OBS Crius RDTA
The OBS Crius RDTA is a 24mm atomizer featuring dual adjustable airflow slots, a 4ml capacity and the same easy to use build deck as the Cheetah II RDA. The Crius RDTA is intended for dual coil builds only.
So let’s dive right in and see what it has to offer you!
OBS Crius RDTA features
- Stainless Steel and Glass Construction.
- Diameter: 24mm.
- Capacity: 4ml.
- Dual Adjustable Airflow Slots.
- Cheetah II RDA Style Build Deck. (Two Post, Half Post Hole, Half Clamp).
- 18mm 510 Wide Bore PEI Drip Tip.
- Side Filling.
-
510 Threaded Connection.
What’s in the box?
- 1x OBS Crius RDTA.
- 1x 18mm 510 Wide Bore PEI Drip Tip.
- 1x Screwdriver.
- Spare 0-Rings.
- Spare Screws.
- 1x Screwdriver.
- Organic Cotton.
- 2x Premade Coils.
- Authenticity Card.
- User Manual.
OBS Crius RDTA styling and build quality
In my opinion the Crius is an attractive RDTA. Constructed from 304 Stainless Steel and glass, the overall machining is of good quality and the parts fit together well. While I received the Stainless Steel model for review you can also get the Crius in a black anodized finish available, and also as an entirely Gold-Plated version (including deck). The Crius is 24mm in diameter and 49mm in height so it tends to look really good on most modern devices.
What is especially nice about this particular RDTA is that you don’t need to remove the 510 pin to unscrew the deck from the glass tank section. As such this makes it extremely easy to clean. The deck features exactly the same design as the OBS Cheetah II RDA, made up of a split post, half post hole and half clamp system, which makes building very straightforward. The tank itself has a 4ml capacity.
Included with the Crius is an 810 PEI drip tip which helps to minimise heat transfer to your lips. One negative is that the Crius does not include a 510 drip tip adapter, but you can use other 810 drip tips (Goon and Kennedy) from your collection.
As far as logos go the Crius is very clean and simply features an embossed pattern on each side surrounding the airflow slots. The Crius features a standard 510 connection and I had no issues getting it to sit flush on my mods.
Airflow
With a wide bore 810 drip tip and two Cyclops style airflow slots the Crius can be a very airy affair. This is perfectly suited those of you who prefer a direct lung inhale style of vaping. Even closing the slots heavily down only results in a slightly restrictive lung inhale vape.
The airflow adjustment was a touch stiff but I personally didn’t find that a huge issue since my personal preference was to vape it with the slots half open.
Ease of use
Building the Crius is extremely simple and even a newcomer would have a fairly easy time of it, providing they have some experience of setting up dual coils. There is plenty of space on the deck so you can happily use more exotic coils if you wish. As far as wicking goes I tend to have the wick tails just hanging as far as the top of the glass tank since I tilt RDTA’s heavily when vaping.
Filling is equally simply but the fill hole can be little bit small for dropper bottles pipettes. Once the barrel is fitted the fill hole is concealed. Alternatively you can also remove the top cap and drip down the spout.
Now OBS tout the Crius as being a leak-proof design which is a bit of a stretch. Providing you close the airflow slots the Crius shouldn’t leak if it is left lying on its side but turn it upside down and it will most certainly leak. Keep in mind that due to the airflow the Crius only supports a dual coil build.
How does it vape?
I set up the Crius with a dual Clapton coil build which had a final Resistance of 0.3ohm. I then wicked both coils with Japanese cotton. Having primed the wicks and filled up the tank with some Momo Soda Lish on Ice, I took my first vape. I started vaping with the Wattage at 45W and gradually increased this to 60W.
Flavour was decent enough, but in my opinion nothing exceptional. Vapour production on the other hand was great and I got some very dense clouds! I really wanted to ramp up the Wattage but this actually lead to constant dry hits. I trimmed the wicks down a little suspecting I may have overdone it with cotton a little but the issue still kept occurring. Now I tilt heavily when vaping RDTA’s so that certainly wasn’t the issue, so I was left with the conclusion that it was either the juice thickness or the size of the wicking holes to blame. The weird thing is that if I dialled the Wattage back down to 60W I had no such problem.
I could say that it’s all down to me and likely due to the fact that I don’t use RDTA’s often unless I’m reviewing them. However after searching online I have seen the same thing mentioned in other reviews of this RDTA. Not being deterred I decided to rewick and this time thinned down the cotton a little and had the tails trailing half way down the tank. Things improved somewhat but I still didn’t feel the wicking was especially efficient, at least not when using dual Claptons.
The final plan was to rip out the build and this time I went for a 26 gauge dual 3mm ID build which had a final Resistance of 0.8ohm. This time I switched out the wicking for Cotton Bacon V2 and this actually led to a much better vape. I didn’t feel that the Flavour was quite as good but at least it put paid to the dreaded dry hits.
The 4ml tank drains at a typical rate when using low Resistance coils and at least refilling was very convenient.
Conclusion
The real positives of this RDTA were that I liked the draw, the PEI drip tip was great at minimising heat and the deck was fabulous to work with. Vapour production was excellent and if you fully open up the airflow slots it becomes a real room fogger! The downside really is the wicking efficiency and that’s where it falls short in my opinion. It’s a shame because this kind of RDTA is really asking for an exotic build with the Wattage really cranked up.
Now it’s most likely possible depending on your own experience to find a way around this or alternatively you can settle for a more modest build and higher viscosity E-Liquid. The overall construction couldn't be faulted and it’s simple to clean, plus it certainly puts out plenty of vapour! At the end of the day it may be worth checking out if it interests you since the price point is very reasonable.
Many thanks to Gearbest who kindly sent this product to Planet of the Vapes for us to review.
VapeMaster
Reviewer at POTVJoin the discussion
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