It's a trade-off.
The auto darkening hoods are heavier, but more versatile. They can be used with a grinder or a torch, and can easily be set from shade 8 or 9, up to shade 13 on some...
Some of the old style hoods were heavy and clunky too. Most probably remember and hate the old MSA Tiger hood. But like everyone else, MSA innovated and some years back introduced the Tiger Ultra. And it's the lightest and handiest hood I've ever used. My Tiger Ultra is a 2x4 flip lens which adds some versatility. And I have head gear for either a hard hat mount or a simple headband...
In the auto darkening realm the Speedglas is the best performing and the lightest, but is small enough that I need extra covering for my long neck and big ears. I've used the Miller with good results too, but for everyday versatility the Jackson NextGen is tops in my book.
