Would love your thoughts on the kylin mini
I received the kylin mini as a giveaway prize and it came in the reviewer packaging that's marked as sample. I don't know if the current retail version still has the issues mine has, or if it has been fixed. Therefore take my opinion with a grain of salt.
The package did not include the tool, that is needed to loosen the metal topper that holds the glass and chimney in place, without it there's no way to get the bubble tank installed and you will be stuck with the small glass, that is installed by default. I used the one that came with my kensei, since the kylin mini was clearly remodeled after that, but more about that later.
The build deck is beautiful and very easy to build on, especially when using bigger builds & wires, however just like a lot of other decks it does have a limit. I could fit up to 4.0 mm staggered and up to 3.5 triple strand Clapton in there, quad core was only possible @ 3mm, using 28/30 & 32 gauge wire. Anything thicker/wider/bulkier and you will hit the inside of the tank, even if you place the coil just above airflow.
Which we will speak off now, clearly the kylin mini was remodeled after the kensei, that has that nice honeycomb airflow and works fantastic as such with the dual coil setup, but the kylin mini is a single coil RTA and this half round honeycomb airflow is beautiful but a lot and wasn't really needed. In comparison to the kensei, the kylin mini has a adjustable bottom airflow, but it doesn't do a great job at that. Normally adjusting bottom airflow on a single coil should increase flavor, sadly in this example it rather mutes the flavor.
Also the coil have to be placed as close to the airflow as possible and that can become an issue with bigger diameter coils. Depending on the coil you're using, due to the high and centered positioning this causes massive spit back. You can avoid that with spacing the coil a bit, but you will end up mostly with some wraps not directly being hit by the airflow anymore and we are talking 5-6 wraps here, more and you're even further out of luck, exception single round wire builds.
Or adding more cotton, but the kylin mini's wicking channels aren't going to support that. Let's talk about that, the wicking slots are not caged as I call it, there's no direct posts/slots/structure that would hold the wicking in place. On one side its easier to wick but in most cases is much more of a nightmare. The way these little grooves are designed you'll be able to lay/place the cotton right into that, too the left and right are your threads and sure enough, the moment you place too much cotton in there, your tank won't close. Too little and you'll get leakage. So having the correct amount of cotton, with this RTA is crucial and very unforgiving.
Pro's:
Flavor is subjective, however I do give that as a huge pro, its spot on and actually very close/similar to the flavor output of an RDA, instead of an RTA.
It doesn't get hot quickly even when chain vaped.
It supports bigger builds.
Honeycomb Airflow (looks of it, as well as being smooth)
Beautiful resin drip tip, that comes in different colors depending on the RTA you chose. (This might have changed too with the retail version, because I've seen a couple with frosted drip tips or just solid drip tips, instead of the dark blue resin version I received with the silver kylin mini RTA.)
Con's:
Too much air, closing off or half way off will just mute the flavor severely.
Leakage : its not like the old kylin, but you can't lay it on its side or purge before hits, even if wicked correctly it will leak. Not much tho, but every 5-10 hits, you'll have to put some tissue into the airflow and let it soak.
Airflow difficult to adjust, wish there would of been a little stopper or something, because as it stands now the moment you try adjusting your airflow, the tank screws off
It doesn't come with the necessary tool to remove the topper of the glass, to be able to switch to the bubble glass. Again I do have the sample version, maybe its included in the retail version.
The look in general, and yes that's my personal con, but its too much like the kensei. There are so much creative ways they could have done/used but they chose the full on reassembly of the kensei.
Its very loud, and so more you close off the airflow, so louder it gets. While the airflow itself is smooth as mentioned in my pro's, I'm not going to hide the noice it makes. Some people might like that tho.
After all would I personally purchase another one? Sad to say but I pass. Vandy vape does have a lot of amazing products, that I would recommend and purchase even more than one, but the kylin mini is not one of them, sorry.
