What’s up vapefam!
SirRisc here with another gear review!
On todays menu is a cloudchucking monster called the Geekvape Griffin. An RTA similar to the OBS Crius, but with a much bigger (Velocity styled) deck that can take those tasty clapton coils.
This Geekvape Griffin was sent to me for the purpose of this review by Gearbest.com!
Premise.
When I first heard the name Geekvape I chuckled and thought this was just another company trying to grab a quick buck on the ever growing market of vaping products.
But when I look at the products they’re putting out, I have to admit that I may have been too quick to judge.
While their products may not be terribly original, they are high quality and they improve on designs where they can.
This becomes painfully obvious when you look at other reviews of the Griffin RTA and see that it is constantly compared to the OBS Crius.
Because they’re essentially built on the same principle, and they even look rather similar.
Considering I have both (I reviewed the OBS Crius a while back), I can make a comparison myself and tell you they vape almost the same.
But if they’re almost the same RTA, which one should you choose?
Let’s find out!
Specifications.
- Stainless steel body
- Pyrex glass tank
- 22mm diameter
- 3.5ml capacity
- Velocity styled deck with ample room
- 2mm postholes
- Top filling mechanism
- 13.5mm widebore driptip, 510 driptip adapter included
- Juice flow control and removable wick retention ring
- Adjustable gold plated positive pin
Packaging.
The Griffin comes in a plastic casing wrapped in cardboard.
On the front there is a depiction of the tank, and the Geekvape slogan “Geek knows better!”.
On the back is a bit of information about the tank, among which the clapton compatibility is highlighted.
Sliding the cover off and opening the casing reveals the tank in a foam insert, which can be popped out to reach the bag of spares.
Geekvape was also nice enough to include a spare glass tank, which is always a good thing. Accidents do happen. 
Performance.
The Griffin has been compared to the Crius by several reviewers, and rightly so.
They’re very similar in the way they’re built, similar in the way they vape, and even similar in the way they look (though doesn’t every RTA look pretty much the same?).
But the Griffin does have a much larger area to build on and that makes it slightly better suited for those exotic builds.
In fact I’d even dare say it performs better with something like a fused clapton build in comparison to a regular macro build.
The first build I put in the Griffin was a regular macro build and while it was a good vape, it lacked the prowess I expected from the Griffin.
The day after I decided this tank deserved something better so I put a fused clapton build in, which has been in there for the passed two weeks I might add.
The vape is so much fuller in both flavor and cloud density, the Griffin can take a lot more power, and the juice disappears like there’s no tomorrow.
And let that be one of the disadvantages about the Griffin, if you’re vaping premium juices it’ll make you poor in a few weeks.
Luckily I DIY so I’m not bothered by 20ml or more a day, but still…
The thing is, the Griffin gives me the same experience from these fused claptons as they would sitting in a dripper.
The deck is 16.1mm across, which means big builds have plenty of room in the barrel.
The Velocity styled deck has 2mm holes and can hold fairly thick wire, which makes clapton and other exotic builds more viable in the Griffin.
The airflow comes up from beneath the coils, as it is with most current RTAs, and provides plenty of airflow to allow for those deep lunghits.
Something we also saw on the Crius deck is a wick retention ring that can be removed.
Unfortunately the ring on the Griffin tends to loosen on its own in the barrel and get stuck in there. In very extreme cases it could even cause a short.
I’ve kept mine on for the most part of using the Griffin, but it works perfectly fine without the ring.
One of the flaws on the Griffin is the way the glass is held in place.
On the bottom o-ring there’s little to no support for the glass and this can result in the tank leaking from the bottom end of the glass, or even worse it could cause the chimney to bend.
Though if you screw it down tightly it shouldn’t move and be a concern.
The glass is fairly close to the barrel which can also be a bit of a annoyance if you use max VG juice.
The juice gets stuck just above the barrel due to surface tension at which point you’ll have to twist and turn the Griffin to get the juice to flow down.
Small annoyances at most, though certainly things I want to mention.
Building on the Griffin is easy because of the big deck, but wicking seems to be where people struggle.
I’ve been wicking it with Koh Gen Do and with rayon without any issues like leaking or dryhits.
There are two ways of wicking this beast.
Either just wick as you normally would and cut the wicks so they sit just on the juice channels.
This means that you don’t have to tuck them into the channels! Just let them rest on top.
Or wick it as you normally should but cut the wicks to an angle and stuff a little tail of cotton in the channels.
Not enough to close off the channels but just enough to have a few strands peek out into the channels.
This second way is how I wicked the claptons and it has been great every step of the way. No dryhits, no leaking.
The topcap is screwed on to hide the filling holes, and trust me when I say this is one of the easiest topfills I’ve had to date.
The kidney shaped holes are big and allow for very quick filling. But there is one thing you must always remember; close off the juiceflow by twisting the tank on its base before you fill it up.
If you don’t, it will dump the entire tank on your mod.
Aesthetics.
The Griffin comes in two colors, a black version and a stainless steel version.
The SS version I have has the Griffin logo on one side of the barrel and no lettering on the other side.
Some users were confused by this as some Griffins came with lettering on the other side of the barrel.
This has to do with newer batches having changed the barrel decoration, and doesn’t mean one or the other is a clone.
The Griffin looks and feels like a beast, especially if you keep the wide bore driptip on it.
Geekvape does include a 510 driptip adapter so you can use your own driptips.
Personally I’ve put a UD rifled driptip on top and found it to be a more enjoyable vape this way.
Pros and Cons.
Pro.
- Looks great!
- Velocity styled deck with ample room
- Can easily fit clapton coils
- Pronounced flavor
- Takes higher wattage as if it’s nothing
- Smooth threading
- Wide airflow
Con.
- Drinks juice like a tissue soaks water
- Glass has little to no support on the bottom
- Airflow ring tends to be a bit too loose
- More chance of spitback with the wide bore driptip
- Wick retention ring can loosen and get stuck
- Leaks like a sieve if wicked wrong
In conclusion.
The Griffin and Crius have been compared often and rightly so but the Griffin does have a few more tricks up its sleeve in my opinion.
If you’re looking for an RTA that can put out like a dripper would, the Griffin is definitely not a bad choice, if you’re looking for something a bit more subtle I’d go with the Crius.
The Griffin is very fine piece of engineering but has a few small flaws that should be corrected over time.
It’s simple to build on because of the large deck and it can take a lot of power for an RTA, running it at 70W+ has yet to be a problem for me.
Would I buy another one if this one broke? Hell fucking yes.
In closing I would like to thank Gearbest.com for sending me the Geekvape Griffin for review!
Thanks for reading, I’ll be attempting to bring sexy back next time with the Playboy Luxbox Mini kit!
Need to reach me? Head over to my website.
Interested in what I vape daily? Check out my Instagram.
Want to know more about DIY? Head over to ELR.
#staycloudy !
SirRisc disappears in a cloud of Skittles scented vapor
