Smok Ace and the Smok 2.0 Ohm RDA

I got a new toy this week. A shiny, pretty hot pink Smok ACE and a matching RDA from Smok in hot pink. They  make a pretty pair, but I am going to review them separately since I like one, and the other leaves a lot to be desired.

The Smok Ace

Luckily, the Smok ACE is the one that I like. While I still have to say I prefer it's immediate cousin the Vamo V5 to it, I do love the lightweight feel of this piece.

The Smok ACE is, for all intents and purposes a match for the Vamo in looks. It has the same 'face' with the two top adjustment buttons and the larger firing button. Some people call it the "clown" face, but I love how easy it is to adjust the two of these devices.

The Smok ACE is a little bit taller than the Vamo. Only by a small amount, however. The fact that it's made of thick alumium makes it MUCH lighter than the Vamo. That's its main selling point.

Here is where the two begin to differ greatly and why I still prefer the Vamo V5. (NOTE: Only the 'official' Vamo V5. Other versions, and it is a much 'cloned' device for some reason in spite of its already low price point.) The Official Vamo V5 has a few more menu options, and the display screen shows THREE readouts at once when pressing the fire button. At a glance I can see the resistance of the atomizer, the battery power level and the voltage (or wattage depending on how its set to perform). Any of the three are viewable on their own by pressing the proper display buttons.

Not only can you toggle through the menu and change from voltage to wattage settings, you can also change what shows on the display, and you can also make the vamo count the number of puffs you take (not really sure why you would, but I suppose if you are really concerned about how much you vape that would be a nice feature). You cans also change from RMS settings to MEAN settings. RMS is much more accurate though.

The Smok Ace only shows the current voltage (or wattage) on the readout when firing, and while you can change between voltage or wattage from the menu, that is the only function it has. It does not have an RMS/MEAN option or any way to read out the remaining voltage of the battery.

I LOVE the looks of the Smok Ace. It is a pretty thing and there are many colors to choose from. I got mine from myfreedomsmokes.com. They have incredibly fast shipping, great service, an active forum on the ECF forum, and very nice prices. They also carry many extras, accessories, juices and DIY juice supplies.

The Smok 2.0 Ohm RDA

On top of the Smok ACE in the picture above you'll see the RDA. It comes in a wide variety of colors, and is a very nice size unit. There is also a mini version for anyone interested in having an easy to use, single coil RDA for a vaporizer like the Ego or other similarly sized devices.

I was actually surprised (pleasantly) at the size of this piece when it came. The pictures made it look so much smaller. That's where my love for it ended, however. I'm afraid it just isn't a good performer, and along with that, when I went to remove the top to change the coil (hoping the performance issue was a factory coil thing -- no) I had to use a pliers to grip the 510 connection and pull. I do that occassionally with other similarly structured RDAs and while it isn't the best thing to do, it's better (in my opinion) than pulling on it while it's connected to a vaporizer and risk damaging the 510 connection on it. Most RDAs handle it fine. This one, I went to screw back on to the vaporizer when I was done and it wouldn't screw on. I looked and the thread was totally crushed in where the pliers had been.

I managed to 'reshape' the thread ring with a pair of tweezers. That's how amazingly malable that ring is. Got it hooked back up, and it read out fine, but it still had bad air intake. This is a problem with this particlar device I came to find out after some research. So, I took it apart again and punched a hole in the side just where the coil sits.

It works a little better now, but I'm afraid I simply can't recommend this RDA to anyone. It isn't made well (although for the price I suppose you can't really be too mad. It only costs about $6.00). I can deal with having to make better air supplies, I can deal with fussy build requirements, but that mashable thread ring has me at a total stop. If it weren't for that I might give it a less than perfect score, but I wouldn't count it out because it has a lot of great attributes too.