There is absolutely no denying that the Firefly 2 portable vaporizer is beautiful to look at. There is also no denying that as far as portable vaporisers go it has a premium price. The big question is, is it worth these extra bucks?

Firefly 2 Performance

Once your Firefly2 is loaded with your favourite therapeutic herb (or concentrate). It’s just a case of lightly pressing the tips of your fingers on the two touch sensors on either side of the body. This can be reconfigured to be activated by just one button if you prefer via the free Firefly app.

Firefly 2 – in the box

A small green light pulsates to indicate that the unit is warming up. Usually this takes about 5 flashes. Once the light is a solid green it means that the heating element has reached your desired temperature and the vape is good to go. The red glow of the heating element lights up the bowl and can be seen through the distinct robot eye like air vents at the front of the unit and in the bowl itself.

Firefly 2 – red glow

This will produce a dense cloud of vapour – which is impressive given the size of the thing. What is also impressive is the speed at which you are ready to draw your vape. Maybe just slightly slower than lighting a lighter and getting it into position on a small spoon pipe which this device emulates perfectly.

 – Convection

The Firefly 2 uses convection heating to vaporize your flowers or concentrates. What this means is that the heating element heats the air that passes through the ground flowers. Meaning that your product is not heated when you are not drawing from the device. This improves the taste and ensures that trichomes are only vapourized when you are inhaling them. The Firefly heats and cools fast which also makes your herb last longer.

I found that the vapour is not as dry as that from devices that use conduction (an oven) such as the Pax. This allows you to take huge draws without having to cough.

Battery life depends on the heat you set via the app on your smartphone. I kept mine on the predefined “Medium High” setting and would get around 10 uses before having to return the device to the supplied docking bay. I did experiment with other heat settings and got good results but would then finish the bowl off on medium high. Being lazy in the end I just left it on that.

Firefly 2 – on its dock

On the rare occasion I use concentrates I’m sure to have my spare fully charged battery at the ready because this setting will deplete your battery quickly. For dried herbs the usage was very reasonable and I rarely found myself being out of battery once I learned to dock it every day or so. See the User friendliness section below for more about the battery.

The Firefly 2 comes with metal pads which enable you to vape concentrates. I found this worked well and created equally impressive dense clouds of glorious vapour. My one gripe would be that it’s a bit fiddly to remove the pad when you want to switch back to vaping flowers.

Firefly 2 Value For Money

The Firefly 2 is pricey but it is excellent quality. It’s like a Mercedes is expensive but it is the best money can buy. Not only is this an excellent performing device it looks wonderful, is completely practical and functional. It is a premium product for those that want the best. This is aimed at the kind of person who walks into a vape shop and says I want the best portable vape and doesn’t even ask about the price. You want a Firefly like you want an Apple device. You get a lot in the box but I’d have loved a spare mouthpiece, a way to charge the spare battery or a simple case. All are available to buy extra.

Firefly 2 – what’s in the box?

Firefly 2 Build quality

The Firefly 2 is a beautiful thing to look at and feels great in your hand thanks to the superb build quality. To reduce weight the body is made from a magnesium alloy – which helps make it 55% lighter and 33% smaller than its 2014 predecessor the original Firefly. The low thermo-conductivity of this material also helps to stop the Firefly burning your hands when in use. The finish is attractive and durable. The interior uses Gorilla Glass which is what the glass screens of iPhones use. There is no doubt that this is a premium product. It seems this quality is also used on the inside with the performance matching the great looks.

Firefly 2 – gorilla glass

The base of my unit is scratched up a bit thanks to putting it in the same pocket as my keys. It’s still perfectly functional. You can buy spare lids and bases in the unlikely event that you do lose one or bash it up beyond repair.

Even the plastic mouthpiece – which contains a metal particle filter – looks great. It’s removable for cleaning and you can purchase spares in case you need too.

Firefly 2 User friendliness

What’s great about the Firefly 2 is there is no great leap for someone who is used to using a pipe. You coarse grind your herb, load the bowl just past the brim – which contains around a third of a gram. Hold it just like a pipe put your fingers on the buttons and after a few seconds you are ready to go. You then draw through the mouthpiece. There is no learning curve for this device at all other than refining the way you draw your vapour. Vapour production is created from your breath.

It is recommend to stir your bowl after a few draws. It is something I rarely do. The reason is I never have my poker handy. It would be so great if there was a slot for a poker on the device so it is always available. What I tend to do instead is to empty the contents into the palm of my hand mix it up and put it back.

Firefly 2 – fits nicely in your hand

– Charging

The Firefly 2 comes with two batteries. The thing is that you can only charge the battery whilst it is in the unit. Meaning that ensuring you have a fully charged spare means you need to swap them around a bit. You can buy a charger for your second battery and I recommend getting one.

The dock is wonderful when you are using it at home but is completely useless when on the go. If you want to charge in your car or in a backpack using a solar charger you will need to strap the unit to the charger to keep the connectors aligned.

There are two ways to check the battery level. You can check via the app how much the battery is charged but I didn’t tend to do this. You can also press the right touch sensor three times. A blue light will flash to tell you how much charge is in the battery. Four flashes is 100% all the way down to one blue flash for 25%. If it flashes red then it’s time to recharge.

Once you get used to how long the battery lasts you’ll get into the habit of charging and keeping your spare charged.

– App

The Firefly app is a pleasure to use and is functional and robust just like the Firefly 2. Using the app is not essential so non smartphone users out there can buy and use the device without being in blocked – as long as they are vaping flowers. They would be blocked from using concentrates though that required a very high temperature setting.

Firefly 2 Maintenance and Cleaning

Cleaning is quick and easy. Open the top – which is held in place by magnets. Empty the bowl. Give it all a brush down with the supplied brush. You can also use one of the two provided pokers – that reminded me of lego ninja swords – to remove any stubborn bits. Finally give everything a wipe down with one of the supplied alcohol wipes. You’ll need to purchase more of these. VapoShop recommends Firefly 2 Cleaning Wipes. I wrapped up on of the plastic pokers in a wipe and used it to scrap some stubborn residue that had formed in the corners of the bowl. Don’t do that – it promptly snapped!

Final job is to remove the mouthpiece and clean the small metal filter. Here you will find small bits of herb that are caught as you draw your vapour. This is very easy to do as these small crumbs are very dry. Wipe the mouthpiece clean then click it back into place.

My only gripes are that the corner where the base of the bowl joins the walls can gather residue. A slight curve instead of a right angle join here would make cleaning even easier without having a huge impact on the capacity.

What is great about the firefly 2 is that pretty much all the parts can be bought separately in case you need to replace anything. The main body is covered under the two year warranty.

Pros

• Fast heat up time
• Great vapour quality
• Portable
• Easy to use
• Easy to clean
• Good battery life and comes with a spare battery
• Fantastic looks
• Spares and accessories available

Cons

• Cannot charge on the go – falls off the dock
• Need to stir bowl but no place to store the small stirrer
• Requires battery swapping to charge your spare battery