Just like my previous reviews, I will start this one off with a disclaimer. I won this RDA in a giveaway sponsored by 3Fvape. This review will be as honest and impartial as possible, and the fact that I won this RDA in a giveaway won’t influence my judgment in any way.
For a long while I entered various giveaways that are not hosted on ELR, and for a long while I never won anything. I don’t want this to sound like a cliche, but just as I was about to give up on all these giveaways, I got an e-mail from 3Fvape letting me know I won one. (Needles to say, I didn’t give up, and I still enter pretty much every giveaway I can find.)
After a day or two (read week or two) I got my parcel and there it was: Vapefly Pixie RDA
The box it came in is a pre-production series box, and the cardboard sleeve on top was not much to look at. Underneath the sleeve was this pretty sight
Inside the box was the RDA itself, neatly seated in the foam cutaway
Underneath the RDA were the usual goodies: multi-tool, spare o-rings, spare grub screws, and an additional baggie with two coils and two vapefly firebolt cotton wicks. Rumor has it that the production version comes with a coil positioning tool. Mine didn’t have it in the package (pre-production …)
I have to say that adding the cotton and wicks was a very nice touch, but (there is always a but) the coils are absolutely terrible (in my not so humble opinion). They are ni80 claptons (or how ever you would call woven metal mesh wrapped around a round wire) coming to around 0.37ohm per coil, and I honestly wasn’t impressed by their flavor.
Now back to the RDA. One word I can use to describe it: pretty. I received the black one (unfortunately) but let’s not look the gift horse in the mouth Size-wise, it’s tiny. Here you can see it compared to some other 24mm RDA’s, and some 22mm RDA’s, and it’s pretty much the same size as the Wasp nano.
Under the hood it’s completely different. The top cap is in two parts. The top part swivels to adjust the airflow, and the airflow itself has two different inserts. One with three holes and one with a large single hole. The way the airflow control is designed, you can either use the large opening, or the smaller opening that matches one of the three holes in the holed insert.
The airflow is very tight. When I tried it the first time, I went with the preinstalled three hole insert, and even widely open it was too tight for my taste. Single holed insert gave a bit more airflow, but it still feels restricted even when wide open. I like these restricted draws, but fans of airy RDA’s will find this one lacking.
On the other hand, the airflow inserts direct the air directly onto the coil, and greatly boost the flavor.
The way this deck is designed, building it can’t be any simpler. Just position the coil using the two rod slots on the deck, tighten the grub screws, and trim the coil legs in the back.
Quick glow of the coil, a little rake, an it was seated and ready for the wick.
Wicking it is a breeze as well (not with the original coil and cotton though). Thread the cotton through the coil, trim it away, and tuck it in into the deck.
The RDA of course comes with a bottom feed pin (please don’t be me, and replace it before you start building), and works great on squonk mods. Due to tiny drip tip and a slight off-center coil position, I don’t recommend dripping without removing the top cap.
Another great feature is the barrel construction. A notch inside the barrel will slide into a slot on the base, and the airflow opening will never move from the perfect position.
How does it perform, you ask? The flavor coming out of the Pixie is amazing. The slight curve underneath the top cap does wonders to direct the airflow. Each draw is smooth, and delivers amazing flavor. The heat dissipation delrin top does a great job, and even tho the drip tip is tiny, I never got close to burning my lips. Tolerances are great, nothing wobbles, the airflow is easy to adjust, and the only remark I would have here is that the drip tip is too hard to remove.
Would I recommend this RDA to others? Absolutely. As long as you like tight draw on a single coil RDA, this one will be perfect for you. Would I replace it if damaged or lost? Absolutely. After having it for 3 days it already became a staple in my daily rotation, and I ordered two more. I can easily see it replacing my other 22mm RDA’s.
Specs:
Width: 22mm
Height: 24mm (without the 510 connector)
Material: Stainless Steel and Delrin
Available colors: Black, Stainless, Gunmetal, Gold, Rainbow
Pros:
Quality build
Great flavor
Comes with coils and cotton
Super easy building and wicking
Cons:
Can’t think of any at this stage
ps. I always take the photo of the bottom of the RDA, and constantly fail to include it in the reviews (since I think it’s absolutely pointless)
But if you care for that stuff, here it is:)
If you liked this review please let me know in the comments