I was given the opportunity to review the Symba RDA by @vicTor , @univapo and @Univapo_Rebecca and would like to start with expressing my gratitude for this opportunity.
No sooner had I accepted and the courier was here with my rainbow Symba RDA. The rainbow one suited me perfectly because I planned to house it on my Pulse V2 which has similar colouring and it ended up being a good match. There are 3 colours available to choose from:
Now I must be honest, I am not normally a RDA vaper but this one really tweaked my interest. The fact that one can try not one but 4 different builds on a RDA is something truly unique, have a look here:
The RDA is quite compact as far as RDA’s go, well at least compared to the ones I have owned, all the specs can be seen below:
The packaging is neat and the RDA comes complete with all you will need to put the RDA through its paces:
Before I start with my opinion on the RDA I want to draw your attention to the airflow options as well as the unique drip tip design. One has the option to have the airflow fully open and dial it down that way or alternatively you can use the honeycomb airflow to limit the airflow and dial that down accordingly. Whichever one you select is mirrored on the opposite side with the same design.
The drip tip is cool because it has an inverted groove design. The idea behind this concept is it supposed to limit condensation accumulating on the inside of the tip and getting into your mouth
Dual Coil vaping:
I started to try my usual favourite style of vaping first which is a dual coil build. I have generally found dual coil atties to be more suited to my flavour chasing vaping style. I initially used the coils that came with the tank which are fused claptons if I am not mistaken. In a dual coil build the resistance was 0.19 ohms and I used the cotton supplied. I preferred the honeycomb airflow as I like a slightly restrictive vape experience. I also closed the honeycomb airflow down a little.
I was pleasantly surprised with the flavour I got out from this set up. Whenever I wick a tank for the first time I wick with my favourite juice, Pulse Secret Syrup. It’s an icy strawberry, peach and litchi drop of heaven and I know the profile very well. While the flavour was good I thought I could make it better with a set of 3mm Lazy Panda Nano Aliens. I also wanted to remove the mesh spring and plate so that I could fit it on the Pulse V2 Squonk and replace the normal 510 pin with the squonk pin. To do this one still has to return the little screw that keeps the mesh plate in place as with the squonk pin inserted this is required to keep the deck together. To squonk you have to be careful not to screw this in too tight as if you do the hole that feeds the juice from the squonk bottle will be blocked. My build with these coils ohmed out at 0.22 ohms. You can see how I set it up in the pictures that follow:
The flavour was very good, all the notes of the juice that I know and love came through. If set up correctly the RDA can handle non-stop squonking with no problem at all. I enjoyed vaping this at around 75W
Single Coil Build:
Next it was time to try a single coil build. I used the same Lazy panda coil as in my dual build but just fitted one. I have found with all RTA’s I have tried thus far that the flavour on a single coil build always tastes somewhat diluted. My build’s resistance was 0.44 ohms and found 65W to be my sweet spot on this build. I am thrilled to report that the flavour I got from this single coil build was absolutely fantastic and is as yet unmatched by any single coil RTA I have tried. Being able to vape at a lower wattage which results in longer battery life and get flavour this good was a real plus point for me. The pics below show my single coil experience, the wine was very good too.
Mesh Build
Lastly, I returned the spring and mesh plate but kept the screw loosely tightened so I could still squonk if desired. The mesh deck is extremely easy to build on and if you have any experience with mesh this is not always the case. I used 3 of the supplied laces to wick with and found this to be sufficient. I suppose that using dripper and squonking mesh is a little more forgiving when it comes to wicking? My mesh build resistance was at 0.27 ohms and I vaped it around 40-45W:
I have fought many battles with mesh tanks and have found that for my tastes mesh is never as good as a dual coil build. I have come to the conclusion that me and mesh are just not meant to be. This being said I got decent flavour from the mesh build but it would just not be my first option.
Although I didn’t have the guts to do the tri-coil build I had a lot of fun experimenting with this tank. I think it is extremely versatile and easy to build on. The top cap comes off easily but not too easily and it performs extremely well as a dripper and in squonk mode. I think this is a RDA that both an experienced and new vaper would appreciate. The flavour I got from the single coil build was incredible and that for me was the highlight of the Symba experience!
@StompieZA @Munro31
No sooner had I accepted and the courier was here with my rainbow Symba RDA. The rainbow one suited me perfectly because I planned to house it on my Pulse V2 which has similar colouring and it ended up being a good match. There are 3 colours available to choose from:
Now I must be honest, I am not normally a RDA vaper but this one really tweaked my interest. The fact that one can try not one but 4 different builds on a RDA is something truly unique, have a look here:
The RDA is quite compact as far as RDA’s go, well at least compared to the ones I have owned, all the specs can be seen below:
The packaging is neat and the RDA comes complete with all you will need to put the RDA through its paces:
Before I start with my opinion on the RDA I want to draw your attention to the airflow options as well as the unique drip tip design. One has the option to have the airflow fully open and dial it down that way or alternatively you can use the honeycomb airflow to limit the airflow and dial that down accordingly. Whichever one you select is mirrored on the opposite side with the same design.
The drip tip is cool because it has an inverted groove design. The idea behind this concept is it supposed to limit condensation accumulating on the inside of the tip and getting into your mouth
Dual Coil vaping:
I started to try my usual favourite style of vaping first which is a dual coil build. I have generally found dual coil atties to be more suited to my flavour chasing vaping style. I initially used the coils that came with the tank which are fused claptons if I am not mistaken. In a dual coil build the resistance was 0.19 ohms and I used the cotton supplied. I preferred the honeycomb airflow as I like a slightly restrictive vape experience. I also closed the honeycomb airflow down a little.
I was pleasantly surprised with the flavour I got out from this set up. Whenever I wick a tank for the first time I wick with my favourite juice, Pulse Secret Syrup. It’s an icy strawberry, peach and litchi drop of heaven and I know the profile very well. While the flavour was good I thought I could make it better with a set of 3mm Lazy Panda Nano Aliens. I also wanted to remove the mesh spring and plate so that I could fit it on the Pulse V2 Squonk and replace the normal 510 pin with the squonk pin. To do this one still has to return the little screw that keeps the mesh plate in place as with the squonk pin inserted this is required to keep the deck together. To squonk you have to be careful not to screw this in too tight as if you do the hole that feeds the juice from the squonk bottle will be blocked. My build with these coils ohmed out at 0.22 ohms. You can see how I set it up in the pictures that follow:
The flavour was very good, all the notes of the juice that I know and love came through. If set up correctly the RDA can handle non-stop squonking with no problem at all. I enjoyed vaping this at around 75W
Single Coil Build:
Next it was time to try a single coil build. I used the same Lazy panda coil as in my dual build but just fitted one. I have found with all RTA’s I have tried thus far that the flavour on a single coil build always tastes somewhat diluted. My build’s resistance was 0.44 ohms and found 65W to be my sweet spot on this build. I am thrilled to report that the flavour I got from this single coil build was absolutely fantastic and is as yet unmatched by any single coil RTA I have tried. Being able to vape at a lower wattage which results in longer battery life and get flavour this good was a real plus point for me. The pics below show my single coil experience, the wine was very good too.
Mesh Build
Lastly, I returned the spring and mesh plate but kept the screw loosely tightened so I could still squonk if desired. The mesh deck is extremely easy to build on and if you have any experience with mesh this is not always the case. I used 3 of the supplied laces to wick with and found this to be sufficient. I suppose that using dripper and squonking mesh is a little more forgiving when it comes to wicking? My mesh build resistance was at 0.27 ohms and I vaped it around 40-45W:
I have fought many battles with mesh tanks and have found that for my tastes mesh is never as good as a dual coil build. I have come to the conclusion that me and mesh are just not meant to be. This being said I got decent flavour from the mesh build but it would just not be my first option.
Although I didn’t have the guts to do the tri-coil build I had a lot of fun experimenting with this tank. I think it is extremely versatile and easy to build on. The top cap comes off easily but not too easily and it performs extremely well as a dripper and in squonk mode. I think this is a RDA that both an experienced and new vaper would appreciate. The flavour I got from the single coil build was incredible and that for me was the highlight of the Symba experience!
@StompieZA @Munro31
