Mutation X V4 Review – A Great Vape Not Without It’s Faults

The Mutation X Series of RDA’s (Rebuildable Dripping Atomizers) should need no introduction. Highly popular with cloud chasing fans, Unicig has now released version 4.0.

The design now allows for air to hit the coils from underneath as well as the typical original style air holes. It incorporates a redesigned top cap, a wide bore drip tip and includes a 510 adapter for standard drip tips.

The Mutation X V4 is available in stainless steel, black, white and copper. The copper one is logo-less and is the one received for review.

The Mutation X V4 features:

• 22mm diameter so will fit on a variety of mods
• Variable airflow, external and internal
• Upgraded diamond airflow holes
• New bottom airflow holes. Two sets of three different sized holes on opposite sides
• Wide bore pyramid drip tip, sloped to offer greater comfort
• Silver plated copper pin
• Extra cooling adapter
• Dual negative posts milled into the deck
• Philips head post screws
• Insulator. Over 250℃ heat-resistant

Included in the box:

• 1x Mutation X V4 RDA
• Wide bore pyramid drip tip
• Delrin 510 drip tip adapter
• Transparent cooling adapter
• Spare O-rings
• Spare Screws
• Rubber hole blockers for the bottom air holes
• Blue screwdriver

So Is The Mutation X V4 Good Looking and Flaw Free?

This depends heavily on the user since its very subjective. Personally I’m not keen and I think its pretty ugly to be honest. The drip tip is definitely nice and anyone who finds conventional chuff caps a bit uncomfortable will certainly prefer the way it fits the mouth better.

The copper version does not include a logo and I actually would have preferred it with one. Of course for those that love logo free vaping equipment its another bonus.

In some ways I kind of feel Unicig has gone to far since this RDA seems to incorporate so many features of existing ones on the market. The bottom air holes borrow directly from the WOTOFO Freakshow Mini and designing this to be a cloud chasing and flavour chasing RDA reminds me heavily of others that offer such flexibility.

However the Mutation X V4 is more like a collection of features that were casually thrown at the design rather than being properly planned so it all looks somewhat haphazard in its execution.

More than a few issues:

The machining is reasonable, although I wouldn’t call it great. I had read various user feedback stating how well machined it was and I’m afraid I completely disagree with that, perhaps the stainless steel version is better but the copper one I received for review is far from perfect.

Firstly the screws, which I take issue with. Every gauge of wire I tried ended up being cut by the screws. It didn’t matter which one I used, 28 gauge, 26 gauge, 24 gauge and 24 gauge twisted. Having never actually owned a Mutation X RDA I thought to myself that this is perhaps a common problem so I looked online for solutions.

It turns out that they are apparently designed this way to make it easier for dual coil builds.

So screws that cut the wire is allegedly a feature and not a design flaw then?

Strange since every other RDA I have that supports a dual coil does not cut wire on purpose and I never had any issues building those.

So with this new found knowledge in mind I reattempted to coil this RDA with my next build, 26 gauge (0.5mm). It is usually my habit to put both coil legs through the post holes then tighten down the screws and then move the screwdriver with some small amount of force to centre the coil correctly.

This is a bad idea with this RDA and will cut the wire.

What you want to do is get the build right and completely centred first, then tighten the screws down very gently, then adjust a little before tightening further, don’t overdo it.

My next issue with this RDA is the transparent cooling adapter. You are supposed to be able to press fit the wide bore drip tip and top cap mount into it. My issue is it doesn’t fit properly and after applying too much force it became wedged in there.

After about fifteen minutes of messing with it I did eventually get it out but by that point it had shredded an O-ring, thankfully you get spares but I am far from impressed with that.

I don’t even like how it looks when its fitted to be honest and I question why Unicig removed the old heat sink fins to create a pointless gimmick that lets you see the vapour in the chamber.

I’m sure it does help to cool the RDA but by attaching it you are actually increasing the size of the chamber which can typically lead to some loss in flavour and above all it looks really tacky.

Now for the well capacity which is noticeably smaller, anyone who just likes to fill up and go will run into problems if they have the bottom air holes open. You need to be very careful and literally paint your wicks with juice, if you just fill up the well it will leak on you.

Thankfully you can plug up the bottom airflow slot with one of the included rubber stoppers but since airflow that hits a coil from underneath tends to give better flavour I don’t see many flavour chasers wanting to block off the holes.

On to the next problem. The bladed cap that blocks the main eighteen airflow holes has extremely sharp edges and if you could actually cut your fingers if you weren’t careful or handled it roughly.

Funnily enough Cigreen who made the X V2 which is based on the Mutation X V2 actually found the solution of rounding off the metal blades, if only Unicig could have had the same foresight. At least airflow adjustment is without issue and by rotating the bladed cap you can open up or close down the air holes easily.

The Mutation X V4 Is Not Without Issues But The Vape Is Excellent:

In terms of flavour the Mutation X V4 is excellent. Its so much better than many cloud chasing RDA’s and it is comparable to some of the specific flavour chasing drippers out there. No doubt due to the new underneath airflow and it works very well.
I tried a variety of juice with this RDA, T-Juice Red Astaire, El Diablo Lime Cream Cupcake, Manabush Waxahachie.

Every juice tasted exactly how it should and the vape which was on a 0.5 ohm dual coil was flavoursome and warm with the most immense clouds quickly fogging up my room after one or two draws.

For more juice options check out this guide our top rate e-liquid here.

The clouds really are massive, almost bordering on the obscene when the airflow is fully opened up.

With a single coil its very good, with a dual it is truly insane. If you were to use this in public you would quickly be a nuisance.

Such high vapour production of course comes at a price, with the well being small you will find yourself regularly re-dripping but for those people who enjoy their clouds when vaping they will be in love with this.

Is the Mutation X V4 worth it?

Yes it is. Given the amount of air flow options you have not to mention the spares and other extras such as the 510 adapter and the horrible looking cooling adapter you are getting value for money.

As I said there are some machining issues but most of them are things you can live with or require you to change your regular habits and I’ve seen RDA’s in a far worse state than this one.

What ultimately redeems it for me is the fantastic vape and given that it works well for flavour as well as cloud chasers it’s certainly worth you considering it. I think £25.99 is a very attractive price for most people.

Final Thoughts On The Mutant X V4

A RDA that has more than its fair share of faults and quirks. I also don’t consider it a looker but some people may like its style of design. Its an amalgamation of many RDA’s already out there but then so are many others.

As stated I really don’t like the Philips screws and would personally replace them with grub screws. In terms of the fact that this is a reasonably cheap and authentic product and given that despite less than perfect machining it does everything its supposed to and provides great flavour with tons of clouds.

If like me you find issues with it then do give it chance because while the problems are annoying its not worth missing out on such a great vape.

Pros:

• Excellent flavour
• Massive variety of airflow options suiting many types of builds
• Insane cloud production
• Cheap for an authentic RDA
• Decent enough spares

Cons:

• Questionable machining in places
• Small juice well
• Leaks if you don’t use the rubber stoppers or not pay attention to painting your wicks with juice
• Top cap did not fit cooling adapter on review item
• Awful screws