If there’s one thing that has been consistent in the vaping industry, it’s manufacturers building on each other’s successes and learning from each other’s failures to come up with better ways to turn as little as possible juice into as much as possible vapor with as little as possible leaking. Some came up with great RTA’s which took the world by storm and sat on the top of a mod in just about every vaper’s arsenal. Some noteable successes were the good old Kayfun, the Goblin, the Billow V2, the Bellus… For each of these, companies had observed what the competition produced, listened to what people were complaining about and then made their own version in which they would remedy those issues.
Then in 2015, newcomer GeekVape blew the top off RTA’s as we knew it when they released the Griffin which became an instant hit with vapers across the globe. Top filling, great airflow with airflow control, juice flow control, velocity-style deck, collared juice wells for easy wicking, and the ability to remove the full tank and rebuild without messing a drop of juice. Nothing bad could be said about the Griffin which quickly became regarded as one of the best RTA’s in it’s class out there. Other manufacturers saw this and quickly started following suite, with the OBS Crius being released not long after the Griffin, sporting all of the same features as the Griffin. As an upgrade to the Griffin, the Crius featured a very simple filling mechanism by allowing the user to simply pull the top up, revealing a small hole through which juice could be injected and then pushed down to a perfect seal afterwards.
Now, in March 2016, vaping veteran Vaporesso is releasing the Gemini RTA which is once again a Griffin-port sporting some exciting upgrades. While it has adopted the screw-top fill method of the Griffin as opposed to the pull-style of the Crius, it has done so for a very valid reason: The Gemini sports dual airflow, having one set of air holes coming up from right underneath the coils as well as a second set coming down from the top, which is adjusted on the top cap right below the drip tip. Speaking of the drip tip, the Gemini also comes standard with a 13.5mm drip tip but does include a 510 adapter to allow users to make use of their favorite standard drip tips if they so choose. With a maximum size build deck sporting 2mm post holes, the Gemini will cater for those tiny clapton builds and also, as a first in this RTA form factor, has adjustable juice holes almost twice the size of it’s competitors ensuring that your wicks stayed juiced up to the max, minimizing dry hits and maximizing clouds!
With the obvious benefits of the upgrades added to the Gemini compared to the Griffin, GeekVape quickly followed suite and released a top cap upgrade to add the top airflow found in the Gemini to existing Griffin devices, however the enlarged juice holes that are standard in the Gemini would remain unchanged by doing this upgrade and as such still not put the upgraded Griffin on par with the new Gemini.
I will most definitely be looking at getting myself the new Gemini RTA! If you can’t wait for the local release, be sure to check out FastTech who is accepting pre-order’s on the Gemini currently going for $28.65! Shipping kicks of on 21 March 2016! Be sure to get your hands on one, it’s bound to be sssick as tits!
Happy vaping!
-M
UPDATE
Once again consistency does not disappoint! SMOK has released the TF-RTA which has adopted the easy of filling of the Crius as well as the large juice holes of the Gemini, and added a four-post option for easy quad coils and removable deck to support retail coils too.
EHPRO and eCiggity have also released the Billow V3 which is basically a Crius with a much shittier build deck. Although some would say that it’s “Velocity Styled”, the oversize center post isn’t doing airflow any favors…
Disclaimer: This piece was written as a personal observation on market trends and specifically focuses on the recent trend in rebuildable tanks sharing similarities in features previously unavailable in this form factor, such as the velocity style deck and juice flow control.