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 Phobia RDA
Product Disclaimer
This product was sent to me from Vandy Vape
Review Disclaimer
I review products for what they are with no account of where it comes from or who makes it. The test results are the results for what is in my hand. Due to possible QC difference your experience may vary. There is no way for myself or anyone to predict if a device will last 6 months, 1 year, 5 years etc. Any manufactured item from cars to phones to computers to mods have a possibility of arriving DOA or having a small percent failure rate. There is no way to predict this or quantify this. That’s why warranties and lemon laws exist. I can only review what I have in my hand for better or for worse. Contrary to popular belief, there is no special review samples of higher quality. Most of the time personally i get retail versions, the few times i’ve gotten early releases they are usually worse than the final retail version.
Reviewer Disclaimer
I decided to add this disclaimer in as i feel it’s important for people to know their source of the review. I’ve been vaping since late 2011. I’ve vaped all the styles from MTL to RLH to DTL. tanks, RTAs, RDAs, you name it. I do prefer the DTL and RLH style over MTL personally. My main focus from an atomizer is flavor. For mods i’ve used mechs and regulated mods. I’m an avid temp control vaper but enjoy power mode as well and the occasion mech useage for nostalgia. I’ve been doing reviews since late 2016. As of Jan 2018 I’ve done over 100 written reviews and done over 150 video reviews on my channel, Although i’ve taken a break from videos in the past few months to focus on written reviews.
I spend a lot of time helping vapers on forums as well and try to answer all the questions and comments on my reviews. I’m not an “out of the box” reviewer. I do my best to be thorough at all times. All mods get tested with an oscilloscope and stress tested. At times if needed i’ll disassemble them as well. Rebuildables get multiple builds in them. Tanks i use all coils until the die or a minimum of 2 weeks if they don’t die sooner. I do this for the community to help people find good products and avoid bad ones. In my opinion a reviewer works for the community and nobody else. It’s our job to inform vapers of issues and not be advertisers as well as provide constructive criticism from a place of knowledge back to companies with these reviews so they can improve and make better products in the future.
Recommendations and Past Review Links
written reviews list here
Youtube Channel here
Spreadhseet of Recommendations here
Best of 2017 list here
Introduction:
The Vandy Vape Phobia is a new dual coil RDA from popular manufacturer Vandy Vape, and a collaboration with Alex from MD vapers, a popular youtube reviewer. It’s a bottom airflow postless deck RDA with included squonk pin. It’s available in 4 colors, SS, Matte black, Gold, and rainbow.
Manufacturer's Specs
Box:
Build and Wick Pics:
Handchecks
Initial Impressions and features
When I first got this RDA I was pretty happy with the design of it. The build deck and airflow reminded me a lot of the reload RTAs which was one of my favorites for last year. Postless deck and bottom air for the most part, but his uses a more “3d” air as they call it where it’s a combo of bottom and side in a sense. It also comes with 2 top caps which is interesting. 1 is for 810 tips but also include a 510 adapter, and the other is for the ultem chuff cap it comes with.
Build Deck and Wicking (pics above)
Let’s talk about the build deck now. It’s a postless deck where you need to precut your leads and each lead gets its own hole. You’ll want to position your coils so the sticking up air hole is basically wrapped around them. While the deck itself can handle a massive coil the air slot is not very wide however and actually a lot less than you’d expect. I love postless decks but due to the pre-cutting they aren't the most beginner friendly. The post holes are nice and large you can easily fit pretty much any coil in them. It comes with phillips head grub screws but also includes a set of hex grub screws, as well. I swapped out the phillips for the hex and they are nice and good quality. Pictured above you’ll see my build of 3mm ID and 4mm ID Plenty of room for big coils indeed. Overall a very nice build deck
Wicking is pretty easy as well, just drop it down the sides into the juice well which is nice and deep. It’s an RDA so no tips or tricks needed.
Performance
Performance wise, I used it as a dual coil RTA only as intended. I ran 5 builds in this. The 2 above, 1 more fancy, and one simple round but with 26G kanthal so medium sized wire. All Builds 2.5mm-4mm ID. It’s an RDA that has less air then you would think. I was a bit surprised at how much more restricted it is then the reload RTA or that i would have expected. Due to this, the large builds didn't work that well at all. I found 3mm ID and smaller builds like the 1st pic above to work best. Overall the flavor was just average at best for a dual coil RDA however it is one of the better ones if you like lower watts and smaller builds and a more restricted vape. Don’t get me wrong it is still a DTL RDA, just not as airy as most of the one’s i’ve had recently.
Overall Impressions, Details, and Extras
It’s a bottom airflow RDA and the AFC is smooth, It’s adjustable easily on the mod as well as off because you spin the whole top cap and not just a small area like most. The air holes are built into the deck and then cut out from the bottom on the top cap. It comes with a wide bore 810 ultem drip tip, a 510 adapter, and a 2nd top cap with a chuff style ultem drip tip as options.
The quality is good and the o-ring feels like the right size. Easy to get the top on or off and spin it to adjust air, but not loose at all. It’s a 24mm diameter so should not overhang on most mods. The juice well is also quite deep so over sqounking or over dripping shouldn't be an issue for most. For the builds you want to use in this, it shouldn't get hot as it’s made for smaller builds. The major complaint I have with this is the air. It’s really loud, I didn't get much whistle but it’s a loud RDA. If you suck really hard fully open there is a slight whistle. Even with a normal puff though it’s flat out loud.
Pros:
So with all that said, do I recommend this RDA?I don’t like to do a hard yes or no, this one i’m going to put at 50/50. It’s a good option if you want a low watt RDA for dual coils and smaller builds, but even in that sense, you’d be better off just getting a single coil RDA. The flavor on this just doesn't compare to most dual coil RDAs out there today and also the really loud airflow is annoying, so judging it based on that i can't lean towards the yes. I won’t give it a no either though, because it does have it’s uses and it is built nice and looks good.
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
I review products for what they are with no account of where it comes from or who makes it. The test results are the results for what is in my hand. Due to possible QC difference your experience may vary. There is no way for myself or anyone to predict if a device will last 6 months, 1 year, 5 years etc. Any manufactured item from cars to phones to computers to mods have a possibility of arriving DOA or having a small percent failure rate. There is no way to predict this or quantify this. That’s why warranties and lemon laws exist. I can only review what I have in my hand for better or for worse. Contrary to popular belief, there is no special review samples of higher quality. Most of the time personally i get retail versions, the few times i’ve gotten early releases they are usually worse than the final retail version.
Reviewer Disclaimer
I decided to add this disclaimer in as i feel it’s important for people to know their source of the review. I’ve been vaping since late 2011. I’ve vaped all the styles from MTL to RLH to DTL. tanks, RTAs, RDAs, you name it. I do prefer the DTL and RLH style over MTL personally. My main focus from an atomizer is flavor. For mods i’ve used mechs and regulated mods. I’m an avid temp control vaper but enjoy power mode as well and the occasion mech useage for nostalgia. I’ve been doing reviews since late 2016. As of Jan 2018 I’ve done over 100 written reviews and done over 150 video reviews on my channel, Although i’ve taken a break from videos in the past few months to focus on written reviews.
I spend a lot of time helping vapers on forums as well and try to answer all the questions and comments on my reviews. I’m not an “out of the box” reviewer. I do my best to be thorough at all times. All mods get tested with an oscilloscope and stress tested. At times if needed i’ll disassemble them as well. Rebuildables get multiple builds in them. Tanks i use all coils until the die or a minimum of 2 weeks if they don’t die sooner. I do this for the community to help people find good products and avoid bad ones. In my opinion a reviewer works for the community and nobody else. It’s our job to inform vapers of issues and not be advertisers as well as provide constructive criticism from a place of knowledge back to companies with these reviews so they can improve and make better products in the future.
Recommendations and Past Review Links
written reviews list here
Youtube Channel here
Spreadhseet of Recommendations here
Best of 2017 list here
Introduction:
The Vandy Vape Phobia is a new dual coil RDA from popular manufacturer Vandy Vape, and a collaboration with Alex from MD vapers, a popular youtube reviewer. It’s a bottom airflow postless deck RDA with included squonk pin. It’s available in 4 colors, SS, Matte black, Gold, and rainbow.
Manufacturer's Specs
- Collaboration between Vandy Vape & Alex from VapersMD
- 24mm Diameter
- Deep Juice Well
- Superior 303 Stainless Steel Construction
- Replaceable Wall Sleeve Design
- Spacious Build Deck
- Unique Postless Design - Four Terminals Openings
- Side-Secured via M4 Hex Screws
- Single or Dual Coil Configurations
- Dual Bottom External Airslots
- Two Internal Airflow System - Two Bottom Tubes & Two Slanted Side Tubes
- Direct-to-Coil Chamber Effect
- 810 ULTEM Chuff Cap
- 810 6mm Wide ULTEM Drip Tip
- 810 Drip Tip Adapter
- Squonk-Ready 510 Pin
- Gold-Plated 510 Connection
- Available in Stainless, Black, Gold, Rainbow
- 1 Phobia RDA
- 1 6mm Wide ULTEM Drip Tip
- 1 510 Squonk Pin
- Accessory Bag
- Instructional Manual
Box:
Build and Wick Pics:
Handchecks
Initial Impressions and features
When I first got this RDA I was pretty happy with the design of it. The build deck and airflow reminded me a lot of the reload RTAs which was one of my favorites for last year. Postless deck and bottom air for the most part, but his uses a more “3d” air as they call it where it’s a combo of bottom and side in a sense. It also comes with 2 top caps which is interesting. 1 is for 810 tips but also include a 510 adapter, and the other is for the ultem chuff cap it comes with.
Build Deck and Wicking (pics above)
Let’s talk about the build deck now. It’s a postless deck where you need to precut your leads and each lead gets its own hole. You’ll want to position your coils so the sticking up air hole is basically wrapped around them. While the deck itself can handle a massive coil the air slot is not very wide however and actually a lot less than you’d expect. I love postless decks but due to the pre-cutting they aren't the most beginner friendly. The post holes are nice and large you can easily fit pretty much any coil in them. It comes with phillips head grub screws but also includes a set of hex grub screws, as well. I swapped out the phillips for the hex and they are nice and good quality. Pictured above you’ll see my build of 3mm ID and 4mm ID Plenty of room for big coils indeed. Overall a very nice build deck
Wicking is pretty easy as well, just drop it down the sides into the juice well which is nice and deep. It’s an RDA so no tips or tricks needed.
Performance
Performance wise, I used it as a dual coil RTA only as intended. I ran 5 builds in this. The 2 above, 1 more fancy, and one simple round but with 26G kanthal so medium sized wire. All Builds 2.5mm-4mm ID. It’s an RDA that has less air then you would think. I was a bit surprised at how much more restricted it is then the reload RTA or that i would have expected. Due to this, the large builds didn't work that well at all. I found 3mm ID and smaller builds like the 1st pic above to work best. Overall the flavor was just average at best for a dual coil RDA however it is one of the better ones if you like lower watts and smaller builds and a more restricted vape. Don’t get me wrong it is still a DTL RDA, just not as airy as most of the one’s i’ve had recently.
Overall Impressions, Details, and Extras
It’s a bottom airflow RDA and the AFC is smooth, It’s adjustable easily on the mod as well as off because you spin the whole top cap and not just a small area like most. The air holes are built into the deck and then cut out from the bottom on the top cap. It comes with a wide bore 810 ultem drip tip, a 510 adapter, and a 2nd top cap with a chuff style ultem drip tip as options.
The quality is good and the o-ring feels like the right size. Easy to get the top on or off and spin it to adjust air, but not loose at all. It’s a 24mm diameter so should not overhang on most mods. The juice well is also quite deep so over sqounking or over dripping shouldn't be an issue for most. For the builds you want to use in this, it shouldn't get hot as it’s made for smaller builds. The major complaint I have with this is the air. It’s really loud, I didn't get much whistle but it’s a loud RDA. If you suck really hard fully open there is a slight whistle. Even with a normal puff though it’s flat out loud.
Pros:
- Build Quality
- 810 tip, 510 adapter, and chuff cap
- good quality hex grub screws (phillips also included)
- price point
- color options
- large juice well
- adjustable 510 pin and sqounk pin included
- easy to adjust airflow
- flavor is just ok
- does not support builds as big as you would think
- really loud airflow
So with all that said, do I recommend this RDA?I don’t like to do a hard yes or no, this one i’m going to put at 50/50. It’s a good option if you want a low watt RDA for dual coils and smaller builds, but even in that sense, you’d be better off just getting a single coil RDA. The flavor on this just doesn't compare to most dual coil RDAs out there today and also the really loud airflow is annoying, so judging it based on that i can't lean towards the yes. I won’t give it a no either though, because it does have it’s uses and it is built nice and looks good.
This is Anthony Vapes just keeping it honest, hopefully you all can say the same and i’ll catch you on my next review.