Product intro and specs
The Zeus X is the latest dual-coil top-airflow rebuildable tank atomizer by Geekvape. This is the fourth top-airflow RTA the company has produced, after the original Zeus, the Zeus Dual and the Themis RTA. Dual-coil RTAs with a top airflow are kind of a niche, but Geekvape has established a tradition for this type of atomizers, and both the Zeus Dual and the Themis were solid performers. Keep reading to find out if the RTA named after the king of gods, has enough to claim the crown of top-airflow RTAs.
Geekvape has put together an awesome packaging for the reviewer’s edition, which reminds me a lot of the Aspire Quad Flex Survival kit box. MyVpro sent this edition to our editor in chief in the US, but not wanting to wait for it to arrive to me, and with the Zeus line being super popular here in Greece, I managed to get it from a local vape shop very soon after it got released. Jeremy will keep the fancy reviewer’s edition for his cabinet, and I will review the standard edition, which is the one available to the public.
You can find the Zeus X RTA over at MyVpro at a discounted price.
Colors: Blue, gunmetal, rainbow, stainless steel, red & black, black
Price: $32.95 (at MyVpro)
Build quality and design
The machining and build quality of the Zeus X is impressive across the board. The tank is 25 mm at its base and 29 mm at the bubble glass. It fits 4.5 mL with the bubble glass and 3.5 mL with the straight glass, which is around the average for this type of RTAs. The face of Zeus is still there, and regardless of if you like it or not, the details on it are impressive. The threads are smooth, and the airflow control ring has just enough resistance to move easily but not on its own. There’s no fancy filling mechanism here, just a quarter turn to remove the top for filling. The filling ports are a bit small, but not too small by any means and will get the job done.
The tank is compatible with Goon-style 810 drip tips, but 810s with O-rings will work fine on it. The drip tip that is on the Zeus X out of the box is very similar in form to the Half Moon stubby drip tips. It is very short, which may be a con for some people, but I really like this style of drip tip. On the downside, it is VERY hard to remove it and I had to use a tool to get it out. There’s an Ultem tip included in the box which is a bit longer, and also a 510 adapter.
Talking about accessories, I liked the fact that Geekvape includes a lot of them in the package. Outside of the two drip tips and the 510 adapter, you get two nichrome tri-core fused Clapton coils, two shoelace cotton strips, a straight glass, the standard tools, eight replacement deck screws and a plethora of O-rings. Which brings me to the next point: the only real drawbacks I found here had to do with the O-rings. The two O-rings that secure the glass in place are kinda loose, and specifically the bottom one can easily fall out when removing the glass, or even squeeze itself inside the tank when putting the atomizer together. Mine was also a little bit worn out of the box. Other than that, excellent build quality.
Airflow
The airflow system employs a very smart chimney-inside-the-chimney mechanism. The inside chimney has two small cutouts at the bottom, which fit to the two notches on the build deck and stay in place when screwing the atomizer together. It connects to the outer chimney with the use of a small O-ring that’s placed on the top part of it. The O-ring is a bit too thin (these O-rings, I’m telling you!), and the inside chimney may end up falling when opening the atomizer to reveal the deck. Not a big deal, but I advise turning the Zeus X upside down when unscrewing the top from the bottom, just to be safe.
The top holes of the chimney direct the air to the top part of the coils at an angle, and the side holes hit them on their sides. I was afraid that this may end up creating some turbulence and a bit more restriction than I would like, but the airflow is smooth, and it can get very airy when fully open. In fact, it is much smoother and a tad airier than the Zeus Dual.
Build deck
There’s nothing super innovative going on with the deck, but it is certainly an upgrade over both the original Zeus and the Zeus Dual build decks. It reminds me of the build decks of the Dead Rabbit series of atomizers, not so much on the looks but mainly due to the top loading posts and the fact that the wicks need to be long to reach the wick slots. There is also space to cut the extra length of your coils, which is always a good thing.
There’s not that much space for large exotic coils, and you have to also account for the inside chimney when building. The chimney comes with a small indentation inside, further restricting the space for your build. I advise going up to 3 mm diameter coils for dual builds – you may be able to go up to 3.5 mm but anything over that and you will run the risk of shorting the atomizer.
Coil installation and wicking
Coil installation is pretty straight forward on the Zeus X. Just cut the legs of your coils, keep them with your fingers on the deck, and secure them in place with the flathead screws. Pull them upwards with your coil jig, placing them closer to the airflow holes. Make sure you keep a bit of a distance between them, but take care not to stray far from the center of the deck or your coils may touch the chimney. For the first couple of builds, I suggest trying the chimney on before wicking and adjusting the coils if needed.
Wicking is much more forgiving than it was on the original Zeus and the Zeus Dual. There’s not that much to talk about here: for 3 mm dual coil builds, slightly comb your cotton (less if using 2.5 mm dual coils, and even less if using a larger single coil), place your wick tails inside the wick slots without forcing them in, and you’re done. You will notice that your wicks will have a to be a bit longer than usual, due to the distance between the deck and the bottom of the RTA. Other than that, just make sure you get your wick tails a couple of millimeters inside the slots, and don’t remove too much of the cotton when fluffing them. The Zeus X will not leak due to its top airflow, but you can still flood the deck if liquid flows too fast.
Performance
I tried two dual-coil builds on the Zeus X, a couple of 24-gauge nichrome wire coils and the included tri-core fused Claptons. I also tried a 4 mm single coil build using a beefy alien coil.
In dual-coil configuration I got the best results with the fused Claptons, and it was by a fair margin. The 24-gauge nichrome coils were alright, but as expected, the Claptons produced much more flavor and vapor. In fact, the flavor was so good that it gives many bottom-airflow RTAs in this price range a run for their money. Comparing it with dual-coil top-airflow RTAs, the Zeus X is in a league of its own. The flavor I got out of it was much better than the Dead Rabbit RTA, as well as the Zeus Dual and Themis. It is also less noisy than your typical top airflow RTA. There is some noise there, due to the air traveling from the top to the deck and then back up, but it is not annoying, and I wouldn’t call it a turbulent RTA by any means.
Performance in single coil mode was not amazing, but much better than I expected, especially considering that the Zeus X is predominantly a dual-coil RTA. The inside chamber did a good job of restricting the chamber enough for my 4 mm diameter coil to produce good flavor, although that came in the expense of a noisier vape. I feel that I would have been able to fix some of that if I moved my coil around a bit, but I decided to go back to a dual-coil build instead. The Zeus X is alright for the occasional single-coil build, but there are better atomizers out there if that’s what you are after.
Pros / Cons
Verdict
I am very impressed by this RTA. From its looks to its performance, the Zeus X beats all other top-airflow RTAs at its price range. It’s not even close, in my opinion. It is easy to build and wick, employs an airflow system that’s smart, and the flavor I got from it surpassed my expectations. The problems I had with its O-rings and the lack of originality on the build deck are the only real cons I could come up with, and certainly not enough to cost it the title of the king of dual-coil top-airflow RTAs. If you are in the market for one of those, I can highly recommend the Zeus X. It’s that good.
Have you tried any of the Zeus tanks before? What do you think of the Zeus X RTA? Let me know in the comments!
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