Arizer Solo II vs Arizer Air II

The new Arizer Solo 2 is out, and—spoiler—it’s pretty incredible. In this review, we’ll examine its main features and assess them. But we’ll also compare it to its close cousin, the Arizer Air 2, and see which, if either, is better. Ultimately, whether you choose the Arizer Solo 2 vs Air 2 will be a matter of preference, as the most important features of each are basically the same.

But before you decide, have a read and see which would suit you more!

Arizer Air 2 vs Solo 2: Quick Comparison

Before we get into the meat of the review, we’ll give a quick rundown on the main features of both vaporisers, allowing you to see the most obvious differences.

• Arizer Solo 2

The Arizer Solo 2 is the newest model of the popular Arizer Solo. This vape offers almost unparalleled power and battery life, but comes with increased size on top of that.

• Arizer Air 2

The Arizer Air 2 has similar internal functions to the Solo 2, but is smaller and more portable. However, it comes with decreased battery life and increased heat-up time as a consequence.

Arizer Solo 2 Review

So, now we’ve seen what both offer, let’s take a closer look at the new Arizer Solo 2.

1. Vapor Quality

The Arizer Solo 2 offers a very high-quality vaping experience. The conduction–convection hybrid heating system allows for slow, even heating of your herb of choice. This means that not only do you get maximum flavour, but none of your herb is wasted through burning. Less-precise units will aggressively heat the herb, charring the outside and potentially leaving the inside wasted. However, the Arizer Solo 2 doesn’t suffer from this ailment.

If that doesn’t sound good enough already, it can do all of this in a mere 30 seconds. This is an incredibly fast heating time, and given the quality of the vape, is hard to beat.

• How Does It Compare to the Air 2?

The Air 2 is a conduction–convection hybrid. However, as both are very carefully manufactured, the overall quality of the vapor is similar with each.

Where they differ mostly is in their heat-up time. The Air 2 can take up to three times longer than the Solo 2 to reach the desired temperature—60 to 90 seconds. However, this is not all bad. What this extra time gets you is incredibly dense clouds of vape. Whether you value this over speed is your preference.

2. Temperature Settings

This is a major update from the original Solo model. The temperature of the Solo 2 can be customised from 50°C to 220°C in increments of a single degree. This level of control makes for a very personal vaping experience, and a versatile one at that; different temperatures will allow you to get varied effects from your herb.

• How Does It Compare to the Air 2?

In this field, there is no difference between the two vapes. Both have exactly the same settings. However, the Solo 2 does reach the desired temperature significantly faster.

3. Battery Life

The Solo 2 has a really impressive battery life. A single charge can give you up to 3 hours of vaping. This is really generous. There are two potential downsides to this, though. The first is the increased size; it's a little more bulky than other options (including the Air 2). The other is it takes 3 hours to fully recharge. This is somewhat offset by the ability to use it while it's charging.

To charge, it must be attached directly to a wall outlet.

• How Does It Compare to the Air 2?

The Air 2 has half the battery life—90 minutes—of the Solo 2, but also comes with a reduced size. Not only this, but the recharge time is a much shorter 90 minutes compared to the Solo 2’s 3 hours. However, the Solo 2 can be used while it is charging, and the Air 2 cannot. For some, this may be a significant drawback.

The Air 2 is charged via micro-USB.

4. Ease of Use

The Solo 2 is wonderfully simple to use. Arizer has made a point to provide a product that doesn’t show off or boast unnecessary functions. It has a clear display, three easy-to-use buttons, and just enough settings to make it customisable and useful—and not one more than you need. So in this sense, it’s about as easy to use as you could hope for.

• How Does It Compare to the Air 2?

The Air 2 is basically the same in this regard. Though the display looks a little different, the functionality is the same.

5. Portability

Despite the internal components of electrical devices getting smaller, the devices themselves don’t seem to follow suit. This is the case with the Solo 2. Being a little too large to carry in most pockets, it can’t be slipped in and out with as much ease as some other vaporisers.

However, there are good reasons for this. Arizer hasn't increased the size of the Solo 2 simply for stylistic reasons; as mentioned, it has a very impressive battery life of 3 hours, and the ability to heat up within a rapid 30 seconds. When this is taken into account, the increased size seems like a fair price to pay. Nevertheless, if extreme portability and discretion are your main concerns, the Solo 2 may not be your top choice.

One of the main issues—one not unique to the Solo 2 or even Arizer products—is that the mouthpieces are glass attachments. Depending on how they are carried, these attachments can be prone to breaking, rendering the vape unusable. However, with a bit of care, this can be avoided.

• How Does It Compare to the Air 2?

The Air 2 is smaller than the Solo 2, but this comes at the cost of heat-up time and battery life. While it is smaller and more portable, it is still not one of the smallest vapes available. Likewise, the glass attachments suffer from the same issues as the Solo 2.

Arizer Air 2 vs Solo 2: The Verdict

Clearly, it is a hard verdict to make. When it comes to vaping, of course the main concern is the final quality of the vapor, and in this regard the Air 2 and the Solo 2 are essentially equal. Beyond this concern, the slight differences in features will be relative to the needs of the individual.

The Solo 2 clearly wins on battery life and heat-up time, but this comes at the cost of portability. Likewise, the Air 2 is more portable, but lasts half the time and takes much longer to reach the desired heat.

In terms of customisation and ease of use, they are just about equal.