This will be another unwelcome challenge for the quickly-growing company, which has come under fire for the ways its sleek vaporizers have found appeal with young people. The Federal Trade Commission, Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and several other state attorney generals are already investigating the company’s marketing practices, although Juul maintains it never targeted underage users.

Meanwhile, the FDA has opened a wider criminal investigation into vaping in general, following hundreds of reports of vaping-related lung illnesses. This most recent probe may well be moot, though, since the Trump administration has announced plans to ban most flavored e-cigarettes. How that, and this new investigation, will affect Juul remains to be seen.

The process is a bit easier with concentrates. Simply plunk the included steel wool disc into the crucible chamber, add a dollop of concentrate, and replace the cover. You’ll have to take a few initial shallow puffs to melt the concentrate into the disc but after that, just go to town.

Labor intensiveness aside, the Plus has one of the fastest heating elements I’ve ever used. It takes just three seconds to fully engage. “In addition to not having to wait to vape, you need a quick cool down time to preserve the material in the bowl so that you’re not cooking it off while you’re not actually ingesting,” Firefly CEO Steve Berg explained to Engadget. “So it takes good care of your materials and helps it go a long way.”

As such, you’re able to really dial in the kind of hit you want by adjusting the temperature range and your draw speed. Since convection vapes like the 2+ continually heat throughout the draw — ie, the longer you suck on it, the hotter the bowl gets — you can take little “sips” to enjoy the terpene flavors or give it a good “heeeep” to get a stronger, hotter, and more vapory hit. In general, I found a 10-15 second steady draw granted the best of both worlds.

Adjusting the temperature range is easy so long as you use the associated iOS/Android app. The on-board controls allow you to adjust the range from 320 – 420 degrees in 20 degree increments but doing so is a bit clunky (per the user manual):

• Press and hold the right button.

• Tap the left button 3 times quickly, just like checking the temperature (while still holding the right button). This puts the Firefly 2 into “temperature setting” mode.

• The LED blinks red 1 to 7 times, to indicate what the current set temperature is.

You then have to tap the left button up to seven times while holding down the right to select the desired heat level. Or you can simply use the app and select the exact temperature you want in 10 degree increments. Using the app also expands the available heating range to 200 degrees on the low end.

The app is helpful in other ways as well. It allows you to adjust various settings, see the remaining charge available, and calibrate the unit for more visible vapor. It also offers a number of how-to and instructional videos for vaping neophytes.

Berg assured Engadget that the app will not snoop on your personal data when installed. “We are not collecting data. We have a privacy policy and we’re very careful in honoring individual consumers data,” he said. And if the company decides to do so in the future, the process would be opt in and “likely cast in the context of helping them better understand their own behaviors and use cases, and how to optimize what they’re looking for in their cannabis vaporization experience.”

The Firefly 2+ is not for everybody, mind you. Berg points out that users with breathing issues or who simply don’t enjoy the act of smoking and vaping would likely be better served by edibles, sublinguals or topical remedies. Conversely, vape users hoping to blow massive clouds should probably look elsewhere.

“If that’s what somebody’s going for, they may not be best served by a Firefly 2+,” Berg explained. “You can turn the temperature up and create a huge cloud but really we’re being very thoughtful about cannabis, about the compounds, about delivering a full-service and very comfortable experience. And so that’s really where our focus is.”

Overall, the plus stands a head and shoulders above Firefly’s last model and certainly gives the Pax 3 a run for its money. We’re excited to see if the 2+ can breathe new loose leaf life into a market currently dominated by concentrates and edibles.

Conventional vaporizers tend to have their own idiosyncrasies. Some have limited or arbitrary heat settings and the heating element could be ceramic, metal or quartz. All this presents many variables that might not reap the best yield from your green. There’s also the fuss of grinding and packing the chamber, which is easy enough but becomes more of a chore the more you consume.

With the Series 1, slide the cartridge into the chamber, click the button to activate heating, and off you go. A “session” runs for three minutes, during which you can to go to town on the cartridge. Once the session is over, it’ll switch off — by which time the cartridge should be spent. Though I can tell you now, if you go for a second round on the same cartridge, you can eke a little more fun out of it — though Omura doesn’t recommend this.

You may also have noticed that Omura’s Series 1 has a distinct look. The sleek design is less aggressive or “gadgety” than many competing products, and (at least, I think) more discreet. Although, with the cartridge inserted, it does look a bit like you’re sipping on a lightsaber handle.

Omura calls its vaporizing technique “heat not burn,” which we’ve already seen with tobacco (like Philip Morris’ iQOS). The idea is that, by heating (not burning) material, you won’t get any smoke or the health concerns that come with that.

Astute vapers might argue that this is true for all dry herb vaporizers. The only difference here being the pre-packaged nature of the cannabis. The use of proprietary cartridges also means you are locking yourself into Omura’s ecosystem. Generally, this means paying more by weight for your cannabis, and a limited choice of strains. (A pack of 12 cartridges contains about 1.5g total and costs $30 — 3.5g typically costs around $40 if bought loose.) While cartridges are single use, I did try emptying a spent one and filling it with some of my own ground material. It worked, though I would imagine it’s not recommended (I can confirm Omura doesn’t recommend it at least).

In theory, a curated, optimized ecosystem should offer a better experience. For example, the Series 1 has a calibrated heat curve which the company claims maximizes the release of terpenes and cannabinoids. It also has USB-C charging, which is nerdy but pleasing (this transition from micro-USB is taking too long!).

Proprietary systems can be great, but only if they work well. I’m pleased to say I’m surprised by how “effective” the Series 1 is. The Kushberry Cheesecake strain I tried didn’t produce a lot of vapor, but the effects were clear (less vapor is common with dry herb). The flavor was stellar and didn’t taste too damp or dry (as it often can do at the start/end). Omura says its flower isn’t treated in any way, so it’s 100 percent as it comes.

When I first saw the Series 1 I assumed it might land in the PAX 3/Firefly price range (around $300). At $100 it’s more reasonable. Sure, this price means you’re committing to buying their range of cannabis, but if you dig the convenience and the design, it’s likely not too pricey.

Of course, many generic dry herb vaporizers cost less and offer the flexibility of bringing your own weed. But Omura is clearly going after those who like the no-fuss approach, with a unique design thrown in to boot. You can buy the Series 1 direct from Omura, but the cartridges are only available in Arizona and California, at least for now.

The Hanu Stone is the first portable vaporizer from Hanu Labs, which grew out of VapeXhale (makers of the Cloud EVO tabletop vaporizer). Now, whereas most vape pens still mimic the cigarettes and joints they were designed to replace, Hanu Labs drew inspiration for their vaporizer’s design from nature — specifically skipping stones.

With an asymmetric shape — not unlike a flattened egg — the Stone resembles a metallic rock, with an LED indicator band running around the middle of it. This band delineates the two halves of the device. The lower section houses the battery and control systems while the top half pops off to reveal the cannabis pod and micro-USB charging port.

This removable cap design is clever, as that it has a small hole through which to inhale. This allows the cap to serve as a discreet mouthpiece which can be removed during personal sessions, reducing the chances you’ll catch something the next time you pass it around a party.

The Stone also utilizes a wickless ceramic atomizer with a novel design. “Our atomizer actually has three times the surface area your standard 510 vape pen,” Hanu Labs CEO Seibo Shen told Engadget. That added surface area increases the amount of vapor produced while reducing the strain on the battery and heating elements. This gets you smoother draws if you inhale lightly and big visible clouds of vapor if you really heave on it. I wasn’t able to achieve the “Dragon Clouds” that Shen described but the Stone produces significantly more vapor than virtually all of the pod vapes that I’ve tested.

The oil pods themselves are also unique. Normally, when a device maker designs a new pod vape, they have to adapt and optimize the oils from their extraction partners to work in their specific atomizer/wick system. This means adding either thinning or thickening agents, Shen explained, “Both things alter the flavor. So for us, we thought it was very important that instead of them optimizing their oil for our pods, we optimize our pods for their oil.”

“We also build pods that correlate to different temperatures so that our extraction partners can choose the optimized pod for flow and the optimized pod for temperature,” Shen continued. “You as the end user, just have to put it into the device and [the Stone] will auto calibrate to the correct temperature setting.” It doesn’t matter which extraction partner the pod comes from — I tested the unit with samples of both Sublima Oils from Seattle Extracts and Butter Brand — the Stone will automatically adjust its settings to deliver the vaping experience the extractors intended.

I tested the Stone over the course of 10 days and two pods. The 500mAh battery held out for a ludicrously long time. I recharged it twice: once when I first received the unit and again about midway through the second pod. The LED indicator band will flash when the charge is getting critically low but unfortunately doesn’t otherwise note the amount of power left in the battery.

I’m rather partial to the Stone’s unique design. It’s small enough to fit in my jeans’ coin pocket and is easily palmed but not so small that I’m going to lose it in the couch cushions that serve as graveyard for all my other oil vapes.

What’s more, it’s novelty is part of its utility. Take the Firefly for example. It made waves when it first came out in art due to its tobacco pipe-inspired design. It was cool, unique, a real conversation starter. And also a complete pain in the ass to load, use and clean. The Stone has that same degree of novelty, but the design doesn’t detract from its underlying purpose and functionality.

The Stone retails for $70, it’s pods range between $40 and $60. Hanu Labs soft launched the Stone throughout the San Francisco Bay Area at the start of April, you can check the brand’s store locator for local retail and delivery options. Hanu Labs hopes to gradually expand availability throughout California before spreading on to other states where cannabis is legal.