Here is a thing that does not get said often enough about the lil SOLID 2.0: it is a well-built device with a genuinely refined heating system, and in a lot of European markets you cannot get the sticks.
That is not a knock on the device. It is a fact about supply chains, and it is the single reason I would not recommend a lil device to somebody buying their first heated tobacco product in, say, Germany or Italy. You can buy the device. You will struggle with the consumable.
The lil SOLID 2.0 uses ceramic conduction heating, and the lil Hybrid uses dual-zone induction, which is the more advanced of the two approaches and, again, well made. KT&G build good hardware. The problem is not the hardware.
So let me split this into the two questions people actually have: is the lil good, and can you live with it? And then the question that actually settles the purchase, which is what your local shops stock.
lil and KT&G figures come from their published specifications. HEATX figures come from our own product documentation.
What the lil devices actually are
| Device | Weight | Battery | Charging | Session | Heating | Stick format | App |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| lil SOLID 2.0 | Not published | 880 mAh | About 95 min | About 2 sticks | Ceramic conduction | lil SOLID / SMOOOTH / CREST | Not published |
| lil Hybrid | Not published | 1250 mAh | About 140 min | Not published | Dual-zone induction | lil | Not published |
| HEATX 1 (MRT0) | 48 g | 1350 mAh | 90 min | 240 s | 360° resistive | TEREA | No |
| HEATX 2 (GEN2.0) | 66 g | 1800 mAh | 90 min | 250 s | 360° resistive | TEREA | No |
| HEATX 3 | 100 g | 3200 mAh | 120 min | 320 s | GEN3.0 dual zone | TEREA | No |
| HEATX 5 (GEN 5.0) | 64 g | 2000 mAh | 90 min | 270 s | 360° resistive | TEREA | No |
| HEATX 6 (GEN 6.0) | 90 g | 2600 mAh | 90 min | 240 s | 360° + airflow | HEETS | No |
Two rows in that table are empty and I am leaving them empty on purpose. KT&G does not publish the weight or the dimensions for the lil SOLID 2.0, and does not publish the session length for the lil Hybrid. I could estimate them from the devices, and I have seen them, but a spec sheet I half remember is worse than a blank cell. You can find the exact figures on chillmistvape.com for anything in the HEATX column, which is a low bar but it is one I am not going to pretend to clear by guessing.
The 140 minute charge on the lil Hybrid stands out though. That is the longest charging time of any device in this article, including the HEATX 3's 120 minutes, and it is the one number where I am confident the comparison is fair and meaningful.
Ceramic conduction and dual-zone induction, plainly
The lil SOLID 2.0 transfers heat through a ceramic element into the stick. It is a simple and proven arrangement, and it is what gives you roughly two sticks per session.
The lil Hybrid goes further with dual-zone induction heating, where a coil drives metal elements in the stick with no contact between the heating part and the tobacco at all. That is the most refined heating method in this article, and it is the same family of approach the IQOS ILUMA uses with its SMARTCORE system.
Induction is genuinely the more elegant engineering. It heats the tobacco evenly, it leaves nothing to clean, and because the stick and the heater are designed for each other, the consistency is excellent.
The catch is the one that has followed induction through every article I have written on this category. A stick-specific thermal signature means the stick and the heater have to be built for each other, and nobody outside the original design team knows the exact profile the firmware expects. That is why the ecosystems are tight and why third-party sticks in an induction device are a gamble. It is not carelessness by other manufacturers, it is a consequence of the physics, and it buys you consistency at the price of choice.
The HEATX range uses circumferential resistive heating, with the HEATX 3 adding a bottom zone and the HEATX 6 adding airflow heating. It is less refined than induction and considerably more flexible, because it does not need to know a signature, and that flexibility is exactly what makes a second pass on the same stick possible.
The reuse point, because it matters more here than in other comparisons
The lil SOLID 2.0 runs about two sticks per session and then it is done. It is a deliberately short, complete session, and if that is what you want, it is a coherent design.
But a stick in a lil device is a single-use consumable. A stick in a HEATX device is heated by an element that wraps around it, and because the heat comes from all sides, that stick can go back in for a second pass. You insert it and it starts, no rotation and no re-seating.
The HEATX 2 does 16 puffs on the first pass and 13 on the second, 29 in total from one stick. The HEATX 1, 3, 5 and 6 all share that behaviour, each with its own mode structure for telling you which pass you are on.
Given that the lil SOLID 2.0 gets you roughly two sticks per session, the comparison of consumable efficiency is not close. You are buying one stick and getting two sessions out of it.
Stick availability, which is the thing that actually decides it
I want to put this plainly because it is the most useful thing in the article.
The lil device requires lil SOLID, lil SMOOOTH or lil CREST sticks. These are excellent sticks, and in Korea they are everywhere. In most of Europe they are made in the Czech Republic and distributed in a handful of markets. In the United States they are essentially unavailable.
The HEATX 1, 2, 3 and 5 take TEREA format sticks, which are the most widely distributed heated tobacco sticks in the world, because they are the format the IQOS ILUMA uses and that ecosystem is enormous. The HEATX 6 takes HEETS.
If you are standing in a shop with an empty shelf, this is the decision, and nothing else in this article changes it. A device that is technically better and has no consumable available is worse than a device that works.
For anyone buying their first heated tobacco product, I would check what your local shops actually keep in stock, every week, before you buy anything. Not what they can order. What they keep.
Where the HEATX range is the wrong answer
I want to be even-handed here, because the lil devices have real strengths and I have met people who use them happily.
If you are in Korea or in a market where lil sticks are stocked consistently and cheap, the lil SOLID 2.0 is a good entry point. 880 mAh and about 95 minutes to charge is a reasonable pair of numbers, and the ceramic conduction system is a proven one. If you want a short session that finishes on schedule rather than a long one, that is a legitimate preference.
The lil Hybrid is the more interesting of the two. Dual-zone induction, 1250 mAh, and the most advanced heating in this comparison. If induction heating is what you want, you should not be talked out of it by a resistive alternative, because it is genuinely the better engineering.
And if you want a device that does not need an app and will not change, that applies to the lil devices too. Neither the lil nor the HEATX range has connectivity. That is the one thing the IQOS ILUMA has and the lil range does not, and if that is the feature you are missing, you want the ILUMA, not this.
Which one I would buy
If lil sticks are available where you live and priced well, buy the lil device. The SOLID 2.0 for the compact two-stick session, the Hybrid if you want induction heating. Do not buy one on the assumption that sticks will turn up later, because for a lot of people in a lot of markets they do not.
If you are starting from scratch, buy a HEATX with TEREA format sticks. The HEATX 1 at 48 g and 1350 mAh is the lightest thing in this comparison, the HEATX 3 gives you 30 sticks and 3200 mAh and four temperature modes, the HEATX 2 is the flattest and gives you 29 puffs per stick, the HEATX 5 is the metal one-button option, and the HEATX 6 is for HEETS.
Full specifications and photos for every model are on chillmistvape.com.
Health, law and where to buy
Heated tobacco is not harmless. Avoiding combustion reduces exposure to a number of the toxicants in cigarette smoke, but it still delivers nicotine, and nicotine is addictive. Nothing here is medical advice and nothing in this article claims that any device is safe.
If you do not already use tobacco or nicotine, there is no reason to start. Check the age limits and the tax rules where you live, since both differ by country and change. Buy from licensed sellers only. The lil and KT&G figures used here come from the manufacturer's published specifications, and where KT&G does not publish a figure I have left the row empty rather than estimate it. The HEATX figures come from our own product documentation. Compare the numbers, then decide which device fits how you actually use a heated tobacco device.