Bongs or water pipes have one unique benefit that most other smoking methods don’t – they will filtrate and cool your smoke down before you inhale it. In this process size of the bong and the amount of water that can be used in it matters. Some bongs even allow you to put ice in the straight tube that goes towards the mouthpiece, so you can make this process of cooling smoke even more viable.
Most common bongs are either acrylic, made from glass. They can also be ceramic or made from silicone. Each of these materials come with their pros and cons, but most commonly used bongs are acrylic (hard to break, cheaper but less pleasant to use) or glass (much more durable if not dropped, more expensive but come with more quality experience).