Battle of the Gods! - Themis, Zeus & Horus RTA Triple Review by KingPin!

[KingPin!]

Hi Folks,

Welcome to my colossal triple review; the aptly named “Battle of the God’s” featuring the mighty Geekvape Zeus, The Seer Digiflavour Themis and finally the Indelible Vapefly Horus. Before I commence a little background as to who these players are;

Zeus: does this Greek king of the gods even need an intro? If you don’t know who this bundle of joy is by now let me quote Samuel.L.Jackson as Zeus Carver in Die Hard with a Vengeance (it helps to imagine his epic voice at this point)

John McClain: That cut deep?
Zeus Carver: How the hell would I know?
John McClain: Just keep pressure on it. “Jésus” right? John Mcclain. Thanks for covering my ass back there. I owe you one
Zeus Carver: Damn right, you owe me one! Do you have any idea what those guys are doing to my shop right now?
John McClain: Chill out “Jésus”
Zeus Carver: Chill out? What the Fuck? Are you trying to relate to me? Talk like a white man!
John McClain: Look, “Jésus”…..
Zeus Carver: Why are you calling me “Jésus”….Do I look Puerto Rican to you?
John McClane: The guy back there called you “Jésus”
Zeus Carver: He said “Hey, Zeus!” My name is Zeus
John Mcclane: Zeus?
Zeus Carver: Yes Zeus! As in father of Apollo? Mount Olympus? Don’t fuck with me or ill shove a lightning bolt up your ass……Zeus! You got a problem with that?
John Mcclane: No, I don’t have a problem.

Themis: Was the Greek Titan daughter of Uranus (Heaven) and Gaia (earth) and is the personification of divine order, fairness, law and custom. In Egyptian lore she was known as Ma’at; assisting Osiris by weighing the hearts in judgement of the dead. To the Romans she was known as Justitia and you’ll see her depiction outside of law courts; a statue with her blindfolded holding scales and a sword; to signify judicial authority and truth. Zeus was known to like throwing his seed about and Themis bore the “Horae” with him, so if anything expect a shit load of future tank names in the follow up to the Zeus and Themis RTA’s.

Horus: The Egyptian meaning of the name Horus is “god of the sky, war, protection and light” depicted as a falcon. Horus had a battle with his uncle (Set) to avenge the murder of his father Osiris. Apparently the battle involved “semen” and he lost an eye in the process?! He is godly after all so I guess we should expect an explosive finish?! ….Anyway he won the battle(s) to become ruler over Egypt, and his missing eye became a symbol in itself “The Eye of Horus” (popularly known as the eye of Ra). It symbolises that everything is being watched from above (isn’t “hindsight” wonderful? It was looking down that got him into this mess in the first place!). It was believed thereafter the Pharaohs were the embodiment of Horus in life; celebrated as deities, protectors and patrons in their own right.

So why did I choose these three in particular? Well my interest in these types of tanks started with the OBS Engine Nano RTA, A friend on the forum recommended it (shes pretty besotted with them), so I purchased it a few months ago. I suppose I could have added it as a fourth to this review, but I felt these three in particular were remarkably similar so I’ve opted to drop the Nano from the mix in the hope to reduce my reviews overall length.

In obligatory tradition - I should mention I purchased the Zeus and Themis (dual coil version) RTA’s myself for this review, and received the Horus directly from Vapefly. As always I don’t like to make recommendations in my reviews, instead I’ll present you with my findings to help bolster your research should you be interested in any of these products.

Specification Overview & What’s in the box

Themis

• Visible Height: 51mm
• Diameter: 25mm at the base (27mm at widest part)
• Capacity: 5ml
• Thread length 4.6mm
• Drip Tip (Stock 810 – through Bore 11mm, Spare 510 – tapered bore 5.8 > 11mm)
• Refill Port: 2 (kidney style 9.4 x 3 mm)
• Chimney Bore: 6.9mm
• Chamber width: 19mm
• Post distance for coil length: 5mm
• Deck Space between airflows: 12mm
• Chamber Height 7mm
• Airflow Slots: 2 (12 x 2.5mm)
• Extras: Screws, 510 DT, 510 Adaptor, Glass, O-rings, Tool

Horus

• Visible Height: 50.6mm
• Diameter: 25mm
• Capacity: 4ml (2ml TPD version)
• Thread length 5.3mm
• Drip Tip (Stock 810 – Tapered bore 8.9mm > 12.6mm)
• Refill Port: 2 (kidney style 9 x 3 mm)
• Chimney Bore: 6.6mm
• Chamber width: 17mm
• Post distance for coil length: 7.7mm
• Deck Space between airflows: 6mm
• Chamber Height 10.8mm
• Airflow Slots: 2..it looks like 4 buts its two (15.5 x 2.5mm)
• Extras: Cleaning Cloth, Screws, 2 coils, Wicking Cotton, Metal 510 Adaptor, Glass, O-rings, Tool

Zeus

• Visible Height: 45.5mm
• Diameter: 25mm
• Capacity: 4ml (2ml with optional rubber bung)
• Thread length 4.5mm
• Drip Tip (Stock 810 – through bore 10.7mm, Spare 810 – Tapered Bore 10mm > 15mm, Spare 510 – tapered bore 5.8 > 11mm)
• Refill Port: 2 (kidney style 9 x 3 mm)
• Chimney Bore: 6.9mm
• Chamber width: 17mm
• Post distance for coil length: 7.4mm
• Deck Space between airflows: 8.4mm
• Chamber Height 6mm
• Airflow Slots: 2 (9.5 x 2.5mm)
• Extras: Two Additional Drip Tips, Screws, 2 coils, 510 Adaptor, Glass, O-rings, Tool

Purchase Options

Themis

• Base Material: Stainless Steel, Pyrex Glass, Gold plated pin
• Drip Tip Material: Delrin
• Available Colours: Black, Stainless
• Variants: Mesh or Coil (Coil variant being the one I bought for this review)
• Product Info: http://digiflavor.com/project/themis/

Horus

• Material: Stainless Steel, Pyrex Glass, Gold plated deck and pin
• Drip Tip Material: Resin
• Available Colours: Black, Stainless, Gunmetal, Gold
• Product Info: http://www.vapefly.net/vapefly-horus-rta/

Zeus

• Base Material: Stainless Steel, Pyrex Glass, Gold plated pin
• Drip Tip Material: Delrin
• Available Colours: Black, Blue, Stainless, Gunmetal
• Product Info: https://www.geekvape.com/project/zeus-rta/

Impressions, Build Quality & Assembly

I know the Themis is primarily a dual coil RTA and you’re probably thinking what the heck is it doing going up against two single coil RTA’s!? Bear with me here because these tanks are really damn close in their design approaches. To prove just how close they all are: not only can you see my measurements in the spec overview, but check out the breakdown views below (Note: the order of my pics is always - Themis left, Horus Centre, Zeus Right);

All break down into 7 parts (8 for the Themis). As you can see assembles are all very similar; except for the press fitted deck and screw on base for the Themis, which in itself is similar to the likes of the Uwell D2, Augvape Boreas, Steamcrave Aromamiser Supreme to name a few. I have noticed on the Themis some slight seeping under the base on a couple of occasions; so make sure the O-Rings are in place and that they are in good condition. I found it difficult to really tighten the base due to lack of available knurling but ample tightening was what’s needed to sort the slight seeping out.



They all share the same standard “Goon 810 connection” accommodating the wider drip tips and each comes with a 510 Adaptor. Even the spares are similar with the Zeus offering the most out of the three (see my spec overview).



The AFC rings all detach in the same way and are secured in place by a single O-ring. I felt that Vapefly should have positioned the O-ring at the top rather than the bottom on the Horus (or even use two) as the AFC ring pops off a little too easily and allows excess overspill to enter underneath. The Horus has a wider airflow range than both the Themis and Zeus allowing for an airier vape if that’s your thing.



All three employ exactly the same kidney refill port sizes. Both the Zeus and Themis has a flush fit top cap where-as the Horus differs slightly incorporating a recessed section to catch overspill. I found it doesn’t make all that much difference having a recess on the Horus since Vapefly opted to keep the same flush top cap seal (same as the other two tanks) rather than using a bung to fit the recess area. As you can see they will all squeeze juice out fairly frequently after a refill.




Placing the glass over the frame leaves them all with similar dimensions, the Zeus being the stumpy one of the three is approx. 5mm shorter in height than its counterparts. In order to maintain the base diameter of 25mm, and squeeze in the larger deck, the Themis expands out to 27mm at its widest point, something to take into consideration when using narrow mods which topple easily.



The all share very similar chamber assemblies with the inside chamber ceiling being as flat as a witches tit.



The main difference here is Vapefly incorporated the airflow separator into the chamber, rather than on the deck as per the other two.



All are solid enough designs although I found a couple of niggly things with the Horus: The first being the airflow separator rattles (only when disassembled), second its chamber sits on a ledge on just one side of the deck; meaning you can push it at a slant (again this is only when dissembled).

 

[KingPin!]

Impressions, Build Quality & Assembly – Continued

So at this point I’m thinking “have I just stitched myself up and purchased two copies of exactly the same tank?” On the one hand it’s hard to deny there are some remarkable similarities between these three, although I do feel there are a few key differences as well.

First the Drip tips. Whilst the Horus comes with just the single resin 810; I found it to be absolutely spot on, both in quality and dimension. I have already fed back to Vapefly regarding potentially offering a 510 in the future (dimensions matching one of my all-time favourites). Being Geekvape and Digiflavour are sister companies the tanks have inherited almost identical bog standard drip tip offerings. I didn’t like any of their wide 810’s on offer so went with the same 510 on each - they are comfortable and get the job done but that’s about it.



Top Caps: Digiflavour stuck with the bayonet “quarter twist” top cap employed on the Zeus and to be fair I think it’s a winner, I much preferred this approach to the regular screw it on design featured on the Horus. I did however welcome the cooling fins incorporated into the Horus top cap; which to be fair are probably more for Aesthetics rather than function since they are pretty stubby & chunky.

When it comes to the support frames only the Zeus incorporates a 3 legged strut approach. I find this reduces available space in the chamber making it a little less forgiving when it comes to wicking thicker juices. Digiflavour and Vapefly have recognised this and dropped to 2 columns only, granted the Themis struts are really wide, but they offset that by making the tank section a larger 27mm diameter.



All three are top airflow Atomisers which is excellent for reducing leaking issues. Well I say top airflow; The Zeus channels air down the sides and almost surrounds the entire coil. The Themis directs air in either side. The Horus draws in from both sides then channels air over to just the one side (and under the coil). Here’s a few pics to explain what I’m going on about (I modified the Horus pic slightly to show air isn’t cutting across the chimney like it looks, rather it moves around the outside of chimney). To me it looks like the Horus combines the two tank designs together and it works really well.



Finally the decks are very different to one another two being postless the other being velocity style. Despite their visual differences and layout, they will all accommodate roughly the same coil size which I’d say is a maximum of 3.5mm internal diameter. The Themis and Zeus sport a bead blasted look whereas the Horus is left with machined gold plated finish.

 

[KingPin!]

Machining & Post Screws

I’d have to say for machining and finish throughout the Horus comes out on top. It’s important to note here mine is a sample version so my experience may differ to yours but I can’t find any flaws throughout the tank. The Zeus comes in second where for the most part it’s really good as well (I just noticed some rough edges left on the back of the airflow posts).

Lastly comes the Themis which not only did I find paint reach inside the chamber, but looks like some bugger stuck a screwdriver into the top of it!. In my experience Digiflavour normally trump Geekvape in terms of finish and quality (hence the extra few quid they add) but in this case that just isn’t the case.



Threading, assembly and disassembly: I’d have to give it equally to both the Horus and the Zeus, both were excellent. The Themis comes out last due to the scratchy threading and difficulty in catching the base cap.

Assembly and ability to inspect the deck: I’d say the Themis comes out on top since you can remove the base without interfering with the tank section. It also has the quarter turn top cap same as the Zeus which makes refilling a real breeze. Second goes to the Zeus only because it’s a little easier to refill quickly over the Horus.

When it comes to post screws Geekvape and Digiflavour are one of the best in the business, and it’s no different here, they are hard, fit snugly in the posts and will take repeated build punishment.

Vapefly do need to take heed of feedback with regards to their posts screws whilst they are certainly hard they feel lose in the posts (I experienced exactly the same thing on the galaxies RDA as well)

 

[KingPin!]

Build Flexibility, Wicking and Ease of Use

To Benchmark these tanks together I chose to use my own 3mm ID “Flapton” coils in all of them including same number of wraps (25g flat wire core with a 38g wrap all SS316l). In all honesty I found these builds to be ample even going forward as well.

The Horus is very easy to build on being a very similar experience to the Oumier Wasp Nano (my all-time easiest build deck) Even the post screws are very similar. Literally slip the coil legs over the lip, screw down and snip away the leads. The screws are wide enough that the legs won’t slip either side, and despite the screws feeling a bit lose in the threading neither shifted out of position once tightened. The deck is designed for a single horizontal coil of up to 8mm in length. I’ve personally chosen to stick with 3mm diameter coils although it will allow 3.5mm at a push (taking into account the 6mm space available).



After mounting I position my coil so the top is in line with the top of the posts and so it sits evenly over the bottom airflow hole.



I found wicking pretty forgiving on the Horus so won’t go over it all too much. First give the cotton a rounded edge. The ends shouldn’t extend further than the inside of the outer base edge (my view here distorts how far I’ve cut them)



Fluff up the ends and prime the cotton



When you place the cotton into the channels it should be roughly in line with the deck lip (green arrow). Also notice I try and shape the cotton to form an angle up the channel exposing more cotton to the juice (see red line)



The Themis is a postless deck which will require a pre-cut of the coil leads. I like seating my 3mm ID coils fairly low on the deck where the mid point is in line with the centre of the airflow hole (red arrow). With this in mind you can rest the coil on the edge of the deck and use just above the bottom of the screw cut out as a rough measure (bottom of black slot in the pic).
You can position your coils higher if you want, up to the line on the inside post (green arrow), anywhere above this you’ll get a short. I’d say 3mm coils are ample but you could squeeze in 3.5 if you wanted to. The post distance is the smallest of the three atomisers (at 5mm) so 7 wraps was about as much as I could get away with and couldn’t space the coil like the Horus or Zeus.



The Themis is really easy to wick, perhaps one of the easiest tanks I’ve ever wicked. First follow the line of the deck and cut round to form this sort of shape.



Fluff up the ends and rake excess cotton away and repeat the cut. Place the wicks in the juice well dry, you need them to swell when you juice them. Also if you feel force placing the cotton in the wells; you didn’t rake enough away so don’t worry about having to take them out and repeat.



Once you’re happy juice it up and check for gaps around the wicking. It should look nice a plugged like so. You’ll notice it’s really not sitting deep inside that well and doesn’t need to.

 

[KingPin!]

Build Flexibility, Wicking and Ease of Use

The Zeus is another postless deck requiring a pre-cut of the leads. As with the Themis you can rest the coil on the edge of the raised deck but this time use the bottom of it as a measure. When you mount it, you’ll see it then naturally sits high (similar to the position I have in the pic after doing this).



It’s a funny deck this one I’ve tried running coils high and low, changing the orientation to sit diagonally and after all that mucking about felt a centred and high up approach gave the best results for my tastes. You’ll get away with pulling the coil up to the red line in the picture anything above that will cause a short. I wind my coils anti clockwise so my coil leg is placed away from the wicking channel (green arrow) this avoids unnecessarily burning of the cotton. Unfortunately you’ll find the leg will always be bent out of alignment due to the position of the screw



Wicking is also a bit of a pain on the Zeus with the channel and coil being out of alignment. So I’ll cover how I do it a bit better: I use the below method;

Note I use the “Scottish roll method” (google this). The cotton has already been pulled through and raked out and my coil is positioned centrally. The juice I run is 75% VG so rake more or less cotton away depending on thickness of your juice.

1) Cut the Cotton in line with the top of the base (red arrow)



2) Follow the line of the inner deck and cut the cotton away at an angle (Repeat both sides)



3) Now trim the cotton so it fits to the rim of the base (red circle)



4) Fluff up the ends. At this point prime your cotton at the ends as well as on top



5) Start poking the bottom half into the channel, leaving the top half sticking out



6) Now sculpt the top half to sit above the well on top of the deck. Notice the bottom half only reaches half way down the channel and it’s also concaved by being pushed back into the well (this gives it a tube effect). When finished It should fill the red line I placed on the pic



7) Looking from above everything should be sitting rounded now so when the chamber fits over the top it won’t disturb anything



8) Done re-assemble and fill a quarter way to try it out before filling it right up.

 

[KingPin!]

How’s it Vape?
Note: I noticed on web it takes it to this post?there’s more of the novel further up if that happens...

I see these type of RTA’s as the workhorse of the RTA world. They are going to be reliable, hassle free and will get you from A to B which is particularly useful for work or journeys where not having to deal with annoying refilling techniques /seeping/ leaking is going to be right up there at the top of my priority list.

I know I wasn’t going to review the OBS Engine Nano but the Zeus and Nano vape very similar to each other. Both can be finicky to wick and this is ever more noticeable when using thicker juices due to the multi legged frames and lack of space between the glass and chamber assembly. I would say you could flip a coin between the Nano and Zeus because both are really close when it comes to flavour performance which is to say I find them both to be “good” although I think the Nano still pegs it slightly. I found the Zeus’s airflow to be the better of the two though, it’s silky smooth with a low audible noise which I really appreciate when out and about.

Out of the trio I’d say the Horus and Themis are more closely aligned with each other to the point I’d describe the Horus as the single coil equivalent of the Themis. In my humble opinion both offer an advance in flavour performance compared with the above two RTA’s but lag behind the Zeus a little in terms of the silky draw appeal. I don’t want to give you a false impression either of these atomisers are designated flavour chasers, because they aren’t; they are however solid performers and closely matched in terms of flavour output.

All three produce a dense vapour production and are “fairly” moist on the tongue (the Horus offering the moistest vape), however to achieve that they all drink pretty rapidly as a result... As I previously found with the Engine Nano before commencing this review; you don’t need a big old Frapton Clapton Alien coil thingy to get a nice vape out of these, as such they suit coil builders who haven’t yet mastered the harder builds, or builders who just prefer to keep it simple. I’m perfectly happy with their performance around 40-50w (Themis dual coils around 60-70W) which to me is one of the most appealing features of all of these tanks.

As I mentioned earlier; I preferred using a 510 drip tip and a fairly restricted draw on both the Themis and Zeus (you get all of this in the kit anyway). The Horus comes with that single snazzy 810 drip tip, and whilst I can use my own 510 it’s really comfortable in both width and bore so I stuck with it.

I did notice a little initial spitting on all of them (even with the wicking nailed) if I refilled to the very top of the juice port. There are several things you can do to alleviate this; first don’t leave the top cap off for too long, second refill all in line with the top of the glass, third adjust the wattage up or down until you find the sweet spot. Finally it could even mean you need to revisit wicking if it’s persistent throughout.

Finally none of them got too hot under chain vaping conditions.



Zeus Pro’s

• Quality post screws (hard)
• Can Tinker on this deck with coil positioning and different sizes
• Good build quality – lovely threading
• Quick access quarter turn refill
• Very smooth airflow and draw (average flavour)
• Doesn’t get hot
• 3 drip tip options included
• Love the matt black finish
• Leak free

Zeus Cons

• The 510 adaptor doesn’t have a lip...you’re going have to push it out from underneath with a pin or something
• O-rings don’t offer enough resistance on the 510 drip tip
• Wicking can be a pain to master
• Having three support columns in the frame can slow the free movement of thicker juice in the tank
• You will end up twisting your coil legs slightly
• Will squeeze juice out when tightening top cap sometimes
• Will spit if you fill right to the top of refill ports (fill in line with top of the glass)

Themis Pro’s

• Versatile build deck single or dual coil (if that’s your thing)
• Coils legs stay flat in the posts
• Quality post screws (hard)
• Easy to wick
• Smooth draw
• Great flavour and decent cloud
• Quick access quarter turn refill
• Doesn’t get hot
• Decent O-rings
• Could Possibly have alternative decks released at a later date
• 510 Drip Tip Included

Themis Con’s

• Will squeeze juice out when tightening top cap sometimes
• I experienced seeping from the base because I hadn’t screwed base on really tight but there is a lack of knurling
• Will spit if you fill right to the top of refill ports (fill in line with top of the glass)
• For a dual coils RTA; you might find deck space limiting for complex builds
• Disappointed with the Quality control on my tank
• Tank does extend out from the base significantly so careful knocking the mod over

Horus Pro’s

• Easy to mount coils (Wasp Nano easy)
• Coils legs stay flat in the posts
• Decent post screws (hard)
• Fairly easy to wick
• Smooth draw (with AFC half open or less) offers widest variance on airflow
• Great flavour and decent cloud
• Doesn’t get too hot
• Decent O-rings throughout
• Really nice 810 stock resin drip tip
• Great machining and finish best of the three overall in this category

Horus Con’s

• Will squeeze juice out when tightening top cap sometimes, they could have use a bung on the top cap.
• Screws could have been a little tighter in the posts (didn’t come lose though)
• Will spit if you fill right to the top of refill ports (fill in line with top of the glass)
• Chamber assembly should have sat on a lip both sides of the deck
• Internal rattle on the airflow divider (not noticeable when assembled)
• Should have positioned the AFC O-Ring at the top
• A 510 Drip Tip would have been a welcomed addition especially a snazzy resin one (personal preference)

Final Conclusion

I found the Zeus is a little harder to master of the three but once I sussed it out enjoyed its draw and silky airflow the most although found its flavour somewhat average. Taking all things into consideration throughout my testing period; I’ve preferred using the Horus in the single coil category and not just over the Zeus but even over the Engine Nano as well. Despite some niggly areas I think Vapefly have produced a solid tank here and it will replace these other two tanks as my main top airflow, single coil workhorse for now.

The Themis to me is the personification of the Horus in a dual coil form (or perhaps it’s the other way around being it came out first), they vape in a really similar fashion; which is to say both offer a great vape. The thing I like most about this tank (all three of these actually) is they don’t require big fancy coils to get a nice vape from them. I do think the deck space is fairly limited on the Themis though especially if you are looking to use bigger builds, something to bear in mind.

In terms of battle of the gods I’d say the “Original” Zeus is no longer king of the gods, at least not for now! (Geekvape have seemingly screwed my review already by just releasing the dual coil version!). In the meantime It’s a really damn close call between Themis and Horus, I personally like them both equally…..But if I had to pick one I’d take into account other considerations and have to give it to the Horus as the overall victor. In the end the Horus had the better finish throughout and I can use the same 3mm coil as the Themis but vape it at 40W!



Thanks for taking to time to read my review. I hope this information serves you well, until next time KingPin!

 

[St.Roostifer]

Fantastic idea pitting these three together and enjoyed the history lesson in mythology for an intro. A one eyed god against a goddess named Themis that gave birth to the children that she ultimate convinced to kill their father, Zeus. How could this review not be a fun and interesting read? I say bloody well done kingpin!

 

[KingPin!]

Fantastic idea pitting these three together and enjoyed the history lesson in mythology for an intro. A one eyed god against a goddess named Themis that gave birth to the children that she ultimate convinced to kill their father, Zeus. How could this review not be a fun and interesting read? I say bloody well done kingpin!

Thanks Roo it’s much appreciated. It’ll be exactly 1 month tomorrow this ones been in the making and I’m glad I could finally post it up

I was a little pissed off when I saw the Zeus dual coil being released last week ...had one of those moments...do I finish up and rush it out?!

In the end I thought sod it ...The Original Zeus was released back last December, I’m late to the party anyway on that one, so what’s just one more week gonna do .....re-wick and make sure haha

 

[St.Roostifer]

Thanks Roo it’s much appreciated. It’ll be exactly 1 month tomorrow this ones been in the making and I’m glad I could finally post it up

I was a little pissed off when I saw the Zeus dual coil being released last week ...had one of those moments...do I finish up and rush it out?!

In the end I thought sod it ...The Original Zeus was released back last December, I’m late to the party anyway on that one, so what’s just one more week gonna do .....re-wick and make sure haha

Here's an alternate way of looking at it. What if you had waited and the Zeus dual coil was in the review instead. The review would have been Horus vs Themis vs a dumbed down version of Themis.

I like the review as is and again, very well done.

 

[MWorthington]

Wow! Damn fine writeup bud! I really enjoyed this and learned a ton. Thank you.

 

[KingPin!]

Wow! Damn fine writeup bud! I really enjoyed this and learned a ton. Thank you.

Thank you matey - Hope it helps you a little with your decision