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Anthony Vapes: Geekvape Baron RDA Review

SirRichardRear

AKA Anthony Vapes on Youtube
VU Donator
Diamond Contributor
Member For 3 Years
Reviewer
Hi All, Anthony Vapes back here with my review of the Geekvape Baron RDA, please see the bottom for disclaimers and links. Note: This is marked as a sample version.

Introduction:
The Baron RDA is the latest RDAs from popular vape manufacturer Geekvape. They really don’t need any introduction at this point they been around for a while and also have a sister brand in digiflavor and have done really well for 2018 with great products like the Nova, Legend, Alpha, and loop RDA. Definitely one of the top manufacturers in vaping these days. The Baron RDA is a Dual coil DTL RDA with an included squonk pin. It’s available in 7 colors SS, Gunmetal, Black, Rainbow, Blue, Violet, and Gold. Looking around online i see it around the 20-30 USD price range so typical price point for a geekvape atomizer. Elementvape has them for 23.95 in the US.

Manufacturer's Specs
  • 24mm Diameter
  • Deep Juice Wells
  • Superior Stainless Steel Construction
  • Two Post Build Deck - Large Terminals
  • Top Secured via Flathead Screws
  • PEEK Insulator
  • Single or Dual Coil Configuration
  • Fixed Position Multifunctional Airflow Inner Cap - Various Airflow Designs
  • Knurled Top Cap for Easy Airflow Adjustment
  • 810 Wide Bore Resin Drip Tip
  • 810 Wide Bore PMMA Drip Tip
  • Gold-Plated 510 Squonk BF Pin
  • Gold-Plated 510 Connection
  • Detachable Structure
  • Available in Stainless Steel, Gunmetal, Black, Gold, Rainbow, Violet, Blue
Included in box:
  • 1 BARON 24mm RDA
  • 1 PMMA Drip Tip
  • 1 510 Drip Tip Adapter
  • 1 Feather Cotton
  • 2 Pre-Built Coils
  • 1 Geekvape Flathead Screwdriver
  • 1 Hex Wrench
  • 1 Spare Parts Pack
  • 1 Promotion Card
  • 1 Warranty Card
  • 1 User Manual
Picture Album
album



Initial Impressions
When I first got this RDA well it’s hard to be impressed or suprised by a dual coil RDA these days. There are just so many good ones on the market and so many similar ones. The baron here felt like just another basic dual coil side airflow RDA. not much special about it. The one difference is it features an AFC ring internally so you get 2 airflow options. That is a little different but my issue with ones like this like their creed RTA or the vandy vape revolver RTA is that it always seem 1 option winds up being best and you never use the other option or it doesn't make a big enough difference. We’ll see if that’s the case here. Outside of that though i thought it’s just another basic dual coil side airflow RDA.

Build Deck and Wicking (pics above)
Let’s talk about the build deck now. It’s a pretty basic 2 post deck with 1 post being large to have extra metal in the middle which is point at the top like the roof of a house for dripping. It’s only 1 hole per post however so coils need to be installed at the same time. Not a big fan of that these days as most atomizers allow you to install coil separates to make life easier so i’ll ding them for that. Still any non beginner builder should be able to build it easily. Post screws are good quality flat head grub screws and it’s a top down it won’t twist leads on your flat wire. Another minor complaint on the deck is the negative is not milled but instead screwed in. Now mind you it’s not the first one and won’t be the last one and not an issue on it’s own design wise but i prefer a milled negative when possible. This one gave me no issues though and shouldn’t be a problem so i’m not concerned personally but it’s worth a mention as some people don’t like that and won’t buy an RDA like that. The build space is also a bit limited. It’s only 24mm and the posts are quite thick plus with the added AFC ring you are limited in your build size. Can’t really go over 3mm ID. my 3 wraps 3mm ID aliens i put in actually get in the way of the AFC ring a bit when putting the ring on and just have enough clearance after installing the ring. With as much air as the RDA has i would have preferred more build space. Overall though it’s just a decent deck that should be a better one these days.

Wicking on it is quite easy. It’s an RDA so nothing fancy just drop your leads to the bottom.

Performance
Performance wise, I used it as a Dual Coil RDA only as intended. I ran 5 builds in this 2 fancy 3mm ID build, 1 fancy 3.5 mm ID build, 1 fancy 2.5mm ID build and 1 simple round 3mm ID build. For size I found it best to use 3mm max. The 3.5mm build was too big to fit right so didn’t get used. I could have squeezed it in by removing a wrap or 2 but opted not to. I’d stick with 3mm personally on this. Performance wise it was just ok. Too much air for the size of a coil you can fit in here. I found it best with the honeycomb ring and half the air closed off and the largest 3mm ID fancy build i could fit. With those adjustments it was an average performer. Nothing special but not bad. I’ve had better but i’ve also had worse. I’d call the performance overall below average but fully optimized it’s average and not worth while at all with round wire or smaller builds.
 

SirRichardRear

AKA Anthony Vapes on Youtube
VU Donator
Diamond Contributor
Member For 3 Years
Reviewer
Airflow, Misc. Details, and Extras
Let’s talk about the airflow now. It’s side airflow but the unique feature of this RDA is that there is an AFC ring. The ring means you have the option of it being 4 vertical ovals on each side or 12 round holes on each side lined up as 3 holes vertically in 4 rows. The problem is there isn’t much of a difference there. The ovals have a little bit more air but as it stands this RDA has just too much air even with the honeycomb fully open for the types of builds that can be fit. SO that makes the 4 vertical oval option really not worth while in any case as i often see from these kinds of airflows. There is usually a best option making the rest pointless and the Baron RDA is no different there. Just use the honeycomb only.

The AFC ring goes in after installing the coils and locks into place to line up the air which is nice. Then you put the top cap on which also locks into place. You adjust the air that way by closing off 1 row of 3 at a time. Fully open it’s a very airy DTL vape but with 1 row open it’s a restricted DTL vape. Based on the builds you can fit it’s best to use either 2 rows open or 1 row open IMO. It’s easy to adjust as well just by spinning the whole top cap. The top cap o-rings are good and it’s easy to pop off and on with no issues. It’s also on a stopper so it lines up the air correctly for you and makes it easy to screw on or off a mod. The top cap however gets insanely hot especially when chain vaping. Probably the hottest top cap i’ve had on a RDA in a long time. Does Not dissipate heat well at all

It comes with 2 standard drip tips, one is a Resin friction fit 810 tip (color vaires based on color of RDA. my SS came with a red one that’s nice) and one is an PMMA ultiem colored friction fit 810 tip, and they include a metal 510 adapter as well. No 510 tip though but not a big deal. 2 Tips and an adapter is good in my book. The Drip tips all fit very well in the RDA. snug, not loose, not tight. You can use your own as well and most should work just fine. I tried a couple other 810 tips with no issues personally. The quality on the Geekvape Baron RDA is excellent. The o-rings for the top cap onto the base feel right and the top cap is snug but not tight. Very easy to take apart with no issues. The AFC is easy to adjust as well. The post screws are excellent quality as well and 4 spare screws are included (3 hex grub and 1 flat head grub). It comes with a standard 510 pin and a BF 510 pin like most RDAs these days as well.

The juice well is quite large as well. Due to the airflow being kind of high up on the side there is plenty of room for juice on the bottom. The over squonk protection and Over drip protection is pretty good. I used it as both a dripper and a squonker and it worked well both ways. As a dripper you can drip right down the drip tip without taking off the top cap.

It’s a 24mm diameter so should not overhang on most mods on the market today. There is plenty of spare o-rings and 4 spare post screws for it, 1 allen wrench, 1 tri-tool, and a 510 tip adapter and 2 coils and cotton too. good amount of accessories overall no complaints there. The coils though aren't labeled at all so that will get dinged. Companies need to label their coils at minimum with the material but should label all the specs. Branding is pretty basic. It just has “BARON” engraved in the side in matching color. it doesn't stand out too much as it matches the color of the RDA and looks nice so well done there. It’s a good looking RDA especially on the Fush mod it seems to match really well.

Pros:
  • 2 Standard 810 Drip Tips (Resin and PMMA)
  • 510 drip tip metal adapter included to use 510 tips
  • standard positive and squonk pin included
  • plenty of spare o-rings
  • Color Options (7)
  • great quality post screws (both hex and flat head grub included)
  • Good over squonk protection
  • works well as a dripper or squonker
  • simple looks and branding
  • good build quality
  • Price point (under 30 USD)
  • Good Size Juice Well
  • AFC is easy to adjust and has a wide range
  • stopper locs cap into place to make it easy to get on and off mods
Cons:
  • flavor is at best average
  • build deck should be better
  • not much room to fit big enough coils to match the air
  • included coils not labeled
  • Top cap gets really hot
Conclusion
So with all that said, do I recommend this RDA?I don’t like to do a hard yes or no, and this one i have to leave at 50/50. It’s not the worst RDA out there and it’s actually not even a bad RDA overall once you dial it in but there are so many better ones out there it’s hard to recommend buying this one. It’s just decent. I’ve had much worse but i’ve also had much better. I wouldn’t avoid it but i don't’ see a reason to grab this one personally over the other options. If you want a geekvape RDA you are much better off with a loop then this. I won’t be adding this to my sheet of recs linked down below.

This is Anthony Vapes just keeping it honest, hopefully you all can say the same and i’ll catch you on my next review.

Product Disclaimer
This product was sent to me from Geekvape

Review Disclaimer
Due to possible QC difference your experience may vary.

Reviewer Disclaimer
I’ve been doing vape reviews since late 2016 and have done around 300 reviews to date. I enjoy helping vapers on forums as well and helping contribute to the great vape community. I’m not an “out of the box” reviewer. I do my best to be thorough at all times and have enough experience with many products to tell what’s good and what’s not. All mods get tested with an oscilloscope and stress tested and results are posted in my reviews.

Recommendations and Past Review Links
written reviews list here

Youtube Channel here

Spreadsheet of Recommendations here

Best of 2018 so far list here

Best of 2017 list here
 

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