Hava Firefly 85W TC Starter Kit Review

A Review of the Hava Firefly 85W TC Starter Kit – I have a confession to make – as a 40+ year-old man, I spent WAY too much time having fun with the company name above. Between saying, “Hey, Hava vape mod?” in a smarmy voice, or singing “Hava Nagila” at peak volume, I was a completely immature jackass.

What’s worse? I work alone in a home office.

That aside, Hava is an intriguing new company, mostly because I received two different kits for review this month, despite never having heard of them before. Today’s subject is the compact, LED-adorned, beginner-friendly Hava Firefly 85W TC mod kit, which should have been a shining example of how to do an entry-level mod kit. But there are just too many question marks and missteps to recommend it.

Let’s dive a little deeper and see if you agree.

From the outset, you can tell that Hava didn’t design the Firefly for those who want a subtle vape experience. For starters, the exterior design is bold, angular and even brash. The fact that my test model was painted in a brushed gold hue only furthers this aesthetic. For an 85-watt, internal battery vape mod, the Firefly is bulky, and somewhat uncomfortable, even if it is lighter than you’d ever expect by looking at it.

What’s worse is that Hava placed the hexagonal fire key in the center of the front-facing side, rather than on the side. This means that users have to wrap their hands around the Firefly’s endless array of jutting angles and sharp edges, just to fire the device. Is it the most uncomfortable vape mod I’ve used? Not even close… but if you’re a beginner or an advanced vaper, is THIS the optimal experience to get you acclimated? Not likely.

The fire button itself isn’t much better. My test model repeatedly had issues with sticking and misfires – likely a hardware glitch, but worth mentioning all the same. Still, after looking at the side panel cutaways, it boggles me that Hava chose the center fire button instead of a more-logical fire bar.

The other operation buttons fare much better, though I’m also not sure why the LED light control button was placed so close to the up/down controls – for most of my first hour with the Firefly, I accidentally launched low-rent raves in my office when I just wanted to change the wattage.

The built-in 510 connection is a highlight – even if the Firefly kit was intended for low-mid-wattage tanks, all my atomizers connected without an ounce of gap or play. The spring-loaded 510 pin seems a little too firm at first, but quickly breaks in and works well with all modern tanks and RDAs.

The onboard menu and navigation system is decent, in that you’ve seen it before. The monochrome OLED screen is plenty bright and easy to read, and the menus are easy enough to figure out. It’s nothing groundbreaking, but newcomers should find their way to the extensive power and temperature control settings without much trouble.

Also, in case you hadn’t realized it by the name (and the fact that I just mentioned an LED light control button) the Firefly is designed to shine brightly, in a wide range of colors and flash patterns. JUST when I thought this lamentable vaping trend was over, along comes the Firefly to rejuvenate the problem.

I will say THIS about the LED light show – it’s kind of cool how the lights come shining from beneath the seemingly solid exterior frame. Not cool enough to convince me to use it in public, but certainly a nifty design element. But I still want this feature to die a quick death for 2019.

But, perhaps the biggest disappointment comes from the internal 2,000 mAh battery. Not only does this minuscule cell make the Firefly seem hollow and flimsy, but the battery duration is one of the worst I’ve experienced on an integrated device. Within 90 minutes of first firing the mod, I was reaching for the included USB cable – extremely disappointing for a seasoned vaper, and probably even more discouraging for the newcomers this kit was intended for.

The Hava V-Tank, included in this starter kit, is advertised as the company’s “flagship” atomizer. And with a 5mL capacity, compact design, easy fill format and 25mm diameter, there’s no reason to believe otherwise. But in action, the V-Tank is about as average and benign as sub-ohm tanks get today. It’s not BAD performance, but with sooooooooo many standout tanks and coil systems available, there’s absolutely no reason to ever use the V-Tank unless nothing else is available.

The two included coils are an exercise in frustration. Both the 0.5-ohm Kanthal coil and the 0.15-ohm mesh coil offer near identical performance out of the box. There is little difference in flavor and vapor production between the two, and neither was worth a damn above 60 watts – when was the last time you heard that about a 0.15-ohm mesh coil?

Even worse, by the time the coils broke in and showed any real signs of life, they collapsed under the weight of their own ambition. Each head lasted me a pathetic 2-3 days, with “peak performance” lasting a matter of hours. In 2018. For real.

The Hava Firefly starter kit was consistently average when put to use. Beyond the discomfort from holding the awkward frame and the even more-awkward reach, the 85-watt output never quite felt like it had enough “oomph” to get tanks up to speed. Both the included V-Tank and other atomizers all felt equally underpowered throughout my time with the Firefly.

Part of this can be attributed to the limp 2,000mAh battery. But in reality, the chipset almost seemed throttled, even when pushed to its 85-watt maximum output. And even if the 85 watts was enough for a particular atomizer, the battery performance made sure the experience ended at the most inopportune time.

My honest opinion? Hava missed the boat here. Too gaudy for newcomers, too limited for advanced vapers, too unreliable for those needing a backup, and too underpowered for just about anyone, I’m not really sure the Firefly is a complete product, as much as it’s a combination of disparate ideas that never comes together.

If there was power and performance to match all the eccentricities, there might be a small niche market for the Firefly kit. But as it stands, there’s just nothing here I can recommend over much better products in the same price and category.

At the end of the day, if the most entertaining part of a vape mod kit is the company’s name, there’s a problem. And the Firefly has a lot of them.

So, if that’s the case, why invest in this subpar first attempt? At its  $60USD price tag there are many alternatives, better alternatives, to choose from. Here are just a few:

Eleaf Lexicon 235W & ELLO DURO Starter Kit (reviewed here) – $57.95

VooPoo VMATE 200W & UForce T1 Starter Kit (reviewed here) – $59.95

Aspire Dynamo 200W & Nepho Tank Starter Kit (reviewed here) – $65.95