There's definitely an issue with QA on the manufacture's end, which makes them very unpredictable and inconsistent. I find that when they work they rock, but if they don't they suck.
Of the three boxes I got I've opened 12 of them, and had about a 40% failure rate. One was DOA out of the box. One scorched the juice then died. One started out okay but fizzled to a whiff of vape at about 1 ml. One abruptly died at about 1/4 ml. Finally, one has connection issues and works on some batts but not others.
Of twelve opened only seven work like they should. Those seven work perfectly, but that's a pretty poor track record.
Conversely, of the 10 originals I bought in early September none were DOA, and only two got tossed because they wouldn't wick well. That's an 80% success rate.
One of them leaked the entire 1.5 ml out of the bottom after the second cleaning, and two died after about a month. The other five are still in service today, which is pretty impressive, IMO.
I did notice that the video for the original said "The Phoenix must be filled all the way up." The new instructions say to fill to the line just below the air holes. I have found that "all the way up" works better on the Reborns for me. Otherwise, they take too long to start wicking.
On a final note: The Reborns hold 1.35 ml, which isn't quite 1.5 ml, but not so much different as to be "disingenuous."
