Today sub-2μm packed columns are very popular to conduct fast chromatographic separations. The mass-transfer resistance depends on the particle size but some practical limits exist not to reach the theoretically expected plate height and mass-transfer resistance. Another approach applies particles with shortened diffusion path to enhance the efficiency of separations. In this study a systematical evaluation of the possibilities of the separations obtained with 5cm long narrow bore columns packed with new 2.6μm shell particles (1.9μm nonporous core surrounded by a 0.35μm porous shell, Kinetex™, Core-Shell), packed with other shell-type particles (Ascentis Express™, Fused-Core), totally porous sub-2μm particles and a 5cm long narrow bore monolith column is presented. The different commercially available columns were compared by using van Deemter, Knox and kinetic plots. Theoretical Poppe plots were constructed for each column to compare their kinetic performance. Data are presented on polar neutral real-life analytes. Comparison of a low molecular weight compounds (MW=270–430) and a high molecular weight one (MW∼900) was conducted. This study proves that the Kinetex column packed with 2.6μm shell particles is worthy of rivaling to sub-2μm columns and other commercially available shell-type packings (Ascentis Express or Halo), both for small and large molecule separation. The Kinetex column offers a very flat C term. Utilizing this feature, high flow rates can be applied to accomplish very fast separations without significant loss in efficiency.