1E
Efreet in 1E are giant, red-skinned humanoids with bulbous noses, thick lips, and eyebrow ridges. They have prominent teeth, but seemingly not very many of them, as they have wide gaps between them. A pair of simple horns jut from the forehead, and the hair is either literally on fire or styled into a flame-like pattern. The text states they are about 12 feet (3.7 metres) tall, although the picture on the cover of the Dungeon Master's Guide shows one at least twice this size. This picture also reveals that efreet lack nipples (well, if they can form their bodies at will, perhaps they don't bother with the bits they don't need...)
Like djinn, efreet move slowly when not flying through the air but, as their larger size would imply, they are also notably stronger. We're told, for instance, that they can carry 7,500 coins worth of weight - under the scheme at the time, this equates to around a third of a ton (coins have gotten a lot lighter since). They are slightly more intelligent than humans and on a par with djinn, although, for some reason, more consistently so. We are told that they "tend towards" evil, which fits with some descriptions from the original myths, and that they "hate servitude"... which is probably not a terribly unique trait, when you think about it.Like djinn, they have a hierarchical society, which fits with their alignment as stated. In their case, however, the titles that their nobles use are mostly Turkish, rather than Arabic. For instance, the term "Sultan", for their overall leader, although it is originally Arabic, is likely based on that of the ruler of the Ottoman (Turkish) Empire. Although how closely we're supposed to take the comparison may, of course, be another matter.
The 2E efreet has a stockier build than that in 1E, although this could well be a matter of individual variation. Perhaps more significantly, he has dark purplish-black skin and eyes that are red, rather than yellow. The former, at least, may be due to the fact that, in this edition, the bodies of efreet are said to be made of basalt and bronze as well as fire - decidedly earthy and rocky materials that indicate a very robust physicality distinct from the airy natures of the djinn.
3E
In 3E, we're back to the red skin, although this time the teeth are more obviously tusk-like, projecting from the mouth even when closed, and the hair is indisputably on fire. (We can't tell whether or not he has nipples, as in 2E, but he does have a navel, which is equally useless... so, probably). Presumably because they aren't directly associated with the element of air, this version of the djinn also loses some of its flight speed, although, as one might expect, flying is still quicker than walking.
In this edition, efreet are as tall as stone giants but considerably heavier, likely due to a stockier build. (Although they're still much lighter than fire giants, which are staggeringly bulky for their height). They look to be more muscular than stone giants, too, but their strength is lower even than that of hill giants, so their muscles are obviously not as effective pound for pound. Their intelligence has stayed about the same - just above human average - which now puts them below the djinn.
Previously resistant to magical fire, they are now entirely unaffected by it, which makes more sense for something that lives on the Elemental Plane of Fire without any apparent difficulty. There's also less ambiguity about their moral status: they are now all "evil" without exception, which makes them more like demons than like regular races such as, say, fire giants. (The latter are usually evil, but evidently have enough free will to choose not to be).
5E
The efreeti seen here is bald, although whether that's now a feature of his race in general is less obvious. We are, however, told that both red and black-skinned efreet exist, so that fits with the 2E version. He has four horns, rather than the single pair of earlier editions, although they're still too small to be useful for much. His teeth are also smaller, although they look to be sharp and carnivore-like. Efreet walk more swiftly than humans now, perhaps due to their long stride.
Although the strength rating of efreet hasn't changed much in this edition, in relative terms, it's more impressive; they are now between hill and stone giants in power. In a reversal of 3E, efreet are now more intelligent than djinn, and significantly more so than most humans. This is compensated for by the latter becoming more charismatic, with the efreet presumably relying more on force of will than flattery and persuasive rhetoric. It's only in this edition that they lose the ability to grant wishes to other beings, and they also lose their ability to change shape; allowing for changes in the rule systems, their other magical abilities remain essentially the same.
Efreet are the fiery equivalent of djinn - physical beings formed from the substance of flame by an animating soul. Fire is primarily a form of energy, although the visible part of the flame does have to be made of actual atoms emitting that energy. Thus, there is something atomic from which an efreet could be formed, rather than it simply transforming energy to matter. Obviously, the amount of matter inside a flame is far less than the mass of an equivalently sized efreet, but, then, the same issue arises if we assume that djinn are formed from transmuted air molecules.
In any event, magic has never been much of a respecter of E=mc² or of the first law of thermodynamics.
Whereas many of the djinn's powers can be interpreted as it partially returning to its natural state, this is less true of the efreet, where it's really only true of their ability to throw fire, their inherent resistance to heat, and perhaps their gaseous form (smoke, in their case, one would assume). Certainly, though, they can manipulate energy and matter, as shown by their ability to create walls of fire and change the size of objects... but much of this is just generic magic, likely more due to the animating spirit's predilections than anything to do with the composition of the efreet's body.
And all of this assumes that we ignore the 2E statement that afreet are made from basalt and bronze and go with the 5E statement that their bodies dissociate back into flame on their death.
At least in 3E, efreet need to breathe, but not to eat or drink. Whereas djinn are specifically described as gourmands, efreet are not, so whether they bother to eat at all is unclear, although they surely must be able to if they really want. At least, in their case, it's easier to see how their body would simply burn the food to nothing and directly incorporate the energy into their equivalent of flesh. No need for metabolism there, or, perhaps more importantly, excretion of anything other than a bit of smoke.We know that, at least in 5E, efreet are created directly from the Elemental Plane of Fire, and don't have any parents or family. Despite this, the fact that they are described as of "lawful" alignment implies a strong urge to congregate together as well as a tendency to share the same moral code. By 3E, this is seemingly something inherent in their natures, and not a matter of culture, since there are no exceptions to their alignment; compare with orcs which are "often" chaotic evil, but don't have to be.
It's perhaps odd when you consider that fire is destructive and lawful alignments tend to build and consolidate things (if not necessarily in a good way), but it's all a matter of the animating soul. One could, perhaps, justify it as efreet desiring stability because it's inherent in the way that they hold their bodies together rather than simply erupting into flame all the time.
Depictions of female efreet are less common than of female djinn, although it's hard to imagine that they don't exist and that whatever process creates them only happens to make male humanoid forms. Following common fantasy art conventions, those that are depicted tend to be a lot less muscular than the males and less of the "female bodybuilder" that one might expect. Whatever the matter of that, reproduction raises the same issues as with djinn, and provides the same basic options for their resolution.
It's also possible that efreet aren't the ancestors of fire genasi and that these are created in some other way (this is especially so in later editions where the origin of genasi is more ambiguous). Assuming it is the case, though, it's not immediately obvious why a biologically sexless being of fire might wish to breed with mortals, although the enlarge/reduce spell that they all have must at least help with the physical practicalities.
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