Rebuildable atomizers have certainly come into their own recently. These things come in all shapes and sizes. Well, mostly large and larger. The Optimus RDA is based on the popular Octopus and is sort of a baby Octopus dripping atomizer. Check out the rest of the Optimus RDA review to see if it’s not all about size when it comes to rebuildables.
[stextbox id=”info” caption=”Product Details”]
 |
Product name | Optimus RDA |
| Available from | MadVapes | |
| Price | $8.99 | |
| Stock coil resistance | 2.0Ω | |
| Competing products | Smoktech R Tank, Phoenix Bully | |
| Who’s it for? | Advanced users, users looking to try rebuildables | |
[/stextbox]
Optimus RDA Design
As I gave away in the teaser above, the Optimus is both small and a dripping atomizer. That means you’ll find no tank on this device, liquid feeding is of the manual variety. As for size, the Optimus is about as tall as an atomizer or some cartomizers and probably about 3 times as wide.
While that makes this RDA bigger than a typical atomizer, it’s much smaller than most of the rebuildables on the market. The atomizer consists of 3 sections and is made of stainless steel.
The three parts are connected via friction using gaskets. To disassemble, just pull the RDA apart sort of like Legos. The bottom section of the atty has the sealed battery connector and the connecting posts for the coil.
If you’re not fond of using small screwdrivers with rebuildables, you’ll be happy to note this device uses thumb screws to hold down the wire. The stock coil features double wicks which are shifted to one side with the strands separated. This configuration is what got the larger version, the Octopus its name.
The section in the middle has a slot toward the top that serves an interesting purpose. If you look closely on the top section of the atomizer, there’s a series of holes. These holes fit over the slot to form the airflow for the atomizer. The neat part is by rotating the top section, you can cover the holes to adjust the airflow.
I’m particularly fond of this feature because I think many of the rebuildable atomizers are just too airy. This one can be as tight or loose as you like.
The top tapers to accept a standard 510 drip tip. That makes sense since this is a dripping atomizer, after all.
As a whole unit, the optimus is a good looking device which looks at home on most devices, even an eGo. I do have to admit running a rebuildable on an eGo seems a touch odd to me.
Optimus RDA Performance
In a way, rebuildables can vary widely in their performance since the user can put in any manner of different coils. To keep things at a baseline, I’m only talking about the stock coil that came with the device. I’m also very bad at building coils, so there’s that.
First, the filling and, more importantly, the running empty portion. Filling is pretty straight-forward, drip e-liquid down the drip tip and go. There’s a little more to it than that. First comes the initial filling. There’s a lot of wick stuffed in the body so it will take a good amount of e-liquid to get everything ready to go.
I found the easiest way was to lift the top of the body off and fill so you can see the wicks become saturated. After that’ it’s just renewing the liquid from time to time as you go.
The stock wick and coil do a good job of letting you know when the liquid levels are getting low. The flavor gradually fades and if you insist on continuing eventually a burning taste sets in. It should be difficult to let it go too far so the risk of the unpleasant dry hit (the thing I dislike most about atomizers) is fairly low.
Refilling will take from 6-10 drops. Be careful. There is a generous cup for holding liquid, and the battery connector is sealed, but if you overfill, liquid will start coming out the vent holes since they are located in the middle of the device.
Like all atomizers it takes a little time to learn the care and feeding of your device.
Now, performance. The thing that makes rebuildables so great. Despite its small size, the Optimus can hold its own, even with the stock coil. This thing hits like a train. A tiny train. Maybe HO gauge or something like that.
All kidding aside, performance is great. A good strong throat hit and clouds of vapor. The taste is pretty good, which I was curious about since there is a lot of wick in this coil. That might have dulled the flavor a little, but not like you’d typically see in a cartomizer.
While this little guy lacks the size and maybe some of the versatility of its larger family members, the Optimus RDA is a sterling example of a solid rebuildable.
Too Long; Didn’t Read
The Optimus RDA is a tiny rebuildable atomizer. While it lacks the size of some others on the market, it has a sharp design and excellent performance with the stock coils. Of course the fun of rebuildable atomizers is making your own and squeezing even more performance out of this little guy. You can get one at MadVapes.
Pros:
- Compact size
- Plenty of wick
- Sealed battery connector
- Adjustable draw
- Attractive design
Cons:
- Liquid can seep from the airholes
- Coil area may be too small for certain kinds of coils
- Stock wicks have a habit of getting pinched in the body
Disclosure: this article features affiliate links
