The Hussar RTA is one of the best on the market and when the RDTA was announced we needed to get our hands on one. Everything about this atty screams beauty and thought out engineering. A truly innovative approach to a dual airflow on a single coil in a very compact form factor. On paper, so to speak it looks like an incredible offering but how is it really?

Like the RTA the materials, finish and aesthetic are beautiful. The small form factor with the brushed stainless finish and top airfoil cap give it a unique and own-able appearance (almost an Artdeco appeal). For what is billed as an RDTA it looks like an RDA. But technically it does have a 2ml tank section under the deck to qualify it. Even the wick leads hang down into the tank like many others in the category. The deck is a thing of engineering beauty. Two screws surrounded by metal sides that act like clamps and secure wire easily. The shallow airflow channels that direct the air at the single coil perfectly. There is a juice filling port with a vent on the opposite side. Everything seem just perfect, but sadly it isn’t. There is a fatal flaw, the wicking ports are too far apart and create too much resistance for the juice to travel against. There is almost a right angle (90°) created because of the distance from the coil and so you can really only vape 2-3 hauls before letting the wick re-saturate (may not be an issue for some).

Flavour is good, but a little muted for what is such a condensed vapor chamber. It’s as if there is too much airflow, and along with the wicking issue it over powers the coil’s flavour potential. We love the design thinking on the bottom side of the top cap, a cavity has be created to house the coil and there is a little notch design to act as a stop for the AFC (which can be a little annoying, you will find yourself constantly rechecking for position each time you replace the top cap, which is often as you are only playing with a 2ml capacity).

Airflow like we said above is maybe too much for the design. Fully open it’s a lot wider than you would think, almost a fully open lung hit with a touch of resistance. We understand the consideration for a wider spectrum of airflow options to appeal to a larger audience but it’s a little excessive in our opinion. 1/2 to 1/3 open does make for a nice restricted hit however. Surprisingly closing down the AFC doesn’t seem to have an effect on flavour intensity.

Building the Hussar RDTA is a treat. Again solid design thinking, the clamp style deck works flawlessly and the post screws are long enough to allow you to slip your leads under with ease. We have tried several builds with several wire gauges and coil diameters and resistances with no major success of cracking the wicking issue. The best result we have had is with a 26awg, 2.5mm ID, spaced (long enough to align with the airflow slots) at around 0.7 Ohms, and run at around 20-25W. It’s a cooler vape than we like and it still only allows for about 2-3 consecutive hauls before you need to let it rest and catch up.

Juice capacity is decent, sort of amazing for the form factor really. 2ml lasts about 10-15 hauls, so frequent toping off will be necessary. As for squonking… even with the revised BF pin it seems to take out most of the juice you squeeze in, making for an excessive amount of squonking. Basically you get maybe 4 hauls and then you need to re-squonk, not really acceptable for us, but as an RDTA it functions great and last a hell of a lot longer between refills.

Are review thinking has always been to only share products we think are worth owning that give the best vape experience and flavour. But we are finding it more and more our responsibly to report on hyped products that may or may not live up to it. And we are very sad and disappointed to report the Hussar RDTA is one of those hyped and sot after products that just doesn’t live up to the hype. Add in the high expense and difficulty to acquire one makes it even less desirable. Who knows, maybe there will be a revised or new version of this atty that will stand up to the greatness that is the Hussar RTA. Here is to hoping…