Introduction
The Berserker Mini RTA V2 is the ninth (tenth?) version of the Berserker line from Vandy Vape.
It’s a 22mm bottom airflow RTA, with removable airflow inserts and 2/2.5ml juice capacity.
What do you get?
A lot. Three tank options, glass (2ml), ultem (2ml) and metal (2.5ml), three drip-tips, eight airflow inserts, two coils and the usual bag of spares – the only other items that I would have liked to have seen in the box are cotton and a coiling rod.
First impressions
For a 2ml capacity mini version of an RTA, it isn’t very small - it’s noticeably taller than the Hastur Mini and Galaxies RDTA – which are both 2ml capacity tanks and about the same height as the Intake MTL RTA and the Artemis RTA which are 3.1ml/4.5ml and 2.5ml capacity respectively.
The top cap has a bayonet fitting and grippy knurling that reveals a top-fill membrane, the airflow ring on the bottom has the same knurling and is far too stiff for my liking.
Overall, it’s well put together, feels nice and looks nice. (especially with the metal tank fitted)
Coiling and wicking
The deck is easy to work on, you can fit a 3.0mm coil, but I used 2.5mm in most of my builds. It’s a simple two post design, put the coil legs into the post-holes, tighten, center and trim the leads - you’re done.
Except, you’re not done – unless you’re using a spaced coil, you’re going to have to dry burn your coil. Unlike the regular Berserker RTA V2 that had all peek airflow inserts, the inserts for the Mini V2 are peek with a metal center, meaning they should be able to handle the heat from the dry-burn without melting…maybe.
I recommend removing the insert every time you need to dry burn the coil, it takes 1 second to remove, so why take the risk? However, in the interests of science, I dry burned a few times with the insert in place, there was no melting, scorching, etc.
Wicking is simple, cut your wicks just about level with the outside of the deck, fluff, comb lightly and put them into the wicking ports. You don’t need to thin the wicks at all if you’re using a 2.5mm coil – in fact if you do thin them too much, you will get a leak.
This is the first MTL RTA that has leaked on me in a long time, I put that down to user error more than anything else. This is balanced by this RTA wicking so damn well – you can just vape non-stop until it needs a refill.
Airflow
This is probably the best implementation of changeable airflow inserts that I’ve seen so far – you don’t need to remove your build, no special tools are required and each insert is clearly marked. The Cthulhu Artemis has a potentially better system, but in practice it was slightly annoying to mess around unscrewing one part of the tank, while making sure the rest of the tank stayed in place. If only the airflow adjustment ring was as good as the inserts. It’s really stiff, I ended up having to take the RTA off my mod to adjust the airflow, it’s not a huge problem once you find your sweet spot, but it could have been smoother to operate.
The total amount of adjustment available from combining your airflow inserts and airflow ring is great, you can really dial this in to exactly what you want.
How does it vape?
This is not the type of MTL RTA that does really well from tight MTL all the way to restricted DTL – sure, you can use the largest insert and open it up 100% (or use no insert) but that’s a waste – it performs at its best when you use it as an MTL RTA. I tried 26g round wire and the provided coils, I prefer MTL claptons, but the round wire build was also very nice. 3.0mm coils fit just fine, I just prefer 2.5mm for MTL builds.
My personal favorite was with the supplied coils, the 1.4mm airflow insert, three holes open on the airflow ring, vaping at 18.5w.
The combination of excellent wicking, smooth and dialed-in airflow directly underneath the coil and a compact chamber results in a good throat hit and nice flavor – with a pastry or tobacco juice this is as good as I’ve experienced from MTL. Sharp fruit flavors are always my problem with MTL atomizers, for something sour like a lemon flavor, I still prefer the Asmodus Anani V2 over this and every other MTL atomizer.
Other Issues
One issue I had was with the drip-tips, getting three drip-tips is great, but they are all the same inner diameter. I ended up swapping them out for a slightly narrower tip. I know that drip-tips are a personal preference, but you’re going to offer more than one, then different inner-bore should be a must.
Another problem I encountered was running out of juice. 2ml capacity and the ability to chain-vape meant that I was having to refill the tank far too often.
The final problem I found was that even with nice clean juice, the wicks get black within a day or so of use, it’s a strange thing – using exactly the same juices and build in the Intake MTL RTA or the Hastur Mini, my wicks last a week, with this RTA (and the Asmodus Anani V2) my wicks last about a day.
Pros
There is no perfect MTL RTA, everything I’ve used has been flawed in one way or another, however the Berserker Mini V2’s pros totally outweigh its cons.
I’m not sure if I’d go as far as to call this the best MTL RTA that I’ve used, but it’s certainly in my top 3 of all time.
Disclaimer
The Berserker Mini RTA V2 was sent to me by Sourcemore for the purposes of this review – if you use the discount code BMV2, it will discount the price from $29.89 to $25.19.
The Berserker Mini RTA V2 is the ninth (tenth?) version of the Berserker line from Vandy Vape.
It’s a 22mm bottom airflow RTA, with removable airflow inserts and 2/2.5ml juice capacity.
What do you get?
A lot. Three tank options, glass (2ml), ultem (2ml) and metal (2.5ml), three drip-tips, eight airflow inserts, two coils and the usual bag of spares – the only other items that I would have liked to have seen in the box are cotton and a coiling rod.
First impressions
For a 2ml capacity mini version of an RTA, it isn’t very small - it’s noticeably taller than the Hastur Mini and Galaxies RDTA – which are both 2ml capacity tanks and about the same height as the Intake MTL RTA and the Artemis RTA which are 3.1ml/4.5ml and 2.5ml capacity respectively.
The top cap has a bayonet fitting and grippy knurling that reveals a top-fill membrane, the airflow ring on the bottom has the same knurling and is far too stiff for my liking.
Overall, it’s well put together, feels nice and looks nice. (especially with the metal tank fitted)
Coiling and wicking
The deck is easy to work on, you can fit a 3.0mm coil, but I used 2.5mm in most of my builds. It’s a simple two post design, put the coil legs into the post-holes, tighten, center and trim the leads - you’re done.
Except, you’re not done – unless you’re using a spaced coil, you’re going to have to dry burn your coil. Unlike the regular Berserker RTA V2 that had all peek airflow inserts, the inserts for the Mini V2 are peek with a metal center, meaning they should be able to handle the heat from the dry-burn without melting…maybe.
I recommend removing the insert every time you need to dry burn the coil, it takes 1 second to remove, so why take the risk? However, in the interests of science, I dry burned a few times with the insert in place, there was no melting, scorching, etc.
Wicking is simple, cut your wicks just about level with the outside of the deck, fluff, comb lightly and put them into the wicking ports. You don’t need to thin the wicks at all if you’re using a 2.5mm coil – in fact if you do thin them too much, you will get a leak.
This is the first MTL RTA that has leaked on me in a long time, I put that down to user error more than anything else. This is balanced by this RTA wicking so damn well – you can just vape non-stop until it needs a refill.
Airflow
This is probably the best implementation of changeable airflow inserts that I’ve seen so far – you don’t need to remove your build, no special tools are required and each insert is clearly marked. The Cthulhu Artemis has a potentially better system, but in practice it was slightly annoying to mess around unscrewing one part of the tank, while making sure the rest of the tank stayed in place. If only the airflow adjustment ring was as good as the inserts. It’s really stiff, I ended up having to take the RTA off my mod to adjust the airflow, it’s not a huge problem once you find your sweet spot, but it could have been smoother to operate.
The total amount of adjustment available from combining your airflow inserts and airflow ring is great, you can really dial this in to exactly what you want.
How does it vape?
This is not the type of MTL RTA that does really well from tight MTL all the way to restricted DTL – sure, you can use the largest insert and open it up 100% (or use no insert) but that’s a waste – it performs at its best when you use it as an MTL RTA. I tried 26g round wire and the provided coils, I prefer MTL claptons, but the round wire build was also very nice. 3.0mm coils fit just fine, I just prefer 2.5mm for MTL builds.
My personal favorite was with the supplied coils, the 1.4mm airflow insert, three holes open on the airflow ring, vaping at 18.5w.
The combination of excellent wicking, smooth and dialed-in airflow directly underneath the coil and a compact chamber results in a good throat hit and nice flavor – with a pastry or tobacco juice this is as good as I’ve experienced from MTL. Sharp fruit flavors are always my problem with MTL atomizers, for something sour like a lemon flavor, I still prefer the Asmodus Anani V2 over this and every other MTL atomizer.
Other Issues
One issue I had was with the drip-tips, getting three drip-tips is great, but they are all the same inner diameter. I ended up swapping them out for a slightly narrower tip. I know that drip-tips are a personal preference, but you’re going to offer more than one, then different inner-bore should be a must.
Another problem I encountered was running out of juice. 2ml capacity and the ability to chain-vape meant that I was having to refill the tank far too often.
The final problem I found was that even with nice clean juice, the wicks get black within a day or so of use, it’s a strange thing – using exactly the same juices and build in the Intake MTL RTA or the Hastur Mini, my wicks last a week, with this RTA (and the Asmodus Anani V2) my wicks last about a day.
Pros
- Versatile airflow within MTL ranges – if you like MTL you will find the airflow to suit your style.
- Plenty of accessories – three tanks, three drip-tips, nice coils.
- Excellent MTL experience – smooth airflow, with great throat hit and flavor.
- Stiff airflow ring.
- Juice capacity isn’t that great.
- It can leak if you thin your wicks too much.
- You need to re-wick on a regular basis.
There is no perfect MTL RTA, everything I’ve used has been flawed in one way or another, however the Berserker Mini V2’s pros totally outweigh its cons.
I’m not sure if I’d go as far as to call this the best MTL RTA that I’ve used, but it’s certainly in my top 3 of all time.
Disclaimer
The Berserker Mini RTA V2 was sent to me by Sourcemore for the purposes of this review – if you use the discount code BMV2, it will discount the price from $29.89 to $25.19.