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Vapefly Galaxies MTL RDTA: Squonkable and User-Friendly

Jeremy Mann
September 3, 2018

Vapefly Galaxies Squonk RDTA review

The Vapefly Galaxies RDTA is a feature rich MTL rebuildable with top-notch performance. It has an easy to use build deck, a leak-resistant design, various airflow options, and the 2 mL tank can be filled via squonking or from a spring-loaded fill port.

This RDTA is the third in the Galaxies series, following on the heels of an RTA and the original Galaxies RDA. Here’s a closer look at this quality atomizer and how it performs.

Colors: Black, blue, rainbow, stainless steel
Price: $42.99

Specifications

  • 22 mm diameter
  • Single coil build deck
  • 1.5 mm by 2 mm terminals
  • Top mounted hex screws
  • Hex screw covered airports
  • Removable hex screws for increased airflow
  • 3 mm dual wicking ports
  • 3 mm spring loaded fill port
  • PEEK insulated positive post
  • Two 1 mm overflow ports above squonk pin
  • Dual adjustable 2 mm side air slots
  • Adjustable by rotating top cap
  • Heat sink fins on top cap
  • 6 Levels of airflow control
  • 3 paired air holes for more airflow
  • 3 single air holes for tighter airflow
  • 5 mm wide 510 delrin drip tip
  • Gold plated standard 510 pin
  • Gold plated squonk 510 pin

Kit Content

  • Vapefly Galaxies MTL RDTA
  • Replacement glass tank section
  • Translucent resin shorty 510 tip
  • Black Delrin elongated 510 tip
  • 510 bottom feed pin
  • Spare parts pack
  • Screwdriver
  • Two Ni80 1.0-ohm pre-built coils
  • Two pads of organic cotton
  • Manual

Build quality and design

vapefly-galaxies-mtl-rdta

For RDTAs, the Galaxies is small. It’s only 22 mm in diameter and about 29 mm tall. I have RDAs this size!

It comes with two 510 tips with different heights and internal diameters. It’s got a small 2 mL tank section, a conical top cap, heat-sink fins, and various adjustable airflow options ranging from a super tight MTL to a restricted lung hit.

The Galaxies RDTA only holds 2 mL, but its capacity is increased by your squonk bottle’s capacity. If you don’t have a squonk mod, you can fill the tank from a spring-loaded fill port. The coolest part for me about the spring-loaded fill port is that it makes the deck leak-resistant – the fill port “valve” closes once you remove your bottle. In general, I think this is a great design for an RDTA. Vapefly isn’t the first to include some of these features, but I’m pretty sure they’re the first to include them all in a single-coil MTL RDTA.

Build deck and wicking

vapefly-galaxies-mtl-rdta

The dual post deck looks a lot like the Galaxies RDA deck, but with a slight modification. Unlike the original, both posts are gold-plated with curved bottoms in the post holes. This makes trapping thin wire easy, even if it gets pushed over by the bottom of the screw. It’s a welcomed upgrade from the RDA where the stainless-steel negative post has a flat bottom.

Because the wicking channels are 3 mm holes in the deck, the wick can’t be too narrow or too wide, which means that your coil’s ID must follow the same rules. It’s best to use a coil with an ID of around 2.5 mm to have appropriate diameter wicks.

To wick it, I find it easiest to cut your wick tails against the outside of the tank. Then use a pointer tool or your tweezers to gently push down the cotton, making sure it’s not bunched up. With this approach, I’ve had no problems at all with my wicks staying wet. And since the tank is a low capacity, I never have to consciously tip the tank to wet the wicks – it just happens.

Airflow

Vapefly “gets” MTL vaping! They nailed it with the 2017 Nicolas tank, and then this year with the Galaxies RTA and RDA. It only makes sense that this RDTA would do MTL vaping equally well.

As noted, there are plenty of options for airflow. The deck has bottom-fed airflow or bottom- and side-fed airflow. To add the side airflow, just unscrew the grubs on the back side of the posts (but don’t remove them or the flavor will suffer). Using the side airflow will increase the amount of air, making it more of a restricted lung hit than an MTL.

There are nine holes on the top cap; three on one side and six on the other. You can either double your airhole selection or use it with a single hole. The three airhole sizes are about 0.8 mm, 1.4 mm, and 2 mm. Being a fan of a tight MTL, I enjoy using the 0.8 mm single hole with just the bottom-fed airflow.

The Galaxies RDTA comes with two 510 drip tips which are basically extra airflow options: a short 11.5 mm translucent tip and a 15 mm elongated black delrin tip. The black tip has a base opening about 3.5 mm in diameter that tapers off to 2.5 mm at the top, making it perfect for a strict MTL. The shorter tip, which is the same tip from the Galaxies RDA, has a 5.5 mm base opening that tapers to 3.5 mm at the top. It can be used for MTL all the way to a restricted lung hit. I like both tips, but I prefer the shorter tip due to its ergonomic contour – and I think the flavor is better with it.

Performance

Simply put, the Galaxies RDTA just works! And this is coming from someone that typically doesn’t like RDTAs much at all. This atomizer changed my perception of how an RDTA can perform.

I’ve been using the included 1.0-ohm Ni80 pre-built coils that come with the tank (mine metered out to 0.82 ohms).

The draw is perfectly smooth and quiet, the throat hit is nice and punchy, and the flavor is above average for an MTL. Although I’ve always preferred an MTL draw, I typically don’t view MTL as being all that great for flavor. I like MTL vaping for the throat hit and the cigarette-like draw. But with the Galaxies RDTA, I get the tight draw and above average flavor. I’ve been pleasantly surprised at how good the flavor is from this tank. If you’re a fan of nic salts, this tank will do your juice justice! Also noteworthy, I’ve had no leaking, gurgling, flooding, or dry hits (which has more to do with my build, but it’s still worth mentioning.)

Although I use the tank with a squonk mod, I also like to change things up. Sometimes I fill the tank from the spring-loaded fill port with a different juice than the one in the squonk bottle. That allows me to travel with two juices on board. And sometimes when sampling juices, I just drip directly onto the coils like a dripper. It’s nice to have that kind of freedom!

Likes

  • Designed and manufactured well
  • Easy to build on
  • Two convenient refill options
  • Great flavor for MTL
  • Really nice draw for MTL or a restricted lung hit
  • Leak resistant
  • Silent draw (no whistling)
  • Wicks well
  • Quality O-rings keep the top cap firmly on
  • Two 510 drip tip options

Dislikes

  • Not much leeway in coil ID
  • The overall aesthetics are just okay

Verdict

I strongly recommend the Galaxies RDTA for fans of rebuilding and MTL vaping. Aside from not having much flexibility in the internal diameter of the coil you can use, I can’t find any other objective cons with it.

If you’re curious how this performs versus the Galaxies RDA and RTA, I think the RTA may have the best MTL draw of the three, but the RDTA has more options and slightly edges the others in the flavor department. The RDA was good when it came out, considering it was one of the first mass-produced squonkable MTL RDAs this year, but the Galaxies RDTA fixes all its issues and comes in an even more complete package.

What do you think? Have you tried any of the atomizers of the Galaxies series? Let me know in the comment section.

I'm the chief editor here at Vaping360 and I reside in southeast Michigan. I've been vaping since my first ecig purchase in 2010. For more reasons than I can list, vaping has been a lifesaver for me. Now, my goal is to help other smokers make the switch.
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Robert Krása
Robert Krása
4 years ago

Hi Jeremy,
thank you for the great review. I am really considering Galaxies RDTA, but also Berserker 1.5. Which one is better in you opinion? Most important is the flavor and also comfort (build fault tolerance) 🙂

Thank you in advance for your help
Robert

Robert Krása
Robert Krása
4 years ago
Reply to  Jeremy Mann

Hi Jeremy,
Thank you very much. I’ ll take Galaxies. I am curious about RDTA 😉
Thank you again and have a nice day
Robert

Marlo Stanfield
Marlo Stanfield
4 years ago

Great review! Wonderful job of explaining the airflow options and how the side-fed airflow affected the draw and the flavor. I honestly thought RDTAs were dead and buried but it looks like I was wrong. With it’s small size I an see it fitting nicely on top of a super tiny MTL squonk box that I recently acquired. Seriously, well done.

Fren
Fren
3 years ago

I own 2 of these and I really cant complain about their quality and performance. The only thing I am really curious is, if you have been able to use bigger types of coils (Alien/Fused Clapton etc.) From my testings, with my mod (Pico Squeeze and the second is a Vandy Vape Berserker), it seems they do not heat up fast enough for MTL’s. When I pump up the Wattage, the vape gets way to hot and burns your lips. When I try to increase it step by step, I cant get good flavour etc. In your picture, I see… Read more »

Fren
Fren
3 years ago
Reply to  Jeremy Mann

Hello Jeremy,

I havent thought to get a reply on an old topic 🙂

At the moment not at home, but I am pretty sure, that I use the Geekvape Ni80 26ga with around 6-8 wraps @2,5mm Ø.

The only problem I have is, that I have to use new cotton~ every 3 days or so.
My main liquid (some strawberry banana) makes it dark brown.

In the second one I use mostly higher VG liquids that are translucent, and they last way longer.

What kind of diameter/wire/Ohms did you test?

Fren
Fren
3 years ago
Reply to  Jeremy Mann

Thanks Sir, the thing with liquids in my country is, there are barely any fancy ones. I use Nicotine between 12-16mg and Austria has probably the most idiotic Vaping laws in Europe. (Pharma/Tobacco lobbies) The reason we barely have anything is, that every Liquid needs to go through a registry process that costs 7000€ per flavour and on top of that per mg nicotine. I barely even get nicotine shots with higher PG values. I could order them online, but it will be stuck in Customs and I get either charged with a felony then, –> or I say I… Read more »