Hello everyone, this is the first time I have attempted to review any e-cig products. I hope you'll bear with me while I make the inevitable mistakes and flubs and hopefully you will get something out of this process. I've been vaping for a few months now after smoking for 12 years. First of all, I feel better - and that went a long way toward improving my outlook on life. Second, I smelled better - and that went a long way toward improving what others thought about me. Third, I no longer had to take awkward breaks at work while my colleagues rolled their eyes in disgust - and that went a long way toward improving both my coworkers attitudes towards me (and consequently my ideas/suggestions) and my attitudes towards them. Overall, vaping has been part of a process of realizing my actual age (28) and starting to take seriously not only the health impacts of smoking, but also of many other activities I once indulged in or products I once consumed. It's been a part of my wider attempt to improve my own health and lifestyle. So here's to you, vapers!
I hope to give you guys a very honest and balance review of the Aspire Atlantis after putting it through some heavy use for a while.
First, the pros-
1. The vapor production is incredible. I say that even compared to other RDAs I've used (such as the Dark Horse). This thing is probably the easiest way to become an instant cloud-chaser. (More on that later)
2. The flavor is crisp and clear almost 100% of the time.
3. Ease of use: the Atlantis is the easiest setup of all the sub-ohm tanks that I've seen so far. Simply open the tank package, put some juice inside the coil and on the feed holes along the side (there are 4 of them and they are quite large). I recommend putting between 2-3 drops each and waiting for them to absorb before you turn and go on to the next hole.
4. The airflow. First, the air flow control ring. This thing is great; the large cyclops hole is almost too much air for me, but the second to largest cyclops is smaller and perfect. The other two smaller holes I don't use much as they tend to be too restrictive. However, the flavor and vapor combination on that penultimate slot is perfection. Secondly, the airflow holes on the coils themselves are MASSIVE. That's where most of your air comes from, folks.
5. Wattage. Depending on what you like to vape at, this could be a con. For me though, my preferred vaping level is somewhere around 25-35w. This is a LOT higher than my preferred level with the Subtank, but more on that later. The Atlantis coil says that the recommended vaping wattage is 20-30w, but you can push it quite a bit higher. I've seen reviews where others say 40w and such but I, personally, do not like vaping that high. The sweet spot for me is about 28w with the Atlantis. Also, the Atlantis runs VERY well on my Tesla Penny mech mod, but again the same cannot be said of the Subtank Mini (again, more on that later).
6. Leaking. I haven't had any leaking issues. None, zip, zilch, zero!
7.
The Cons
1. One BIG con right up front, and maybe this is my bad luck, is the quality of Aspire's Atlantis coils. The ones it came with worked very well and I had no issues. However, the 5-pack of replacement coils I ordered from MistHub were terrible. They weren't the new OCC coils, but neither were the first two that came with the device, and they were the same generation. Three out of the five in that pack of replacement Atlantis coils were duds. All tasted like burnt rubber even after being wicked properly. The first coil I dropped a few drops on and let it sit over night and primed it - but no dice. The coil was flooded and still tasting of burnt rubber. So I decided to try and literally soak the next in a shot glass a quarter full of e-liquid for about an hour before trying it. Still tasted of burnt rubber; the next one was the same. It was not until the fourth coil in that package that I finally got it to taste right. This was a HUGE turn off, and I hope Aspire can get a handle on the quality control because that was a bad experience.
2. Packaging: There is nothing in the instructions about making sure that your device can handle firing this low, etc. I would also like to see a little card, a la the Subtanks, that instructs people to place a few drops of juice in the coil before use. Another is the cheapness of the materials. Compared to the Subtanks, it just, fells, and is made of incredibly cheap materials. Now this is more of an aesthetic issue, and that really doesn't matter to most people; the device functions very well, and so I don't believe many people will be too upset about packaging.
3. Tank capacity: I don't know how much other vapers use on an average day, but I go through about 7-8mls of e-liquid. I try to restrict the amount I vape because I enjoy premium flavors and they really are quite expensive. I vape at around 1.5mg/ml in sub-ohm setups and 3mg/ml in 1.0ohm+ setups. The fact that the Atlantis can only hold about 2ml of liquid is a con for me. For others that perhaps don't use it as much or don't mind refilling, that might not be so bad. For me, I can't really store my e-liquid in my office at work. I like to keep mine refrigerated, and I don't have a personal one. That means all the e-liquid I want for that day must fit inside the devices I'm carrying. If all I had was an Atlantis, I'd be left SOL pretty early in the day, which would suck.
4. The drip tip. Because the Atlantis's sweet spot is about 28w, the stainless steel drip tip the Atlantis comes with tends to get hot very quickly. Now, if you space out your pulls this isn't an issue, but sometimes I like to chain vape and that thing gets heated up in a serious hurry, as well as producing a lot of condensation inside the tip, causing me to have to clean it out with a paper towel multiple times a day. (Believe it or not, the Subtank Mini is actually worse in this regard.)
5. Tank style and fragility. Personally, I got a hairline crack in my Atlantis's original Pyrex tank the first day I had it. Of course this isn't Aspire's fault - my cat knocked over the mech mod the tank was sitting on and it fell onto a hardwood floor. However, I would like to see Aspire incorporate some stainless steel into their tank designs a la the Subtank Mini or the Delta II. While it makes viewing your e-liquid level super easy, it is also prone to cracking easily. I don't want to go out and spend another $10 just to purchase a sturdy replacement, ya know? While I LOVE the style of the replacement stainless steel and glass tank with the geometric designs on it, it's silly to have to purchase it separately.
TL;dr: So overall, I have to say that despite the problems I have had with the Atlantis and the bad pack of replacement coils I got, the device does what it is supposed to do and does it quite well. The flavor is outstanding for a tank (although it could be better), but the vapor production is obscene. It's a steam engine at times, especially when you've got a higher VG juice in her. The price was right for me as well, as I got it on sale from Misthub.com (a vendor I buy from regularly, although they don't *always* have the latest products or best prices). Most of the time I was using the Atlantis on either the Eleaf iStick 30w (then 50w) or Tesla Penny mech mod.
Now, onto the Subtank Mini. I've only had it two days and I can already see that there are significant differences. Firstly the fact that the Subtank comes with the RBA section, which I really love. It comes loaded with a .5ohm coil already made, along with a bag full of RBA supplies and one full of Japanese Organic Cotton. They give you an extra .5ohm RBA coil and an extra 1.2ohm stock coil. My device came with a .5ohm stock head already loaded into the tank. I have to say that I was NOT impressed the first time I fired it up, not at all. It spit in my mouth and the vape was WAY too hot. It just didn't taste right at all. The tank was leaking like crazy between the tank and the AFC ring.
I cleaned her all up, and got rid of the huge amount of juice that had gotten down beneath the coil and into the base of the AFC itself. Tip: use q-tips, the paper towel doesn't really do the job. Then I took out the .5ohm stock coil and put it away in a plastic bag (maybe I'll use it later -- it might not be totally screwed *shrug*). I read online that some people had leaking issues when using the stock coil but not when using RBA. So I made up a wick, watched a YouTube vid on how to wick up the coil, put in the RBA section and now the taste is WONDERFUL. I will say this, however. On my iStick 50w, the sweet spot on this thing is like 14w. It's SERIOUSLY low. For me...I don't know yet. The taste is beautiful, the RBA section performs like a champ. While in RBA mode the vapor production is pretty decent, the stock coil (for me anyway) didn't produce much vapor at all. I really don't care about blowing clouds, so this to me is no big deal. I'm much more of a flavor junkie.
I am still getting leaking issues near the AFC ring. I suspect I need to take it fully apart and just clean the crap out of it next time the juice gets low and the problem will likely cease. One thing I do not like is that the AFC ring is a tiny bit too difficult to turn. Sometimes I find myself accidentally turning the entire tank instead of just the ring. This is pretty minor because I don't switch between AFC settings too often, but others might have a bigger problem with it.
So first impressions of the Subtank Mini vs the Altantis in TL;dr mode:
1. Subtank has way better tank capacity, even with RBA section in.
2. Subtank has clearer flavor than Atlantis.
3. Atlantis has better vapor production than Subtank.
4. Atlantis easier to put together than Subtank.
5. Subtank somewhat leakier (so far) than Atlantis.
6. Subtank also produces more condensation and juice in the drip tip than Atlantis (although the problem exists in both products).
7. Subtank operates much better at much lower wattages than Atlantis.
Phew - that went on way longer than I intended it to. I do hope you will leave comments, or generally let me know what you think. If any of you have had the same leaking issues with the Mini - did you solve it completely? As always, a lot of this is personal/subject - many will have different experiences and opinions.
VAPE ON!
I hope to give you guys a very honest and balance review of the Aspire Atlantis after putting it through some heavy use for a while.
First, the pros-
1. The vapor production is incredible. I say that even compared to other RDAs I've used (such as the Dark Horse). This thing is probably the easiest way to become an instant cloud-chaser. (More on that later)
2. The flavor is crisp and clear almost 100% of the time.
3. Ease of use: the Atlantis is the easiest setup of all the sub-ohm tanks that I've seen so far. Simply open the tank package, put some juice inside the coil and on the feed holes along the side (there are 4 of them and they are quite large). I recommend putting between 2-3 drops each and waiting for them to absorb before you turn and go on to the next hole.
4. The airflow. First, the air flow control ring. This thing is great; the large cyclops hole is almost too much air for me, but the second to largest cyclops is smaller and perfect. The other two smaller holes I don't use much as they tend to be too restrictive. However, the flavor and vapor combination on that penultimate slot is perfection. Secondly, the airflow holes on the coils themselves are MASSIVE. That's where most of your air comes from, folks.
5. Wattage. Depending on what you like to vape at, this could be a con. For me though, my preferred vaping level is somewhere around 25-35w. This is a LOT higher than my preferred level with the Subtank, but more on that later. The Atlantis coil says that the recommended vaping wattage is 20-30w, but you can push it quite a bit higher. I've seen reviews where others say 40w and such but I, personally, do not like vaping that high. The sweet spot for me is about 28w with the Atlantis. Also, the Atlantis runs VERY well on my Tesla Penny mech mod, but again the same cannot be said of the Subtank Mini (again, more on that later).
6. Leaking. I haven't had any leaking issues. None, zip, zilch, zero!
7.
The Cons
1. One BIG con right up front, and maybe this is my bad luck, is the quality of Aspire's Atlantis coils. The ones it came with worked very well and I had no issues. However, the 5-pack of replacement coils I ordered from MistHub were terrible. They weren't the new OCC coils, but neither were the first two that came with the device, and they were the same generation. Three out of the five in that pack of replacement Atlantis coils were duds. All tasted like burnt rubber even after being wicked properly. The first coil I dropped a few drops on and let it sit over night and primed it - but no dice. The coil was flooded and still tasting of burnt rubber. So I decided to try and literally soak the next in a shot glass a quarter full of e-liquid for about an hour before trying it. Still tasted of burnt rubber; the next one was the same. It was not until the fourth coil in that package that I finally got it to taste right. This was a HUGE turn off, and I hope Aspire can get a handle on the quality control because that was a bad experience.
2. Packaging: There is nothing in the instructions about making sure that your device can handle firing this low, etc. I would also like to see a little card, a la the Subtanks, that instructs people to place a few drops of juice in the coil before use. Another is the cheapness of the materials. Compared to the Subtanks, it just, fells, and is made of incredibly cheap materials. Now this is more of an aesthetic issue, and that really doesn't matter to most people; the device functions very well, and so I don't believe many people will be too upset about packaging.
3. Tank capacity: I don't know how much other vapers use on an average day, but I go through about 7-8mls of e-liquid. I try to restrict the amount I vape because I enjoy premium flavors and they really are quite expensive. I vape at around 1.5mg/ml in sub-ohm setups and 3mg/ml in 1.0ohm+ setups. The fact that the Atlantis can only hold about 2ml of liquid is a con for me. For others that perhaps don't use it as much or don't mind refilling, that might not be so bad. For me, I can't really store my e-liquid in my office at work. I like to keep mine refrigerated, and I don't have a personal one. That means all the e-liquid I want for that day must fit inside the devices I'm carrying. If all I had was an Atlantis, I'd be left SOL pretty early in the day, which would suck.
4. The drip tip. Because the Atlantis's sweet spot is about 28w, the stainless steel drip tip the Atlantis comes with tends to get hot very quickly. Now, if you space out your pulls this isn't an issue, but sometimes I like to chain vape and that thing gets heated up in a serious hurry, as well as producing a lot of condensation inside the tip, causing me to have to clean it out with a paper towel multiple times a day. (Believe it or not, the Subtank Mini is actually worse in this regard.)
5. Tank style and fragility. Personally, I got a hairline crack in my Atlantis's original Pyrex tank the first day I had it. Of course this isn't Aspire's fault - my cat knocked over the mech mod the tank was sitting on and it fell onto a hardwood floor. However, I would like to see Aspire incorporate some stainless steel into their tank designs a la the Subtank Mini or the Delta II. While it makes viewing your e-liquid level super easy, it is also prone to cracking easily. I don't want to go out and spend another $10 just to purchase a sturdy replacement, ya know? While I LOVE the style of the replacement stainless steel and glass tank with the geometric designs on it, it's silly to have to purchase it separately.
TL;dr: So overall, I have to say that despite the problems I have had with the Atlantis and the bad pack of replacement coils I got, the device does what it is supposed to do and does it quite well. The flavor is outstanding for a tank (although it could be better), but the vapor production is obscene. It's a steam engine at times, especially when you've got a higher VG juice in her. The price was right for me as well, as I got it on sale from Misthub.com (a vendor I buy from regularly, although they don't *always* have the latest products or best prices). Most of the time I was using the Atlantis on either the Eleaf iStick 30w (then 50w) or Tesla Penny mech mod.
Now, onto the Subtank Mini. I've only had it two days and I can already see that there are significant differences. Firstly the fact that the Subtank comes with the RBA section, which I really love. It comes loaded with a .5ohm coil already made, along with a bag full of RBA supplies and one full of Japanese Organic Cotton. They give you an extra .5ohm RBA coil and an extra 1.2ohm stock coil. My device came with a .5ohm stock head already loaded into the tank. I have to say that I was NOT impressed the first time I fired it up, not at all. It spit in my mouth and the vape was WAY too hot. It just didn't taste right at all. The tank was leaking like crazy between the tank and the AFC ring.
I cleaned her all up, and got rid of the huge amount of juice that had gotten down beneath the coil and into the base of the AFC itself. Tip: use q-tips, the paper towel doesn't really do the job. Then I took out the .5ohm stock coil and put it away in a plastic bag (maybe I'll use it later -- it might not be totally screwed *shrug*). I read online that some people had leaking issues when using the stock coil but not when using RBA. So I made up a wick, watched a YouTube vid on how to wick up the coil, put in the RBA section and now the taste is WONDERFUL. I will say this, however. On my iStick 50w, the sweet spot on this thing is like 14w. It's SERIOUSLY low. For me...I don't know yet. The taste is beautiful, the RBA section performs like a champ. While in RBA mode the vapor production is pretty decent, the stock coil (for me anyway) didn't produce much vapor at all. I really don't care about blowing clouds, so this to me is no big deal. I'm much more of a flavor junkie.
I am still getting leaking issues near the AFC ring. I suspect I need to take it fully apart and just clean the crap out of it next time the juice gets low and the problem will likely cease. One thing I do not like is that the AFC ring is a tiny bit too difficult to turn. Sometimes I find myself accidentally turning the entire tank instead of just the ring. This is pretty minor because I don't switch between AFC settings too often, but others might have a bigger problem with it.
So first impressions of the Subtank Mini vs the Altantis in TL;dr mode:
1. Subtank has way better tank capacity, even with RBA section in.
2. Subtank has clearer flavor than Atlantis.
3. Atlantis has better vapor production than Subtank.
4. Atlantis easier to put together than Subtank.
5. Subtank somewhat leakier (so far) than Atlantis.
6. Subtank also produces more condensation and juice in the drip tip than Atlantis (although the problem exists in both products).
7. Subtank operates much better at much lower wattages than Atlantis.
Phew - that went on way longer than I intended it to. I do hope you will leave comments, or generally let me know what you think. If any of you have had the same leaking issues with the Mini - did you solve it completely? As always, a lot of this is personal/subject - many will have different experiences and opinions.
VAPE ON!
