Honest review time: The Druga RTA from Augvape

This past year has seen an absolute slew of pod devices hit the market. I get that trends come and go but it seems most companies out there have all but forgotten the enthusiasts among us. The folks who like to build their own coils and tweak their builds, constantly trying to edge out the ideal experience for themselves or often family and friends. Not all companies however have forgotten and some companies like Augvape are still steadily producing new and interesting gear for the enthusiast market. Most recently Augvape added an RTA version of one of their classic RDAs to their lineup, the Druga. I was a fan of the Druga when it first launched and continued to use it for quite some time, it was an attractive two post single coil RDA with moderate airflow and with the right build a pretty solid performer. Today I’m looking at the new Druga RTA to see how it stacks up against it’s big brother the original Druga RDA.

Package contents:

1 xDruga RTA
1 xBubble Glass
4 xO-rings
4 xScrews
1 xUser manual
1 xWarranty card

Listed features and specs:

Size:39.5 x 24mm
Airflow:3D
Drip tip:810
Capacity:2.4ml/w straight
3.5ml/w bubble
Features:Low profile/
Flavour chasing

Packaging and contents:

The tank comes modestly packed in a very small cardboard box with the just the name Druga RTA in big letters on the front and the contents and some basic company info on the back. Inside the kits contents are equally modest and only comes with the Druga RTA, a 3.5ml bubble glass, a small packet containing 4 o-rings and 4 screws, a user manual and a little warranty card. That’s it, no coils, cotton, building tools, spare drip tip or anything. Bare bones, but as an enthusiast what do you really need. I rarely use any included coils unless they’re well labelled and I already have about a thousand little blue screwdrivers and t-shaped multi tools so I’m not really complaining but it does make the kit a bit less ideal for a newbie.

The tank:

The Druga RTA is a gorgeous little low-profile tank with some obvious style queues from it’s predecessor the RDA version. It stands roughly 39.5mm tall with a base diameter of 24mm. At the top it comes with a super low pro wide and flat 810 drip tip. It looks to be delrin and is comfortable enough that I haven’t considered swapping it. Just below it is the easy off top fill cap. It requires about a half a turn to get it off but the threads are fairly chunky and smooth so there’s no trouble taking it off or putting it back on. The two kidney shaped fill holes are also plenty wide to accommodate nearly any bottle tip and with the stock straight glass it comes equipped with it holds 2.4ml of liquid but you can also swap it out for the bubble glass which holds 3.5ml of liquid. I tend to prefer the look of a straight glass and I’m comfortable enough with the 2.4ml capacity so I kept it on.

Around the base of the tank is the airflow control where it sports dual, fairly thin cyclops style slots. Like most tanks you can turn the outer ring to adjust it to your preference but being dual airflow and not having any graduated hole options this tank is primarily going to be direct lung and a somewhat restricted direct lung at that. To access the deck you can unscrew the tank and if you’re careful you can even remove it when the tank is full. Inside, the deck looks nothing like the RDA version and is a sort of quad post design but is meant to be used for single coils. I mean you could probably squeeze in dual coils and some likely will but this thing looks to be made primarily for singles. One of the features of the Druga RTA is it’s 3D airflow which comes up through the deck and hits the coil from both the sides via two large holes and from two sets of three angled holes at the base of each post. It basically means air hits the coil from all sides except the top.

Build, wick and Performance:

Building on this thing is really straightforward and since they give you two options to mount your coils, it really doesn’t matter which direction you wrap them. I prefer to hang my coil over the airflow holes as opposed to sitting above so having the option to swap direction was handy. The posts use philips head screws to secure the leads but they give little room on the outside of the posts so make sure you bend over any excess or you’ll get shorts once the chimney is in place. I had no trouble sliding in a dual clapton 2×28/40g ni80 coil that came out to about 0.5ohm. Wicking it was also just as simple and cutting my wicks on an angle, I just needed to pick up the ends and drop them in the little wicking channels located on either side of the deck.

Now as with any rebuildable atomizer performance will ultimately depend on your ability to build and wick it. However with the Druga it makes the process very straightforward meaning nearly anyone should be able to pick it up and get the hang of it fairly quickly. It is touted as a flavour chaser but it’s definitely geared more towards direct lung and as I mentioned above a fairly restricted one at that. I have been leaving the airflow completely open and it still has a nice bit of restriction in the pull which I personally enjoy but it does mean the range is a bit limited. So it’s not exactly for the mouth to lung crowd and it’s definitely not for the cloud chasing crowd but for Goldilocks vapers like me who enjoy a lightly restricted direct lung hit, this thing is pretty banging. Running it around 40W I’m getting a nice warm, flavourful vape but again results may vary and so far I’ve only dropped one coil into it. I won’t say flavour is quite as defined as with a tighter mouth to lung tank but for what it is I’d say it delivers.

Overall:

I was quite a fan of Augvapes Merlin series of tanks and still use the Merlin Nano to this day and if there’s one thing I can say about Augvape, the quality of their gear is top notch! The Druga RTA is no exception though definitely catered more towards the enthusiasts and folks who will obviously have their own coils and tools already but as it stands it’s still readily approachable and easy to manage. Being that it is primarily a restricted direct lung tank I can’t say that this will be for everyone. I just happen to fall in that range so for me it’s a thumbs up but if you’re not into a restricted DTL hit, you might want to pass on this one.

How it adds up
Build qualityAttractive designEase of useTop fillLow profileDeck designNice restricted direct lungGood flavour with right build3D airflow
No room for leads behind postsLimited airflow range
8Overall
Presentation7
Build Quality8.5
Performance8.5