Thank you for checking out my review of the GeekVape Aegis Squonker 100W TC Kit with Tengu RDA which Heavengifts was kind enough to provide.
Disclaimer: I received a review sample so instead of posting what I received (didn’t include an owner’s manual) I am just going to post what Geekvape shows on their website below. What I received may differ from the production units.
Getting to know the Aegis Squonk Mod
The Aegis name has been around for a while now, first with the original which was a waterproof and shock-resistant 26650 mod which did well. It was then followed up with other versions, my favorite being the Aegis Legend. They’re back at it again with the Aegis Squonk Mod which carries on the tradition of being IP67 waterproof, shockproof and dustproof. Why you would want to continue using a squonk mod after it has been drenched in water is beyond me, the juice is coming from the dang thing but whatevs.
If you have owned an Aegis in the past then this will seem familiar, same screen layout although not as bright or clear as the Aegis Legend, wondering if that is to save battery life? Same easy to navigate menu, just click the fire button 3 times then use the fire button to scroll through the menu, up/down buttons to adjust. While not as good as the Legends screen I personally have always liked the Aegis screens, easy to see in any lighting condition. Single 18650, I think they missed an opportunity here, a single 21700 would have been much better. They did include a whopping 10ml squonk bottle, I had no idea as there were no specs on the sample box, kept filling up my syringe until it topped off, a full 10ml.
When I first got it I tried like hell to remove the squonk bottle, I was really wondering how to fill it as there was no info. Looked at the top and saw the grooves and low and behold success.
You just push it back and the fill port appears, good luck trying to fill it with a bullnose bottle with that small fill port. Being so close to the 510 means having to remove your tank when using 100ml and up chubby gorilla bottles, 60ml work with a tank attached.
After filling it up I then looked and thought hmmm, where is the hole on the 510?
Squeezed the bottle to see the 510 area filling with juice, OK, the hole is in there somewhere…cool. With all the tanks I tried the squonking worked great, there is a rubber gasket to make sure it doesn’t leak out under the RDA. Definitely different but it works really well.
Now you might be asking where is the USB, did they decide to leave it out? Nope, it is there and this time you can use it to charge the battery and it even offers passthrough charging, something the original Aegis did not offer.
The pic on the right shows the USB cover at the bottom left.
Just use your fingernail on the top part to peel it back to expose the USB port.
The full top of the mod shows the 510 and slide back cover for filling. The bottom uses the screw on battery cap which has course threads making it easy to use, about 1 full rotation to get it open or closed…nice.
You can even replace the squonk portion if you want to use it as a non-squonk mod, this cover is not included and must be purchased separately.
I guess if you decide squonking isn’t for you then you have options, don’t have to ditch the mod if you don’t want to look sketchy using an RTA on a squonk mod.
The mod is really comfortable to hold, no sharp edges and no rattle of any kind. Feels solid in the hand but is not too heavy. Easy enough to use with your index finger to hit the fire button and thumb to squonk, I found myself using it more firing with my thumb and using my fingers to squonk but either way was fine.
Battery life with the included dual coil Tengu RDA was not ideal, why they didn’t use a single coil RDA with a single 18650 mod is beyond me. Much better battery life using a single coil RDA or better yet the mesh Profile RDA, loved that combo. Of course, I forgot to take a pic with the Profile RDA, but I did get a couple with the Cthulu Mjolnir and Asmodus Bunker single coils RDA’s. I got about 170 puffs using a Molicel P26A 25amp 26000 mAh 18650 in TC with the Profile RDA using OFRF SS316L mesh. That was enough to finish off about 8ml of juice before I needed to replace the battery.
Performance
For power mode, they offer all the options of the previous Aegis mods, Power, Bypass and Variable Power Curve (VPC). All work well, I am especially a fan of the VPC, easy to set up and almost makes up for the fact that there is no preheat option. For all the modes they worked as promised and fired up quick which is almost a given with modern mods these days.
I was impressed at how it read ohms, never off by more than 0.02 ohms and most of the time spot on. The only glitch I found is if it has been sitting a while and you screw on a new tank it will miss asking you if it is a new coil. Just unscrew the tank and screw it back on and it will give you the new coil/old coil screen to confirm.
TC with SS316L coils and mesh was a lot better with single coils and it’s performance with both Vandy Vape SS316L 200 mesh and OFRF (Soon to be rebranded Wotofo) SS316L nexMESH with one caveat. With the Vandy Vape SS316L 200 mesh I had to lower my preferred 430F to 415 or even lower at times until I found the sweet spot. With the OFRF SS316L nexMESH, I had to raise it to between 450 to 470F. Both offered a really nice vape, I almost exclusively used mesh in TC and it prevented dry hits, for the most part, the Vandy Vape SS316L 200 mesh being the trickest to dial in. I did a new VV SS316L 200 mesh build and this one is working great at 430F and 60 watts. Different results than before but still pretty good, just not consistent.
With dual coils, it was hit or miss, not bad but not the greatest and a lot of times I reverted back to power mode. This might have a lot to do with just not enough power from a single 18650 battery unless it is fresh. Did a better job with single-coil TC builds but even then it was good, not great depending on the build. With the right build, it did really nice TC with a single-coil but yeah, I found myself reverting back to power mode for a more satisfying vape about half the time.
Getting to know the Tengu RDA
When I got the kit the first thing I thought was why a dual coil RDA? Don’t get me wrong, I love a good dual coil RDA but with a single 18650 mod? It doesn’t make sense.
The Tengu is a 3 post design, the center post being positive with a T design for both leads. The center post also has the screw tightening down, that way you don’t have to twist your wide coils, the negative sides are at an angle so wide builds have minimal twist when installing.
The top cap has an interesting design, it has notches to keep the inside airflow slot centered on the coils at all times. When adjusting the airflow the outer cap is the only one that moves, closing off the honeycomb air holes while keeping the inner airflow center on the coils at all times.
The catch with this design is it only works on a mod or atty stand when adjusting the airflow. To open the airflow you have to twist the entire top cap in a tightening turn, to close off the airflow you need to make sure the RDA is really tight on your atty or stand as you will be turning the top cap the same way you do to unscrew the tank. If your tank is not screwed on tight then trying to close off the airflow will result in unscrewing the RDA from your mod, not great. Turning the top cap to adjust the airflow is also tight on my sample, it is doable but sometimes a pain.
The dual o’rings holding the top cap to the base are pretty spot on. Easy to take off and put on with just the right amount of tension that it does not come off easily. I can lift the RDA with mod attached without fear of the top cap coming off, not recommended but does give you an idea that it is secure.
They did include an extra black 810 drip tip in my reviewer sample to go with the Ultem 810. It is a very low profile though, your lips will be right on top of the RDA and it can get hot, back in the box it goes. 510 drip tip adapter included, no 510 drip tip so you will have to use your own.
The squonk holes on the deck are actually in the center post and feed on both sides towards the negative posts. Couldn’t take a pic of that but it is a very good idea, no chance of the juice purging out the drip tip when your bottle runs dry.
Builds and Performance
On the Aegis Squonk mod, I concentrated on builds that would compliment a single 18650 mod. Not an ideal scenario but gotta give it a shot. Tried various fancy coils builds, fused dual and triple-core claptons with the core being 30g or 28g with the dual but they really needed more power IMO to shine. Here is a single 26g build I tried as well, not bad and the best for battery life but missed out on flavor that the fancy wire builds offered.
I tried various heights on the coils positioning as well, found the coils best when a little higher so the airflow hits the bottom of the coil first as opposed to just the sides.
After messing with different builds I decided to just build it how I generally like most dual coil RDA’s, a big and flavorful multi-core fused Clapton that likes power.
This build did not work well on the single 18650 Aegis Squonk mod but throwing it on my dual 18650 Drone and it came alive. I also went back, pulled my wick and adjusted the coil a little higher, which improved the flavor even more.
That is how the rest of the review evaluation went, the Tengu RDA on the Drone and the Profile or a single coil RDA on the Aegis Squonk mod, much better matches IMO.
The flavor on the Tengu is good but not the best I have had in a dual coil RDA. I actually like Geekvape’s own Loop RDA better, I would have loved to see a Loop single-coil version developed for this kit.
Overall the Tengu is a good RDA but not great. I have a number of dual coil RDA’s that are better. I don’t mind using the Tengu but there is a handful I would reach for first. I also think it was a mistake to use it in the kit with a single 18650 mod, a dedicated single-coil or mesh RDA would have been a much better match.
Pros:
- A whopping 10ml squonk bottle
- Very comfortable to hold and feels solid in the hand
- Ergonomic to use either as an index or thumb fire mod
- Decent TC for SS mesh, just have to fiddle with the temp and power to find the sweet spot
- Optional non-squonk cover can be purchased separately if squonking isn’t for you
- Coils and cotton included, complete set, just gotta add juice and a battery
- Excellent fit and finish
Cons:
- Not a good idea to match a dual coil RDA with a single 18650 mod IMO
- You have to remove the RDA to fill with a 100ml chubby gorilla bottle, 60ml bottles work well though
- Tengu RDA is a good dual coil RDA, not great though, better RDA’s out there
- Wish it was a little bigger to accommodate a 21700
Final thoughts
My initial reaction to the Geekvape Aegis Squonk mod was disappointment it wasn’t a single 21700. In the 4 weeks of use, that disappointment faded away. I would still buy a 21700 version in a heartbeat if they release a new version in the future but have really enjoyed my time with the Aegis Squonk mod. The mod works great with a mesh or single-coil RDA, used it 85% of the time this way. The 10ml capacity is the real star here, can go almost all day without having to fill it up again. Excellent dry hit protection with SS mesh as well, just have to adjust the temp and watts but once it is dialed in it will stay consistent with that build. I did have to readjust my TC settings with a fresh SS mesh build, sometimes higher or lower on temp. Not as good with regular SS coils in TC, depends on the build but can go from good to blah.
The Tengu RDA is a bad match for this kit IMO. It doesn’t have a single coil option with the airflow, you can run a single coil but both sides of the airflow will be open, not ideal. Not a bad RDA but not a great one, I would skip the kit and just buy the Aegis Squonk mod and pair it with a mesh or single-coil RDA.
I do plan on using the Aegis Squonk Mod paired with a Profile RDA for the foreseeable future. I actually just bought a 3rd Profile RDA in matte black to pair with it, murdered out combo. I would recommend the Aegis Squonk mod to anyone who regularly uses mesh or single-coil RDA’s that do not require a lot of power. If your a higher watt dual-coil RDA user then this is not for you, get a double battery squonker. The Tengu RDA will be cleaned and put away, already have a friend in mind I might PIF it to.
You can get more info on the kit at heavengifts: https://www.heavengifts.com/product/GeekVape-Aegis-Squonker-100W-TC-Kit.html
Or just the Aegis Squonk mod which is what I would get: https://www.heavengifts.com/product/GeekVape-Aegis-Squonker-100W-TC-MOD.html
Check out how this stacks up to other tasty gear and meet the Steampugs team of reviewers. Your bound to have a good time and read up on some great products, not so great ones too http://www.steampugs.co.uk/
