Only bonus to the bong is that it virtually prevents you from getting any sores in your mouth from the vapor, in my experience. It is a lot harder to smoke properly from a bong without burning the dope though. Takes a lot of practice to do it right since you can't twist the bowl nearly as efficiently as a pipe. Otherwise I havent noticed the high being any better than just using a pipe.
I can't keep a dope bong in the house because I can't let my girlfriend know I'm using or I'll be fucked, so I just use pipes. I generally end up with some sores on my tongue, roof of mouth, and/or cheeks. (I switched to longer stemmed pipes and the now the sores are much less severe and sometimes I don't get them. Weird.) If I could keep a dope bong here I absolutely would use it as my main tool for consumption because I fucking HATE getting these sores in my mouth. Plus it's just a cool tool to use, adds another layer to the smoking ritual that I really enjoy.