Hi All, Anthony Vapes back here with my review of the Hugsvape Ring Lord rda, please see the bottom for disclaimers and links. Note: This is not marked as a sample version.
Introduction:
The Hugsvape Ring Lord rda is the latest RDAs from new vape manufacturer Hugsvape. They came onto the scene in 2018 and really impressed me out of the gate with the lotus RTA which is one of my favorite RTAs this year and the Theseus RDA which is one of my favorite single coil RDAs of the year as well. After that though it’s been a little downhill as the magician tank and surge pod weren’t very good. Let's see where the Ring Lord Winds up. The Ring Lord is a single coil restricted DTL RDA with an included squonk pin. It features a unique airflow which is how it gets its name where there is a ring around the coil and the air comes from that ring. It’s available in 2 colors SS, and Gunmetal but those are just the base colors as the top cap for both is clear glass. Looking around online i see it around the 20 USD price range
Manufacturer's Specs
album
Initial Impressions
When I first got this RDA, I had to give them an A for effort. It’s pretty rare we see something different these days out of single coil RDAs. many are pretty similar so I was intrigued with the design of this RDA. It has an airflow that goes from the bottom outside and around the “ring” and comes out on top of the coils. We see a lot of airflow going from top to side or top to bottom but i haven’t seen one go bottom to top before. The glass cap also allows you to see directly into the RDA as well. Overall I felt it would be a fun one to review
Build Deck and Wicking (pics above)
Let’s talk about the build deck now. If you are worried about the ring getting in the way, you don’t have to be. You can remove the rings as you can see in the pics above very easily as they are just o-ringed into place. What we are left with is a basic postless deck for the most part. There are 4 holes so you can wrap your coil pretty much anyway and the ways the holes are aligned you can go with your leads being the same way or opposite way but personally i found opposite to be easier for me. There is plenty of clearance room to fit a 4mm ID coil in which is what i would recommend for this RDA. Since it is postless you do need to precut your leads. Personally I found 5mm leads to work best. The post holes are nice and large to accommodate fancy wires and the post screws come in top down so they won't twist flat wires. They also use good quality flat head grub screws. I would have preferred hex but no issues there. Here is the 1 quirk about the deck though, the post holes are at an odd angle which makes it harder to get your leads in them than it should be. I found it best to get 1 into place first and screw it down then use some really small pliers or tweezers to get the other lead in place and hold it in place while i tightened it down. The odd angle made it harder to build on then most other postless decks. Overall a pretty good deck but one that can be hard to build on for some.
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 Single Coil RDA only as intended. Technically you could try to fit 2 really small ID coils in if you wanted to but not much of a point. I ran 4 builds in this a fancy 3mm ID build, a fancy 3.5 mm ID build, a fancy 4mm ID build and 1 simple round 4mm ID build. For size I found it worked best with the 4mm ID and as many wraps as you can go and using fancy wires but even with that, the flavor is still very muted and lacking and overall just not good as a flavor RDA.
Overall Impressions, Details, and Extras
Let’s talk about the airflow now. It has bottom/side airflow with 2 decent sized holes on each side. That’s the basic part of it. Their unique part is each hole gets directed via the “ring” over the coil into the ring and out of the bottom of the ring right over the coil meaning it’s top airflow in a sense. The top cap is made of glass and they do include a replacement which is nice in case you break it so adjusting the air is simply done by spinning the top cap. It’s a pretty loud RDA either way and a restrictive DTL vape and lowering the air doesn’t make a big difference so not much of a need to. It also doesn't have anything to catch or line up either so you have to line up the air holes manually. Not a big fan of that. It’s best used just fully wide open where it’s still a restrictive DTL vape. The top cap o-rings are good and it’s easy to pop off and on with no issues. However it’s a bit loose as far as screwing off and on a mod so i did that without the top cap on personally. The top cap also gets really hot with big builds as well even though it’s glass.
It comes with no drip tips at all. The drip tip is part of the 1 piece glass top cap so you can't use any tips. 810 tips are too big to fit in and 510 tips are too small so no drip tip options for this RDA. The quality on the Hugsvape Ring Lord RDA is overall good though. 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 top cap glass is pretty thick and durable and a spare is included. The ring itself comes out nice and fits snug as well. The AFC is easy to adjust but has to be lined up manually. The post screws are good quality as well but mine came with no extra screws could be an early reviewer thing though as they list it comes with 4 screws but doesn't specify 4 total or 4 extra so not sure there. It comes with a standard 510 pin and a BF 510 pin like most RDAs these days as well.
The juice well is really small and with the ring covering the coil which is nice for spitback protection makes this not good as a dripper. It works best as a squonker where the over squonk protection is great as you can flood the coil without it leaking since the airflow is over the coil.
It’s a 27mm diameter so may overhang some mods. It slightly overhangs my TVL Revenant squonker. The extra size si due to the thickness of the glass top cap. There is a couple of spare o-rings and no spare post screws for it, and 1 tri-tool. Very bare amount of accessories overall. No coils, no cotton, no post screws nothing really. Kind of disappointed there. Branding is really nice on it as since the top cap is glass there is no visible branding anywhere.
Pros:
So with all that said, do I recommend this RDA?I don’t like to do a hard yes or no, and this one will lean towards the no. I applaud their thinking out of the box to give us something difference so they get an A for effort in my book, but a failing grade in actual performance and functionality. Overall it’s really just a gimmick RDA and outside of wanting it for that gimmick there are much better performers out there. 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 Hugsvape
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
Introduction:
The Hugsvape Ring Lord rda is the latest RDAs from new vape manufacturer Hugsvape. They came onto the scene in 2018 and really impressed me out of the gate with the lotus RTA which is one of my favorite RTAs this year and the Theseus RDA which is one of my favorite single coil RDAs of the year as well. After that though it’s been a little downhill as the magician tank and surge pod weren’t very good. Let's see where the Ring Lord Winds up. The Ring Lord is a single coil restricted DTL RDA with an included squonk pin. It features a unique airflow which is how it gets its name where there is a ring around the coil and the air comes from that ring. It’s available in 2 colors SS, and Gunmetal but those are just the base colors as the top cap for both is clear glass. Looking around online i see it around the 20 USD price range
Manufacturer's Specs
- Material: Stainless Steel & Glass
- Diameter: 27mm
- Height: 36.5mm
- Weight: 135g
- Single coil configuration, easy to build
- Tornado style airflow system for massive clouds
- Spit-back proof design
- Made of stainless steel and Pyrex glass, strong & heat resistant
- Detachable structure for easy cleaning
- 510 pin and squonk pin included
- 1 x Ring Lord RDA
- 1 x 510 Pin
- 1 x Tri tool Screwdriver
- 4 x Flat Head Screws Extra O-rings
- 1 x User Manual
album
Initial Impressions
When I first got this RDA, I had to give them an A for effort. It’s pretty rare we see something different these days out of single coil RDAs. many are pretty similar so I was intrigued with the design of this RDA. It has an airflow that goes from the bottom outside and around the “ring” and comes out on top of the coils. We see a lot of airflow going from top to side or top to bottom but i haven’t seen one go bottom to top before. The glass cap also allows you to see directly into the RDA as well. Overall I felt it would be a fun one to review
Build Deck and Wicking (pics above)
Let’s talk about the build deck now. If you are worried about the ring getting in the way, you don’t have to be. You can remove the rings as you can see in the pics above very easily as they are just o-ringed into place. What we are left with is a basic postless deck for the most part. There are 4 holes so you can wrap your coil pretty much anyway and the ways the holes are aligned you can go with your leads being the same way or opposite way but personally i found opposite to be easier for me. There is plenty of clearance room to fit a 4mm ID coil in which is what i would recommend for this RDA. Since it is postless you do need to precut your leads. Personally I found 5mm leads to work best. The post holes are nice and large to accommodate fancy wires and the post screws come in top down so they won't twist flat wires. They also use good quality flat head grub screws. I would have preferred hex but no issues there. Here is the 1 quirk about the deck though, the post holes are at an odd angle which makes it harder to get your leads in them than it should be. I found it best to get 1 into place first and screw it down then use some really small pliers or tweezers to get the other lead in place and hold it in place while i tightened it down. The odd angle made it harder to build on then most other postless decks. Overall a pretty good deck but one that can be hard to build on for some.
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 Single Coil RDA only as intended. Technically you could try to fit 2 really small ID coils in if you wanted to but not much of a point. I ran 4 builds in this a fancy 3mm ID build, a fancy 3.5 mm ID build, a fancy 4mm ID build and 1 simple round 4mm ID build. For size I found it worked best with the 4mm ID and as many wraps as you can go and using fancy wires but even with that, the flavor is still very muted and lacking and overall just not good as a flavor RDA.
Overall Impressions, Details, and Extras
Let’s talk about the airflow now. It has bottom/side airflow with 2 decent sized holes on each side. That’s the basic part of it. Their unique part is each hole gets directed via the “ring” over the coil into the ring and out of the bottom of the ring right over the coil meaning it’s top airflow in a sense. The top cap is made of glass and they do include a replacement which is nice in case you break it so adjusting the air is simply done by spinning the top cap. It’s a pretty loud RDA either way and a restrictive DTL vape and lowering the air doesn’t make a big difference so not much of a need to. It also doesn't have anything to catch or line up either so you have to line up the air holes manually. Not a big fan of that. It’s best used just fully wide open where it’s still a restrictive DTL vape. The top cap o-rings are good and it’s easy to pop off and on with no issues. However it’s a bit loose as far as screwing off and on a mod so i did that without the top cap on personally. The top cap also gets really hot with big builds as well even though it’s glass.
It comes with no drip tips at all. The drip tip is part of the 1 piece glass top cap so you can't use any tips. 810 tips are too big to fit in and 510 tips are too small so no drip tip options for this RDA. The quality on the Hugsvape Ring Lord RDA is overall good though. 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 top cap glass is pretty thick and durable and a spare is included. The ring itself comes out nice and fits snug as well. The AFC is easy to adjust but has to be lined up manually. The post screws are good quality as well but mine came with no extra screws could be an early reviewer thing though as they list it comes with 4 screws but doesn't specify 4 total or 4 extra so not sure there. It comes with a standard 510 pin and a BF 510 pin like most RDAs these days as well.
The juice well is really small and with the ring covering the coil which is nice for spitback protection makes this not good as a dripper. It works best as a squonker where the over squonk protection is great as you can flood the coil without it leaking since the airflow is over the coil.
It’s a 27mm diameter so may overhang some mods. It slightly overhangs my TVL Revenant squonker. The extra size si due to the thickness of the glass top cap. There is a couple of spare o-rings and no spare post screws for it, and 1 tri-tool. Very bare amount of accessories overall. No coils, no cotton, no post screws nothing really. Kind of disappointed there. Branding is really nice on it as since the top cap is glass there is no visible branding anywhere.
Pros:
- good quality flat head post screws
- Good over squonk protection
- no branding
- unique glass top cap looks
- good build quality
- Price point (around 20 USD)
- standard 510 pin and squonk pin included
- good spitback protection
- AFC doesn't offer any meaningful adjustment.
- Loud RDA
- AFC doesn't line itself up, needs to be done manually
- Very small juice well
- non standard drip tip (aka no drip tip or options)
- lack of accessories
- Color Options (2 and not much difference)
- works well as a squonker only
- build deck isn’t easy to build on due to angeled post holes
- Flavor is lacking
- glass looks ugly after vaping on it due to condensation
- Odd 27mm diameter
So with all that said, do I recommend this RDA?I don’t like to do a hard yes or no, and this one will lean towards the no. I applaud their thinking out of the box to give us something difference so they get an A for effort in my book, but a failing grade in actual performance and functionality. Overall it’s really just a gimmick RDA and outside of wanting it for that gimmick there are much better performers out there. 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 Hugsvape
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
