Firefly 2 Review – First Impressions
“We’ve heard your voices and we listened”. This is the claim that the folks over at FireFly have made in regards to their greatest and latest vaporizer the FireFly 2. The FireFly 2 is the second release from the self-titled brand FireFly. For those who remember the Original FireFly came on the scene as the first “on demand” style convection vaporizer. The original FireFly was a bulky and heavy vaporizer with bright hot rod style finishes that really stood out from the competition. The problem, however, was that it also sticks out in public when you were using it. Its bulk in size also meant that it stuck out like a brick in your pocket when traveling. The FireFly 2 is drastically smaller and lighter than its predecessor. For those that had the Original, the new FireFly2 weighs about as much as just the lid of the original. They have also changed the finish of the exterior from that bright candy hot rod to a series of cool matte aluminum in a variety of colors.
While the device is lighter than the original it is by no means cheap. You can see and feel the quality when you first open the packaging which has a high-tech electronic feel like a Samsung smartphone or tablet. Under the lid is made up of a magnesium alloy on the top to help protect from wear and tear and borosilicate glass on the bottom for amazing flavor and is finished off with a quartz window so you can watch your herbs cook. Another shortcoming of the Original FireFly was they’re less than optimal battery life with only 740mah. The new Firefly 2 comes with a spare battery which is a welcome addition to the box for switching out a fresh battery when your battery inevitably runs out of juice. Along with the FireFly 2 and its 2 batteries inside the box you will also find, a cleaning kit complete with alcohol wipes and pick tools, a USB charging cable, and a charging dock.
App and New Features
The latest trend in portable vaporizers is Bluetooth app integration. You know that the makers of the FireFly being based in the San Francisco Bay area were not going to get left behind on this tech aspect. The FireFly app brings a new level of control the FireFly 2 that was not imaginable in the original. The app allows you to do a few things the first and most welcome is being able to check your battery life. On neither the Original FireFly nor the new FireFly2 will you find an indicator of the battery level left in your FireFly. The app gives a simple readout so you know if you need to swap a battery or find a USB charger.
The Original FireFly came under some scrutiny with its lack of temperature control or adjustment. Some referred to it as a glorified and fancy Magic Flight Launch Box as it seemed to only have one temp setting “GO”. The app now brings 6 heat settings, 5 of which are for dry herbs and the last being for concentrates. Using the App you are able to select from one of these presets. Personally, I find these are not so much pre-set temps but rather temperature cutoffs. The way the FireFly works is that you press the power button to fire the coil heater, then you inhale drawing the hot air that passes from the coil over your herbs to heat them and give vapor. There is still a heat-up time with the coil so rather than feeling like I have a set temp I feel more as though the max heat is increased instead.
The last feature included in the FireFly app is the ability to change the sequence in which you hit the buttons to fire the heater. The FireFly 2 has 2 capacitive sensors for buttons. This means that they are soft touch heat sensitive buttons that just need to sense your finger rather than a full press. There is one button on the left and right sides of the device. Using the app you can change whether the oven will fire using the Left, Right, Both, or Either button to activate the heater for vaping.
First Bowl
The FireFly 2 like the Original before is an “On Demand” convection vaporizer. This means that at the push of a button a heater begins to heat the incoming air to a temperature that will cause your herbs to give off vapor as the hot air passes over the dry herbs. With convection-style vaporizers you will need to load your vaporizer with finely ground herbs, this allows the maximum amount of air to travel through the leaves of your weed to heat evenly and give off vapor. To load the bowl remove the magnetic top lid and set it aside. Take a pinch of your fine ground herb and place it in the quartz oven. Make sure not to pack too tightly as you need good airflow to get good vapor flow. Brush away any stray leaves that may have gotten on the mirrored surface of the base and replace the lid.
Now that we are all loaded up we are ready to select our heat setting and start vaping. I decided to link up the FireFly 2 to my iPhone and the FireFly app to use this new temp selection that they have built-in. I decided to start with the Medium setting just to see where things are as we get started here. I also quite like the button selection feature that was built in. The buttons are quite sensitive and can be pressed accidentally, I set my FireFly 2 to fire when both buttons were pushed together.
The First draw is cool to the lips and tongue with only a little tickle of terpene in the back of the throat. You can draw on the FireFly 2 for as long as you can inhale no cut off so I take my full and hold. On exhale, I’m surprised to see no visible vapor but plenty of flavor of the lighter terps and cannabinoids that were lifted off and vaped with the herb. While the air passing over the herbs might be warm the herbs themselves are still cold so they are not giving off as much vapor as you might see from a conduction vape. Hitting the FireFly 2 a few times back to back makes for better results. I begin to take a puff, puff style hits before the long draw similar to how you would hit a cigar that you are trying to light and cherry. This helps warm the herbs up before the long draw and inhale of vapor. Finally, I start getting some visible vapor although it’s important to note that despite the lack of visible vapor I’m still feeling the effects of the cannabis inside. More testing through the week will be the final judge and jury on this vape. Initial impressions are that it takes a little finesse to get going properly.
First Week
The folks over at FireFly should change the name of this vape to a short FF2 which should stand for Flavor and Finesse because that is what you get with the FireFly 2. I made 2 separate trips to the dispensary to get a new strain of cannabis for this vape just to taste the unique flavor profiles of each of the strains because of the ability of the FireFly to gently pull heat the herbs to deliver just the terpenes and light cannabinoids that come with it. It also takes a little finesse to operate the vape if you are looking for larger clouds but if that’s not what you’re chasing then the FireFly 2 is for you. Cannabis enthusiasts that enjoy the raw flavor of the unique strains understand the different terpenes (flavor profiles) and Cannabinoids that make up each strain and their effects and want to isolate them without taking in too much vapor produced from the raw plant matter.
Now that being said, for those vape enthusiasts that are used to your vaporizer giving you a decent bit of vapor with each session listen close. I’ll give you the secrets to get the FireFly 2 to blow some clouds, believe me, you’ll need them. Like I mentioned with the first session it took a little while to figure out how to hit the FireFly 2 to get a good hit with both flavor and plume, and that was on the Medium setting. Going back into the app to try a different heat setting I didn’t even bother using the medium-low or low settings. I just felt I would have just frustrated myself and wasted a good portion of the battery on the vape. Instead, I used the higher temps of Medium High, High, and Concentrate. Medium High as you can imagine was marginally better than Medium which led me to wonder. How high is the “High” setting exactly? So naturally, I packed a fresh bowl and tried to get high on “High”. Surprisingly enough it was again marginally better than Medium-High. It gave the same great flavor as with Medium and Medium-high however it was a lot easier to get a good plume of vapor with less effort. I sat back thinking about my experience with Medium, Medium-High, and now High I began to wonder again. (Just in case if you were wondering, I wonder a lot when I’m stoned). Anyhow, I begin to wonder why FireFly felt compelled to have these 5 temperature settings in the first place. It really seemed as though they could have done with just 3 a Low, Medium, and High as the in-between settings really have no significant difference in results. This is also coming from someone who prefers precision temp control so I can fine-tune my temperature.
Only the concentrate setting remains. Of course, I had to try and put some dry herb in there before I tried it with concentrates. In my opinion, this was the best setting for the vape. Direct flavor delivery and a vapor plume from the first hit. It was amazing, honestly. I take back what I said before about them only needing the 3 temps, they need this one also for vapers like me who are used to a larger plume of vapor. Now before I get to how the Concentrate setting worked with actual wax concentrate I want to start off by saying this. You should not use the same device for your dry herb as you do for your wax concentrate. I really wish vaporizer companies would stop trying to make this a thing because honestly, no one can do it properly. What happens is the company will either make a Dry Herb vape that you “can” vape concentrates with. Or they make a concentrates device that you “can” vape dry herb with. You truly can’t make a device for both because both substances have different properties and boiling points to vape properly.
Ok, let’s get this over with. Using Wax concentrates in the FireFly 2…..did I mention you shouldn’t you wax in your dry herb vape? Anyways, the FireFly 2 comes with a concentrate pad that must be used in the bowl when vaping your wax concentrate. The concentrate pad is a steel mesh that is pressed into a puck which has become common among many vaporizers as a concentrate solution. First place the concentrate pad in the oven then put your wax concentrate onto the pad. Using the Concentrate setting we take a few puffs. I have a strong sense of deja vu from the first bowl with the FireFly 2 and the dry herb on Medium. There is intense flavor and the euphoric head high is there however there is a distinct absence of a plume and overall not a very satisfying experience.
First Cleaning
After a week of testing and also a little bit of concentrate usage it is time to clean the FireFly 2. From my disclaimers from before about not using your wax concentrate in your dry herb vaporizer, it’s impossible to keep them clean when you do. There are too many tight spaces in dry herb vaporizers for you to use wax. Just pulling the lid off the FireFly 2 was difficult because of the wax residue from just a couple of uses. This residue was also mixed with the little bits of dry herb resin that were already coating the vape making it quite a mess.
Luckily there isn’t much to clean on the FireFly 2, unlike some other vapes. You simply remove the lid and with a paper towel or microfiber cloth damp with alcohol you can wipe away any mess or stickiness. Use cotton swabs to clean out the bowl area and get the creases at the bottom. Wipe or let air dry and you are good to go.
The Verdict
The FireFly 2 is a large improvement over the original FireFly. It is smaller, lighter, and more versatile than its older brother. It comes with adjustable temperature with the help of their Bluetooth app. The kit also includes a spare battery to increase your usage time and improve the practicality of the vape overall.
All in all given the $329 price tag the FireFly 2 is a vape for the true connoisseur. Anyone else would be disappointed in my opinion. Beginners and people completely new to vaporizers would be left with a very expensive and inefficient way for them to get high. Intermediate users could have some fun learning to use this vape if they were truly into chasing flavors and crafting their buzz. However, I feel that the FireFly 2 is more of a vaporizer for a vape expert and cannabis connoisseur.
What are your thoughts?
Leave a comment below, and/or rate the Firefly 2 yourself. We’d love to know what you think and hear your comments!
