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Updated: September 25, 2024

Best RDAs 2024

The best RDAs for clouds and flavor and a guide to help you find the right one for you.

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Vaping360 Staff
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Hellvape Drop Dead 2 RDA

The Drop Dead 2 RDA is the follow-up to one of Hellvape's most popular drippers. It features a postless build deck that's made for beefy dual-coil builds and a dual-slotted honeycomb design for smooth airflow. The Drop Dead 2 comes with a metal drip tip with a silicone top and is available in eight color options, including the horror movie inspired "Bloddy Mess".

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5.0
Best Rated
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ZLab ZColors

The ZColors are the base on which ZLab built its ecosystem approach. Part prefilled pods, part building blocks, the ZColors can be attached to various ZLab products. They are compatible with the ZLand power source (up to three can be connected) and the ZJoins heated tobacco device (can connect one). Available in 50 flavors and five strengths (including 0%).

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Suicide Mods Nightmare Mini V2 RDA

The Suicide Mods Nightmare Mini V2 is a 25 mm RDA featuring a floating postless build deck, making it easy to install larger exotic coil configurations. It includes a deep 7 mm juice well and features customizable airflow control through an ULTEM chamber reducer and a rotating airflow control ring. Available in five color options.

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4.5
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Runner-up

It’s always fun to find out which new RDAs are coming out, but it’s also nice to know which ones are already tried and true. Our list includes atomizers that are accessible, of reliable performance and quality manufacturing. Whether you are looking for quality RDAs suitable for beginners, RDAs for flavor, or cloud chucking RDAs, our list has got you covered.

If you want a little primer course on what an RDA is, their advantages over different kinds of vape tanks, and what to expect when vaping on one, then keep reading further down on the page. Our guide will walk you through all the basics.

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5.0

Hellvape Drop Dead 2 RDA

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The Drop Dead 2 RDA is the follow-up to one of Hellvape's most popular drippers. It features a postless build deck that's made for beefy dual-coil builds and a dual-slotted honeycomb design for smooth airflow. The Drop Dead 2 comes with a metal drip tip with a silicone top and is available in eight color options, including the horror movie inspired "Bloddy Mess".

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ZLab ZColors

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The ZColors are the base on which ZLab built its ecosystem approach. Part prefilled pods, part building blocks, the ZColors can be attached to various ZLab products. They are compatible with the ZLand power source (up to three can be connected) and the ZJoins heated tobacco device (can connect one). Available in 50 flavors and five strengths (including 0%).

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4.5

Suicide Mods Nightmare Mini V2 RDA

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The Suicide Mods Nightmare Mini V2 is a 25 mm RDA featuring a floating postless build deck, making it easy to install larger exotic coil configurations. It includes a deep 7 mm juice well and features customizable airflow control through an ULTEM chamber reducer and a rotating airflow control ring. Available in five color options.

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4.5

Geekvape Tsunami Reborn Z RDA

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The original Geekvape Tsunami revolutionized drippers and was one of the most popular vaping products of 2016. The Tsunami Reborn Z comes with the same Velocity-style deck, but everything else has been redesigned to bring the Tsunami madness to 2024! The RDA is constructed from durable stainless steel and comes in five colors, including the striking pink option.

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4.0

Hellvape Dead Rabbit Solo RDA

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The Hellvape Dead Rabbit Solo RDA is a 22 mm dripper designed for optimal flavor and flexible airflow control. It features a minimalistic build deck that can accommodate large and exotic singe-coil builds, and its airflow can be adjusted both by row and by level. The Dead Rabbit Solo is compatible with squonk mods and comes in nine color options.

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4.0

Thunderhead Creations Tauren Solo V1.5 RDA

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The updated Thunderhead Creations Tauren Solo V1.5 RDA is a dripper designed for single-coil builds. It features a dual-post build deck and 38 honeycomb airflow outlets that provide smooth airflow and enhanced flavor. The RDA is compatible with squonk mods and features a deep 2 mL juice well and a dual-slot airflow design. Available in five colors.

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What is an RDA?

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An RDA (rebuildable dripping atomizer) is what its name implies: a rebuildable atomizer made for dripping e-liquid directly on its coils and wicks.

A typical RDA has a build deck at the bottom of the atomizer, where the user places the coils. While RTAs and RDTAs come with tank sections and wick holes, RDAs have a juice well at the bottom of the build deck to hold e-liquid, and the wick tails are placed into the well. Generally, the juice well does not have as much capacity as a tank, so the vaper must continuously add e-juice every so often, to prevent the wicks from getting dry.

Unlike RTAs or sub ohm tanks, an RDA does not usually have a chimney section. Instead, a top cap sits on the build deck, and vapor rises straight up to the drip tip. Airflow may be fed to the coils from the bottom, sides, or top — or a combination of each. Typically, the user can adjust the airflow to suit their vaping style.

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Different types of RDAs

RDAs come in a variety of sizes and styles. They range in size from a diminutive 14 mm in diameter to 40 mm or more, with the most common diameters being 22 mm and 24 mm. The build deck may allow for one up to 8 coils, though most are single or dual-coil designed. Many RDAs work well for both horizontal or vertical coil builds. Airflow may be suitable for mouth to lung (MTL) or direct lung (DL) vaping styles. They are available in a variety of metal types, from stainless steel to brass or copper, and most offer several color options.

Build decks can also be found in a great variety of configurations. In the past, most RDAs had three posts, two on the sides of the deck and a shared post in the middle. Two-post Velocity style RDAs were the first big evolution of the triple-post, and many of the RDAs that came out in the previous years implemented some variation of this deck. We have seen a plethora of innovations in the build deck department since then, with drop-down and post-less RDA decks becoming very popular, and even more interesting designs appearing every day.

Most RDAs nowadays come with an optional hollow positive pin, to allow their use on special bottom-feeding mods called squonkers. A squonk mod has a plastic bottle for e-liquid that a vaper squeezes to channel juice to the bottom-fed (BF) atomizer. Although they have always been used to alleviate the constant dripping of juice, they have spiked in popularity in 2017, and a huge number of squonkers have come to market recently by several manufacturers.

Cloud RDAs vs. flavor RDAs

Most vapers categorize RDAs as being primarily for clouds or flavor. Cloud chasing RDAs have room for two or more coils of heavy mass and large diameter like Claptons, Aliens and other fancy, creative wire designs. These RDAs also have huge airflow to generate immense, thick clouds of vapor, and appeal to direct lung vapers. Some users even enter their cloud-chasing RDAs in contests to determine who can create the largest, thickest vape cloud. These super-airy RDAs are sometimes referred to as “competition RDAs.”

On the other hand, a flavor RDA tends to have less airflow and is suitable for a restricted direct lung, or even a mouth to lung vaping style. Flavor RDAs will hold only a single or dual-coil design and tend to be 22 mm in diameter or less. As expected, the primary objective is excellent flavor, though many create a decent cloud of vapor as well.

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Advantages of RDAs

Many vapers prize RDAs for their exemplary flavor and feel they excel in this category over other types of atomizers. Because the vapor in RDAs has a short distance to travel with no obstructions other than the drip tip, the path to the user is maximized for flavor.

Additionally, RDAs allow for trying several juices quickly. Nothing beats an RDA for trying new e-liquids — a few drops of juice will let a vaper know whether that new bottle of e-liquid will stay or get passed on to a friend (or enemy.) You can always vape your cotton until it’s dry and then drip on it, or try new juices on fresh cotton. Which brings us to the next point…

RDAs are the easiest style of atomizer to wick. They do not have wick channels, so they do not require the sometimes-delicate balancing of wick tails between flooding and dry hits like RTAs and RDTAs. They also don’t have all the tiny extra parts that other rebuildables usually come with. A quick rinse off, and it is ready for re-wicking. Just make sure your wick fits snug enough into your coil while maintaining a bit of freedom to move, and you are good to go.

Should you buy an RDA?

If you enjoy building your own coils and are after amazing flavor and impressive vapor production, RDAs are your best bet. When built correctly, RDAs will give you the best performance vaping has to offer. Even if you are concerned about liquid capacity, squonk RDAs are the solution. The bottles of squonk mods will provide an extra 5-10 mL of e-liquid to your bottom-fed RDA, and you won’t have to constantly drip when you are out and about.

If rebuildables are not your thing, don't worry. Modern sub ohm and MTL tanks are high performers, and many of them give comparable results to RDAs. But when you’re ready, give RDAs a chance. The results might have you wondering why you haven't tried them sooner!

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Vaping360 Staff

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