I’m new to the kamado world, so I’ll give you my reasons for going with the Akorn. I’ll also preface this by saying you’ll love whichever you choose and the Akorn is only kamado I’ve cooked on. I was coming from electric and gas cookers. I didn’t know how hard it would be to control temps and didn’t know if I would like messing with charcoal. Thus, I wanted to get in as cheaply as I could in case I decided this wasn’t for me. Well, controlling temps is so easy and using the lump not that big of a deal. In short, I’m hooked and I’ve used mine 2-3 times/wk since I got it six weeks ago. S