MTLMike
Achiever
- Joined
- Aug 25, 2020
- Messages
- 1,002
Hi all, sorry for the delay but I wanted to make sure I gave these tanks a proper and thorough test with various builds and liquids.
Thanks again to @Innokin for the giveaway and for sending these out to me, however this will in no way effect my thoughts or opinions on these products.
The Ares 2 LE is the Limited Edition variant of the Ares 2 MTL RTA, designed by PBusardo, VapinGreek and Innokin. Essentially made to look more classy and sleek than it's standard edition counterpart, which I think has definitely been achieved here with the use of less branding, smoother edges and overall nicer finishes.
I was sent the D22 versions which are 22mm diameter tanks and have a juice capacity of 2ml, they also do the D24 which is 24mm and holds 4ml.
I was sent both the Onyx and Flint colours as you can see here:
The tanks are packaged very well, already having a Innokin band around the glass, I assume to protect them during the shipping process. The Onyx comes assembled with a smoked glass (clear one in the spares) and the Flint comes assembled with a clear glass (smoked one in the spares) Both will come with ultem topped drip tips installed but you do receive plain matching drip tips also, all of which will have the childproof lock feature.
Underneath the tanks, you get everything you need:
Tools: Flat/Phillips Head Screwdriver, Torx Screwdriver and Coil Building Jigs.
Spares: Top-Fill Gasket, O-rings, Glass, Drip Tip and Flat Head Screws.
2 x Kanthal 1.0ohm coils, 1m of 26g Kanthal Wire and some Japanese Organic Cotton.
Building and wicking on these tanks was simple enough and the changes made over the original Ares deck are definitely most welcome, being able to tune your airflow directly underneath the coil as well as on the outer AFC and enclosing the wicking channels instead of leaving them open like the original.
I've been testing the Onyx with my usual NI80 MTL Clapton builds:
and the Flint with some spaced 26g NI80 wire:
With the Clapton build, I had to close the airflow underneath all the way otherwise it was too cool and not very flavourful. With the spaced coil build, I had to open the airflow underneath instead, otherwise it was too warm and not very flavourful. However once fine tuned to my personal preference, the vape I was getting was very pleasant on both and with whatever liquid I was running through it whether 50/50 or 70/30.
The few things I might have done differently, would be an alternative filling gasket without the membrane as the provided ones can make filling with some bottles a pain, a lip on the wire slots to stop the wire popping out when you go to screw it down and some slight grooves in the walls on top of the wicking channels so with your coiling rod, you can drop your coil just that little bit lower. Also, instead of the ultem on the drip tip, maybe a smoked tip to match the smoked glasses would have looked more coordinated.
Overall I think this is a solid product and an ideal tank either for someone who wants to give MTL a try or as a first rebuildable. There is an entire series of videos demonstrating every aspect of the tank you need to know, including maintenance and troubleshooting, so an inexperienced builder should be able to get the hang of using this atomiser very quickly.
I would definitely recommend this product based on the grounds mentioned above, however I have many MTL rebuildable tanks and this one isn't really keeping up with any of them, which is a shame to say. From a looks and ease of use perspective, this tank is right up there but where it mainly falls short is what I enjoy the most in my vape...the flavour. Now by no means whatsoever am I trying to say this tank has no flavour, it does, it has very pleasant flavour but that is it. Nothing spectacular or phenomenal, just very pleasant and there is nothing wrong with that. If I had the Ares 2 instead of the original Ares when I first tried MTL, I would have been thoroughly impressed but that was over a year ago. The industry is always evolving and so many MTL tanks have been released, especially this year and unfortunately I feel the Ares 2 might struggle to contend against other offerings on the market.
Thank you very much for reading and thanks very much again to @Innokin for the tanks.
Stay safe and smoke free, my friends.
Thanks again to @Innokin for the giveaway and for sending these out to me, however this will in no way effect my thoughts or opinions on these products.
The Ares 2 LE is the Limited Edition variant of the Ares 2 MTL RTA, designed by PBusardo, VapinGreek and Innokin. Essentially made to look more classy and sleek than it's standard edition counterpart, which I think has definitely been achieved here with the use of less branding, smoother edges and overall nicer finishes.
I was sent the D22 versions which are 22mm diameter tanks and have a juice capacity of 2ml, they also do the D24 which is 24mm and holds 4ml.
I was sent both the Onyx and Flint colours as you can see here:
The tanks are packaged very well, already having a Innokin band around the glass, I assume to protect them during the shipping process. The Onyx comes assembled with a smoked glass (clear one in the spares) and the Flint comes assembled with a clear glass (smoked one in the spares) Both will come with ultem topped drip tips installed but you do receive plain matching drip tips also, all of which will have the childproof lock feature.
Underneath the tanks, you get everything you need:
Tools: Flat/Phillips Head Screwdriver, Torx Screwdriver and Coil Building Jigs.
Spares: Top-Fill Gasket, O-rings, Glass, Drip Tip and Flat Head Screws.
2 x Kanthal 1.0ohm coils, 1m of 26g Kanthal Wire and some Japanese Organic Cotton.
Building and wicking on these tanks was simple enough and the changes made over the original Ares deck are definitely most welcome, being able to tune your airflow directly underneath the coil as well as on the outer AFC and enclosing the wicking channels instead of leaving them open like the original.
I've been testing the Onyx with my usual NI80 MTL Clapton builds:
and the Flint with some spaced 26g NI80 wire:
With the Clapton build, I had to close the airflow underneath all the way otherwise it was too cool and not very flavourful. With the spaced coil build, I had to open the airflow underneath instead, otherwise it was too warm and not very flavourful. However once fine tuned to my personal preference, the vape I was getting was very pleasant on both and with whatever liquid I was running through it whether 50/50 or 70/30.
The few things I might have done differently, would be an alternative filling gasket without the membrane as the provided ones can make filling with some bottles a pain, a lip on the wire slots to stop the wire popping out when you go to screw it down and some slight grooves in the walls on top of the wicking channels so with your coiling rod, you can drop your coil just that little bit lower. Also, instead of the ultem on the drip tip, maybe a smoked tip to match the smoked glasses would have looked more coordinated.
Overall I think this is a solid product and an ideal tank either for someone who wants to give MTL a try or as a first rebuildable. There is an entire series of videos demonstrating every aspect of the tank you need to know, including maintenance and troubleshooting, so an inexperienced builder should be able to get the hang of using this atomiser very quickly.
I would definitely recommend this product based on the grounds mentioned above, however I have many MTL rebuildable tanks and this one isn't really keeping up with any of them, which is a shame to say. From a looks and ease of use perspective, this tank is right up there but where it mainly falls short is what I enjoy the most in my vape...the flavour. Now by no means whatsoever am I trying to say this tank has no flavour, it does, it has very pleasant flavour but that is it. Nothing spectacular or phenomenal, just very pleasant and there is nothing wrong with that. If I had the Ares 2 instead of the original Ares when I first tried MTL, I would have been thoroughly impressed but that was over a year ago. The industry is always evolving and so many MTL tanks have been released, especially this year and unfortunately I feel the Ares 2 might struggle to contend against other offerings on the market.
Thank you very much for reading and thanks very much again to @Innokin for the tanks.
Stay safe and smoke free, my friends.
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