That, again, is a subjective issue. Personally, I don't like HDR Efex Pro. But I'm not a fan of ny Nik products. When I reviwed it, it seemed more geared to the grunge/surreal look and I never was able to achieve a 'natural' result that I was happy with. Speed wasn't great either. I haven't tried v2, but from what I've seen, the tonemapping isn't really any better.