Weber Traveler vs Weber Q: Head to Head Review!

The Weber Traveler is a new portable gas grill that is a legitimate alternative to the Weber Q series.  The Traveler is large, but highly portable, and packs serious searing power.

I have been cooking on both a Traveler and a couple of Weber Q’s for months now and wanted to share my thoughts on a Head to Head comparison.

By the way, I realize that everyone has different needs for their grills and that styling preferences are purely subjective.  I am simply sharing my opinions on these grills after quite a lot of time cooking on both of them.

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What The Q and Traveler Have in Common

The core aspects of these two grills are nearly identical.  Both types of grills feature a burner that wraps around the underneath a set of heavy duty cast iron cooking grates.

If you were just to look at the grates and burner on a Traveler and the similarly sized Weber Q2200 then you would be hard pressed to find any meaningful differences.

Both of the grills get hot enough for serious searing.

After about 15 minutes of preheating both the Q grills and Traveler will have grate temperatures approaching 600F.

In my testing the Traveler is great at searing steaks and has a relatively even heating profile.  I think this is best illustrated by these two skirt steaks that were seared for three minutes per side.

Again, this is performance that is the same as demonstrated by the Q Series.

The main thing I want you to take away from this section is that all of these grills have great cooking performance.

What Are the Differences Between the Traveler and Q Grills?

There are five different Q grills with different sizes, prices and features so making blanket comparisons to the Traveler is  not straight forward.  Let’s take a look at the table that I put together below that compares the base features of size and features before we talk about the big picture.

By looking at the table you can see that, as far as size is concerned, the Traveler is bigger than the Q2200 and smaller than the Q3200.

Points of reference for size:

• The Q1200 is the perfect size for grilling for 2-4 people.
• The Q2200 and Traveler are the perfect size for grilling for 5-6 people.
• The Q3200 is big enough for 7-8 folks.

Traveler vs Q2200

The most appropriate Head to Head comparison between these two series is the Traveler and the Q2200.

The Four Main Differences

The biggest differences between these grills are price, styling, construction and portability.

Price

To get the same portability for the Q2200 that you get with the Traveler then you will need to buy the portable cart separately for about $100.

I am not going to give exact prices in here because that changes on a regular basis.  However, in general terms, the combined cost of the Q2200 and the cart is about $50 more expensive than the Traveler.

Styling

The Traveler is sleeker than the Q series with a lower profile lid.  When I put these grills side by side and asked my daughter which she liked better it took her less than a second to point towards the Traveler.  The Traveler just looks SHARP.

The lower profile lid on the Traveler does mean that you will have to make some minor compromises when it comes to gilling large items.  For example, you can fit a couple of whole chickens on the Traveler but you will need to spatchcock them first.

Construction

Both grills are solidly built but with very different materials.

The Q Series grills are made from cast aluminum and heavy duty plastic which makes them immune to rust when used in coastal areas and near swimming pools.

The Traveler is made of porcelain enameled steel.

The warranties on the two grills are just about identical with 5 year coverage for most components.

Portability

The Traveler is Weber’s first true portable gas grill.

You can set up or collapse the grill with one hand while you are holding a beer in another.   The grill has a red rubber latch to keep the legs closed and a retractable lid latch that holds the lid in place during transport.

You can call the Q2200 portable if you want but there are no lid latches on the grill, it is a pain to carry and the optional folding cart is incredibly flimsy.

Like the Q2200, the Traveler is designed to run off of disposable 1 pound propane bottles, but you can get an adapter to fire the grills from a 20 pound propane tank.

Which Grill is Better?

I currently own a:

• Weber Q1200
• Weber Q3200
• Weber Traveler

Now that I have used them all for a while I am going to give the Q1200 to a friend and am going to send my Q3200 to live on my son’s patio.

The Weber Traveler is the grill that I am going to keep.

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The Traveler is big enough to cook for a crowd, looks great and doesn’t take up much space when not in use.

If you have any questions about the Traveler then drop me a line!