I have used Cambria, Caesarstone, Pental and Radianz in two different houses. Haven't noticed any obvious differences.

I prefer natural stone in the kitchen and used quartzite, but I used quartz for all the bathroom counters. I went to shops that carried many quartz brands and picked the ones that had the best colors/designs to complement the design/look of each bathroom. I didn't really worry about price, because the difference between the cheapest and most expensive quartz , isn't a huge number when compared to the whole cost of a project.

Yes, I agree with @darbuka. Where the differences come in are the fabricators and installers. Lots of tales of woe on here, but those are related to bad fabricators, so choose one carefully. Make sure, above all, that you discuss with the fabricators where the seam(s) will go, and how the pattern will flow at the seam(s).

Compaction pressures and materials quality DOES make a difference in quartz materials. Which is why the patented Breton machinery is used by the highest quality brands. Same with the raw materials. The decades long search for the whitest quartz mine for Cosentino’s Silestone white colors is legendary. As is their search for additives to make it more sanitary and more durable.

The knockoff compaction machinery, which utilizes stolen patented procedures, may or may not provide the same even pressures for compaction. The only truism is that a company that disregards patents may also have a good deal of disregard for the other parts of the production process. Including where and what type of resins. A companies business ethics runs throughout their business as a whole culture. There won’t just be one unethical manufacturing cost cutting happening.

Without those knockoff companies coming clean and being transparent about things, no one can ever know anything but that they are much cheaper than the companies that use verified Breton technology, with high quality quartz aggregate, and high quality resins.

In my 27 years in the business, I have seen crumbly ”sandy” quartz, that shouldn't ever have passed any quality control inspections. I have seen quartz with a ”grabby” surface, that picked up all kinds of stains that would not come out. I have seen issues with name brand and knockoff brands both. But, most often though, the name brand has fulfilled their supplier obligations and replaced the material during fabrication, when contacted by the fabricator. The knockoff brands only occasionally came through with new material.

@User - that is very interesting and informative. But do the companies that the OP cited - MSI, Silestone, Viatera or Caesastone - fall under your heading of "knockoff companies"? Or, do you agree with @Joseph Corlett, LLC's frequent comment that those Quartz companies fall under the umbrella of being all the same?

The fabrication and installation of your quartz counter is just as important as the quartz you choose. My experienced kitchen designer used very experienced and hand picked fabricators / installers. A few years ago I had my kitchen and bathrooms renovated. I chose Silestone quartz (color: Charcoal Soapstone) for my kitchen (seamless). I chose remnant quartz pieces for my bathroom counters: Pental quartz (color: Thassos white) and Emerstone quartz (color: Crema Marfil). They all look as good as the day they were installed: no stains, no scratches, no chips.

I've never heard of a substantial difference in fabrication, installation, longevity, performance, or appearance between Breton or the "stolen" competitiors, however, I can promise you the big boys want you to believe this.

This is why Coke was advertised as "The real thing". What the hell does that mean? Pepsi is coloed carbonated sugar water too. Same thing here.

Coke and Pepsi are not at all the same thing. Your analogy does not work.

We recently installed Viatera Lumina and absolutely love it. We did it in a satin (honed) finish and it’s beautiful. We did the island double think (mitered) and it looks great.

The one thing I would look into, is that we have seen many complaints on these forums about dealing with MSI, as a company, when things go wrong. I would search for those old threads and see what the issues were.

"Coke and Pepsi are not at all the same thing."

They are both colored carbonated water with slight taste differences. Had I compared them to orange juice or coffee the analogy wouldn't have worked.

Yeah, some engineered stones have more swirls than others, but like colored carbonated water soft drinks with different labels, they are fundamentally the same thing.

The Coke and Pepsi thing totally makes my point. And neither are ”the same” as RC Cola, Sam’s Choice Cola, Shasta Cola, Coda-Cola, Koka Kola, or any one of the various different brands and recipes. Some of which are completely unpalatable unless you like drinking dessert, or acid cleaning your teeth.

The recipe, the actual ingredients, and the manufacturing, all make a difference in the results. Sometimes it is a minor difference. Sometimes it is a major one. Some people do not have the discriminating ability to tell the difference between RC Cola and Coke. A whole lot more CAN. Which is why ”New Coke” failed.

The only person capable of telling the internal differences in engineered stones is wearing a lab coat.

@User, Joseph Corlett’s professional expertise, and lenghty experience with quartz counters is well known here. How many years of experience do you have installing, and repairing Estone counters?

Tough choice. You can check out Taj Mahal, Bianco Superiore Nauge among others quartzites.

I have 27 years of industry experience, including managing a showroom and stone fabrication shop. I also moderate many industry groups, who deal with issues from multiple industry aspects.

The common denominator issue that will defeat fabricator skill every time is poor quality materials. As I said, that can happen from multiple respected sources, to the cheapest of sources. But, it more often happens with the no name cheap sources. When it does, there is no assistance or recourse for the fabricator other than for them to eat it.

This is why those with good reputations, who deal with this hands on every day, with their names on it, tend to not choose the no name brands. There are plenty of reputable brands made from Georgia to the Carolinas to Canada. Lower transport costs and more accountability are big factors in choosing manufacturer partners.