I've had this one for a little over 2 years, but I suspect it wouldn't last the average person 2 months before it outright fails and they just throw it away.
Why? Well, electronics don't exactly like smoke of any form, whether it be nicotine, weed, wood, paper, etc. But that's exactly what these lighters do, literally light things on fire, which of course generates smoke and dirties the electrodes, up until the point they start shorting out, if not other issues first.
I happen to be an electronics technician that knows how to safely disassemble, service and clean this thing occasionally, but its highly suggested that nobody ever try to service them, as they generate thousands of volts for the electric arc, which absolutely will burn the piss out of your fingers, if not worse.
I'm actually glad to have it, it was a cheap late Christmas gift from my mom back in January 2024, but I figure basically 99% of average consumers would end up having issues with it and throwing it away within ~2 months or less.
Sigh, e-waste...
The butane ones are refillable though
Except for the ones that aren't.
I’ve never seen one that isn’t, that just sounds depressing.
Yay Dollar Tree! ... ☹️
Yeah though, even the refillable ones have their faults. The clicker spark button igniter thing tends to end up breaking all on its own within around ~10 refill cycles, at least in my experience.
I'm all about renewable and reusable tech, and I'm actually happy to have this lighter as long as I can keep it lasting, but sadly nothing lasts forever..
I love my little electric lighter, I consider it a clean upgrade. But for about ten years I’ve had the same metal clipper lighter (butane, refillable) and just replaced the flint again so it feels fresh.
Flint is actually more reliable in the long run than those electric clicker things, so yeah that's awesome actually 👍