Everything Wrong With FÜM

Product Overview

FÜM is a smokeless, vaporless, nicotine-free inhaler. A polyester core infused with essential oils sits inside a reusable device; users inhale through it to smell or taste the flavor.

The device has adjustable airflow, which affects how much flavor comes through, and can be taken apart. The reviewer found it reasonably well made and attractively packaged. FÜM markets it as a way to replace “bad habits” with a “good habit,” and offers flavors including crisp mint, spearmint, orange vanilla, and black licorice.

Potential Benefits

• FÜM contains no nicotine and produces no smoke or vapor, so it avoids those features of cigarettes and vapes.
• For someone trying to quit smoking or vaping, it may help replace the hand-to-mouth or oral-fixation ritual. The reviewer said it could be useful for some people who are already committed to quitting.
• The reviewer found accounts from some users who said FÜM helped them quit, though some reviews included affiliate links. He also noted that aromatherapy studies, including some on black pepper extract, suggest it may reduce nicotine cravings.
• After trying it for a few days, the reviewer enjoyed fidgeting with the device.

Main Concerns and Drawbacks

Safety and Marketing Claims

The reviewer said there is little research on inhaling essential oils this way and that essential oils are largely unregulated. He questioned presenting FÜM as a broadly beneficial “good habit,” especially for non-smokers and younger people. He did not claim the product is harmful, but argued that there is not enough evidence to establish that long-term inhalation is safe or beneficial.

FÜM’s website cited three studies and showed other studies as incomplete. The reviewer questioned relying on company-funded, non-peer-reviewed safety claims.

In the reviewer’s view, FÜM’s advertising appears to imply that the product can help with smoking or vaping while avoiding an explicit quitting claim. It also promotes FÜM for other habits and situations, such as eating sugary foods, drinking soda, stress, and anxiety.

Price

The site advertised a Journey Pack for $88, but the reviewer saw a price of $97 without a subscription and $106 at checkout. He paid around $100 using installments. A subscription lowered the advertised price, but he did not want to subscribe.

The reviewer felt the cost could put FÜM out of reach for people already struggling to afford cigarettes or vapes. He also questioned the practical value of the website’s claims that FÜM is 66% cheaper than vaping and about one-third the cost of a bad habit, given the upfront cost.

Flavor and Use

The reviewer found the mint flavors unpleasant. Spearmint made his eyes burn and seemed to irritate his lungs. Orange vanilla was very faint and mostly tasted like a little orange, not vanilla. Black licorice smelled and tasted intensely unpleasant to him.

He coughed and said inhaling through FÜM felt unlike breathing plain air. He also said his teeth felt as though they had a coating afterward. Adjusting the airflow and using the device over several days did not make him like the flavors, though he became somewhat more accustomed to it.

After using the supplied cleaning tool, the reviewer found pieces of it inside the device and said some entered his mouth when he inhaled.

Comparisons

Compared with smoking or vaping, FÜM has no nicotine and creates no smoke or vapor. The reviewer considered it potentially preferable as a substitute for someone trying to leave those habits, while emphasizing that it does not directly address nicotine cravings.

The reviewer also noted that FÜM may help replace the ritual of taking a hit, but not necessarily the sensory reward of exhaling smoke or vapor. He stressed that it is not a substitute for the commitment needed to quit.

Compared with Ripple, another zero-nicotine essential-oil product Noah had tried, Noah said Ripple produced smoke and tasted much better than FÜM.

Performance

Noah said a core’s flavor faded after about two days and lasted roughly three days in his experience.

No numerical review score was given.

Views by Speaker

• Reviewer: Saw possible value for committed smokers or vapers seeking a nicotine-free replacement ritual, but objected to the cost, disliked the flavors, and considered the safety and broad “good habit” marketing insufficiently supported.
• Noah, a former vaper who tried FÜM to quit: Said it did not help him. Its taste reminded him of Windex, and the flavor faded quickly. He could understand how an inhaler might replace the oral fixation, but not the sensation of a smoke cloud. He preferred Ripple’s taste and concluded that FÜM was not worth the money.

Verdict

The video’s recommendation is not to buy FÜM as a general wellness habit. The reviewer found it expensive and unpleasant, while its long-term safety and broad benefit claims remain uncertain.

FÜM may have some value for someone who is already determined to quit smoking or vaping and finds the ritual helpful, but the video does not present it as a reliable quitting aid or a product worth its price.