RBA Reviews

Eleaf Oppo RTA

The Oppo is the latest RTA from well-known manufacturer Eleaf. It is 22mm in diameter, highly compact and features the popular Velocity style deck. In addition it features convenient top filling, fully adjustable airflow and has a 2ml capacity. So let’s take a good look and see exactly what it has to offer!

by VapeMaster
Feb 14, 2017

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Eleaf Oppo RTA

Eleaf Oppo RTA features

22mm Diameter
Stainless Steel Construction
510 Threaded
2ml Capacity
Dual Post Velocity Style Deck
Dual Coil Only
Large Build Deck
Top Fill Design
Glass Tank
Adjustable Airflow
Insulated Drip Tip
510 Drip Tip Compatible
Easily Disassembled
Includes 2x Pre-built Clapton Coils

What’s in the box?

1x Eleaf Oppo RTA
1x Allen Key
1x Vape Band
Japanese Cotton Pad
2x Pre-Built Clapton Coils (Resistance was 0.4ohm when fitted)

Eleaf Oppo styling and build quality

The Eleaf Oppo is relatively compact and quite attractive in terms of its styling so it tends to look good on most mods. The overall machining is decent with no sharp edges and everything fits together well! This RTA features a convenient top filling system and there is a good amount of knurling on the top cap which really does help when unscrewing it.

In some ways the Eleaf Oppo really does remind me of the Wotofo Serpent Mini even though this RTA is dual coil because the chimney is very short and the chamber containing your coils are practically directly under the drip tip. Logos are kept to a minimum on this RTA with only “Eleaf” and “Oppo” nicely engraved on opposite sides of the chamber.

The included drip tip is made from Stainless Steel and features a Delrin insert. You can of course swap it out for another one from your collection since it uses a standard 510 fitting. As you might expect given the new TPD regulations the Oppo is limited to a 2ml capacity. The deck uses the ever popular Velocity style featuring two posts and side tension grub screws but you are somewhat limited in terms of you build due to the small chamber.

One issue I do have with the Oppo is that even though you can remove the deck when the tank is filled the glass tube is not very well secured and it can come away easily. Ideally it should have had much stronger O-rings to keep it securely in place. The 510 pin is non-adjustable and appears to be silver plated.

Airflow

The Oppo features two fully adjustable Cyclops style airflow slots with adjustment being nice and smooth. There is a slight amount of resistance when turning the adjustment ring which ensures it does not move from the position you set it at. I found the Oppo to offer a very nice draw when fully opened up and it would suit anyone who enjoys a restrictive lung inhale. Closing the airflow down quite obviously makes for a more restrictive vape and depending on your tastes you may find it to be about right for a mouth to lung vape.

Ease of use

As you might expect given that the Oppo features a two post Velocity style deck building is very straightforward. While I found the screws to be okay they did need a fair bit of tightening to properly secure thicker wire so there is certainly room for improvement. Strangely enough, quite a few vendors actually state that the Oppo caters to single or dual coil builds which is not the case at all since the airflow does not support a single coil build.

The internal diameter of the included Clapton coils look to be about 3mm and even though you can get them to fit if you move them really close to the posts and a little higher up they are still very close to the chamber and you will get a short if you are not careful. Personally I think this is a major misstep by Eleaf because it really seems like they didn’t bother to check that the coils they were including had sufficient clearance. Please think of newcomers to rebuildables next time Eleaf!

If you are fairly new to dual coil tanks I would advise that you do not make use of the included coils and instead wrap two identical coils with a 2mm internal diameter. Realistically you should also be able to get 2.5mm internal diameter coils in there but completely avoid 3mm ones.

Another problem with using 3mm ID coils even if you manage to get them to fit is that you do need more cotton and as such there is the potential for you to accidentally overstuff the wicking channels. When wicking trim the cotton close to the edge of the deck and have the tails lightly resting in the tops of the channels, you may need to apply a little E-liquid to keep them in place and also make sure that you don’t get any cotton caught in the threading or they will get pulled out of position when you screw on the chamber/chimney.

The Eleaf Oppo does not feature a juice flow control but to be honest this tank wicks rather too well so it isn’t strictly necessary. The top filling is simple and convenient and you just unscrew the top cap which exposes two very large slots that have more than enough room for your juice nozzles or droppers. The knurling on the top cap also helps you to get a good grip. Just to be on the safe side I always closed the airflow when re-filling.

How does it vape?

After fitting the included coils and wicking and priming them I filled up the tank with Fallstreak Cirrus and started vaping at 40W. Once I got past the initial break in of the cotton the flavour was certainly okay but far from outstanding. At no point did I ever get any dry hits when vaping the Oppo and thankfully also no spit back.

For my second tank of juice I used some Nasty Juice A$AP Grape and that also turned out to be a fairly enjoyable vape even though the flavour wasn’t ideal. So as you might gather the flavour that the Oppo offers won’t exactly blow you away but you might consider it decent enough if you are new to RTA’s and don’t have much to compare it with. Personally I feel that for a dual coil tank fitted with Clapton coils the flavour is rather weak especially since the Serpent Mini in single coil mode completely outclasses it in the flavour department.

Funnily enough, despite the Stainless Steel drip tip featuring a Delrin insert I found it got a bit too hot even when vaping at 40 Watts and I ended up replacing it with an entirely Delrin drip tip. I felt that the large diameter drip tip contributed to poorer flavour because when I swapped it for a much narrower tip the flavour of my juice actually got a little better.

Sadly there is just one real problem with the Oppo and that is the fact that this tank wicks far too well (you can tell by the sheer amount of bubbles rising) and the capacity is drained extremely quickly. I was vaping at 40W and not exactly chain vaping but I got through the tank in twenty minutes. Now this might be a deal breaker for some especially if you are on a budget but do keep in mind that the included Clapton coils came out at 0.4ohm and you will get a lengthier vape if you aim for a standard dual coil build around 0.8ohm since you won’t require as much Wattage.

While I am sure that certain EU officials will rubbing their hands in glee due to the fact that the Oppo has a compliant 2ml capacity it really doesn’t seem to benefit a user to vape Sub Ohm at medium to high Wattage these days with small capacity tanks because you end up having to constantly refill them. Fortunately, although it might be a pain to keep re-filling, the Oppo the top fill system works well and is convenient!

As far as vapour production goes the Oppo puts out some fairly generous clouds which at times can be reasonably dense which means most folks will be more than happy with it.

In the short amount of time I spent using it I did not have any leaking issues with this RTA.

Conclusion

The Oppo RTA is a decent enough tank that is compact, quite stylish and on the whole nicely machined. Unfortunately it only offers very average flavour which is surprising considering its very compact design and small chimney. In terms of vapour production it does well and produces enough clouds considering its small size.

I would not recommend the Oppo RTA to a novice rebuilder firstly because the deck is dual coil only (even though a Velocity deck is straightforward), secondly because the wicking might be a bit fiddly and finally because the included pre-made coils in the box are a bit too large for the chamber which means there is a serious potential for you to get a short. One major con is that the tank glass is not very well secured and it can actually come away and dump the juice everywhere if you actually need to unscrew the deck to tweak your build.

As it stands, and purely in my opinion, as dual coil RTA’s go I feel you could certainly find something much better (in terms of flavour) and it is unfortunate that the Oppo feels very average on the whole. Of course if you do happen to purchase one or someone gets you one as a present the Eleaf Oppo RTA certainly offers a solid enough vape that you may be very content with!