The other day I received an order from Gearbest. I was surprised because it only took about 10 days and the postmark was from Korea, not China. I received a Troll RDA, the Noisy Cricket II 25, and the OBS Engine tank. All the items were listed as AUTHENTIC. However, I'm really suspicious that the OBS ENGINE and the Noisy Cricket II 25 were clones. The OBS Engine has really, really bad threading. I mean it's crunchy and very difficult to get the threads from the base to the barrel to line up and screw together. I carefully carefully carefully have to screw, back up, screw, back up over and over again to get the device to come together correctly. And the way the threads scratch and scrape as I turn makes it seem likely that these threads are very easy to damage. I haven't seen any reviews that mentioned the terrible threads so I think I received a clone. But, the device does work well, really well when it's all put together. No leaks, easiest wicking on a tank I've ever seen, great flavor. I works like a charm once it's put together. The Noisy Cricket II 25 also has some fishy problems. First, when I insert the batteries and slide the battery cover on, it's very hit or miss whether the device will make contact and get power. I have keep removing the batteries and inserting them over and over and replacing the battery cover for the device to receive power. When I finally get power (the fire button lights up) it works great. But the really fishy part is that the potentiometer you turn to raise the increase the power is turned clockwise to increase the power instead of counterclockwise. All the reviewers complained heatedly about how stupid the counterclockwise knob was. I prefer clockwise but such a big deviation from what I've seen about this device prior to purchase leads me to think this device is not authentic. Also, I can't find a serial number on the NC II 25.
So, while I'm not 100% certain that these devices are clones I'm very suspicious. I've bought lots of stuff from Gearbest and all the stuff I had purchased that was listed as AUTHENTIC seemed legit before but I have a feeling these were clones being passed off as originals. I'm keeping the devices because I can get them to work and they do perform well once I'm passed the initial frustrations but I just wanted to let folks know that you may not be getting what is promised from Gearbest.
So, while I'm not 100% certain that these devices are clones I'm very suspicious. I've bought lots of stuff from Gearbest and all the stuff I had purchased that was listed as AUTHENTIC seemed legit before but I have a feeling these were clones being passed off as originals. I'm keeping the devices because I can get them to work and they do perform well once I'm passed the initial frustrations but I just wanted to let folks know that you may not be getting what is promised from Gearbest.