Griffin RTA Review

The Griffin RTA is a rebuildable tank atomizer by a newly established company named Geek Vape.  It has received a fair amount of attention due to its ability to wick, fit large coils and put out good flavor and vapor while staying well under the $50 mark.  So is the hype worth it?

The machining is pretty good for the money; I searched high and low to find a defect and all I could find was a positive post that leans in towards the center of the deck slightly.  That’s not really an issue since it will not cause any problems but it would’ve annoyed me had I spent my own money on this.  It feels nice in the hand, more like a $50 atomizer than a $35 one.

Here we have a Velocity-style two-post deck with 2mm post-holes spaced 6mm apart sitting on a 16.1mm diameter deck.  There are four wick holes, two on each side in which the wick tails sit in.  Juice flows into these ports and hits the wick tails which pulls the juice up to the coil.  The rate of juice flow into these ports is controlled by turning the outer assembly which either opens or closes the wick holes.

There’s not much to say here that hasn’t already been said about Velocity-style decks; they’re one of the easiest decks to build on.  All two-post decks are great due to the natural centered coil they give but with the Velocity-style deck, you have two vertically oriented holes on each post requiring no bending to mount and position the coils.

The large wick holes make it easy to put the wick tails in.  Be careful though, you don’t want to stuff them full of cotton or else you’ll have wicking issues.  The best thing to do is to trim your wick tails at an angle so they come to a point at each end.  That way the wick gradually gets fatter towards the coil and you’ll have just the right amount of cotton in the wick holes.

Unfortunately, the airflow controller only allows for dual coils.  Each air slot measures 12mm by 2mm and leads into a slot that is 4.37mm by 2.59mm.  The draw is relatively smooth and not quite as open as you might expect from the size of the airflow slots.  This is because the slots aren’t the smallest air hole in the system, it’s the inlets they travel through to enter the chamber.   Wide open, it’s slightly more restricted than the 454 Big Block v2 wide open.  With the airflow closed off ~5%-~50%, there will be a loud whistle.  You need to either run it wide open or less than half open in order to get rid of this annoyance.

The Griffin looks pretty similar to a lot of other RTAs in this price range.  It is a bit tall which can make it look awkward on certain boxes.  One distinguishing feature is the griffin logo engraved into the chamber and the subtle Geek Vape logo on the upper cover.  It also comes in stainless steel and black which is nice if the typical stainless steel look isn’t for you.

The Griffin performs pretty well for the price.  It seems to do better in the vapor production department than the flavor department but don’t get me wrong, the flavor is pretty good.  It’s not going to beat many RDAs on flavor but it does put out some of the best flavor I’ve had from a standard RTA; it’s certainly better than a Kanger Subtank.  The flavor is a bit better with some sort of twisted wire in it though.  I was able to vape an entire tank of 95VG juice without a single dry hit which shows how well this thing can wick.

When I first built it, I was really enjoying it.  The flavor was fantastic for an RTA, something I have never really experienced before.  This atomizer showed me what a solid RTA can do and it opened up my eyes to a world I never cared too much about.  Then I got the Avocado and all of sudden this atomizer wasn’t so great anymore; the flavor I got from the Avocado blows this out of the water.  So at one point, I was really loving this tank; fortunately for Geek Vape, they really outdid themselves with the Avocado.

• Velocity-style deck makes it super easy to build
• Adjustable juice flow control
• Very leak resistant
• Decent flavor and great vapor production for an RTA
• Top fill port makes filling simple
• Wicks really well even with high VG juices
• Comes with a standard drip tip adapter
• Nice array of spares included

• Dual coil only
• Whistles loudly when the airflow is closed off a little

Overall, the Griffin is a great RTA that is easily worth the money.  However, if you’re looking for great flavor or build versatility in the same price range, I would recommend the Avocado over the Griffin.  The Griffin is the better choice if you’re looking for convenience due to the top fill port, leak resistance and the larger tank capacity.