Well... i can't say that a bubbler is as good as a bong... but that's a personal opinion. The point of a bubbler is to give you a smoother and a bit of a cooler hit than a pipe would. The water is there to cool the smoke down so you can ingest more... with a bong I usually fill it with Ice water and it lets me take huge ass hits from it... but I personally like smoking with a good ol' pipe... it's small and easy to transport... it's all up to personal opinion though i guess....