Become a Patron!

Anthony Vapes: Vandy Vape Kylin M RTA Review. A Mesh Kylin?

SirRichardRear

AKA Anthony Vapes on Youtube
VU Donator
Diamond Contributor
Member For 3 Years
Reviewer
Hi All, Anthony Vapes back here with my review of Vandy Vape Kylin M RTA. Please see bottom for disclaimers and links. Note this is marked as a sample version.

Introduction:
The Vandy Vape Kylin M RTA is the latest RTA from popular vape manufacturer Vandy Vape. Vandy Vape started in 2017 and since then have become very popular and pumped out a ton of products. I’ve reviewed over 20 of their products over the past year or so personally and they are pretty hit and miss overall making some really good stuff and also some really bad stuff. 2019 though they have continued to be hit and miss so far releasing a really good rugged mod in the jackaroo, a good MTL RTA in the berserker V1.5 mini, and a good affordable mech tube in the bonza. However they had their missteps with the AP kit, pairing the bonza mech with an unsuitable RDA, and a bad tank with the jackaroo, and a bad trident kit due to the pairing and coils, so let's see which side of the fence this falls on. The Kylin M RTA is a 24mm diameter mesh coil RTA. It’s available in 7 colors, Matte Black, SS, Gunmetal, Rainbow, Gold, Froster Grey, and Blue. Looking around online i see them pre-order only releasing late may, around 30-40 USD so pretty standard RTA price these days.

Manufacturer's Specs
  • Size: 34mm (L) x 24mm (D)
  • Material: SS
  • Capacity: 3mL / 4.5mL (With Bubble Glass)
  • Mesh Style Coils (.15 Ohm, .2 Ohm)
  • Honeycomb Airflow
  • Trapezoidal Air Pattern
  • Easy to Build
  • Top Fill
  • Anti-leaking
  • First Mesh Kylin RTA
  • Unmatched Flavor (lol please)
  • 7 Colors: Blue, Frosted Grey, Gold, Gunmetal, Matte Black, Rainbow, SS
Included in box:
  • 1 x Kylin M RTA
  • 2 x .15 Ohm Mesh Coil
  • 2 x .2 Ohm Mesh Coil
  • 2 x Cotton Laces
  • 1 x 4.5mL Bubble Glass
  • 1 x Resin Drip Rip
  • 1 x Accessory Bag
  • 1 x User Manual
Pictures Album:
album



Initial Impressions
When I first got this RTA I wasn’t expecting it, it just arrived and I opened the box and seen another kylin and was like cool, i like the kylins. The kylin 2 was one of the best dual coil RTAs for 2018 and the mini was ok and the original once they fixed design issues was great as well. Then I seen the rest of the stuff in the box which was some extra mesh coils and some cotton and seen it’s the kylin M and i was like ok going to be a mesh RTA i guess. Then i opened it up and seen it was a top airflow mesh RTA and pretty much figured i’d be in for a disappointing ride after that.

Build Deck and Wicking (pics above)
Let’s talk about the build deck now. It’s the same as the profile RTA. It’s a 2 clamp system with the clamps positioned for vertical insertion instead of horizontal like many and the clamps are raised off the deck. The screws come in from the side so it does work well for mesh wire which is its purpose. The Mesh that comes with it is cut to size however and doesn't need any modifications. The post screws are good quality phillips screws, personally not a fan of them but they do include 2 spare flat head screws as well. They also include a tool to help you shape the mesh which is just a rod i already have the coil master ceramic ones to use so just used my own but nice they included that for those that don’t. It also features the spring loaded ceramic block for wicking. It’s just a copy of the profile unity deck so it’s a good deck for a mesh RTA.

Wicking on this one was pretty easy for me personally but remember that there is a learning curve to it since it’s different from wicking non mesh RTAs and mesh coils love a lot of cotton. I wicked it just like I did for the profile unity since it worked great for the unity, which means sliding the cotton through, then cutting it on a downward 45 degree angle then stuffing it in the holes. I also did some fluffing of it personally prior to tucking it in then retrimming after i fluffed it as their cotton comes way too tightly packed and doing all that worked great for me and no dry hits and was able to chain vape easily. So overall i’d say most experienced builders should have no issue adapting to it, however new builds may find it troublesome and objectively probably more difficult than wicking a non mesh RTA

Performance
Performance wise, I used it as a mesh RTA only with the included Mesh Strips which are kanthal .15 ohm mesh strips rated at 50-70 watts and kanthal .2 ohm mesh strips rated at 40-60 watts. Rating wise I found the .15 best at 60 watts and the .2 best at 50 watts. With that said, the flavor on this was just poor. Low intensity and very muted. It’s as close to a flavorless vape as i’ve seen since the zathog RDA. After using their cotton the 1st time, I rewicked it with some kendo gold hoping it may make a difference, but it did not really and flavor was still very poor. I started with the .2 ohm coil. Then I went to the .15 ohm coil and only used kendo gold on that one and still again as close to a flavorless RTA as you can. Overall it’s an awful performer as a 50-60 watt RTA and even as a mesh RTA far behind that of the profile which while muted at least offers good intensity. The combination of going top airflow and mesh, 2 things known for muting flavors and lowering intensity resulted in a very expected poor performance.
 

SirRichardRear

AKA Anthony Vapes on Youtube
VU Donator
Diamond Contributor
Member For 3 Years
Reviewer
Overall Impressions, Details, and Extras
It’s a top airflow RTA. It has 19 small sized holes on each side (honeycomb style airflow) and can be closed off 1 or 2 at a time. The AFC is nice and smooth and on a stopper. It’s easily adjustable on or off mod and has some grip to it as well. Very well done. The air is quite turbulent and kind of loud as well but no whistle. You can adjust from a pretty airy DTL vape to a restricted DTL vape but with the included mesh and it’s watt needs fully open pretty much. The top fill is your standard screw off the top fill which is one of my favorite kinds, and has nice grip and good threading so easy to unscrew to fill. Very happy with that personally.

The fill holes however are nice and big and very recessed and you can fill past them all the way to the top of the chimney. Very easy to fill with any bottle type quickly or even just pouring from a glass bottle. My only complaint, much like the profile unity is, you can’t install the base into the RTA when it’s on a build meter. It just free spins. You have to take it off the meter and install the base with the RTA upside down and screw the base into the body instead of being able to screw the body into the base. It’s not a huge deal but I will ding them for that. Personally when i build after i build and wick i leave the base on my meter and install the body over my atomizer and check resistance to make sure nothing is shorting. In this case i had to take the base off and install it then put it back on the meter.

There is a good amount of accessories that come with it, mine came with a standard 810 greenish resin friction fit drip tip and a 510 adapter, no 2nd tip. I wish they included an extra tip personally. The drip tips fit nice. Not too snug but not too loose and you should be able to use most of your own tips 810. Just 1 note there is only the friction fit one’s fit. The o-rings ‘TFV8 styled” ones are too tall to fit correctly. Mine came with 2 tanks as well, a 3ml and a 4.5ml one. The smaller one is a straight glass while the bigger one is a bubble glass. The 3ml capacity is a little low for a mesh RTA as it does eat juice up fast, but the 4.5ml capacity is decent. Also included is plenty of extra o-rings, 2 spare post screws (flat head), 1 screwdriver, 1 coil rod, 3 springs, and 4 total mesh coils (2 of each) with 2 strips of cotton. Everything you’d expect from an RTA accessory wise outside of the extra drip tip. The coils are also clearly labeled and in nice plastic cases, so great job with that. Branding is nice and simple. Just the word Kylin M printed on the chamber visible through the glass like most RTAs so nicely done there.

Pros:
  • 4.5ml and 3ml capacity options included
  • plenty of spare o-rings and 2 spare post screws
  • good quality post screws
  • Nice top fill design
  • Good build quality
  • color options (7 total)
  • included clearly labeled coils and cotton
  • nice standard 810 resin drip tip and a 510 adapter
  • AFC easy to adjust
  • Nice threading
Cons:
  • flavor is just awful
  • learning curve on wicking
  • no spare drip tip and taller ‘TFV8 styled” ones don’t fit
  • can’t screw together while on a build meter
  • Air is turbulent and a bit on the loud side
Conclusion
So with all that said, do I recommend this RTA or not? This one is an easy no. It’s funny as i heard rumors that they may not release so obviously they had internal doubts but thanks to some youtube shilling and “advice” from them they decided to go forward with their release and have already racked up a ton of pre-orders. I personally gave them my .02 that they should scrap it, but obviously that wasn’t taken to heart. Oh well, at least i can warn people not to waste money on this abomination of a RTA not that it’ll make much difference but maybe helps a couple of people which was the point of doing a review in the 1st place. I won’t be adding this to my sheet of recs linked down below.

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 Vandy Vape

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. 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

Spreadsheet of Recommendations here

Best of 2018 list here

Best of 2017 list here
 

VU Sponsors

Top