At first glance, the Dead Rabbit SQ looks simply to be a smaller version of the original Dead Rabbit. But that’s not entirely the case.

Yes, it has the same quality matte finish with a knurled top cap, colorful drip tip, and Dead Rabbit logo on the side.

However, there are some subtle and welcomed differences.

Some are just pure aesthetics like the Dead Rabbit logo now has a bit a juice squonking out of his head. Others are far more practical like the inclusion of two small MTL airflow holes on the top cap, or the alignment slots to keep the RDA locked to the build deck.

It’s not quite a Dead Rabbit 2.0, but in this revised version it’s good to see that Hellvape and Heathen took on board some users comments about the original.

The first of which being, that is was great at squonking with its high side airflow. But 22mm single coil atomizers seem to be more popular among flavor chasers, especially for squonking on single battery mechanical mods. Tick number one.

The second was that there’s a distinct lack of bottom fed RDA’s on the market that can do a true mouth-to-lung type vape. So with the reduced chamber and single coil build deck, they have added two small airflow holes. One which is supposed to prove a semi-restricted MTL, the other a full-restricted – more on this later.

That’s tick number two, so far so good.

The last issue that some wished to have addressed was that the barrel would spin a lot, especially when trying to remove the RDA from the device, or adjusting the airflow.

So this time they added a barrel lock feature, which is essentially two pins on the build deck, which align with two slots on the inner side of the barrel chamber. This also means the airflow is always in the correct position for the coil.

That equals tick number three – good job Heathen & Hellvape.

Along with the changes mentioned above, Hellvape has also made sure you don’t go short when it comes to spare parts. They have included a 9mm wide bore 810 resin drip tip, a 9mm wide bore 810 Delrin drip tip, a 4mm bore 510 Delrin drip tip for mouth-to-lung and a 510 drip tip adapter – which is excellent and really gives you the ability to tailor your vape.

The only one grip I have is it doesn’t seem like you can choose the color of the resin drip tip when you order.

I’ve never been a huge fan of the aesthetics of the Dead Rabbit; it’s quite a tall RDA, and the logo isn’t the greatest. However, the build quality is excellent, and that along with its performance certainly makes up for it.

There’s nothing revolutionary going on here; it is pretty much what you’d expect a single coil Dead Rabbit to be.

It is a top terminal, two post build deck with gold plated positive posts and side mounted screws. Of which it comes pre-installed with flathead screws, but hex screws are also included in the spare parts –
Another good move by Hellvape.

I think the deck sits a little higher on the SQ over the original, which means there is slightly more room to snip your leads underneath. Either way, it is still incredibly easy to build on and has plenty of room for an exotic 3mm inner diameter coil.

One excellent design change they have deliberately made with the build deck is the directional juice channels. The SQ contains a larger piece of PEAK insulator than the original, which has holes pointing toward either juice well. This means as you squonk the wick gets saturated straight away.

The other outstanding feature about the design of this deck is the 5mm deep juice well, along with the top airflow – which means it’s a squonkers dream. You’d really have to go some to get this RDA to leak.

Hellvape Dead Rabbit SQ RDA Specs:

•  22mm RDA with ample build space and generous post holes
• Slide in top coil deck takes the guesswork out of pre-cutting your coil leads
• Adjustable top side diagonal airflow with a focus on flavor and to minimize leaking
• Adjustable semi-restricted and full restricted MTL airflow options
• Single coil configuration
• Gold plated positive post for better conductivity
• Knurled grip to adjust the airflow with ease
• Post screws fasten to the flat side of the coil lead to preserve your build
• Bottom feeding pin installed for squonking and spare solid 510 pin for dripping
• Two 810 drip tip options including a colorful resin tip and a stainless steel 510 adapter
• Slotted or hex head post screw options
• Protruding 510 pin and peek insulation for hybrid top cap compatibility

Hellvape Dead Rabbit SQ RDA Package Contents:

• 1 x Dead Rabbit 22 RDA with resin DT
• 1 x Derlin 810 DT
• 1 x Derlin MTL 510 DT
• 1 x Stainless steel 510 adapter
• 1 x Golden slotted pin
• 4 x Slotted & hex screws
• 1 x Orings
• 2 x Hex screwdriver
• 1 x Slotted screwdriver

Although as I mentioned above the Dead Rabbit SQ is incredibly easy to build on, it did take me a couple of goes to get the coil at the right height for the airflow.

This was due to two things; firstly when it was too low I didn’t get the best flavor from it, and secondly, when it was too high I was getting a lot of spit back.

The top airflow of the Dead Rabbit is angled down, and you want the airflow to be able to go just underneath the coil for the best result.

So that brings me on to the flavor – the flavor the SQ produces is very good. In my opinion better than the original because of its smaller chamber size.

However, it still wasn’t amazing, and I expected a little more. I think it’s because I compared it to others that I now use on a regular basis like the Wasp Nano, the Entheon or the new Gas Mods GR1. All of which are small, very reduced chamber RDA’s where your mouth sits very close to the coil, and there’s virtually nowhere for the air to go.

However, it is a little harsh comparing it to them, as they are all designed just for flavor, and some don’t have the greatest airflow, and can easily be over-squonked.

The SQ is all-together more versatile; you can fit very large coils in the deck. The airflow is some of the smoothest I’ve used on a single coil RDA, and it can certainly produce good clouds. It can also be used for MTL.

I wasn’t expected much of the Dead Rabbit in MTL mode, but I was pleasantly surprised.

You have two airflow settings one, where there are two small airholes on either side, which gives you a semi mouth-to-lung and the other with just one airhole open, which is a full tight mouth-to-lung vape.

With both airholes and the 4mm bore 510 Delrin drip tip, I could really feel the throat it and was getting some great flavor come through.

Having just one air hole open is an incredibly tight draw and too tight for me. However, it’s great to see an RDA like this being able to produce both a solid lung and MTL style vape.

That being said, there are also better purposely built MTL RDA’s out there.

And that leaves me with a bit of a dilemma for my final verdict.

Let me start by saying the Dead Rabbit SQ is not the best flavor RDA on the market, neither is it the best MTL RDA on the market.

However, it is extremely good at both, and that is incredibly rare to find in an RDA – especially at this price.

I think the small design changes both Hellvape and Heathen have implemented help the SQ surpass it’s bigger brother, especially in the flavor department. If I had to pick between the two, I would go with the SQ.

However, if you like dual-coil RDA’s and bigger clouds then the original is the better choice – and why are you reading this review for a single coil RDA?

There really isn’t anything bad I can say about this RDA, it’s great for squonking, due to its deep juice well and excellent top airflow. And for that reason, I can certainly see myself using it a lot as one of my out and about squonking RDAs.