10/11/06 | Battle: Pringles vs Stax
[ Currently Eating: Cranberry Juice ]
Welcome to the first ever Cheap Eats Battle where we take two similar products and review them head to head in full detail until you’re sick of reading about them. I think we’ve probably done this in the past, I’ve just decided to give it a name. No idea whether this will prove to be a popular feature, but here you go.
The two contenders for this battle are the popular mustachioed, disembodied and bow-tied eggman Pringles and the upstart, shaving-gel-like-logoed copycat Lays Stax. I actually was able to get the same “Pizza” variety of both of these on sale for the same price, a buck. Normally, they’re about $1.50 (Stax was $1.89 regular, Pringles was $1.69 regular) at various supermarkets, though you can find certain flavors of Pringles occasionally at the dollar store.
I’d never heard of Stax before, but let’s be straight: I don’t care what marketing will claim - they’re out to copy Pringles and that’s all there is to it. I’m not saying whether that’s right or not (look at all the “generic supermarket”-item copycats out there) With that out of the way, we can get on to comparing the two.
Packaging
Both cans are exactly the same height - 9 1/4 inches tall. Pringles can is the familiar cardboard covered with some sort of foil, while Stax is a plastic can. The lid for Pringles is usually clear while Stax is an opaque yellow lid. The Stax can is also interesting because it is one of those new-fangled “grippy” cans where the center body is oval instead of round.
Interestingly, if you look into the cans, you can see that this oval shape provides less room for the chips to move around in. They fit better. I thought that might mean less breakage, but there was equal breakage in both cans.
The Pringles logo is familiar, of course. The Stax logo again looks like the logo for an electric shaver or shaver gel. Pringles wins the outer look hands down.
Both cans are 5 3/4 ounces by weight. I dunno which has more chips in it. What, I wasn’t about to COUNT the number of chips in the friggin’ can!
Have a look at the above closeup of the Pringles on the left and the Stax on the right (this is the configuration in all pictures below). First thing you notice about the chips is that the shape is different. The Pringles are “rolled” both lengthwise and crosswise, while the Stax are only rolled lengthwise. It could be my imagination but it seemed like the double folded shape of the Pringles allowed it to stay more organized in the can. I say this might be my imagination because at this point I was getting dizzy trying to take such closeup pics of the chips.
Another interesting thing is that the Lays Stax are definitely “thicker”. You may not be able to see that in the photo so well, but they are definitely more robust. Again, I thought that might mean less breakage but it seemed not to matter.
I realize it may make a difference what “flavor” you get, but the Stax definitely had more “pizza powder” on them. I don’t know if that’s necessarily a good thing. The powder dispersion (I feel like going Skiing…) was better on the Stax with better coverage. Pringles seemed to have splotches like my face in Junior High, which is somewhat appropriate since these are Pizza Pringles. Yeah, pizza face.
Texture and Taste
The two are actually very distinct in texture. While both are “processed potato”, Lays Stax is definitely thicker with a “coarser” crunch and mouthfeel. Pringles has a lacy sort of crunch to it and is definitely thinner. This might be why they need less powder on their chip to effect nearly the same Pizza taste. The Pringles have a more classic “potato”-ey taste to them, whereas the Stax are more of a heavier cracker or bready type of taste.
I have to say that I’m not a big fan of either the “Pizza” (Stax) or “Pizza-licious” (Pringles) overall taste. Perhaps I should have got a different flavor, but this was the only variety where both of them were on sale that day. The pizza flavor for both of them tastes like overcooked tomato sauce with too much oregano or sour chili con carne. Not a big fan of either. The overall pizza taste was a bit lighter on the Pringles, but I think that’s just because of the amount of powder.
Conclusion
So what’s the overall verdict? Is Stax a lame marketing wannabe? Maybe. But I was surprised that despite the familiarity of the Pringles logo, shape and taste, I ended up actually eating more of the Lays Stax. Maybe it’s because to me it tasted like a completely different type of chip. I sort of liked that thicker texture of the chips. It’s potato crisps packed in a tube so your head is thinking “Pringles copycat” all the way. But they taste very different from Pringles. And I suspect if I didn’t have the Pringles side by side to compare they would have fared even better.
However, as with all generic and copycat products, you expect them to at least be cheaper. That’s to say, I KNOW they aren’t going to be any better than the original heads up. So, they had best be cheaper. This time, Stax was lucky because they were the same price on sale. But the regular price was actually more expensive than the Pringles which is not acceptable. Therefore, Pringles is going to win this battle for me.
Battle Winner: Pringles (7/10) vs Stax (6/10)
Price: $1.00 ea (normally $1.69 Pringles / $1.89 Stax)
Found At: Albertsons
October 11th, 2006 at 9:18 pm
I tried Stax for the first time two weeks ago, and as someone who’s been eating Pringles ever since they first came out, I was expecting something close to, but not quite as good as Pringles.
Wrong!
Stax, to me at least, taste much better. Part of it is the variety in flavors- try the Hidden Valley Ranch if you want something out of the ordinary.
Part of it too, is that I live only ten miles away from a Frito-Lay plant, we folks around here are spoiled as we always get the freshest product.
And as regards price, locally, anything made by Frito-Lay is cheaper than the other brands, due to the fact it’s shipped such a short distance, no doubt.
October 12th, 2006 at 8:48 am
I’m still amazed at the price. Pringles here are always 99 cents. Sometimes you can get a good buy one, get one sale. And sometimes they are on sale for 79 cents. Never more than a buck though. And the Pringles today are not the same as the Pringles from when I was a kid. Pringles back in the day had loads of stuff on them. Like the Cheeze ‘Ums, were totally orange. Now I think they barely have any orange on them.
Best Pizza flavored chips ever? Keebler used to make pizza chips that were supposed to be made from pizza dough. Pizza supreme was the greatest most awesomest chip ever to exist, IMO.
Am I the only one who remembers those?
I have found that Tomato Basil Wheat Thins taste similar and have a nice pizza-ish flavor.
October 12th, 2006 at 2:12 pm
I have been a fan of Stax for a fair while now and cant help but pick them up in the store. I never thought of the can shape helping to not break them, but it makes sense.
October 13th, 2006 at 3:20 pm
I love this feature!! I adore side by side comparisons, so PLEASE keep it up and do more. How about chocolate sandwich cookies? or stacked wafer cookies? or vanilla wafers? or shortbread cookies? or marinara sauces? or pestos? or wheat crackers? More, more, more!!
October 14th, 2006 at 1:47 pm
I’m more of a Pringles kind of guy. I’ve tried the regular Pringles and regular Stax. I preferred the Pringles. Although, it’s harder to get your hand stuck in the Stax can than the Pringles can.
October 17th, 2006 at 8:12 am
kevin - I think my arteries are muy thankful I don’t live 10 miles from a Frito plant…
andie - I totally remember those Keebler chips! those were great…
hurt - actually the can shape didn’t seem to help at all, though it does seem to make them more snug.
eliz - thanks =) I’ll try get more battles in the queue
marvo - shoots, did you already review the Stax against Pringles? If so, I completely forgot…
October 19th, 2006 at 7:39 am
I love the head-to-head as well. I was just thinking you should do that the other day when I found myself comparing dollar chicken sandwiches from McDonald’s, Wendy’s, Church’s and Carl’s Jr.
And, for the record, my order of preference was Carl’s Jr., McDonald’s, Church’s and a distance fourth, Wendy’s. McDonald’s and Church’s were a tight race, while Carl’s Jr. blew them all away.
Anyway, I think it’s interesting to compare cheap eats. Please do it some more!
October 26th, 2006 at 5:57 am
well i am in love with pringles. lays stax sucks. they taste bad and are trying to be pringles which will never happen. duh.
October 28th, 2006 at 9:31 am
dancin homer - I definitely am interested in heads up fast food battles. The only thing - I like to get pictures of the food, and it makes it a bit difficult to compare 3-4 sandwiches from different places… have to drive around and pick em all up. that’s actually the only reason i haven’t done it so far…
brittany - but you get the same amount of points for playing the word “Stax” as “Pringles” in scrabble…
November 3rd, 2006 at 5:55 am
i dont play scabble
November 3rd, 2006 at 5:56 am
scrabble**
November 4th, 2006 at 10:25 pm
I had tasted both and I must say that Stax has more of the flavor packed in them chips. I’d go for Pringles because I’ve known the brand since a little kid and Lays is not that quite common here in the Philippines.
December 2nd, 2006 at 4:24 pm
The barbecue Stax are so much better! My brother really likes the pizza chips but he is 7 so I don’t put any stock in his opinion. Go for the barbecue, they are MUCH superior to the barbecue Pringles makes. That’s really the only flavor of chips worth eating anyway.
February 21st, 2007 at 6:17 am
i like them both, and they both taste the same to me so it really doesn’t matter
February 21st, 2007 at 6:17 am
i like them both, and they both taste the same to me so it really doesn’t matter ya’ll need to get a life
June 10th, 2007 at 10:29 pm
what about a ingredient comparison? health facts?
June 14th, 2007 at 4:19 pm
hi!
1. i think for “sour cream and onion”, pringles is better than lays stax
2. Pringles cheezum (now the ‘creamy cheese’) is much better than stax Cheddar
3. pringles pizza is also fantastic…
4.. but pringles barbeque sucks
5. and pringles original is not as good as the stax original…
6. altho i tend to think pringles leads in terms of flavour, i actually like the texture of stax more… it is thicker and more “potatoe-y”….
6. i really wanna try “ranch” of the 2 brands but it is not sold in hk…. :
November 7th, 2007 at 1:13 pm
I MISS Keebler Pizza Chips! Bring them back!!!!!!!!!!!!!
November 14th, 2007 at 2:46 pm
i must say, i used to loveeeee pringles! but now…..stax all the way…..they have much more flavour! =]