Hello everyone. This is a review of one of the budget friendly squonk mods hitting the market today, the Athena by Geekvape. I purchased this mod myself locally from Electronic Underground in Fargo, ND.
Disclaimer - this mod is mechanical. So before purchase, I strongly suggest users to do their research on building coils, ohms law, and battery safety. Safety first everyone!
With that being said, let's dive on in to the Athena and take a look!
Mod first impressions
The feature that stuck out right away was in its size. Judging by online photos and what not, I expected it to be alot larger than it is. It is very very compact. The fire button safety was something that caught my eye first, as it is the only entry level squonk mod that I've seen to use a slider which moves up behind the button and prevents it from pushing the contact plate into the 510 pin. The build quality is nice for something so inexpensive and the little details Geekvape has added to it make it a nice little box.
Mechanical firing mechanism -
The Athena uses flat conductors rather than wiring to supply voltage to the atomizer. The fire button pushes a flat bar into the side of the 510 with a fair amount of tension behind it which I felt to be just right. It isn't too mushy or too tight, and the fire button is a nice, large, comfortable size. I have heard of a few locals complain that it arcs too much and that they had moments where it would not fire when hitting the button, but I've been using it steady for a few weeks and have not witnessed any issues with mine. The mod is mechanical, so arcing is to be expected when the bar hits the 510 post. Over time this will lead to putting which reduces the surface area for proper conduction. When this happens, both sides of the contacts needs to be cleaned up and it is good to go again.
Box internals
The battery fit inside is snug, but it holds the battery in place very well with little movement. The back door is removable, which allows the user to push the battery out of the device. The squonk bottle is easily removed by taking the bottle and hose out of the box for refilling. Geekvape did a nice job on their bottle design, as it has a metal collar to hold as you unscrew the cap off the bottle. Once refilled, you simply push the tube on the bottom of the 510, and push the bottle into the device. The Athena cones with a plastic bottle, and a super soft silicone bottle as well. I opted for the super soft and have seen great results. The 6.5ml bottle goes empty right about the time that the battery is ready to be changed.
Athena RDA
The kit comes with the Athena rda. It is a dual coil only top air flow rda and it works really well with the mod. It has a nice juice well so you don't have to squonk it repeatedly. It also has a postless deck that makes building a breeze. It comes with a lot of spare parts including a regular 510 pin, a 510 drip tip adapter, and lots of o rings. The only drawback to me was the lack of air flow adjustment for a single coil build. Granted, the user can build a coil in the center of the deck, but it would have been nice to build off center so the top angled air flow could flow past the coil more direct.
Final thoughts
The Athena kit has been easily the best vape per dollar I've ever spent. It has great Flavor, it's small and portable, looks great and just....works. I love my regulated devices, so it was tough to make the jump to mechanical, but I'm glad I did. I have not seen any issues with mine personally, but it does make me leary hearing others reporting problems. If you are interested in trying squonking out, and are ready for something mechanical, the Athena won't break the bank and is an all around great device. I find myself grabbing it on the go alot and it's going to get a ton of time off the vape shelf.
Thank you all for checking out my review! I'm open to questions and comments so feel free to speak up!
Pizzadave - delivering real reviews, with no extra toppings.
Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk
Disclaimer - this mod is mechanical. So before purchase, I strongly suggest users to do their research on building coils, ohms law, and battery safety. Safety first everyone!
With that being said, let's dive on in to the Athena and take a look!
Mod first impressions
The feature that stuck out right away was in its size. Judging by online photos and what not, I expected it to be alot larger than it is. It is very very compact. The fire button safety was something that caught my eye first, as it is the only entry level squonk mod that I've seen to use a slider which moves up behind the button and prevents it from pushing the contact plate into the 510 pin. The build quality is nice for something so inexpensive and the little details Geekvape has added to it make it a nice little box.
Mechanical firing mechanism -
The Athena uses flat conductors rather than wiring to supply voltage to the atomizer. The fire button pushes a flat bar into the side of the 510 with a fair amount of tension behind it which I felt to be just right. It isn't too mushy or too tight, and the fire button is a nice, large, comfortable size. I have heard of a few locals complain that it arcs too much and that they had moments where it would not fire when hitting the button, but I've been using it steady for a few weeks and have not witnessed any issues with mine. The mod is mechanical, so arcing is to be expected when the bar hits the 510 post. Over time this will lead to putting which reduces the surface area for proper conduction. When this happens, both sides of the contacts needs to be cleaned up and it is good to go again.
Box internals
The battery fit inside is snug, but it holds the battery in place very well with little movement. The back door is removable, which allows the user to push the battery out of the device. The squonk bottle is easily removed by taking the bottle and hose out of the box for refilling. Geekvape did a nice job on their bottle design, as it has a metal collar to hold as you unscrew the cap off the bottle. Once refilled, you simply push the tube on the bottom of the 510, and push the bottle into the device. The Athena cones with a plastic bottle, and a super soft silicone bottle as well. I opted for the super soft and have seen great results. The 6.5ml bottle goes empty right about the time that the battery is ready to be changed.
Athena RDA
The kit comes with the Athena rda. It is a dual coil only top air flow rda and it works really well with the mod. It has a nice juice well so you don't have to squonk it repeatedly. It also has a postless deck that makes building a breeze. It comes with a lot of spare parts including a regular 510 pin, a 510 drip tip adapter, and lots of o rings. The only drawback to me was the lack of air flow adjustment for a single coil build. Granted, the user can build a coil in the center of the deck, but it would have been nice to build off center so the top angled air flow could flow past the coil more direct.
Final thoughts
The Athena kit has been easily the best vape per dollar I've ever spent. It has great Flavor, it's small and portable, looks great and just....works. I love my regulated devices, so it was tough to make the jump to mechanical, but I'm glad I did. I have not seen any issues with mine personally, but it does make me leary hearing others reporting problems. If you are interested in trying squonking out, and are ready for something mechanical, the Athena won't break the bank and is an all around great device. I find myself grabbing it on the go alot and it's going to get a ton of time off the vape shelf.
Thank you all for checking out my review! I'm open to questions and comments so feel free to speak up!
Pizzadave - delivering real reviews, with no extra toppings.
Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk
