Always a pleasure to help however I can! Honestly have been pretty spoiled by the artisan made products with their versatile capability and vapor quality...
I mean the way it produces the vapor, think of how you use solo in session mode normally, automatic... Think of how you would use milaana or toad normally, manual... So TM2 is a bit more automatic in a sense with the regulation, however it is true on demand manual heating with the button press, in session mode it is holding the button for you, but the pure convection also relies on how you inhale to create the vapor manually... So even when you are using on demand mode in the Solo, the way it works, you press the button then it heats up for you, based on your temp and timer settings... It can be more manual with that extra control, and if you are maximizing convection using your inhale more as well, however it is still a pretty automatic experience, especially if you are relying more on the hybrid conduction of course.
Indeed, and I love that analog experience personally, however a lot of people find a screen with detailed menu and full d-pad simpler for them perhaps? However what I mean by simple in use, is the vapor production, solo would be more effortless as the vapor can be more automatic, created for you with the hybrid tech, even if you are trying to maximize convection on demand, you are still listening to the device, watching the screen etc based on your settings, hitting more according to it, instead of according to yourself... More automatic and less manual, you see? Whereas TM is more completely manual, controlling the button and inhale from the heating element through the herbs, true on demand pure convection, which is often more manual even when regulated, although not necessarily universally as there have been a few capable of more automatic on demand pure convection experience...
Well, this of course depends on how you are using it, trying to use a short plain stem with the TM2 is quite intolerable for me, and I sort of feel the same way about trying to use S3 with its stock short stem... I have some great aftermarket cooling stems and hooks for TM these days so that is all I use with it, rarely through water although I do on occasion, that is more where my Tetra comes in to take over... Through water Solo is not as problematic for me, depending on the hits and temps etc though of course, and so many different water pieces to so it's hard to say universally?
Yeah, the hybrid heating is intense, part of what reminds me of BAK, I have had some really harsh hits and experience with S3 honestly, part of why I am running it on the low end more consistently, I get what you are saying about it heating for you, if you were in session low temp you could keep puffing on it reliably, for me though that many back-to-back hits even through a hook is not very enjoyable and can get quite harsh... Temp stepping of course, mostly through water on demand, depending on the load and the temps, yeah it can still be quite hot and harsh for me, I do think maximizing the convection it could be a bit better? But yeah maximizing the hybrid effect means harsher vapor for me personally, and could be part of my bias against session style vapes in general for my average use...
I had been using Solo 3 exclusively pretty much among dry herb vapes, so I was able to rely on it, even doing back to back extractions through water, but I do think my throat was suffering a bit more honestly? Not sure if it was related, as there are other factors of course, but I had noticed quite a bit more acid reflux too after most uses (I have a ton of things to try it with though so I have not used everything, or even close to it, yet including my protege v2)