The IMP RDA from Youde is essentially another dripper that is designed to offer large amounts of cloud production. I believe it was also originally designed to offer adjustable airflow and fairly good flavour too but somehow things didn’t go to plan as you will see for yourselves in this review.
IMP RDA Specifications
- 22mm RDA.
- Three post design.
- 2.5mm post holes.
- Stainless steel construction.
- Adjustable copper 510 pin.
- Wide bore drip tip with spiral grooves for large vapour production.
- Ceramic base for nice flavour and airflow adjustable through the atomizer base. This actually isn’t correct.
IMP RDA box contents
- 1x IMP RDA.
- 1x wide bore chuff cap, pre-fitted.
- 1x 510 drip tip adapter.
- Spare screws and O-rings.
- User Manual. (More of a leaflet really).
- 1x blue screwdriver.
Styling and Build Quality
In terms of styling the IMP doesn’t look bad. I would say it’s quite similar in some respects to the Doge X2 and maybe it was Youde’s intention to offer an affordable cloud chasing RDA to compete with it.
Machining is actually very good and everything fits together well. The RDA comes with both a chuff cap and a 510 drip tip adapter. Removing the chuff cap from the main barrel of the RDA requires a bit of a pull since the O-rings holding it in place are quite strong.
The deck is nothing fancy being a typical three post design but the screw heads and post holes are large which makes it quite easy to work with. The 510 pin is made out of copper and is adjustable. The well itself isn’t deep so you will be dripping often.
Airflow
With this RDA you have just one airflow choice and that is fully wide open and non-adjustable. I have no idea why Youde decided to have fixed airflow when just about everyone else is producing RDA’s with adjustable airflow. It seems a very poor design decision and considering how many varied tastes people have this kind of inflexibility really won’t help to sell this atomizer.
I guess it is entirely possible you might find the airflow just right but what happens if you don’t? On any standard RDA you could adjust it to suit but not with this one. If it doesn’t work for you then you’ll have just wasted money that might have been better spent on something else.
According to Youde’s specifications and the box itself this RDA is supposed to have adjustable airflow but the truth is it doesn’t. I find this state of affairs rather odd.
Ease of build
I actually found building this RDA very straightforward. I would say that even a newcomer with some rebuildable experience should be able to handle a dual coil build in this. The post holes are large and the screws are decent. Add in the fact that the deck is very open and accessible made this one of the easiest builds I have done in a while.
I kept things simple and made two identical coils using 24 AWG Kanthal. My final resistance was 0.6 Ohm. I then wicked the coils with Japanese cotton and juiced them with El Diablo St Louis before filling up the well.
How Does The Imp Vape?
In terms of vapour production this isn’t bad. The chuff cap really does help to put out a lot of vapour so cloud chasing fans should be happy enough.
However I found flavour to be quite abysmal since it was extremely washed out. My coils had a 3mm internal diameter and there was plenty of surface area so I should have got better flavour than I did but the real problem as is often the case, is that there is simply too much airflow.
As most people know more airflow equals less flavour and that is definitely the case with the IMP.
I’m assuming the ceramic base mentioned on the box contents and Ud’s website would probably be something that fitted into the juice well like their Godzilla V2. Had they actually included that then I believe the flavour would have been far better.
Now normally when you have too much airflow and you want to improve flavour you close down the airflow slots but that isn’t possible with this RDA. According to the specifications this RDA has adjustable airflow, sorry to say Youde but it doesn’t. I’ll give the company the benefit of the doubt and assume this is an error and not deliberate false advertising. It does beg the question though as to what exactly happened.
The draw itself isn’t bad but I’d prefer to close it down a little because it is a little too airy, unfortunately I can’t. Sorry to sound like a broken record but it really does irritate me.
I did also try this RDA with the included drip tip adapter and used one of my own drip tips. I would say flavour was improved by a very small percentage but it was still very poor due to the large airflow slots.
Is it worth it?
I really have no idea what Yoube were thinking when they manufactured this. It’s if someone had some good ideas that were suddenly dropped when it came to final production. Why this occurred I can only speculate, perhaps it was too expensive or it was simply not worth implementing. We will never know what this RDA might have been like if it had been manufactured to its claimed specifications.
In terms of price this RDA is reasonable but I honestly don’t think it’s worth it because other RDA’s can be easily found that have far more flexibility for the same amount of money.
Final Review Verdict
The IMP RDA is a bit of a strange one because I get the impression it was initially designed to offer more than it does but when it actually came to production some features were either dropped or forgotten.
Strangely enough as mentioned earlier the lack of a ceramic base and the adjustable airflow make no sense since they are clearly stated on the box itself.
I suspect this RDA was rushed out and if that’s the case then all companies should be more mindful because mistakes can happen just like this one.
If all you want is a straightforward to build and use RDA that can put out respectable amounts of vapour then this might appeal. The problem I have with this atomizer is the lack of airflow adjustment and to prospective customers who might be interested in the IMP you really have no way of knowing if the set airflow suits you until you try it.
Compound this fact with the very average to poor flavour and I feel that you actually should avoid this one because it’s far from great.
The Good
- Straightforward to build dual coils with this one.
- Well made.
The Not So Good
- Fixed airflow that cannot be adjusted.
- Dual Coil only.
- Specifications are inaccurate. No airflow adjustment and no ceramic base.
- Poor flavour.
- Well isn’t especially deep.
- A very restrictive RDA that is simply not worth it.
