Review: Rebuildable Atomizer

It was late, around 9 or so, I was sitting in my favorite chair, vaping my favorite setup and my favorite juice. A buddy and I are half watching a re-run of the good Doctor playing in the background while we surf the web and chat about nothing. The Dalek’s are at it yet again and boredom is in full affect, I’m sitting half asleep while the Doctor noisily waves his sonic screwdriver about and just as I’m about to start dozing off I start into a coughing fit. Not paying attention I vape the last of the liquid from my tank and am greeted by that lovely “howdy do” of a stone dry coil. “Great!” I think to myself as I grumpily walk over to my desk, now annoyed I was missing the show I wasn’t even watching a minute ago.

My friend walked over to my desk with me as I went to fill my tank with my usual blend when something shiny catches his eye. “What are those?” he asks taking a drag from the carto snugly mounted on his Provari. Three brand new AGA’s that have been sitting on my desk for a few weeks, gathering dust, patiently waiting to get filled with juice and allowed to shine. Now as I’m sure you have heard these are great RBA’s, even better when used with stainless mesh, so why are they sitting on my desk collecting dust you ask? I, like many people seem to fall into a comfort zone rather easily, I find what I like to vape and I stick with it, nothing wrong with that right?

“Wanna try one out dude?”

My buddy has been vaping for about a year now, he started out small like many people and quickly found his favorite device when I introduced him to a Provari with a nice Carto Tank, that’s where his journey ended, until tonight. I had nothing to do and had a few stainless mesh wicks lying around from a bunch I had oxidized a few nights before. I tossed one in the AGA-T and quickly wrapped a coil around it as he tossed me a bottle of his favorite brew, unscrewed his carto, and readied his Provari for a bout with a new toy.

Bring on the coughing, he was in no way prepared for the mass of vapor that soon billowed from his lungs as he laughed and smiled immediately dialing down the V2 from the 5v it was resting at. “Whoa! I was not expecting that!” he exclaimed as I told him the coil I just wrapped was probably a pretty low resistance, sure enough it clocked in at very low 1.4 ohms. I chuckled a little as he described how amazing this juice he had vaped for months now tasted and how he couldn’t believe how much vapor he was seeing even at this lower voltage. “I’ve never tasted these flavors before, is that vanilla??” quickly followed by “How much did you pay for this? You have to let me buy this off you” as he reached for his wallet. “Keep it,” I told him, my Editor John sent them to me free of charge but I wasn’t going to tell him that. Let him owe me one!

First Impressions

At first glance the AGA line looks great, personally I’m not a big fan of knurling on my devices but they are put together well and pull off the look. Nothing feels flimsy like it’s going to break, quite the opposite; each atty feels like it will last a lifetime of use. The first time you pick up an AGA you will be surprised by the build quality and heftiness of this little $20 Genny, the threading is smooth and the overall fit and finish is top notch. It’s easy to see why the AGA’s receive such positive reviews all around the vaping community, try one yourself and you’ll understand why.

Some of the Veterans may be asking if it’s as good as a Hellfire or a Zen, the short answer is no. In reality its simply comparing apples to oranges, yes they are all Genny’s but that’s where the similarities end.  The Hellfire for example is a dual wick Genny with a vape truly its own, if you can get one, you will pay for it. Anyone looking for one will likely end up spending in the $400 range and easily wait on a list for months, I know people who scour the most popular classifieds daily and are still looking to purchase one months later. This just isn’t what the AGA was designed to be, it’s an affordable, available, well-made Genny for the every day Vaper.

The Vape

When fitted with Stainless Steel mesh and a properly wrapped coil the performance is top notch, plumes of vapor, tons of throat hit and amazing wicking. Since I began using Genny’s I found like many people I had to start ordering a lower strength e-liquid. The wicking and delivery is simply so efficient the nicotine strength I needed and liked in any other device was simply too much. The AGA’s are no exception, in the weeks I have been using them I have never experienced a dry hit, no matter what the fluid level was in the tank or the viscosity of the juice.  Even the thickest 100% VG liquid I own wicks without issue down to the last drop.

You may have heard people talk about “muted” flavors or how some prefer the taste of a carto to that of silica based RBA’s but what does it mean? Many of the wicking mediums in use today reduce flavor in e-Liquids for one two reasons, improperly wrapped coils and the inability to deliver enough liquid. At higher voltages or lower resistances this is more common than not. This is the area a Genesis like the AGA shines, the efficiency at which juice is delivered to the coil is hands down the best the market has to offer. The result is a constantly saturated coil that allows every subtle note your liquid has to offer the chance to come out more pronounced and tasting better than ever.

Airflow, How it Affects You

Lets talk about airflow for a minute, while I don’t find the draw ‘restrictive’ on the AGA’s I do find it to be on the tighter side. As with any device, whether it is a carto or tank system like the Vivi Nova, airflow determines vapor, and this is especially true with Genesis style devices. A very popular modification done to these types of RBA’s is to enlarge the air inlet. While you may find yourself thinking about doing just that I felt it was unnecessary. Some Vapers like the tighter draw some prefer it to be airier; I leave this up to you to decide as only you can.

As important as the size of the air inlet is the location in both height and relativity to the wick. In a perfect device the height of the inlet would be about half way up and just in front of the SS mesh.  All of the AGA’s have the height spot on but the where the inlet is varies.  On the original AGA the inlet is pretty close, the way it’s designed allows you to back off the cap about ¼ of a turn and align the inlet with no issue. The AGA-S also has no problems with alignment as it has been updated with O-rings in lieu of threading and allows the user to position the inlet in the location they prefer.

Of the 3 AGA’s I have tested the AGA-T had the biggest problem with inlet alignment. Out of the box the inlet is almost on the other side of the device relative to the wick. I have found two ways to resolve this issue, a larger or additional O-ring can be installed or the bottom of the cap can be sanded until proper alignment is achieved.  The new version of the “T”, the AGA-T2 has resolved these issues by going the way of the “S” and opting for a dual O-ring design as well as upgrading to a glass tank section. If you are thinking about an AGA-T I would suggest checking out the T2 first.

Final Thoughts

When it comes to $20 Genny’s I feel the AGA’s are the best game in town.
Would I suggest one to my friends or family? Yes, without a doubt.  The AGA’s are friendly and affordable Genny’s suitable for any Vaper from intermediate to advanced and built to last a lifetime.

Would I pit the “S” and “T2” against any Genesis currently on the market at 5 times the cost? I believe I would, though by the time my exclusive $100 Genny arrived I would have put about 50 or more tanks of e-Liquid through the AGA.

Matt. Wagner