I am not a mech mod fanatic. In fact I only own a few mech mods and have absolutely no plans in changing that in the near future. It’s not because I think regulated mods are better or because “I just don’t know”, but simply because I prefer a regulated mod. I like to adjust my wattage depending on juice, I like to turn it off and I’m a sucker for little gimmicks like “puff count”. There are many reasons to use a mech mod, you get rid of circuitry which could go wrong, you get full power come through and, to what many people consider a big thing, many are compact and fit in your pocket.
No one can say whether they like something or not before trying it and I would definitely urge people to try a mech mod (once you get a basic understanding of a few things which you can read about here) the only issue is recommendations. Talk to any mech mod fanatic and they will tell you what’s the best mech mod to buy – the only problem with that is nine times out of ten they’re recommending a piece of kit which will set you back hundreds. The first time I wanted to try a mech mod I was told I needed to get the dotmod (a favorite here at Vapare) but at over a hundred pounds for the mod itself, excluding RDA, was too much for me. The premise to buying a mech mod for any experienced user is the material used and how it all fits together – this usually consists of gold and silver, too rich for my blood. But what about the vaper who wants to dip their toes into a mech mod or for those who don’t want to simply spend that much on something, is there something out there for them? Geekvape are now trying to break in to this market with their new Geekvape Karma kit, a mech mod and an RDTA tank, all for less than £40. It’s a bargain price, IF it’s any good. Before we dive down into the mod and tank lets see what you get:
Specs
Mech Mods:
- All Copper Design with special treatment to prevent oxidation
- Direct 510 connector to prevent power loss
- Insulated battery compartment to prevent shortage
- Magnetic button for smoother operation
- 25mm diameter
- Reversible battery placement for added safety
- Air holes at the bottom for air circulation of battery
RDTA
- Convertible design to switch from RDTA to RDA
- Heat insulated wide bore drip tip
- Attachable 510 drip tip
- Adjustable side airflow
- 5ml juice tank when RDTA
- 2ml Juice well when RDA
- 2 Post velocity style deck
- Hybrid connector for use both on a mech mod and regulated mod
- Side fill hole when in RDTA
Whats in the Box
- Geekvape Karma Mech mod
- Geekvape Karma RDTA/RDA
- Spare Pyrex glass
- T shape tool
- 510 drip tip adapter and drip tip
- Bag of spares
Whose it For?
If you’re a hardcore mech mod user this probably isn’t for you, similarly if you’re looking for something you can use all of your current with than again this isn’t for you. With a diameter of 25mm most RDAs/RDTAs wont look very slick with this – it’ll fit, but it wont have the same flush look people tend to want. On the other hand, if you are new to mech mods and looking to break in to it, if you’re a mech mod user and want something lower cost but durable than this could be for you.
This is by no means a high end mech mod. There are others out there which will perform better than this. I’m not one of those people. As mentioned, mech mods have never been my thing, I was more excited to try the RTDA over the mod itself. I would however like to have a mod which I could easily fit in my pocket but still deliver the power I want and this offers that. As an introduction to mech mods the Geekvape Karma kit offers something special here.
As this is a kit I will not be breaking the review down into every aspect of it but will give an overall review of the RDTA and the Mod and then an overall “daily use” summary at the end.
Geekvape Karma Mech Mod
Straight away this mod is sexy. The full copper build makes it stand out and its weighty but in a good way. And the use of the copper and black just adds to the overall look. Build wise its quality, I mean a the end of the day its a copper pipe but its a well made copper pipe! The button is a magnetic button to help reduce friction. I’ve been told that a magnetic bottom could be a factor in power loss but for a new mech mod user I think it adds to the overall affect, even if there could be a power loss issue.
While on this topic of power loss, the connection in the pin are not gold or silver or whatever the high end ones are made of and this does have a detrimental affect to the overall power going into the coil, just like the magnetic button. There have been a few studies which show that by not having these types of connection there is a noticeable difference in the overall flavour and clouds produced my the mod, but again I want to make this clear – if you’re an avid mech mod user than this isn’t for you. Don’t buy it, in fact, have a look at the dotmod Lite, its a great mech mod and would appeal to you. For everyone else this could be for you, not just for the price point but for one thing and one thing alone, safety.
Geekvape looked to make safety a key selling point to the Karma kit and it sold me on it. There are many out there who hear horror stories and “potential” issues to mech mods which Geekvape has tried hard to minimize in the Karma mod. For starters, battery placement. They made this mod so that it is safe to place the battery whichever way you want. When I got my first mech mod I whatapp’d my vaping group and asked “which way do I put in the battery” to which I got both ways – and the consequences to putting it in the wrong way (both ways!), which confused me. Geekvape say you can put the battery in either way and it will be safe. It may sound like a small thing but trust me, you get your first mech mod and when you realize there’s no + and – sign you’ll be just as confused as I was!
They also include an insulation for the battery to stop shortages which adds to the safety but whats puts safety as a first priority is the packaging itself. When you open the Geekvape Karma kit for the first time you’ll see plastered all around the inside is safety tips on batteries and the 510 pin connection. To anyone who hasn’t used a mech mod before this in invaluable and will boost up your knowledge instantly. This is very impressive overall as it lowers your fears right from the start.
Overall I cannot complain about the mech mod, it does what its meant to do and it does it well. It doesn’t do it the best but you don’t want the best when you first try, you want safety, ease of use and something developed with you in mind.
Geekvape Karma RDTA
I’ve always been wary of tanks which claim to be more than one thing, if you’re a jack of all trades you’ll never be the master of one, and the Geekvape RDTA fits right in to his bracket.
Design wise this is a good looking RDTA. It’s not over the top in regards to looks but at the same time it’s not boring to look at – and looks right at home with the mod. I can never argue at the quality of anything from Geekvape and the Karma is another well made RDTA. Everything fits very well together, its smoother to adjust the airflow and fitting it all together and removing it all is super smooth – which is key to any tank which “transforms” into something else.
At 25mm the deck is massive. No other word can describe it. I could build pretty much any coil build into this and there would still be space to spare. For anyone who needs a bit of space will fit right at home with this tank. For a newer coil builder you wont have any issues with this, there is a lot of space to forgive the worst of builds – trust me on this!
The wide bore drip tip is just like the rest of the RDTA, massive. So much so I ended up adding the 510 drip tip adapter just to close it off a little bit. I also ended up adding the drip tip itself as the lip of the wide bore is just a little to small for me to wrap my mouth around. I ended up initially wrapping my mouth around the entire top of the RDTA which, when hot was not much fun.
Converting the RDTA into an RDA is pretty simple, as is converting it back. There is no separate base needed like some others and as the quality of the build is soo good everything fits in to place with no effort at all. This RDTA is a jack of all trades and master of none, I’ve split how I feel about both below and the results are slightly above average if anything. If you want a quality RDTA than look towards the Geekvape Avocado or as an RDA you cannot go wrong with the Goon. Do not take this as detrimental to the Karma though. As an introduction to an RDTA or an RDA this tank performs well – and at a good pricing point. And this is where this kit overall works. It’s a great introduction to something good – not great, but good.
As an RDTA
Right off the bat I was put off as its designed as a dual coil build only. This is actually more appropriate to a mech mod as a single coil build would not have a low enough ohm to get a good vape compared to a dual coil build, but by not offering a block to cover the holes (for shame Geekvape) a single coil build would just leak out the moment it tips which makes its use for single coil builders restricted.
The RDTA is also more prone to leakage compared to other RDTA’s. Where you place the cotton, the holes are not circular which leads to more space for juice to leak out which is never very nice and unless you’ve build it well could cause some issue.
As an RDA
As an RDA things get better. You expect leakage from an RDA and you get it should you fill it a little too much but having the well underneath makes this thing better than others in the market. It’s not the smallest of RDA’s by far but you have more options to use it as a single and dual coil build (and during my tests I have moved more towards the RDA build more than the RDTA)
Flavour and Clouds
Both as an RDTA and RDA flavour and clouds are the same. Clouds were very good on this. With the airflow options you can adjust quite a bit and with all air holes open I could get some good clouds going on.
Flavour wise, on the mech mod, it was ok – a bit muted for me, but that could be my specific build which may not be overly mech friendly (dual coil, 5 wrap, 2.5mm diameter using alien wire), on a regulated mod I did noticed vastly improved flavour from both. This could be as I was pumping more watts (120w) but that’s where I got the most out of this. I’m sure you will know a mech mod user who would recommend a good coil build – I’ll even have one of our mech mod enthusiasts leave their two cents for a good build below. I wanted to mention this as this mod fits more into vaper’s like myself and where knowledge like this might help!
Final Thoughts
Has the Geekvape Karma kit converted me into a mech mod user? No. Is the RDTA the best RDTA I own? No. What about the RDA? No. Would I buy it again given the chance? Yes. The Karma kit is an excellent starter kit for anyone looking at getting in to mech mod vaping. The safety features, the style and the price points are massive pluses which would make me recommend this to anyone starting out. The fact that you get a competent RDTA and RDA rolled in is a bonus. If you get into it you’ll eventually move away and splash out hundreds on a top end mod and RDA (I don’t see many mech mod users using RDTA’s) so having something which allows you to try many potentially new things at such a bargain price is definitely worth it. A massive thumbs up to Geekvape for this. As a starter kit its well worth a punt.
Final Note – I based the scores as someone who isn’t an avid mech mod user. Should I have been I’m sure the scores overall would be lower, but this is based on a “newer to mech mod” review and as such, for an introduction, is worth every point