Hi Ecigssa members, In this review i take a look at the Tengu RDA from Geekvape. The Tengu RDA was supplied for the purpose of this review by Carrie from Geekvape.
https://www.geekvape.com/project/tengu-rda/
Introduction
The Tengu is a dual build RDA with a deck very similar to a velocity style but with a slight twist. I reluctantly say Geekvape show some innovation because of just how many RDA's are out there many of which i haven't tried but the airflow control on the Tengu is done in a way which is new to me and i like the execution a lot. The velocity type deck promises a simple build and high airflow and deep well should make it pretty leak resistant and a good option to use with the provided BF pin. I tried the Tengu with both pins so i'll crack on and give my thoughts!
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In The Box
Contents:
1x Geekvape Tengu RDA
1x 810 Drip Tip
1x GV Triangular Tool
2x Feather Cotton
1x Spare Parts Pack
1x Hex Wrench
2x N80 Fused Clapton Coil
1x User Manual
1x 510 Drip Tip Adaptor
1x Gold plated BF Positive Pin
1x Promotion Card & Warranty Card
Aesthetics
The Tengu came in plain Black cardboard box packaging which samples from Geekvape come in so will differ to the retail packaging, also mine had no manual but again that will be simply because it's a review sample. I received the Stainless Steel version, the Tengu is also available in Black, Gunmetal, Golden, Blue and Rainbow, all versions come with a low profile 810 goon fit frosted drip tip up top. The RDA is 24mm in diameter and quite short with the top tapering smoothly to where the drip tip is fitted, below is a false seam which makes the Tengu look like it's a two piece sleeve but it's one piece as the airflow control ring is a piece fitted internally. On one side of the RDA we have the face of a Tengu etched cleanly in the metal which looks good and i prefer this much more than printed logo's. Either side we have honeycomb style airflow holes which consist of two rows, 6 in the top and 7 in the bottom. The base has etched branding and safety marks and comes pre-installed with a standard Gold plated 510 pin which protrudes enough to make it hybrid safe. The build quality is very good as i always find with Geekvape products, it's a nice looking RDA.
___________________________________________________________________
Tengu Specs and Features:
Size: 24 x 28.3mm
Juice Well Depth: 6mm
Drip Tip: 810/510(with adaptor)
Unique deck for easy dual coil building
Honeycomb airflow for smooth and great flavor
With Delrin drip tip and PMMA drip tip
Standard 510 and BF squonk 510 pin included
Thread: 510
Colours: Black, Gunmetal, Stainless Steel, Golden, Blue, Rainbow
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Tengu's Various Parts
The Tengu consists of a one piece sleeve with detachable inner airflow ring, and deck section. Up top we have a frosted quite low profile goon fitting 810, an even lower profile delrin rounded 810 is also included as well as a 510 adaptor. Included are spare o-rings, hex grub screws (flatheads are pre-installed on the posts), a BF pin, hex tool, T-piece tool, cotton and 2 coils.
___________________________________________________________________
The Airflow
The Airflow consists of dual sets of honeycomb style holes, 2 rows each side. The top rows have 6 holes and the bottom rows have 7 giving 13 holes each side in total. The airflow control ring you can see pictured fits inside the sleeve and has 2 protruding sections both top and bottom. The top sections fit into grooves inside the sleeve so the sleeve can be turned to adjust airflow, when the protruding sections reach the end of the grooves they act as hard stoppers as the ring is fixed in position lined up with the coils on the deck. The bottom protruding sections slot into same sized notches on the outside of the deck section locking the ring in place and allowing the whole system to work.
___________________________________________________________________
The Deck and Build
The deck is similar to a velocity style in the way it works but i found with the negative post holes being tightened with grub screws at an angle rather than side-wards made it even easier to build on only twisting the leg slightly which is easily fixed with a coiling rod. The Gold plated positive post is a raised "T" with the negative posts being under each of the vertical protruding sections. The bottom of the "T" is hollowed with 2 small holes (one each side) so when the BF pin is installed the juice enters the deck through these holes. Your coil legs get fastened into place by the grub screws in the positive post being tightened down from above and they are tightened at an angle on the negative posts. There is plenty of room for trimming your legs so they don't need pre-cutting, just slot one leg in a positive terminal and the other in the opposite negative and when the coil is where you want it fasten down and trim your legs, then just repeat the process with your other coil. Then you can use a coiling rod or fit for purpose tool to manoeuvre the coils into the perfect positions. You can take the airflow control ring out of the sleeve and place it over the deck to check the position of the coils in relation to the airflow, i set mine where the top row would be giving side airflow and the bottom row would be skimming the bottom of the coils. Wicking is a doddle, you can be quite generous with the cotton as the Tengu has a deep open well, just tuck your cotton into the well. This was quite a long write up for this section but actually dual builds really don't get much easier and the Tengu would make a great first dual coil RDA.
___________________________________________________________________
My Experience Using The Tengu
I did 2 builds on the Tengu a 2nd build using the BF pin and my first build (which is the one pictured) using the supplied coils with the standard pin. The supplied coils had no specs whatsoever which will be a con (chances are the retail version will give the specs as although full specs aren't given they are listed on there website as being fused clapton N80) but are 3.0ID and the build came out bang on 0.20ohms. The airflow is silky smooth which tends to be the case with honeycomb designs and quite restrictive, worth mentioning it's a quiet RDA as well which will be to a lot of peoples liking. I usually have airflow halfway on most RDA's but had the airflow three quarters open for the restriction i like and found the vape just right for me at 60W which gave above average flavour but it's just slightly short of a place at the top table. I think because of the restriction the majority will vape the Tengu with airflow fully open and when i tried this i found i upped the wattage to 70W. When trying different airflow positions i noticed how the airflow adjusts means closing it down does make the airflow lopsided but it really doesn't effect the RDA's performance until you have it at halfway or less and i really can't see many wanting the airflow closed down this much. The way the deck is set-out means the build sits quite high and the airflow is high too, also it has a nice deep well so you have to really over drip to get liquid coming out the air holes and when i tried it with the BF pin i had no issues with leaking whatsoever, (it's very squonk friendly).
___________________________________________________________________
Likes
Good build quality
Nice looking
Plenty of colour options
Very easy build (good choice for first dual build RDA)
Innovative way of airflow adjustment (at least that i am aware of)
unless seriously over dripping or squonking it's leak resistant
Above average flavour
Silky smooth airflow
Quiet RDA
Worked well as dripper and squonk friendly with BF pin
Included coils and cotton
Frosted 810 drip tip very comfortable
510 adaptor included
Both standard and BF pin included
Cons
When closing airflow down it becomes lopsided (only affects performance when closed down more than halfway)
Not mentioned in the review but when i tried the delrin drip tip i found it to be just too low profile and uncomfortable.
No specs given with supplied coils (may well be given with retail version and supper picky as they are listed on the Geekvape site as N80 fused claptons)
Nice deck but nothing really innovative.
I would once again like to thank Carrie from Geekvape for supplying the Tengu RDA for the purpose of this review.
https://www.geekvape.com/project/tengu-rda/
___________________________________________________________________
https://www.geekvape.com/project/tengu-rda/
Introduction
The Tengu is a dual build RDA with a deck very similar to a velocity style but with a slight twist. I reluctantly say Geekvape show some innovation because of just how many RDA's are out there many of which i haven't tried but the airflow control on the Tengu is done in a way which is new to me and i like the execution a lot. The velocity type deck promises a simple build and high airflow and deep well should make it pretty leak resistant and a good option to use with the provided BF pin. I tried the Tengu with both pins so i'll crack on and give my thoughts!
___________________________________________________________________
In The Box
Contents:
1x Geekvape Tengu RDA
1x 810 Drip Tip
1x GV Triangular Tool
2x Feather Cotton
1x Spare Parts Pack
1x Hex Wrench
2x N80 Fused Clapton Coil
1x User Manual
1x 510 Drip Tip Adaptor
1x Gold plated BF Positive Pin
1x Promotion Card & Warranty Card
Aesthetics
The Tengu came in plain Black cardboard box packaging which samples from Geekvape come in so will differ to the retail packaging, also mine had no manual but again that will be simply because it's a review sample. I received the Stainless Steel version, the Tengu is also available in Black, Gunmetal, Golden, Blue and Rainbow, all versions come with a low profile 810 goon fit frosted drip tip up top. The RDA is 24mm in diameter and quite short with the top tapering smoothly to where the drip tip is fitted, below is a false seam which makes the Tengu look like it's a two piece sleeve but it's one piece as the airflow control ring is a piece fitted internally. On one side of the RDA we have the face of a Tengu etched cleanly in the metal which looks good and i prefer this much more than printed logo's. Either side we have honeycomb style airflow holes which consist of two rows, 6 in the top and 7 in the bottom. The base has etched branding and safety marks and comes pre-installed with a standard Gold plated 510 pin which protrudes enough to make it hybrid safe. The build quality is very good as i always find with Geekvape products, it's a nice looking RDA.
___________________________________________________________________
Tengu Specs and Features:
Size: 24 x 28.3mm
Juice Well Depth: 6mm
Drip Tip: 810/510(with adaptor)
Unique deck for easy dual coil building
Honeycomb airflow for smooth and great flavor
With Delrin drip tip and PMMA drip tip
Standard 510 and BF squonk 510 pin included
Thread: 510
Colours: Black, Gunmetal, Stainless Steel, Golden, Blue, Rainbow
___________________________________________________________________
Tengu's Various Parts
The Tengu consists of a one piece sleeve with detachable inner airflow ring, and deck section. Up top we have a frosted quite low profile goon fitting 810, an even lower profile delrin rounded 810 is also included as well as a 510 adaptor. Included are spare o-rings, hex grub screws (flatheads are pre-installed on the posts), a BF pin, hex tool, T-piece tool, cotton and 2 coils.
___________________________________________________________________
The Airflow
The Airflow consists of dual sets of honeycomb style holes, 2 rows each side. The top rows have 6 holes and the bottom rows have 7 giving 13 holes each side in total. The airflow control ring you can see pictured fits inside the sleeve and has 2 protruding sections both top and bottom. The top sections fit into grooves inside the sleeve so the sleeve can be turned to adjust airflow, when the protruding sections reach the end of the grooves they act as hard stoppers as the ring is fixed in position lined up with the coils on the deck. The bottom protruding sections slot into same sized notches on the outside of the deck section locking the ring in place and allowing the whole system to work.
___________________________________________________________________
The Deck and Build
The deck is similar to a velocity style in the way it works but i found with the negative post holes being tightened with grub screws at an angle rather than side-wards made it even easier to build on only twisting the leg slightly which is easily fixed with a coiling rod. The Gold plated positive post is a raised "T" with the negative posts being under each of the vertical protruding sections. The bottom of the "T" is hollowed with 2 small holes (one each side) so when the BF pin is installed the juice enters the deck through these holes. Your coil legs get fastened into place by the grub screws in the positive post being tightened down from above and they are tightened at an angle on the negative posts. There is plenty of room for trimming your legs so they don't need pre-cutting, just slot one leg in a positive terminal and the other in the opposite negative and when the coil is where you want it fasten down and trim your legs, then just repeat the process with your other coil. Then you can use a coiling rod or fit for purpose tool to manoeuvre the coils into the perfect positions. You can take the airflow control ring out of the sleeve and place it over the deck to check the position of the coils in relation to the airflow, i set mine where the top row would be giving side airflow and the bottom row would be skimming the bottom of the coils. Wicking is a doddle, you can be quite generous with the cotton as the Tengu has a deep open well, just tuck your cotton into the well. This was quite a long write up for this section but actually dual builds really don't get much easier and the Tengu would make a great first dual coil RDA.
___________________________________________________________________
My Experience Using The Tengu
I did 2 builds on the Tengu a 2nd build using the BF pin and my first build (which is the one pictured) using the supplied coils with the standard pin. The supplied coils had no specs whatsoever which will be a con (chances are the retail version will give the specs as although full specs aren't given they are listed on there website as being fused clapton N80) but are 3.0ID and the build came out bang on 0.20ohms. The airflow is silky smooth which tends to be the case with honeycomb designs and quite restrictive, worth mentioning it's a quiet RDA as well which will be to a lot of peoples liking. I usually have airflow halfway on most RDA's but had the airflow three quarters open for the restriction i like and found the vape just right for me at 60W which gave above average flavour but it's just slightly short of a place at the top table. I think because of the restriction the majority will vape the Tengu with airflow fully open and when i tried this i found i upped the wattage to 70W. When trying different airflow positions i noticed how the airflow adjusts means closing it down does make the airflow lopsided but it really doesn't effect the RDA's performance until you have it at halfway or less and i really can't see many wanting the airflow closed down this much. The way the deck is set-out means the build sits quite high and the airflow is high too, also it has a nice deep well so you have to really over drip to get liquid coming out the air holes and when i tried it with the BF pin i had no issues with leaking whatsoever, (it's very squonk friendly).
___________________________________________________________________
Likes
Good build quality
Nice looking
Plenty of colour options
Very easy build (good choice for first dual build RDA)
Innovative way of airflow adjustment (at least that i am aware of)
unless seriously over dripping or squonking it's leak resistant
Above average flavour
Silky smooth airflow
Quiet RDA
Worked well as dripper and squonk friendly with BF pin
Included coils and cotton
Frosted 810 drip tip very comfortable
510 adaptor included
Both standard and BF pin included
Cons
When closing airflow down it becomes lopsided (only affects performance when closed down more than halfway)
Not mentioned in the review but when i tried the delrin drip tip i found it to be just too low profile and uncomfortable.
No specs given with supplied coils (may well be given with retail version and supper picky as they are listed on the Geekvape site as N80 fused claptons)
Nice deck but nothing really innovative.
I would once again like to thank Carrie from Geekvape for supplying the Tengu RDA for the purpose of this review.
https://www.geekvape.com/project/tengu-rda/
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