Taste, smoothness, vapor production. All significantly improved by the rba base. Disadvantage is it is not plug in play, you do have to rebuild it and properly wick it for it to perform as it should over a long period of time. For $9 I think it adds great value to your grip, just make sure you have some premade heads available in case you get frustrated while learning and need a vape. I would say this is on the easier side of rebuilding, especially since you can purchase coils for it. Hope this helps.