Anthony Vapes: Geekvape Tengu RDA Review

[SirRichardRear]

Hi All, Anthony Vapes back here with my review of the Geekvape Tengu RDA, please see the bottom for disclaimers and links. Note: This is marked as a sample version.

Introduction:
The Geekvape Tengu RDA is the latest RDA from popular vape manufacturer Geekvape They probably don’t need much of an introduction these days as they have made many popular products. First known for their atomizers back in the days like the tsunami and griffin and avocado have lately been doing a great job mostly with mods like the excellent nova. The Tengu RDA is a Dual coil DTL RDA with an included squonk pin. It’s available in 6 colors SS, Golden, Black, Rainbow, Blue and Gunmetal. Looking around online the cheapest legit site i’ve seen it at is element vape for 27.95 in the USA all colors in stock so great price point there.

Manufacturer's Specs

• 24mm Diameter
• Deep Juice Wells
• Superior Stainless Steel Construction
• Expansive Build Deck - Singular Elongated Post
• 4 Terminals - Top Secured via Flathead Screws
• Juice Redirection Feature for Dripping Enthusiast
• PEEK Insulator
• Single or Dual Coil Configuration
• Concealed Adjustable Honeycomb Style Airflow
• Side to Coil Airflow
• 810 Wide Bore PMMA Drip Tip
• 810 Wide Bore Delrin Drip Tip
• Squonkable BF 510 Pin
• Gold-Plated 510 Connection Pin
• Available in Black, Golden, Blue, Stainless Steel, Rainbow, and Gunmetal

Included in box:

• 1 Geek Vape Tengu 24mm RDA
• 1 Spare Parts Pack
• 1 810 PMMA Drip Tip
• 1 810 Delrin Drip Tip
• 1 GV Triangular Tool
• 2 Feather Cotton
• 1 Hex Wrench
• 2 N80 Fused Clapton Coils
• 1 510 Drip Tip Adapter
• 1 Gold-Plated BF Positive Pin
• 1 User Manual
• 1 Promotional Card
• 1 Warranty Card

Picture Album
album



Initial Impressions
When I first got this RDA it felt pretty standard to me. Nothing to really stand out. It’s a basic side airflow dual coil RDA with a modified velocity style deck. Nothing that is going to really excite me these days and nothing special or innovative but looked like a solid RDA.

Build Deck and Wicking
Let’s talk about the build deck now. The best way i can describe shortly would be a modified improved version of the velocity deck. But in more detail it’s a 3 post deck, you have 2 short negative posts on opposite sides and then 1 tall positive post in the middle that is a “T” shape with 1 post hole on each side. So what you wind up getting out of it is a nice simple deck to build on. Each lead gets its own post hole and coils can be installed 1 at a time and excess leads cut off after installing, but if you wanted to precut them 4-4.5 mm is best. The post holes are also staggered for a top lead and bottom lead so very easy to do. The post screws for the positive come top down so no twisting with flat wires. The negative ones come down on an angle for very minimal twisting. All the post screws are good quality flat head grub screws so no complaints there. There is plenty of room to fit a 4mm ID coil and you could probably go even bigger by a little bit but not many people go over 4mm ID so didn’t see a need to max it out. Overall nothing innovative, but a great deck that’s simple and easy to build on and works great.

Wicking on it is quite easy. It’s an RDA so nothing fancy just drop your wick leads to the bottom.

Performance
Performance wise, I used it as a Dual Coil RDA only as intended by the design. I ran 4 builds in this 1 fancy 3mm ID build, 1 fancy 3.5 mm ID build, 1 fancy 4mm ID build and 1 simple round 4mm ID build. With that said, this is a RDA that performs very similar to the bonza/bonza V1.5 RDA. not made for round wire and best when used at high wattages (100 plus) with very large builds. 3mm ID and round wire even when turning the air down isn’t a great performer. But when you go full air , 4mm ID fancy builds at 100+ watts the flavor has great intensity and very minimal muting. One of the best RDAs for 100+ watt vaping along with the bonza but if you don’t want to vape that high, your better off with a different RDA.

 

[SirRichardRear]

Airflow, Misc. Details, and Extras
Let’s talk about the airflow now. This RDA is side airflow and has the “honeycomb” style airflow consisting of 13 small holes on each side. Fully open it’s a DTL vape for sure and quite airy but can be closed off for a restricted DTL vape but doesn't shine when you do that. It’s full potential is with the air fully open. The AFC is smooth and easy to adjust and on a stopper. You adjust the air by spinning the whole top cop just like the Mjölnir RDA although the adjust on the Tengu is a bit tighter and there isn’t anything to grip either so it’s not as easy as the Mjölnir but still more then easy enough to do. It closes off from the side 1-2 air holes at a time. Very well done there The top cap locks into place making it easy to screw on and off your mod as well.

The top cap is quite nice and thick though and dissipates heat really well and doesn't get too hot while chain vaping all things considered but can get a little warm due to the high wattage demands. The top cap is easy to pop on and off and the o-rings are nice. It’s not too tight or too loose by any means. To put the cap on you do need to line up the notches so you do have to do a little fiddling to get it into place. It’s not hard to do and not a big deal but it’s worth the mention. The inside part of the top cap that locks it into place and allows for air adjustment is a seperate part that is o-ringed into the top cap. This was a little incostsent as sometimes it would come off with the top cap and other times it would stay on the base. Again not a big deal but worth the mention.

It comes with 2 drip tips, one is a Clear (likely PMMA or PC) friction fit 810 tip however, and the other one is a simple black delrin drip tip but is one of those really low profile ones i don’t care for personally so i stuck with the clear one that looks nice. They also include a metal 510 adapter as well. No 510 tip though but not a big deal. 2 Tips and an adapter is good in my book. The Drip tips all fit very well in the RDA. snug, not loose, not tight. You can use your own as well and most should work just fine. I tried a couple other 810 tips with no issues personally. I didn’t try any 510 tips though. The quality on the Geekvape Tengu RDA is very nice as usual with geekvape. The paint job is hard to judge since i got the SS one but shows no signs of damage or chipping, The o-rings all fit good, the airflow adjustment is simple and easy. The post screws are great quality as well (flat head grub screws) and 8 spare screws are included (4 flathead grub and 4 hex grub so you get both options) and it comes with a standard 510 pin and a BF 510 pin like most RDAs these days as well.

The juice well is a good size. The Side air is raised up high enough off the deck that it creates plenty of room for juice. The over squonk protection and Over drip protection is pretty good. I used it as both a dripper and a squonker and it worked well both ways. As a dripper you can drip right down the drip tip without taking off the top cap and the top of the positive post is shaped like a roof so the juice can slide directly onto the coil. As a squonker i know people are going to wonder where the juice comes from since it’s a large center post. It doesn't come from the top to paint coils. There are 2 small holes on the bottom of the post so ti comes out of the bottom like most RDAs when squonking to fill the well and be absorbed into the cotton. You can't squonk over the coils. Also because this misinformation is a thing sadly no need to worry about capillary action with the coils high up. It’s no different than the dead rabbit, drop, drop dead, or mjölnir in that sense. Every atomizer ever relies on capillary action and it’s no different than using a RDA which never got any complaints for that. It’s just a new “buzz word” tossed around by people who don’t quite understand what they are saying, it works great as a squonker.

It’s a 24mm diameter so should not overhang on most mods on the market today. There is plenty of spare o-rings and 8 spare post screws, 1 tri-tool, 1 allen wrench, 2 810 drip tips, and a 510 tip adapter. They also include 2 coils and cotton. They don’t label the coil bag itself however their site and the box labels them as N80 fused claptons .3 ohm each so good enough on that. Great amount of accessories overall as usual with geekvape. Branding is pretty well done. There is an engraved logo of a “japanese tengu mask” on one side between the airflows. It’s in a matching color and doesn't stand out much and isn’t cringy IMO so no complaints there from me.

Pros:

• 2 810 Drip Tips and 510 adapter
• standard positive and squonk pin included
• plenty of spare o-rings
• Color Options (6)
• great quality post screws
• Good over squonk protection
• works well as a dripper or squonker
• good build quality
• Price point (under 30 USD)
• Good Size Juice Well
• Good simple branding
• easy to adjust airflow
• dissipates heat really well
• nicely labeled pair of coils and cotton included
• very easy to use build deck
• top cap is easy to pop on and off
• locks into place so easy tos crew on and off mod

Cons:

• Only for the really high watt vapers if you want good flavor

Conclusion
So with all that said, do I recommend this RDA?I don’t like to do a hard yes or no, but this one has to lean towards the yes for me for sure. It’s very similar performance wise to the bonza RDA and really shines at 100+ watts with really large builds. I wouldn’t recommend it if you build smaller or use round wire or like lower or medium watts obviously, but as a 100+ watt RDA it is one of the top on the market for sure. If you don’t want to vape that high, there are better options to work in those watt ranges. Outside of the limited watt range, i couldn’t find any real complaints on this RDA at all. I added this to my sheet of recs linked down below. Check out that spreadsheet when considering a purchase as I keep it up to date with all the latest and greatest stuff on the market.

This is Anthony Vapes just keeping it honest, hopefully you all can say the same and i’ll catch you on my next review.

Product Disclaimer
This product was sent to me from Geekvape

Review Disclaimer
Due to possible QC difference your experience may vary.

Reviewer Disclaimer
I’ve been doing vape reviews since late 2016 and have done over 300 reviews to date including for almost 2 years written reviews across the largest vape forums. I enjoy helping vapers on forums as well and helping contribute to the great vape community. I’m not an “out of the box” reviewer. I do my best to be thorough at all times and have enough experience with many products to tell what’s good and what’s not. All mods get tested with an oscilloscope and stress tested and results are posted in my reviews.

Recommendations and Past Review Links
written reviews list here

Youtube Channel here

Spreadsheet of Recommendations here

Best of 2018 list here

Best of 2017 list here