Hi Vaping Underground members, In this review i take a look at the DROP SOLO RDA by Digiflavor. The Digiflavor DROP SOLO RDA was supplied for the purpose of this review by Carrie from Geekvape.
http://digiflavor.com/project/drop-solo/
Introduction
The Drop Solo is a 22mm single coil version of the original 24mm dual coil Drop. Like the Drop the Drop Solo is a collaboration between Digiflavor and The Vapor Chronicles. I really liked the Drop rating it highly and found it gave excellent flavour, i also found it very suited to using with a BF pin which is how i prefer to use RDA's, so lets see how i got on with the single coil version.
In the Box
Contents:
1x DROP SOLO RDA
1x BF Pin
1x PMMA 24mm Ring
1x Allen key
1x T-piece Tool
1x PMMA Mid Cap
1x 510 Drip Tip Adapter
1x Drip Tip
1x PMMA Top Cap
1x User Manual
1x Spare Parts
Aesthetics
When first opening the box i was met by a very familiar site as the Drop Solo looks very much like the original Drop just smaller. The airflow is the same interesting design that stands out as an aesthetic feature of the RDA. The airflow is a series of 10 holes (either side) forming a large T shape, it comprises of a row of 4 holes and 3 rows of 2 holes and is eye catching. The Drop Solo also comes with a clear plastic sleeve which has the same inner and outer sleeve and airflow apart from you lose the top row of air holes either side. The plastic sleeve really does nothing for me so i won't be looking at that, you also get a beauty ring that matches the installed frosted 810 which some people might wish to use on larger devices. I received the Stainless Steel version, it's also available in Black and Gold, the sleeve interlocks with the base with the cut-outs on the bottom of the sleeve being directly under the T's (again adding an aesthetic feature). Below the T is the word "SOLO" in bold etching, and the top-cap is tapered slightly and has quite heavy texturing giving it loads of grip for adjusting the airflow. All the aesthetic features mentioned are identical on front and back of the RDA apart from "DROP" is etched on the reverse, the Solo is finished off with the already mentioned wide bore frosted drip tip. There is also a taller 810 frosted drip tip provided as well as a 510 adaptor, so plenty of choices. The base of the Drop Solo has etched branding and safety stamps, it comes pre-installed with a standard protruding, gold plated 510 but it also comes with a BF pin.
Drop Solo Specs and Features:
Size: 22mm(D) x 24mm(w/o drip tip)
Juice Well Depth: 5mm
Coil: Single Coil
Two large post allowing for easy single coil placement
Stepped airflow design provides precise control
Deep and spacious juice well
Stainless and PMMA top cap included
24mm decorative beauty ring
Standard 510 pin and BF squonk pin attached
Thread: 510 thread
Colours: Stainless Steel, Black, Gold
The Airflow
As mentioned, the Drop Solo as the same interesting airflow design as the Drop which you can understand more when you pull the top cap out of the sleeve. The top-cap as a stair design so as you turn you open or close each separate hole one at a time. To explain, if the airflow is fully open and you turn the top-cap, each hole of the top row closes one at a time, then the holes in the second row close and so on. so you can have as many holes open as you wish from 10 right down to 1, the airflow is identical both sides so what it is adjusted to one side will be matched on the other. With the airflow fully open on the original Drop and where it is positioned in relation to the coils the top row is giving coverage to the top and outsides of the coil, the second row hits the underside, then the bottom two rows go below the coil so when the air from both sides meet in the middle it only has one way to go, up (giving coverage to the inner sides of the coils), so the complete coil has coverage this is made certain by the way the sleeve interlocks with the base ensuring the airflow is lined up with the coils perfectly. This design has been kept the same but with it being a single coil it does alter slightly how it works, firstly the bottom 2 rows of air get directed through the gap between the posts but with the Drop Solo this is only happening one side while the other side now doesn't have this more concentrated jet of air, the other might be more how i do the build on the Solo, i have the coil a couple of mm lower than i set the coils on the dual version as i find setting them the same height would make the bottom 2 rows of airflow holes pointless as on the dual these were directing air underneath the near coil to then when it met the air from the other side coming upwards giving coverage to the inner side of the opposite coil.
Build Deck
In general build decks of late are easy to build on, as the difference in flavour between them is getting so marginal it isn't in a manufacturers interest to make it a tricky build as people will look elsewhere, I found the original Drop mega easy to build on and the Drop solo is twice as easy again with being a single build. The deck has 2 nice sized posts one side of the deck, but the coil is fixed in place through the top of the posts then screwed from the sides (like a postless deck) giving you all the room in the world to position the coil to the centre and height you want. The post holes on the original Drop were large but unless i'm imagining it the holes are slightly bigger on the Solo, the Philips grub screws definitely are so those into there large exotic coils will like this. I positioned the coil high above the posts as i would on the original version but then set the coil lower as already mentioned, the extra leg length not needed for height works perfect so when i lower i also position to the centre of the deck. The posts have large cut outs in them giving you access to easily trim your coil legs. The Drop Solo has a nice deep juice well and i found because the BF pin is quite high i put more wick in the well than i would normally, as mentioned it also comes with a squonk pin which i immediately fitted before doing my build as i only really use RDA's for squonking.
My Experience Using the Drop Solo
Although the coil is positioned lower on the Solo it's still in a high position compared to a lot of RDA's and so is the airflow so i had no issues with leaking through the air holes when using the Solo as i used it with the BF pin. I found the airflow more suited to the original Drop than the single coil Solo, i had the bottom 6 holes open as with the top row open it gave little flavour but did produce copious amount of cloud. with the bottom 6 holes open the flavour is good but i have had far better. I actually would of preferred the middle 2 rows open and having the bottom closed (but it's not possible) so i feel there could be a case for feeding your legs in the post holes from underneath and setting the coil even lower then i believe having just the bottom 2 rows open would improve flavour. The posts as they are do allow flexibility in size and position of coil and is so quick and easy to do a build so the Drop Solo will appeal to many.
Likes
Nicely made
Looks Good
BF and standard pin
2nd sleeve
510 adaptor
Comes with 2 coils
Loads of cloud with airflow fully open
Decent flavour
Very versatile build deck
Easy Build
Deep juice well
Had no leaking while squonking
Dislikes
Only decent flavour
Airflow doesn't suit a single coil as well as it did a dual
BF pin too long (in my opinion)
I would once again like to thank Carrie from Digiflavor for supplying the Drop Solo RDA for the purpose of this review.
http://digiflavor.com/project/drop-solo/
http://digiflavor.com/project/drop-solo/
Introduction
The Drop Solo is a 22mm single coil version of the original 24mm dual coil Drop. Like the Drop the Drop Solo is a collaboration between Digiflavor and The Vapor Chronicles. I really liked the Drop rating it highly and found it gave excellent flavour, i also found it very suited to using with a BF pin which is how i prefer to use RDA's, so lets see how i got on with the single coil version.
In the Box
Contents:
1x DROP SOLO RDA
1x BF Pin
1x PMMA 24mm Ring
1x Allen key
1x T-piece Tool
1x PMMA Mid Cap
1x 510 Drip Tip Adapter
1x Drip Tip
1x PMMA Top Cap
1x User Manual
1x Spare Parts
Aesthetics
When first opening the box i was met by a very familiar site as the Drop Solo looks very much like the original Drop just smaller. The airflow is the same interesting design that stands out as an aesthetic feature of the RDA. The airflow is a series of 10 holes (either side) forming a large T shape, it comprises of a row of 4 holes and 3 rows of 2 holes and is eye catching. The Drop Solo also comes with a clear plastic sleeve which has the same inner and outer sleeve and airflow apart from you lose the top row of air holes either side. The plastic sleeve really does nothing for me so i won't be looking at that, you also get a beauty ring that matches the installed frosted 810 which some people might wish to use on larger devices. I received the Stainless Steel version, it's also available in Black and Gold, the sleeve interlocks with the base with the cut-outs on the bottom of the sleeve being directly under the T's (again adding an aesthetic feature). Below the T is the word "SOLO" in bold etching, and the top-cap is tapered slightly and has quite heavy texturing giving it loads of grip for adjusting the airflow. All the aesthetic features mentioned are identical on front and back of the RDA apart from "DROP" is etched on the reverse, the Solo is finished off with the already mentioned wide bore frosted drip tip. There is also a taller 810 frosted drip tip provided as well as a 510 adaptor, so plenty of choices. The base of the Drop Solo has etched branding and safety stamps, it comes pre-installed with a standard protruding, gold plated 510 but it also comes with a BF pin.
Drop Solo Specs and Features:
Size: 22mm(D) x 24mm(w/o drip tip)
Juice Well Depth: 5mm
Coil: Single Coil
Two large post allowing for easy single coil placement
Stepped airflow design provides precise control
Deep and spacious juice well
Stainless and PMMA top cap included
24mm decorative beauty ring
Standard 510 pin and BF squonk pin attached
Thread: 510 thread
Colours: Stainless Steel, Black, Gold
The Airflow
As mentioned, the Drop Solo as the same interesting airflow design as the Drop which you can understand more when you pull the top cap out of the sleeve. The top-cap as a stair design so as you turn you open or close each separate hole one at a time. To explain, if the airflow is fully open and you turn the top-cap, each hole of the top row closes one at a time, then the holes in the second row close and so on. so you can have as many holes open as you wish from 10 right down to 1, the airflow is identical both sides so what it is adjusted to one side will be matched on the other. With the airflow fully open on the original Drop and where it is positioned in relation to the coils the top row is giving coverage to the top and outsides of the coil, the second row hits the underside, then the bottom two rows go below the coil so when the air from both sides meet in the middle it only has one way to go, up (giving coverage to the inner sides of the coils), so the complete coil has coverage this is made certain by the way the sleeve interlocks with the base ensuring the airflow is lined up with the coils perfectly. This design has been kept the same but with it being a single coil it does alter slightly how it works, firstly the bottom 2 rows of air get directed through the gap between the posts but with the Drop Solo this is only happening one side while the other side now doesn't have this more concentrated jet of air, the other might be more how i do the build on the Solo, i have the coil a couple of mm lower than i set the coils on the dual version as i find setting them the same height would make the bottom 2 rows of airflow holes pointless as on the dual these were directing air underneath the near coil to then when it met the air from the other side coming upwards giving coverage to the inner side of the opposite coil.
Build Deck
In general build decks of late are easy to build on, as the difference in flavour between them is getting so marginal it isn't in a manufacturers interest to make it a tricky build as people will look elsewhere, I found the original Drop mega easy to build on and the Drop solo is twice as easy again with being a single build. The deck has 2 nice sized posts one side of the deck, but the coil is fixed in place through the top of the posts then screwed from the sides (like a postless deck) giving you all the room in the world to position the coil to the centre and height you want. The post holes on the original Drop were large but unless i'm imagining it the holes are slightly bigger on the Solo, the Philips grub screws definitely are so those into there large exotic coils will like this. I positioned the coil high above the posts as i would on the original version but then set the coil lower as already mentioned, the extra leg length not needed for height works perfect so when i lower i also position to the centre of the deck. The posts have large cut outs in them giving you access to easily trim your coil legs. The Drop Solo has a nice deep juice well and i found because the BF pin is quite high i put more wick in the well than i would normally, as mentioned it also comes with a squonk pin which i immediately fitted before doing my build as i only really use RDA's for squonking.
My Experience Using the Drop Solo
Although the coil is positioned lower on the Solo it's still in a high position compared to a lot of RDA's and so is the airflow so i had no issues with leaking through the air holes when using the Solo as i used it with the BF pin. I found the airflow more suited to the original Drop than the single coil Solo, i had the bottom 6 holes open as with the top row open it gave little flavour but did produce copious amount of cloud. with the bottom 6 holes open the flavour is good but i have had far better. I actually would of preferred the middle 2 rows open and having the bottom closed (but it's not possible) so i feel there could be a case for feeding your legs in the post holes from underneath and setting the coil even lower then i believe having just the bottom 2 rows open would improve flavour. The posts as they are do allow flexibility in size and position of coil and is so quick and easy to do a build so the Drop Solo will appeal to many.
Likes
Nicely made
Looks Good
BF and standard pin
2nd sleeve
510 adaptor
Comes with 2 coils
Loads of cloud with airflow fully open
Decent flavour
Very versatile build deck
Easy Build
Deep juice well
Had no leaking while squonking
Dislikes
Only decent flavour
Airflow doesn't suit a single coil as well as it did a dual
BF pin too long (in my opinion)
I would once again like to thank Carrie from Digiflavor for supplying the Drop Solo RDA for the purpose of this review.
http://digiflavor.com/project/drop-solo/