For what it's worth, the protege is a bit larger at least with the wide base it can hold a lot of water, although compared to the prodigy less of course since that thing was huge!
The comparison question was not about vertex vs protege though anyway it was about the recycler...
So the vortex is a classic recycler feature, often referred to as the klein style, and it can be similar to having a secondary neck perc above initial perc, however the function is unique when it is a proper recycler, which entails an uptake and drain... These features keep the water moving, so the perc diffuses through the uptake to create the vortex down the drain, so there is a constant cycle of water conditioning the vapor (vertex is a fab egg which has some recycling feature this way, although it does not have distinct uptake and drain, the entire egg becomes both at the same time) so protege has swiss holes about it, which can become part of the perc with similar fab egg style function although not exactly recycling... with enough water in the protege, the swiss holes sort of become extra natural perc, which is also what happens in the vertex, so enough water can sort of have some cycle effects but not quite recycling... Finally there's the actual difference between the percs, protege has frit disc fountain perc, which is quite unique with wide versatile air flow depending on the water level and how you draw, it offers smooth diffusion but breaks up the flavor more, vertex has large four hole shower head perc so there is only slight resistance and more flavor retention that is then affected by the extra egg holes however more... TBD the exact perc used in the new full recycler, but it is probably something similar, inline facing up with a few openings (you don't want too much diffusion with a recycler because it's about preserving the flavor and smoothing out with more water however for herbs you do want a little bit and a smooth pull so I'm expecting this one to be pretty well made for heavy heading plug-in flower vapes)
Yeah the way they look is a huge part of the appeal, but with the proper uptake and drain, you can experience the recycling function well too!
Yes should be less diffusion, with more constant water action, less bubble stack but more movement, Yes likely flavor shining through as a result though we will have to see about that exactly.. I'm also not so sure about the easier pull although it certainly seems to be effortless!
Yeah as I explained about more about how the fab differs, and how it can be similar, truly each one of the CC glass pieces are very unique!
