Introduction
When the original OXVA Arbiter RTA was released, I wasn’t that interested in dual-coil atomizers, however the Fat Rabbit RTA and Dead Rabbit 3 RDA have shown me dual-coil isn’t just about high power and big clouds.
So, when OXVA were kind enough to provide me with the Arbiter 2 – a 26mm (tapering down to 24.5mm) top-to-bottom/side airflow, dual-coil, postless RTA, I was more than happy to cooperate with a review.
More Images are here
What do you get?
1× Arbiter 2 RTA (fitted with 5ml bubble glass) 1× 3.5ml straight glass 2× 3.0mm Ni80 Fused Claptons (0.4ohms, 28×3 +40g, 6 wraps.) 2× ageleted cotton 1× 510 drip-tip adapter 1× accessories/spares
I have two thoughts about what you get with the RTA:
For a dual-coil RTA, it’s not as big as I thought it would be – it’s shorter than the Torch RTA and about the same height as the Kylin Mini 2.
The top-cap is removed with a quarter-turn – and on the subject of the top-cap, the 810 drip-tip sits on a slightly raised platform, meaning that if you want to use a wider drip-tip, you’re going to have overhang. I assume this is done for aesthetic reasons, and I don’t really mind because the supplied drip-tip looks good, and has well judged outer diameter and inner bore.
The base of the RTA is unscrewed conventionally (I’ve come to the conclusion that quarter-turn top-caps are excellent, but quarter-turn bases are not) when screwing the base back on, you might have a moment of turning and doing nothing, while the top of the deck fits into place in the chamber, and then you feel it drop into place and everything screws together.
The only visible branding is on the actual chamber, and overall it’s a nice looking RTA – nothing flashy or high-end wannabe, but attractive nonetheless.
Deck and Build
The build is (as long as you have a coily tool) very simple – measure and snip your coil legs (I cut mine to 5mm), drop the coils in and tighten, center and position the coils – I like mine pushed towards the center as much as possible, of course without them touching.
On a personal note – unfortunately, this is where my camera died – all of my build photos were taken on a very cheap smartphone and look even worse than my normal photos, sorry about that.
Wicking is simple, but easy to misjudge. You will need less cotton and more thinning that you think. My first wicking attempt looked and felt perfect – just the right amount of movement within the ports, however it struggled to keep up once I started to push the wattage. Second wicking attempt got it perfect – slightly shorter cotton and thinned out a lot more, it wicked really well at up to 100w.
Overall, it’s not hard to wick – as long as you don’t overstuff it with tons of cotton, you’re gonna be good.
One final note on the wicking: The cotton supplied is good enough for two builds, each piece is long enough to wick one coil and then double back and wick the other, it’s nice cotton so why waste it?
Airflow
The Arbiter 2 has ‘fanned airflow’ which hits the entire width of the coil, this is great for my style of building – I like to space my coils to fit the entire width of the airflow.
Not that I’d call it restricted DL, but the airflow does have a touch of restriction – it’s not so open you could breathe through it.
All in all, the airflow feels good, smooth and without any major noise.
How does it perform?
Using the supplied coils with legs cut to 5mm, my build came to 0.17ohms. From 45w, I started to get flavor and respectable vapor production, but this RTA isn’t designed for 45w, so I took it up to 65w and got a very saturated vape, with a lot of flavor and good vapor production.
With the coils supplied my ideal wattage range was 60-70w with airflow fully open, you can comfortably push it to at least 100w for more vapor production and a warmer vape if that’s your thing.
I did try turning the power down to 45w, closing down the airflow to 50% and using a 510 drip-tip with an adapter, but this did nothing for me.
I don’t want to say things like “best ever”, because there will always be something new coming and I certainly haven’t tried every dual-coil RTA out there – however this is the best flavor that I’ve had from a dual-coil RTA to date.
What could be improved?
I’m struggling here, the only actual complaint that I have is the lack of a coil measurement tool.
Conclusion
Easy build + excellent flavor + leak-free – the Arbiter 2 is really that good.
I have no hesitation to recommend this RTA to seasoned vapers and those wanting to try their first dual-coil RTA.
Disclaimer
The box that I received was marked SAMPLE – I think the release version is identical, but I may be mistaken
The Arbiter 2 RTA was sent to me by OXVA for the purposes of this review
When the original OXVA Arbiter RTA was released, I wasn’t that interested in dual-coil atomizers, however the Fat Rabbit RTA and Dead Rabbit 3 RDA have shown me dual-coil isn’t just about high power and big clouds.
So, when OXVA were kind enough to provide me with the Arbiter 2 – a 26mm (tapering down to 24.5mm) top-to-bottom/side airflow, dual-coil, postless RTA, I was more than happy to cooperate with a review.
More Images are here
What do you get?
1× Arbiter 2 RTA (fitted with 5ml bubble glass) 1× 3.5ml straight glass 2× 3.0mm Ni80 Fused Claptons (0.4ohms, 28×3 +40g, 6 wraps.) 2× ageleted cotton 1× 510 drip-tip adapter 1× accessories/spares
I have two thoughts about what you get with the RTA:
- Postless deck RTAs should come with a coil leg measuring tool of some kind. I have plenty, but if this is your first postless deck atomizer, you might not have one.
- Everything here is really nice quality and suits this RTA well, the supplied coils are nice, the cotton is good, the drip-tip is sexy.
For a dual-coil RTA, it’s not as big as I thought it would be – it’s shorter than the Torch RTA and about the same height as the Kylin Mini 2.
The top-cap is removed with a quarter-turn – and on the subject of the top-cap, the 810 drip-tip sits on a slightly raised platform, meaning that if you want to use a wider drip-tip, you’re going to have overhang. I assume this is done for aesthetic reasons, and I don’t really mind because the supplied drip-tip looks good, and has well judged outer diameter and inner bore.
The base of the RTA is unscrewed conventionally (I’ve come to the conclusion that quarter-turn top-caps are excellent, but quarter-turn bases are not) when screwing the base back on, you might have a moment of turning and doing nothing, while the top of the deck fits into place in the chamber, and then you feel it drop into place and everything screws together.
The only visible branding is on the actual chamber, and overall it’s a nice looking RTA – nothing flashy or high-end wannabe, but attractive nonetheless.
Deck and Build
The build is (as long as you have a coily tool) very simple – measure and snip your coil legs (I cut mine to 5mm), drop the coils in and tighten, center and position the coils – I like mine pushed towards the center as much as possible, of course without them touching.
On a personal note – unfortunately, this is where my camera died – all of my build photos were taken on a very cheap smartphone and look even worse than my normal photos, sorry about that.
Wicking is simple, but easy to misjudge. You will need less cotton and more thinning that you think. My first wicking attempt looked and felt perfect – just the right amount of movement within the ports, however it struggled to keep up once I started to push the wattage. Second wicking attempt got it perfect – slightly shorter cotton and thinned out a lot more, it wicked really well at up to 100w.
Overall, it’s not hard to wick – as long as you don’t overstuff it with tons of cotton, you’re gonna be good.
One final note on the wicking: The cotton supplied is good enough for two builds, each piece is long enough to wick one coil and then double back and wick the other, it’s nice cotton so why waste it?
Airflow
The Arbiter 2 has ‘fanned airflow’ which hits the entire width of the coil, this is great for my style of building – I like to space my coils to fit the entire width of the airflow.
Not that I’d call it restricted DL, but the airflow does have a touch of restriction – it’s not so open you could breathe through it.
All in all, the airflow feels good, smooth and without any major noise.
How does it perform?
Using the supplied coils with legs cut to 5mm, my build came to 0.17ohms. From 45w, I started to get flavor and respectable vapor production, but this RTA isn’t designed for 45w, so I took it up to 65w and got a very saturated vape, with a lot of flavor and good vapor production.
With the coils supplied my ideal wattage range was 60-70w with airflow fully open, you can comfortably push it to at least 100w for more vapor production and a warmer vape if that’s your thing.
I did try turning the power down to 45w, closing down the airflow to 50% and using a 510 drip-tip with an adapter, but this did nothing for me.
I don’t want to say things like “best ever”, because there will always be something new coming and I certainly haven’t tried every dual-coil RTA out there – however this is the best flavor that I’ve had from a dual-coil RTA to date.
What could be improved?
I’m struggling here, the only actual complaint that I have is the lack of a coil measurement tool.
Conclusion
Easy build + excellent flavor + leak-free – the Arbiter 2 is really that good.
I have no hesitation to recommend this RTA to seasoned vapers and those wanting to try their first dual-coil RTA.
Disclaimer
The box that I received was marked SAMPLE – I think the release version is identical, but I may be mistaken
The Arbiter 2 RTA was sent to me by OXVA for the purposes of this review