I cannot give you any scientific reasoning, but I will agree with your assumption. The beaker base provides a slightly cooler smoke than the straight shot, but notice I said slightly. The only way to know for sure what is right for you is to sample both styles. You might ask around with your friends and see if you can find both styles to try.

The beaker base can be harder to tip, but if you look around you can find bent neck bongs that eliminate that issue, too.