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Geekvape Tsunami RDA Review

Kyle Formeck
March 4, 2016

Geek Vape Tsunami RDA Intro

The Tsunami RDA is the first RDA by Geek Vape, the company that brought you the Griffin and Avocado RTAs. In a short period of time, they have created a solid reputation for delivering quality atomizers at an affordable price. Does the Tsunami RDA continue this trend?

Thanks to Heavengifts for sending the Tsunami for review.

For more great RDAs be sure to head over to our best RDAs page.

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Geek Vape Tsunami RDA Specs and Features

Kit Content

  • Tsunami RDA
  • 2mm wide bore delrin drip tip
  • 5mm diagonal delrin drip tip
  • 5mm SS 510 drip tip
  • 510 drip tip adapter
  • 1 allen wrench
  • 4 extra post screws
  • 2 extra deck o-rings
  • 2 extra drip tip o-rings

Specifications

  • Adjustable Kennedy-style airflow
  • Velocity-style two-post deck
  • Set screws hardened to 55-58HRC by 1200 °C nitrogen surface treatment
  • 5mm deep juice well
  • PEEK insulator
  • Gold plated contacts
  • Stealth delrin threaded 510 drip tip adapter
  • Minimizes heat transfer
  • Stainless steel inner sleeve for durability
  • Includes a straight and sloped delrin competition bore drip tip
  • Dimensions:
  • 22mm diameter
  • 5mm height without drip tip
  • 5mm height with drip tip
  • 3mm x 2.1mm rectangular post-holes
  • 11mm diameter bore on competition delrin drip tips
  • Airflow:
  • 2 - 3.5mm x 7.9mm slots
  • 4 - 4mm diameter airflow tubes

Notable Remarks

Machining/Fit and Finish of the Tsunami RDA

Tsunami Taken Apart
Tsunami Taken Apart

The Tsunami RDA feels very well; I’m pretty confident they are using higher quality stainless steel than most Chinese manufacturers. It appears the quality control can be a little hit or miss though; mine came with rough threading on the 510 connector and minor scuff marks on the top cap. It’s not a huge deal as one can expect minor flaws from an RDA atomizer in this price range. Even though the threading isn’t pleasing to the eye, it threads onto mods without any issues and is actually smoother than expected. There was nothing functionally wrong with mine either, just a few minor visual defects.

I don’t want that to overshadow the quality though, this is definitely a well made piece. Everything fits together tightly and the brushed finish looks great. The deck o-rings were very tight from the start, but after applying some juice, the fit is much better. Overall, this feels more like a $70 atomizer than a $30 one.

Build Deck

Tsunami Deck
Tsunami Deck

The build deck is a velocity-style two-post deck that is very similar to the one found on the Griffin RTA. The posts are a little more spaced out and the post-holes are a bit larger on the Tsunami RDA to accommodate larger builds. With post-holes 3mm in length and 2.1mm in height and each lead having its own hole on a dual coil build, this atomizer will satisfy just about any builder out there.

Ease of Build

Tsunami Deck Top
Tsunami Deck Top

Building the Tsunami is as simple as one would expect from a velocity-style deck. Each lead has its own post-hole on a dual coil build, requiring less bending to mount the coils. Since the airflow holes are located in the center of the deck, the coils don’t need to be positioned out to the edges like it would have to on a side airflow atomizer; this gives you a little more room to fit larger coils.

Juice well

The juice well is about 6.5mm deep and I was able to fit 19 drops of max VG in it with a dry wick. If you’re not careful when dripping, some juice can run down into the airflow pipes causing it to leak. However, if you pull the top cap off and paint the coils, you will have no issue. I did find dripping into the drip tip to be reliable as long as you stick to around ten drops every five or six pulls to avoid leaking.

Airflow and Controller of the Tsunami RDA by Geek-Vape

Tsunami Front
Tsunami Front

The airflow slots measure 3.5mm x 7.9mm and lead into a set of 4mm airholes. The air enters an area of roughly *28.5 mm² and transitions to an area of roughly *25.1 mm² before entering the chamber, causing an increase in airflow velocity. This is a concept seen on several other RDAs such as the Snapdragon, Sub Zero and the AX1 and has proven to have a positive effect on flavor output.

The airflow can be adjusted by turning the top cap and closing off the airflow slots. There is also a single coil airflow option which is a nice addition to an already familiar design.

The draw is just a hair tighter than the Aeolus Lite wide open and a hair looser than the Aeolus Lite with two of the larger air holes open. It does feel different though due to the nature of the way air flows inside a chamber with bottom air flow versus top airflow.

Aesthetics

Tsunami Front
Tsunami Front

I really like the clean design of the Tsunami RDA. The engraved Tsunami logo looks well done and I love how it’s only noticeable when the top cap is off; there’s branding, but Geek-Vape is not shouting it. The brushed finish also looks nice but in the end, this atomizer looks a lot like the Kennedy 22 without the Kennedy logo which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

Performance

The first thing that comes to mind when vaping the GeekVape Tsunami is “Wow, this vapes just like a Kennedy!”. It has the same buttery smooth, open but not ridiculously airy draw. I’m not a big fan of airy draws; I assumed I was going to be closing this off quite a bit to satisfy my tastes, but there’s something really nice about vaping this wide open. The flavor is very good and does not get any better when closing off the airflow, it just gets warmer and denser. I really like that the airflow controls the heat and density of the vapor, not the flavor; this allows you to really dial in the vape you want without sacrificing flavor at all. The vapor production is also excellent; wide open, it will put out larger, thinner clouds and closed down, it will put out smaller but denser clouds.

This atomizer appears to cater to the flavor chasers and the cloud chasers and it does both very well. I would say the flavor is just a touch better than the Aeolus line of RDAs which is no small feat!

Likes

  • Extremely smooth draw
  • Great flavor and vapor production
  • Higher quality materials used
  • Velocity-style deck makes building a breeze
  • Huge post-holes allow creative freedom with exotic wire
  • Added adjustable air flow to an already well-received design.
  • Single coil option
  • Deep well holds plenty of juice
  • Nice selection of included drip tips

Dislikes

  • Requires controlled dripping in order to prevent leaks
  • May have minor defects

Verdict of the Tsunami RDA

The Tsunami RDA by Geek Vape is likely to become one of the hottest RDAs on the market due to its improvements over the incredibly popular Kennedy RDA. The flavor is great, the vapor production is fantastic, the draw is incredibly smooth, the deck is very easy to build on and the adjustable airflow control is a huge plus. With the release of the Tsunami RDA by Geek-Vape, I can no longer see a reason to buy a Kennedy unless you really want the 24mm option; the machining is certainly not 3x better on the Kennedy and the performance is nearly identical. If you were looking into getting any of the Kennedys, definitely check this out first; if you don’t know much about the Kennedys and are looking for an RDA that has an easy yet versatile build deck with large amounts of vapor production and great flavor, this is the atty for you.

*Measurements were taken of a single air intake (single coil airflow), for dual coil measurements, just double the measurements

For more RDAs be sure to read our best RDA list.

Save 15% below using our coupon code:

My name is Kyle and I have been vaping for almost a year now. I started vaping to kick my 9 year smoking habit and got hooked on trying to get the best flavor out of my atomizers. I am a software developer living in upstate NY and in my free time I like to write shoegaze and dream pop music.
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bin
bin
7 years ago

Would you like to review some new coils including Ceramic,Twisted, etc that fit Kanger,Aspire and Joyetech tank.
Pls leave me your email ,delivery information or
email me via [email protected]

Chris Kendell
Staff
Chris Kendell
7 years ago
Reply to  bin

Hi Bin, please message us at team (at) vaping360.com for any enquiries with regards to reviews. Thanks

dra
dra
7 years ago
Reply to  Chris Kendell

fuk of chris u messa

Meghna
Meghna
7 years ago

Nice detail review Kyle Formeck…..

Kyle Formeck
Kyle Formeck
7 years ago
Reply to  Meghna

Thanks for the kind words Meghna!

Gabriel
Gabriel
7 years ago

I’m really starting to think they have put all shipments on hold for a much longer time than anticipated. First the pre-order shipping date was March 3rd and then pushed to the 15th, after an email response from vaportekusa, they were absolutely clueless about any idea of when to expect my pre-ordered rda. Maybe I’ll just get a refund and continue to use my kennedy if it’s really that similar.

Jeremy Mann
Staff
Jeremy Mann
7 years ago
Reply to  Gabriel

Finally began shipping!

Jeremy Woods
Jeremy Woods
7 years ago

I have to say the deck is an absolute breeze to build on. Good space and the postings are nice and big to accommodate larger builds. Definitely my favourite deck to build on right now.

Only slight issue I’ve had was the cap not seating easily on the deck but once it’s positioned well it’s not too bad. Just a bit of a hassle to remove/put back on constantly for dripping. Other than that it’s great.

Oh and it looks nice. So there’s that too I guess…

Kyle Formeck
Kyle Formeck
7 years ago
Reply to  Jeremy Woods

Do you have the issue even when the o-rings are lubricated with e-juice?

Adam Hansell
Adam Hansell
7 years ago

ive just bought one of these whats the best wire to use for em ? and how wide should i build the coils ? (im a newbie to dripping)

Kyle Formeck
Kyle Formeck
7 years ago
Reply to  Adam Hansell

It’s hard to recommend an exact build without knowing your preferences. However, I would start with something like a dual 24g kanthal build with 7.5 wraps around a 3.5mm screwdriver. This should come out to around 0.38 – 0.41 ohms and I’d start firing it around 55 watts and then play around a little to find your sweet spot. For more flavor, place the coils as close to the air holes as possible without creating a short; for more throat hit, raise the coils up to create some space between them and the air holes.