot smaller than a regular cigarette too.
What’s New With The IQOS ILUMA i?
The additional features that the ILUMA i has over the ILUMA are as follows:
- Smarter Design: An improved user interface and customizable features make the ILUMA i the most user-friendly device in the IQOS lineup.
- Pause Mode: Take a break and resume within 8 minutes.
- Touch Screen: Displays pre-heating progress and remaining session time.
- Induction Heating 2.0: Delivers consistent flavor and satisfaction through advanced internal heating—no blade, no ash, and no need to clean.
- FlexPuff: Enjoy up to 18 puffs per stick (compared to 14 on the original IQOS ILUMA).
- FlexBattery: Depending on how you use it, you can now get up to 3 sticks per charge (up from 2 with the original IQOS ILUMA).

Get One Today
We currently have 2 options for sale and that is Breeze Blue (as seen in this IQOS ILUMA i review) and Midnight Black. Both come with everything you need to get started including 40 TEREA sticks in a choice of sixteen different variants. Both can be purchased below.