I ended up getting the subox mini. I really like the look and feel of it. Here are my pros and cons:
Pros:
-good flavor
-unit is elegant, discreet and doesn't look like a toy. Battery sticker is great.
-nice accessories and 3 different atomizers
-slight delay in firing: this is great because you can quickly press the fire button to turn on the screen to check power settings or check what the voltage is. Also very easy to power off the unit (5 clicks) without needlessly firing the coil (convenient when installing and testing out an unwicked coil)
-magnetic battery compartment door is convenient and very solid; could never be accidentally opened with regular handling and use
-The unit is a bit heavy but very well balanced and feels solid in the hand. fire button is comfortable and clicky and solid.
-awesome battery life. I have a Samsung battery. I'm running a .6 ohm coil in the RBA and I can vape like crazy and would never imagine needing extra batteries for the day.
-charging animation is simple but effective. Possibility to vape while charging is convenient. Location of charging port is well thought out.
-tank size is large enough to last a day without refill
-Airflow selector was tight at first but now is perfect. Stays in place but easy to change the selection. The three modes make a very big difference and are all enjoyable. I'm a mouth to lung guy so I keep it on the moderate setting mainly but when I want to take shorter draws and create less clouds, I use the most restricted air setting and it gives a more "concentrated" draw.
Cons:
-although this is common with many devices, I find that the five click on is slightly inconvenient. I wouldn't dare put the unit in my jacket pocket without turning it off, and having to go through the five clicks every time I want to vape is a bit of a chore.
-The paint coating does have a tendency to chip off slightly, but this is very minor.
-one area of the inner ring of the airholes/airflow selector was blackened as if from welding. This is also very minor and barely visible and doesn't affect usability at all.
-for the included 1.5 Ohm OCC (reads at 1.6), the cotton was packed in so hard, the wicking was very inconsistent. It would go from dry hit to great flavour, to moderate flavour... I've had better luck with the RBA and might try and pull out some cotton for the OCC.
-the screen is slightly small and rudimentary but gets the job done. I find I have to hold down the wattage up/down too long before it starts scrolling one watt at a time but that's a very small nuisance since I don't change the settings much and once I find my sweet spot, I usually vape within a range of 1 or 2 watts.
General observations:
I'm a mod noob that has transitioned from the vape pen. The flavour in the Subtank is much more pronounced and sometimes I feel it is too pronounced. Some of the sweet flavours I used to like on the vape pen are just overwhelming and even intolerable in my subox. This makes it difficult to select a juice in a store since they demonstrators always are pens and the flavour is very different in a pen than the subox. Some flavours when multiplied X10 just don't taste as well.
My RBA leaked like hell. I put in more cotton and now it is much better but it still occasionally leaks. I even get some spitback and I find myself licking my lips and they taste very sweet even if I'm vaping a tobacco flavour (that is only 30% PG) which I'm guessing might be due to spitback. Next time I rewick, I will try and pack even more cotton. Many users on the forums have complained of dry hits and I've seen the recommendation to use less cotton and keep a little space between the wick and the juice holes. I believe this led me to use to little cotton I think too much juice is getting into the chamber so next rewick I will be aiming to further restrict the juice holes to get less wicking and hopefully a less sweet vape that is more balanced. However, I NEVER get dry hits from the RBA, which is a plus. For now I don't consider this a defect, I consider it's just me learning how to use the RBA to get the best flavour possible for my personal taste.
When I first saw the unit I thought it looked smaller than I had anticipated. After a few weeks of use, I find the unit is actually quite large; I wouldn't say it's cumbersome but definitely more of a pain to lug than my ego style vape pen for which I would just unscrew the battery and I would even store it in my pencil case. Also, the tank has a very large capacity for me. I can vape on a tank for days before needing to refill. This isn't bad but when the subox Nano comes out, I'm might be tempted to get one to have an even small unit I can just throw in my pocket that is lighter and I'm sure even the smaller tank will easily last me throughout a day.
