Phlox and TheGem are both sold through the same marketplace and are therefore direct competitors. That is certainly the case since both themes can be used for the construction of very nicely looking webshops. Phlox vs TheGem, which is the better theme? We start with Phlox which does not mean it would be better.
The Phlox Theme
As a matter of fact this website you are looking at right now, I built it with Phlox Premium and Elementor. I can tell you right away that this is a great theme, but we’re going through all the points of the theme so slowly. Phlox was launched back in 2013, a golden age for WP themes.
Phlox Themes' Rating
The Phlox Theme has a free version with a rating of 4.8 out of 5 as seen above. The premium theme has an average rating of 4.66 out of 5. With these figures, the Phlox theme is among the best rated themes on Themeforest.
Loading Speed
The Phlox theme has impressive loading times as can be seen below in the 4 completed tests. However, there are faster themes, such as Astra. Such fast loading times are always achieved with an elite cache plugin.
Phlox's Page Builder
Phlox is a so-called Elementor Theme, which means built to support Elementor. Building the website practically only happens with Elementor. What I needed Phlox for was a beautiful demo website from which I could start my site. The demos of Elementor Pro itself I found a bit disappointing.
160+ extra Widgets in Elementor
Purchasing Elementor Pro is made completely unnecessary by the many extra widgets offered by Phlox within the page builder, 160+ to be precise. An unprecedented number of extra widgets which offers practically unlimited possibilities.
A Second Page Builder
You also get the Bakery page builder as a tuned version with about 60 extra widgets in it by Phlox.
Building a Blog
We call the structure of this website a blog. If you click on “Blog” in the menu or on “Compare Themes” you will see the blog layout. There are dozens of settings what people do and don’t want to show in the items. My experience with the Phlox theme for blogs is very good, this site is like my baby everything works so well. So if you want to build a blog, Phlox is definitely a good choice.
Phlox offers a variety of layouts and options to help you become a professional blogger, or just to get started in the blogging world. You can do everything with blogging. Phlox uses best practices in typography design to ensure that content is easily readable on all devices. Phlox supports all types of blogging, including grid, masonry and timeline. It also covers layouts such as tile, land and classic.
Phlox Theme Review: Starter Sites
I just mentioned that I had selected Phlox on its beautiful demo websites, in total there are 190+. These come in different specializations such as blogs, shops, corporate and much more. The layouts are of extremely high quality. As far as I’m concerned, Phlox is even undervalued with its rating.
Reuse Sections
Being able to save and reuse sections at lightning speed is a great feature. It says “Exclusive” in the corner but there are many more themes that have this.
Phlox: Global Colors
The theme uses 3 basic colors that are used throughout the site. If you adjust it, it will automatically adjust across the entire site. Doesn’t seem like a real exclusive feature to me, but it’s certainly practical.
Headers and Footers
The Phlo theme offers a complete collection of options for both footers and headers. There will certainly be something to your liking for your website. You can make further adjustments to your chosen design with the Header & Footer Builder.
Phlox Theme Review Conclusion
I assume that you have received a very positive impression of Phlo by now, this is a great theme. I can’t copy all the information here, not 1 on 1. If your interest has been piqued, read on on their own website. As far as I’m concerned, Phlox is one of the better themes on Themeforest and highly recommended.
Let’s continue this TheGem vs Phlox comparison with the TheGem Theme.
TheGem Theme
TheGem has been around since the end of 2016 and has been around for a while. Many of the best-selling themes on Themeforest came out around this time. In the corner of my eye I quickly saw that the theme comes with 2 page builders, which is beautiful. Let’s start quickly with this review.
TheGem's Rating
An average rating of 4.86 out of 5 is very high. On the Themeforest marketplace, the highest rating of the Impreza Theme is 4.89 if I remember correctly. So very satisfied buyers, we can expect something from this theme.
TheGem's Loading Speed
All top themes load quickly today, and no theme can be left behind without losing sales. The results shown below from a GtMetrix speedtest for TheGem, gives a 98% score. Certainly not bad, but many themes score 100 and also for “Structure” the score is better, but there are competitors with better scores. These kinds of high scores are always achieved with a good cache plugin.
Two Page Builders included
TheGem Blocks
TheGem Blocks is basically a database of ready-made blocks, sections, that you can use anywhere on your website. The number of 500+ is very large. Only the best themes offer this kind of service. In addition, TheGem also offers full site demos in all kinds of niches.
Full Website Demos
Without counting them, TheGem has at least 150 full site demos. You can put a complete website on your domain in one go and you can adjust everything to your own style with your favorite page builder.
Portfolios
TheGem is also the right place for portfolios. It’s not a special portfolio theme, but TheGem is all-round. Below is a small example of a beautiful 4-column layout. The theme has 20+ different portfolio and gallery styles.
More Styles: Blog, Widgets, Headers
As you can see below, TheGem has made a beautiful index with what they have to offer in this area. People, this is a complete theme suited for any type of website.
TheGem's Header- & Footer Builder
You can build your header yourself without any technical knowledge with everything you want on it and in it. It won’t cost you hours either, the header and footer builder in TheGem works very quickly and everything is 100% understandable.
Webshops with TheGem
The latest version of TheGem comes with 6 completely new full demo websites. This is in addition to the large number of demos that were already available for shops, of course. A good theme works perfectly with Woocommerce, has all possible professional options for shops and offers countless shopping demos. TheGem has it all.
Woocommerce Builder
The TheGem also features a Woo Builder that allows you to customize product pages and pages such as check out and cart without having to know anything about it.
Premium Sliders included
I personally think they are a bit out of fashion, but other designers are still very enthusiastic about them, Sliders. If you like a header with spectacular slideshows, it’s good to know that TheGem has 2 of the best slider plugins in it for free.
TheGem Review Conclusion
There is of course much more to tell about TheGem, read more on their own site if you are interested in more info. As far as I’m concerned, TheGem is a great theme, especially if you use Elementor, my favorite page builder. The builders of the theme have thought of everything, no important things are missing and the theme loads very quickly. Recommended.
TheGem vs Phlox Conclusion
I like Phlox better, it is just way better overall. But also, these themes want to see a separate expensive license for every website you want to build with it. This will quickly cost you a lot of money. You are better off with Astra or Divi that can be used on an unlimited sites and are also even better and more stable themes.