Breeo Y Series Fire Pit: Better than the Bonfire?

The creators of the first smokeless fire pit made huge waves this week by announcing the upcoming release of their new portable Breeo Y Series fire pit. This is the first new model from Breeo since releasing the X Series fire pit in 2019.

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You know we’ve been huge fans of Solo Stove fire pits for the last couple of years, reviewing the Yukon and the Bonfire as well as their wide variety of accessories. But it wasn’t long into our Solo Stove journey that we learned of the rivalry between the two brands and their loyal customers.

Breeo reached out to us and asked us to put their new Y series fire pit to the test against the Solo Stove Bonfire 2.0 to settle the debate.

Why can you trust our review?

At the Barbecue Lab, we make every attempt to be as impartial as possible, collecting as much information as we can and allowing the data to speak for itself. Both fire pits were sent to us from each company, but the content of this article and video are entirely our own. We have personally used each model, done our best to capture our experiences, and will let our readers and viewers decide for themselves which smokeless fire pit experience seems more appealing to them.

Breeo vs. Solo Stove

First, let’s discuss the two companies.

Both are American companies headquartered here in the USA, however, Solo Stove products are manufactured in China while Breeo fire pits are manufactured in Pennsylvania.

Both companies truly stand behind their products, offering a lifetime warranty and offering excellent customer service (according to their respective user groups on Facebook).

When it comes to shipping costs, Breeo offers free shipping on all orders within the contiguous United States. Solo Stove provides free shipping for any order over $75.

Breeo Y Series Fire Pit vs. Solo Stove Bonfire 2.0

Quick Comparison

Fuel Types

Wood

Both the Breeo and the Solo Stove burn firewood. That’s a given. Both have been engineered to drastically reduce their smoke output saving your eyes and clothes from the offensive smoke that often comes with sitting around a wood-burning campfire.

However, the new Breeo Y series fire pit boasts 2 additional approved fuel types including charcoal and hardwood pellets. While I know there are plenty of users out there who do use pellets in their Solo Stove fire pits, it is not recommended by the manufacturer.

Charcoal

We used charcoal to fuel our Breeo Y series fire pit on a night when we were only planning on using the Outpost Grill to cook up our dinner but weren’t looking to spend hours burning a hotter fire to sit around. Charcoal got the fire pit hot enough to cook a delicious dinner, but did not generate beautiful flames for ambiance.

Pellets

In our experience, we found that burning pellets took a much longer time to reach a full burn, but was a convenient option when all of the wood left on our wood rack was too long for this size of a smokeless fire pit. (Note to self, buy a chainsaw…) Consequently, the time to achieve a smokeless burn was also much longer than when we used firewood.

Personally, a wood fire in the Breeo Y Series fire pit is by far my favorite, but the ability to burn charcoal and pellets is also nice to have in my back pocket as additional options.

Adjustability

One of the key standout features of the new Breeo Y series fire pit is the adjustable height legs. They are easily adjusted (prior to lighting your fire) between 3 heights for stow, burn, and cook.

The adjustable legs make it so that the Y series is safe to light over any surface (grass, deck, woodchips, etc.) without scalding the ground beneath. We find the legs to be plenty sturdy in any position and did not have any issues with the fire pit wobbling.

The Bonfire fire pit would require the stand, sold separately (MSRP $69.99) in order to be used on combustible surfaces.

Smoke Output

The science behind making these smokeless fire pits is basically the same for both brands. Both fire pits are engineered to maximize airflow, utilizing a double wall design that encourages more oxygen into the fire pit to burn off the smoke before exiting out the top, resulting in a beautiful secondary burn.

In the Breeo X series, the patented X airflow system on the bottom invites oxygen in to feed the fire. (I suppose in the Breeo Y, this would now be called the Y airflow rather than the X airflow raised air vent, but it’s the exact same concept; just a different letter of the alphabet and shape on the floor of the pit.)

The air rises within the gap between the two walls and then the hot air then exits the double wall through holes around the rim, mixing with the smoke and resulting in a secondary combustion.

During our testing, we found the smokeless performance to be pretty equal between the Breeo Y Series fire pit and the Solo Stove Bonfire 2.0 when burning wood. Both brands do an excellent job at drastically reducing the smoke which definitely contributes to the best smokeless fire pit experience.

Live Fire Cooking

Neither smokeless fire pit comes standard with a clear way to use it to cook. However, both brands have cooking accessories available. The Breeo Y series is compatible with all of the X19 cooking accessories including the outpost grill and searplate griddle.

Solo Stove offers a cooking system that includes a hub with 3 different styles of cast iron cooktops (grill, wok, griddle) that is available for the Bonfire.

The thing we appreciated about the outpost grill is that the height is adjustable. If your fire is too hot, raise the grate. If the fire cools down, lower the grate. The Solo Stove cooking system is locked into a fixed height and that presents real challenges sometimes when cooking over a live fire.

The good news is you can still roast marshmallows without any of those extra add-ons, however, we highly recommend Solo Stove’s roasting sticks for that endeavor.

Portability

Though the Breeo Y series fire pit weighs 8 pounds more than the Bonfire, both are built to be portable. Another feature that sets the Y series apart from the X series is the built-in articulated handle making it simple to just pick it up and go.

While the Bonfire doesn’t have a built-in handle, it comes with a really nice and durable carrying case.

Clean-up

Solo Stove took the lead in this category with the new release of the Bonfire 2.0 model. The removable ash plate makes it simple to remove the leftover ash after a fire.

After the coals and ash have all completely cooled (we always wait until the next day to clean up), simply put a glove on and lift out the ash pan to dispose.

While the Breeo Y series fire pit is a more reasonable weight than its predecessor for lifting and comes with an attached handle, we found it still difficult to pick up and dump the ash. There’s enough of a lip around the edge that kept the ash from being able to slide out. We opted to break out the Shop Vac to sweep out the ash of the Y.

FAQ

Our Conclusion

So, which is the most capable smokeless fire pit? Honestly, you can’t lose with either of these brands. Both companies have engineered products that drastically reduce smoke. Both the Breeo Y and the Solo Stove Bonfire are legit portable firepits that could be used on your patio as well as on the go. Both companies stand behind their products with a life time warranty and a reputation for excellent customer service if and when an issue does arise.

There’s an obvious price difference between the two, but after having used both models, I would say that the additional features that the Y offers probably do warrant the higher price. So if your fire pit budget stretches that high, you will not be disappointed with the Breeo Y series fire pit.