Become a Patron!

Steam Crave Mini Robot Kit Review

I_aint_Joe

Bronze Contributor
Member For 3 Years
Introduction

I’m sure if you don’t own a Steam Crave device, you’ve seen them or heard of their large industrial style tanks with names like Ragnar and Titan – 30mm+ 30ml+ - not something for those looking for a stealth setup.

So, when I agreed to review my first Steam Crave product, I was surprised to see it was called the Mini Robot, and that it was a 23mm MTL kit with a maximum juice capacity of 3ml.

This review will cover the kit as a whole, however they are both available as individual items if someone doesn’t want the kit.


DSC_0029.jpg
More images are here

Pictures from Steam Crave are here

What do you get?

  • Mini Robot Tube
  • Spare Bag of Silicone Pad and Screws
  • Mini Robot 23mm RTA(fitted with 2×1.2mm airflow pins)
  • 2×8mm airflow pins
  • 2×1.6mm airflow pins
  • Blind airflow Pin
  • 3ml Bubble Glass
  • Extra 2ml Glass
  • Spare 510 Delrin Drip-tip
  • Coils, SS316L, 0.45ohm, 7 wraps
  • Spare Bag of O-rings and Screws + tool
The first thing that impressed me were the drip-tips – at first glance they are identical, however one is metal and one is delrin.

The second thing that impressed me was the manual, it actually has a step-by-step building guide for the RTA in it.


DSC_0004.jpg
First impressions

Firstly, something that I’m never a huge fan of – a big logo slapped on the side of the mod – I wish companies would just give stickers with their products instead. Judging from photos the branding on the stainless version is far less prominent.

Secondly, the mod feels solid and weighty – I don’t have scales, but I’m very confident that the mod without a battery weighs as much as any single 18650/21700 mod I have with a battery inside. The mod is rattle-free as long as a battery is fitted.

Final thing I noticed about the mod, is that the screw on battery cap is great, unlike the battery cap on something like an Aegis Solo that has a fiddly little handle that pops out, the entire bottom of the Mini Robot mod screws off and the inside of the cap can be rotated once on the mod, to get a perfect and rattle-free fit for the battery.

First thing I noticed about the RTA is that it looks strange – mainly because it is strange. The top-cap has two protruding screws on each side of the drip-tip, which I guess is why they called it the Mini Robot.

Secondly, it’s tiny. I compared it to all my other MTL RTAs and it’s smaller than all of them. I’m not talking about stuff like the Pioneer, Vertex and Ares – I’m comparing it to the Hastur Mini, Siren V4 and Anani V2 – it’s even smaller than my Holic RDA. I guess that’s what happens when the base is just the deck and the top-cap is the airflow.


DSC_0032.jpg
Build

The builds were done on a regulated mod, not the Mini Robot – mainly because I wanted to check the resistance.

Despite the strangeness of the airflow design, the build is very straightforward – loosen the screws a little, the coil legs into the posts and tighten the screws, there is a nice little platform to rest your a coiling rod on, so height and coil alignment is simple.

The only issue I had with the RTA is that I couldn’t remove the straight glass to fit the bubble glass – maybe it will get loose after a few weeks of use, but I wasn’t about smash the glass in an attempt to force it. I think it would look stupid with the bubble glass, so I’m not overly concerned about this issue.

Wicking is just as easy as the build, nothing fancy required here – cut the cotton to the outside of the deck, fluff it, stuff it in and it should find it wicking perfectly.


DSC_0080.jpg
The Mod

The Mini Robot is an adjustable voltage tube mod, that cycles through 3.5v, 3.8v and 4.2v. The waterproof chip gives you the usual protection you would expect such as: over temperature, reverse battery, low resistance, over-current, short circuit, low battery and 10 second timeout, the mod supports 0.35 – 3.0 ohms.

Operation is straightforward, as there is only one button – five clicks on/off, three clicks to cycle through the voltage levels, two clicks to confirm the battery level – battery level and voltage are indicated via a three color LED on the fire button as are various warnings.

Despite having a chip, there is no screen, no wattage adjustments, no modes – the three voltage settings are your only choices.

DSC_0034.jpg

How does it perform?

  • 2.5mm 26g 0.45ohms - this was the supplied coil and worked well on all voltage settings, with either 2×1.6mm airflow pins or both pins removed. These gave a loose MTL and very tight DL draw respectively and decent flavor. The throat hit that some other MTL RTAs give was lacking a little though. You could feel the difference when cycling through the voltage settings.
  • 2.5mm 28g 1.0ohm - this build was far more suited to the 2×0.8mm and 2×1.2mm airflow pins (or one of each) which gave between a medium to tight MTL draw, the flavor remained good, as did the comparative lack of throat hit. There was less of a noticeable different on the different voltage settings than with the first build.
I hadn’t expected decent MTL flavor from an RTA with air hitting from the top, but I guess the combination of having airflow pins controlling the air pressure, rather than just opening/closing airflow and having the drip-tip directly on top of the compact chamber just above the coil, rather than on the top of a chimney helps a lot with the flavor.

I’m in two minds about the less pronounced throat hit in comparison to some other MTL RTAs, if a strong throat hit is what you desire then look elsewhere, but if you’re into flavor focused MTL vaping this RTA might fit your needs. This is probably caused by the airflow hitting the top of the coil, rather than hitting the underside.

What could be improved?

Not much but...

  • Make the glass easier to remove.
  • No branding.
Conclusion

  • The RTA – the only potential weak point is a slight lack of throat hit, if that’s not a priority then it’s a great little RTA with an easy build and decent flavor.
  • The mod – I’m really into the sturdiness of this mod, it feels and works very well. I just wish it was branding free. Of course if you want a screen, wattage mode, etc this won’t be the mod for you.
  • The kit – if you’re looking for an RTA and mod that match aesthetically, a kit is the way to go.
Overall, as my first Steam Crave experience, I’m impressed – it’s all a little bit different, kinda fun and it performs nicely.

Disclaimer

The Mini Robot Kit was provided for the purposes of this review by Sourcemore who were kind enough to give a very tasty discount for this product. If you use the code SCRK, instead of paying the normal $79.90, you can purchase the Mini Robot kit for $48.42. (the black version is $3.50 extra)
 

VU Sponsors

Top