We’ve done a look at gamer energy over at FullSync.co.uk and took a view on it when comparing to coffee and to more traditional energy drinks. That’s all well and good, and it’s great to know that when it comes to caffeine, we have a serious amount of choice these days!
Hot drinks aren’t for everyone, and there are plenty of concerns around the chemicals and ingredients used in those generic off-the shelf energy drinks. With the gamer energy market flourishing, it seems to me that there are some key players in the UK right now. Sneak, Wraith, Holy and GFuel.
So, what do we do? We take a look at them both and see what they offer. How are they similiar, and how do they differ?
Of course, asking which is best, is subjective, based largely on your preference for the drink flavours etc. But, we can ask and investigate who does gamer energy better.
The process
To keep this whole process as clear and fair as possible, we’ve used sachets and shakers of the specific brands. Sneak sachet into Sneak shaker, Holy into Holy etc.
The logic being that the sachets should be the perfect measure for the official bottles and following the instructions closely would yield the best drink each time.
Always cold water. Always according to the directions on the sachet. It’s as fair as we can make it, giving each brand their chance to make sure they present the best version of their product.
1: Customer experience
Is it important to feel like you’ve gotten value for money? 100%!
How do companies show this? Through a solid customer experience. From the purchasing process, to after sales emails and delivery.
Sneak is the absolute king in this arena. Nice packaging, good site, emails and a really solid experience from top to bottom.
Wraith has a decent site and the purchasing experience was solid. But then the sachets were just chucked into the bottle that was then thrown into a box and some brown paper. The cost wasn’t any less than Sneak, so why is the new customer experience miles away from them?
Holy, like Sneak, are committed to their brand. Nice website, good follow-up emails and emails after delivery to talk about the company etc, too. Then the packaging was all custom and nicely put together.
GFuel was similar to Wraith. Not really their fault as a brand, using a distributor to sell stuff here means that it’s out of their hands. But they should exert some quality control to keep their brand in shape, to be honest.
Winner: Sneak
2: Cost/Value
Starter sets are the way here. All of the candidates are charging silly money for tubs. There’s not a chance in hell I’d ever pay £30-£60 for a tub of powder. Not even my favourite flavours.
The reason is largely because I don’t want to be tied to one individual flavour, but also because when they all sell themselves on being cheaper than the usual energy drinks, it’s all per scoop.
Whilst true, your average Monster consumer is likely to be getting one for a quid at B&M or in a meal deal at a supermarket. The outlay is significant, and frankly, to be limited to one flavour at that cost is farcical. It’s the biggest turn off to the whole thing, for me.
Now, a shaker and 10-20 sachets with a variety of flavours? Sign me up! Hell, I’ve signed myself up multiple times.
I don’t need any more shakers. Despite lovely designs. The shakers can stop. First company to sell a box of mixed flavours, ten for £10 or twenty for £15, wins. It’s such a missed opportunity. But I imagine the margin on a single tub is much higher than individual packaging. So there’s less to be gained financially.
The Sneak first time deal was great, I got 2. The Wraith deal was a little higher, and Holy was a decent set as well. Note that Wraith do sell cheaper tubs than most, from £29.99, which is better!
GFuel doesn’t officially sell here, so it was a bit of a “make your own”. It wasn’t as cost effective, but still better than a tub.
Winner: Sneak
3: Flavour and mouthfeel
This is the most important category to me. Because with any of the other categories, it’s incidental. The actual product is the main element and this is the heaviest weighting for scoring, if you ask me.
Wraith – Chalky on teeth, feels like when you eat un-washed scallops. But damn, the flavours are excellent. The mix quantities advised feels perfect as well. Not too strong, not too weak. They’ve nailed the sachet powder quantity and bottle size/water ratio.
Best flavours by a country mile and you actually know what they’re supposed to be because of the naming. Plus, they have higher caffeine, which can be a big factor in choosing favourites.
Sneak – Always too strong on the flavour, leaves tongue numb and flavour names aren’t super helpful when working out what they’re supposed to be.
There’s no coating on the teeth, though and they are nice flavours. Just overpowering sweetness and they just don’t seem to have the ratios right with a sachet.
You could of course manage this by using less or adding more water. But we’ve always stuck to their recommendations and it just hits too hard.
Holy – mouthfeel is great, more like a flavoured water, no grit, no additional texture. These feel the most clean of all the drinks. Initially very noticeable as they’re less sweet. But you soon adjust and they’re very pleasant. Holy feels the least chemically created if that makes any sense. Great flavours, and a consistently pleasant drink each time.
GFuel – This is basically Sneak but with branded/collaborative flavours. As the most established brand, that’s to be expected. But the strength feels a little too much, exactly the same as Sneak.
GFuel has nice flavours and don’t go overboard on the chemical taste. But there’s definitely a slight coating on the teeth that leaves you with that weird “weak teeth” feel. The Sonic, Naruto, PewDiPie and Mega Man flavours were all fine, nothing to write home about at all, but nice enough.
Winner: Wraith
4: Shakers
With the shakers, only Wraith stood out from the crowd. Opting to use the springy metal ball to really mix it up. All the other brands used a plastic insert to sit either in the lid or in the bottle.
All did the job well, it’s a bottle, after all, how bad could they be?.
The Wraith bottle wins in terms of shakeability, nothing is as satisfying as the ball. It feels more reassuring when mixing your drink. The textured plastic, and the little hook on the lid are nice touches, too.
The Holy bottle is the best design for drinking, with a screw cap and an off-centre placement to make it more natural for consumption. The stubbier and wider build made it nice to hold, too. A favourite for sure.
The Sneak Bottles have the greatest variety and best designs, for sure. But, the plastic smell on the Sneak lids took weeks of washes to go away. Impacting taste and spoiling the experience. Nobody else had this problem. Good, solid bottles, plenty to choose from, but they need bedding-in.
The GFuel bottle was absolutely fine. More in-line with the Sneak bottle. Mine was glow-in-the-dark and pretty cool. No plastic smells or tastes to navigate and another with the in-lid mesh to aid the shaking/mixing process. Again, loads to choose from, even from a third-party distributor. Absolutely adequate.
Winner: Holy
Who does it best?
Overall customer experience and aesthetic has to go to Sneak. They kill it with their marketing, branding and limited editions flavours and shakers. Regular offers and solid social presence. You can see where the money goes, and it works. I just wish their powder mixed better and sachets weren’t too strong.
The best flavours came from Wraith, without a doubt. These were my favourites to drink, but Holy felt cleaner and after a small adjustment period, they just seemed like a legitimately healthy option compared to all of the others.
They all cost around the same, and I would never consider buying tubs at such high cost. So it’s very much been about shakers and sachets for us.
I’d happily take any of them on-board for a daily drink, but until I can buy a box of mixed sachets, I feel like I can’t join in the party.
Style isn’t everything, but it helps and those brands like Holy and Sneak that have committed to their customer journey, packaging and customer service need that recognition.