The Smok X-Pure RDA (rebuildable dripping atomiser) is an RDA manufactured by SMOK, boasting a unique airflow system and ceramic build deck to improve flavour and reduce the risk of coils shorting on your deck if they touch it.
Designed to offer single and dual coil build options, and the airflow system aims to produce top flavour results, let’s see how this unique RDA performs and see if it is worth your hard earned!
Kit Contents
- 1x X-Pure RDA
- 1x Mini Clear Glass Drip Tip
- 1x Stainless Steel Drip Tip
- 1x Triangle & Mini Screwdriver
The Smok X-Pure RDA comes in a plain black box with the Smok branding in the centre, and XPURE in the bottom right hand corner. The RDA itself and spares are housed within the foam insert inside the box.
SMOK X Pure RDA Set Up
The Smok X-Pure RDA comes pre-built with a 1.2ohm dual coil set up, which means that this is good to go right out of the box. All you need to do is choose your preferred airflow setting, drip some juice and away you go!
Now, when it comes to rebuilding the X-Pure RDA I have to say, I have struggled fitting builds in using anything thicker than 0.3mm kanthal, and with any coils wider than 2mm. You want to stick to using lower gauge kanthal here!
I found 0.25mm to be the easiest thickness to use, when using 0.3mm I was making coils that were 10 wraps on each coil to reach 1ohm, which were taking a long time to heat up on my Smok Magneto 3, and when used on a regulated mod the vape became too hot when I upped the power to get the coils to heat up quickly.
Wrapping coils with 0.25mm meant less ramp up time, and a more satisfying flavourful vape as the end result on both a mechanical and regulated mod.
Setting your airflow can be a bit tricky. Now there is a static airflow hole on one side of the Smok RDA and on the other side you will find the airflow control knob. This is a great idea but poorly executed as the machining tolerances of the airflow knob are very tight and the triangle screwdriver just about slots in there but it can be pretty stiff sometimes.
Once the screwdriver is in however, it is easy to change the airflow setting and you do not need to apply too much force in order to do so. You can block off the static airflow hole on the other side of the X-Pure if you wish to do so. Setting the airflow is then entirely down to your own preference.
I found that it is quite fiddly to rebuild for the reason that you need to use thin wire and trap the coil legs under the post screws, and this can be really off putting for newbies to rebuilding. I would recommend the Smok X-Pure RDA for those with a bit of experience in rebuilding already to save frustration!
Specifications
- 304 grade stainless steel construction
- Ceramic baseplate
- Unique airflow system
- Double tube casing
- 510 Thread
- Pre-installed 1.2ohm dual coil
- 3 posts
- 2 drip tips included- stainless steel and pyrex
Performance
Once I got around the difficult set up when putting my own build in this actually gives a nice vape, and this is definitely an RDA to chase flavour with. Lung hitters will be disappointed as I found the draw tight even on the widest airflow setting, this is more for the mouth to lung vaper.
But to give the Smok X-Pure credit, it does flavour very well, and this is what it was built by Smok to do. There was some very impressive flavour here from the X-Pure, that actually still competes with a lot of the flavour chasing RDA’s on the market today.
Cloud chasers can look away now- the X-Pure is purely for flavour chasing rather than chasing those clouds, as mentioned the airflow is quite restricted and it doesn’t handle builds below 1ohm at all really, because of the very limited room you have in the build deck.
Final Thoughts
I know that Smok say this was designed to be paired with the Fury-S, but I believe it looks better on the Smok Magneto 3. I do own both of those mods and feel the X-Pure suits the Magneto 3 better in terms of looks. But that is just my opinion!
It is a uniquely designed RDA and credit to Smok, the X-Pure design tried really hard to offer something different but just tripped up slightly on the execution of their ideas. Slight niggles such as the triangular screwdriver being difficult to screw into the airflow control socket, and the need to carry said tool around to adjust the airflow lets this RDA down in my eyes.
Unfortunately for Smok, the X-Pure had some revolutionary ideas back in 2014 when it launched, but it has since been surpassed by other RDA’s on the market.
It’s solidly built, it looks the part, but new RDA users are going to find this tricky to build with as there is not a lot of room to build, and the airflow control is a good idea but it is poorly executed unfortunately.
Experienced users will be able to build the Smok X Pure with ease but don’t expect to cloud chase with the SMOK X-Pure, it doesn’t handle builds below 1ohm particularly well, and the draw is tight even with the airflow at its widest setting, this particular RDA is geared towards flavour. And it does provide flavour very well, so therefore this is one for the flavour chasers out there.
The Good
- Comes pre-built with a 1.2ohm coil, which is handy for newbies.
- Two drip tips included- you can choose between Pyrex or Stainless Steel.
- Ceramic base is a great idea- protects you against short circuiting your coil on the deck.
- Great flavour production
- Cheap, everyone loves cheap!
The Not So Good
- Airflow system is a good idea, but overcomplicated and fiddly unfortunately.
- Small build deck
- Fiddly to rebuild
- No post holes- you need to trap the coil wires under the screw heads.
- Not for sub ohming
The airflow is too restrictive for a direct lung draw but the flavor is great. I would recommend this to the mouth to lung hitters looking to get into RDAs.