Firefly 2 vs Arizer Solo 2 – flavour Fight

The vapor quality of the Firefly 2 is its biggest strength. The flavor is especially good, thanks to the on-demand convection heating. The Firefly 2 is actually one of the few vaporizers that can produce vapor with comparable flavor to the Crafty and Mighty by Storz and Bickel. If you are familiar with portable vaporizers, you know that that compliment doesn’t come lightly.

I’m learning to enjoy the on-demand heating more the longer I use the Firefly 2. There aren’t actually any buttons on this at all. You just put your fingers on sensors on either side of the vape and it heats pretty much automatically. As soon as you touch them, you can begin taking a slow draw and get great vapor. As soon as you let go, the unit stops heating. This keeps the flavor excellent for longer because you are only vaporizing your herb when actually drawing.

You may have noticed that I mentioned taking a slow draw. That is one thing that I have definitely noticed with this. Slower draws work much better. It’s hard to explain how slow I mean, but it’s slow enough that I found it worth mentioning.

The Arizer Solo 2 also produces outstanding vapor. It’s extremely flavorful and smooth, and vapor production continues long after most units would have stopped. The Solo 2 may actually be the most efficient vaporizer that I have ever used. I’m aware that in theory the Firefly 2 should be more efficient. The Solo 2 isn’t pure convection, it’s a blend of both convection and conduction. All I’m saying is that every time I use the Solo 2, I’m amazed at how long I’m able to keep getting good draws of flavorful vapor.

The Solo 2 also has an advantage over the Firefly 2 in heating flexibility. You can’t control the temperature of the Firefly 2 from the device, you have to use the app. The Solo 2 allows you to easily adjust the temperature in one degree increments. This is important to some people because they like increasing the temperature throughout a session, and using an app isn’t always practical. It would be nice to see Firefly update the Firefly 2 with something like the smart paths that DaVinci included with the Davinci IQ2.

I went a little overboard talking about vapor, but that’s because this is a very important aspect of both of these vaporizers. The Firefly 2 delivers better flavor, but I’m going to call this a tie overall. The Solo 2’s vapor is still extremely good, and many people won’t even notice the difference in flavor. The efficiency and flexibility earned it the tie here. With either of these, you are getting a portable that I would put in the top five in terms of vapor production, so you can’t really go wrong.

I originally found the Firefly 2 to be a huge let down when it came to the manufacturing quality. My initial impressions were that the battery life was horrendous and that there should have been temperature control without the app. These impressions haven’t changed, but I’ve also begun to appreciate other features more.

For example, I think the pin sensor things on the sides that are used to activate the heater are a cool touch. You can literally pick this up, take a draw, and set it back down. You don’t have to press any buttons, set temperatures, or wait for it to heat up. Considering how most vaporizers work, that’s pretty innovative.

Even though the Firefly 2 is growing on me, the Solo 2 still blows it away in this category. I’m not sure where I should even start. I obviously like that Arizer added a screen for full temperature control, but I think the most impressive feature is the battery. It offers 3 hours of use on a single charge. There isn’t a single other vaporizer out there that can beat that.

The Solo 2 is also very solid, and I would expect it to be the longer lasting of these two. The original Solo is one of the most dependable vaporizers ever built, and the Solo 2 seems to be packed with only improvements.

There are two ways to look at the Firefly 2. On one hand, you can’t get easier to use. Everyone, including me, has always said that you can’t get easier than a one button vape. This doesn’t even have a button! Like I said before, you just pick it up, put your fingers on the sensors, and take a draw. When it comes to taking a draw, you can’t get easier.

On the other hand, people find it very hard to make it work right. Getting a good amount of vapor requires a different type of draw than you would use with most vaporizers. You also have to use an app to change any of the settings, which can be cumbersome. The short battery life is also inconvenient. In these ways, it isn’t all that easy to use.

The Solo 2 is more typical. It doesn’t have strong pros or cons in either direction. There are a few buttons so you can turn it on and adjust the temperature, and there is no trick to getting good vapor. Anyone could easily figure out how to use this.

I’d say this is a tie overall. Depending on how you vape, you may find one or the other much more convenient.

Portability

Battery Life

The Solo 2 wins this category easily. Updates to the Firefly 2 allow you to adjust the temperature settings to specific levels, but you still have to use the app.

The Solo 2 allows you to pick and exact temperature from the device itself, which is much more convenient.

If you’d like to see another comparison, check out our recent showdown between the Arizer Air & Arizer Solo 2 and to see how these 2 units stack up against the field, be sure to check out our Portable Vaporizer Ranking Chart.