RBA Reviews

Battlestar RTA by Smoant

Smoant produce the Battlestar Mod and this new RTA is designed to complement that product but just like all tanks it can be used on whatever device you wish! Constructed from 304 Stainless Steel and Quartz Glass the Battlestar RTA features a Dual Coil only “Velocity” style build deck, adjustable airflow, a convenient top filling system and a 3.5ml juice capacity.

by VapeMaster
May 30, 2017

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Battlestar RTA by Smoant

It might amuse you all to know that I’ve actually been searching for a Battlestar for some time… one called Galactica which I hope will eventually take me off this rock! Sadly that hasn’t happened yet so I have to console myself by having a new RTA to review instead, this one interestingly named the Battlestar by Smoant.

Now Smoant also produce the Battlestar Mod (is that one called Atlantia?) and this new RTA is designed to complement that product but just like all tanks it can be used on whatever device you wish! Constructed from 304 Stainless Steel and Quartz Glass the Battlestar RTA features a Dual Coil only “Velocity” style build deck, adjustable airflow, a convenient top filling system and a 3.5ml juice capacity. It sounds decent enough and I’m sure Commander Adama would probably like it but the question is… will you? We shall see!

Battlestar RTA features

24.5mm Diameter
34mm Height
3.5ml Capacity
Top Filling Design
17.5mm Diameter Velocity Style Deck
304 Stainless Steel and Quartz Glass Construction
PEEK insulator
Easy to Clean. All Components Can Be Disassembled
Adjustable Airflow
Available in Yellow, Black, Stainless Steel, Copper, Tarnish, Golden Colour

What’s in the box?

1x Battlestar RTA
1x Spare Glass Tube
1x Screwdriver
4x Screws
4x Spare Silicone O-Rings
User Manual

Battlestar RTA styling and build quality

The Smoant Battlestar is a very well put together RTA which features 304 Stainless Steel construction along with a Quartz Glass tube. Everything breaks down into four pieces which consists of a base/deck, the main chamber/chimney, the glass tube and an all-in-one Delrin top cap/drip tip. Sadly due to the nature of the top cap design you will not be able to use one of your own drip tips.

This RTA is 24.5mm in diameter so it is likely to overhang on little on smaller devices. It stands 34mm in height so it does look relatively low profile. The deck is 17.5mm in diameter and uses the ever popular “Velocity” style two post arrangement. The side tension grub screws are of a good quality and hold the wire securely. The post holes are not exactly massive so you will be a bit restricted when it comes to using thicker wire but you could certainly fit some standard Clapton coils without any issues. In addition the deck also features a PEEK insulator.

Tank capacity is 3.5ml which is thankfully a little bit larger than what the irritating EU TPD specifies but since this RTA is dual coil you can still vape off that juice pretty fast. Unlike a lot of RTA’s the Smoant Battlestar does not feature a juice flow control but given the size of the juice channels and how well it wicks it simply isn’t needed.

As has already been mentioned this RTA has adjustable airflow and the base features what looks to be a Brass 510 pin. The Battlestar can be purchased in a variety of colours but since I received the Stainless Steel version I cannot comment on the other finishes.

Airflow

This RTA has very straightforward dual Cyclops style airflow slots which can be adjusted by turning the AFC ring. The adjustment works well and is neither too stiff nor too loose.

At its most open the airflow offers a slightly restricted lung inhale and this because more restrictive as you close down the airflow. Almost completely closed down it might even suit a mouth to lung user but I advise you try it first if possible to be on the safe side.

Ease of use

I have already mentioned the deck arrangement and fitting the coils the same as any other typical Velocity deck so let’s take into consideration the wicking channels which are pretty large. In some ways the design reminds me a little of Digiflavor’s Fuji tank and also the Siren since due to the channels open nature you do need a sufficient amount of cotton in there or you will experience leaks. Wicking can feel a bit fiddly and somewhat messy because you need enough cotton but to actually hold it in place you have to juice it rather heavily and press it to the channels with either a small screwdriver or a pair of tweezers.

Another concern is to make sure none of that cotton gets caught in the threading which is actually rather easy to do by accident and it will cause you issues later. Providing you get all of that right you won’t have any problems and when in the use the tank wicks extremely well.

Filling is simple and you only need to unscrew the Delrin top cap and then pour juice through the very generously sized fill slots before screwing the top cap back on.

How does it vape?

I went for a 26 gauge dual coil set up (3mm Internal Diameter) which had a final Resistance of 0.5ohm. The coils were wicked with Japanese cotton and after priming them with some juice and filling up the tank I took my first vape. On this occasion I was using some KiK E-Liquid Strawberry Jam.

The flavour in my opinion was pretty good but nothing outstanding. To clarify since that might sound a little unfair I would say it was enjoyable but deep down I wished it was better. I suppose considering it is a dual coil RTA I expected the flavour to be that little bit richer and punchier. Now in all consideration it will depend entirely on what build you choose to use and if you were to go with a dual Clapton build then you can expect a slight improvement at the cost of getting through your juice faster.

Now despite the fact that I wanted a bit more from it I actually found myself reaching for the Battlestar more often than I thought I would and that’s for one simple reason…the draw. There really is something very enjoyable about the specific draw on this tank and I think it’s a combination of things. I happen to enjoy a restrictive lung inhale style of vape (I do like direct lung too and mouth to lung) but I don’t like tanks where I feel I am having to do very long draws so the shorter chimney on the Battlestar is definitely a contributing factor. It’s probably why I also happened to enjoy the Wotofo Mini Serpent and the Council of Vapor Vengeance.

Once I got through a tank’s worth of Strawberry Jam I then swapped to KiK Watermelon and Mango and while the flavour once more didn’t rock my world I was genuinely satisfied with it because the experience as a whole was a good one and for the rest of the day I just kept on vaping it!

Vapour production was very reasonable and it puts out enough to satisfy the average Joe but probably not enough for any serious cloud chucking fans. As I have mentioned earlier you do get through the juice pretty quickly due to the dual coil design but it is nowhere near as bad as a TPD compliant 2ml tank and refilling is convenient.

Conclusion

While this Battlestar won’t exactly take your vaping to the stars it is a very serviceable and worthwhile dual coil RTA and the Velocity style deck means it is straightforward to build. Flavour is more than acceptable but I do feel it could be a little crisper than it is considering this is a dual coil RTA but I certainly did enjoy the draw and the airflow which I found very enjoyable!

It does have some minor cons such as the all in one drip tip/top cap which means you cannot use a preferred drip tip from your collection. Another slight problem is that wicking does feel a little fiddly at times since you really have to juice up the wicks to make them stick in the channels and you also need to take care not to get any cotton caught in the threads when you screw the tank back together.

Vapour production is good but the real limitation is the fact that this RTA is dual coil only and even though the capacity is 1.5ml more than the annoying TPD directive you still tend to get through the juice very quickly. In terms of general build quality I can’t really find any faults at all and I think that if you do pick up one you’ll be perfectly happy with the solid vape experience it gives you!

Many thanks to Smoant who kindly sent the Battlestar RTA to Planet of the Vapes for us to review. You can follow them on Instagram here https://twitter.com/Smoant.