2021 test14 productsGadgets & Tech
Which Insulated Water Bottles Brand Wins?
A head-to-head test of 14 insulated water bottles options with the measured results for each. See how they ranked and watch the full test video.
Budget pick
Coleman
Price shown in test: 14.65
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The measured results
Every number below is read straight from the test. Scroll sideways to see all measurements. Products are listed in the order they finished.
| Product | Claimed specs | Weight | 24-hour cold retention test (final temp, lower is better) | No-preheat hot retention test (207F water, 4 hours in a -40F freezer) | Preheated hot retention test (5 hours in freezer) | 36in drop test (upright, onto angle iron) | 36in drop test (on the lid) | Farm-A-Bego test (vehicle run-over at approximately 50 mph) | No-preheat hot retention test (207F water, 4 hours in freezer) | 36in drop tests | Internal construction (cut open for comparison against Yeti) | 36in drop test (upright) | Internal construction (cut open for comparison against Hydro Flask) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1Stanley Stanley Classic39.99 | 25 oz, claimed 11 hours cold / 36 hours iced, marketing claims of surviving -70 wind chill, speeding bullets, 4,000 ft drops, and category 5 hurricanes, lifetime warranty, dishwasher safe | 482.3 g | 50.6 F, the best (coldest) result of all 14 products, won this test outright | 134.4 F, a loss of 73 F | not given a specific number in the transcript, but explicitly stated to have finished 5th, a large improvement from 8th place in the no-preheat version of this test | described in one passage as 'a tank' with 'very minor cosmetic damage', and in a separate passage as experiencing 'a moderate size dent'; both descriptions are kept here rather than reconciled since they are not numerically precise | little water seepage, a very small crease to the side, the mouthpiece came detached but was described as likely re-attachable; overall described as doing 'just fine' with 'very little damage' | did not survive; narrator notes 'that's a lot of damage' and that none of the tested containers could withstand this test | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested |
| 2Coleman14.65 | 31 hours cold / 11 hours hot claimed, spill-proof, 24 oz | 407.7 g | 54.5 F, 4th best of all 14 products | not tested | 19.9 F loss, 4th best, the same rank order as the no-preheat version of this test | not tested | not tested | not tested | 136.7 F, a loss of 70 F, 4th best in the final ranking of this test | no explicit individual result for either the upright or lid drop test appears under the 'Coleman' name anywhere in this transcript; the only related reference is an indirect comparison made while describing the Yeti's drop-test performance ('the Yeti is up there with the Coleman'), implying Coleman also performed well, but no specific damage description or measurement for Coleman itself was captured | not tested | not tested | not tested |
| 3Hydro Flask Standard Mouth32.95 | 21 oz, TempShield double wall vacuum insulation, claimed 24 hours cold / 12 hours hot | 333.1 g | 55.4 F, tied for 5th of all 14 products (tied with Hydro Flask Sport) | not tested | 16.8 F loss, 2nd best of all products, just behind Hydro Flask Sport | not tested | not tested | not tested | 150 F, a loss of only 57 F, the best result up to that point; finished 2nd overall behind Hydro Flask Sport by a very narrow margin | described across the transcript's durability section, though several passages referencing 'Hydro Flask' or 'HydroFlask' in this section do not clearly distinguish between the standard mouth and sport versions; explicitly attributed results include surviving the upright drop with only a small dent ('I don't think I've ever seen a Hydro Flask that didn't have a dent in it. This one actually held up fairly well with a very small dent compared to some of the other brands and it still doesn't leak') and holding up well overall with no leaking | thin aluminum outer layer with an air gap between the inner container and outer skin; inner wall about 0.44 mm, outer wall about 0.45 mm, both much thinner than the Yeti's walls | not tested | not tested |
| 4Hydro Flask Sport35.95 | 21 oz, claimed 24 hours cold / 6 hours hot, priced $3 more than the standard mouth version | 310.7 g, second lightest of all 14 products | 55.4 F, tied for 5th of all 14 products (tied with Hydro Flask Standard Mouth) | not tested | 16.5 F loss, the best of all products | not tested | not tested | not tested | 150.5 F, a loss of 56.5 F, the best result of all 14 products, narrowly beating the standard mouth version | in the upright drop test, described as experiencing 'a pretty large dent'; in the lid drop test, described only briefly as 'the Hydro Flask Sport also held up really well' | not tested | not tested | not tested |
| 5Klean Kanteen27.95 | 10 hours hot / 65 hours cold claimed, 20 oz, claimed to not shatter, BPA- and toxin-free | 359.8 g | 52.9 F, 3rd best of all 14 products, essentially tied with Aquatec's 52.8 | not tested | not tested | not tested | held up just fine with a little cosmetic damage; a big dent in the side but still held water | not tested | 134.8 F, a loss of 72 F | not tested | not tested | experienced a large dent | not tested |
| 6Aquatec19.91 | 12 hours hot / 24 hours cold claimed, double wall vacuum insulated, holds 21 oz, marketed as eco-friendly | 334.7 g | 52.8 F, 2nd best of all 14 products | not tested | not tested | not tested | performed poorly, described as spewing water everywhere; narrator categorizes it as 'light duty'; lid broken, quite a bit of damage to the side | not tested | 136.6 F, a loss of 70 F, essentially tied with Coleman; finished 5th in the final ranking of this specific test at a stated loss of 70.4 F | not tested | not tested | experienced a pretty large dent | not tested |
| 7East Rim18.99 | keeps liquid hot or cold, double wall and vacuum insulated, extra wide mouth | 327.7 g | 60.6 F, described as struggling, one of the weaker results of the 14 products | not tested | not tested | not tested | survived without any issues, described as very durable, a very small crease to the side; the lid came partially off but resealed fine after being screwed back on | not tested | 132.7 F, a loss of 74 F | not tested | not tested | captioned in the transcript as 'E-trim', did very well, no specific damage described | not tested |
| 8Hydrology22.95 | 22 oz, vacuum insulated, 18/8 stainless steel, per the brand's website claimed 48 hours cold / 12 hours hot | 381.4 g | 57.1 F | not tested | 18.3 F loss, 3rd best of all products | not tested | not tested | not tested | 143.8 F, a loss of only 63 F, the best result up to that point in the video; finished 3rd overall in the final ranking | not tested | not tested | a transcript passage reading 'HydroFlask held up really well with only minor damage' appears in the position expected for this brand based on price-ascending testing order (immediately after a passage that itself appears to be a mislabeled Thermos Flask result); given 'Hydrology' and 'Hydro Flask' are phonetically close and Hydro Flask's own two variants are both accounted for elsewhere in this same list, this passage is tentatively attributed to Hydrology here and flagged rather than treated as certain | not tested |
| 9Under Armour31.99 | 24 oz, vacuum insulated, claimed 20 hours cold | 424.8 g | 55.7 F | not tested | not tested | not tested | performed poorly, quite a bit of water loss on impact, the cap cracked and no longer holds water | described as 'in pretty bad shape' afterward, one of only 4 brands individually described in this bonus test | 135.9 F, a loss of 71 F | not tested | not tested | very minor damage | not tested |
| 10Thermos Flask19.99 | 24 oz, per the brand's website claimed 24 hours cold / 12 hours hot | 408.2 g, tied for heaviest up to that point in the video with Coleman | 56.7 F | not tested | not tested | not tested | the cap held fine, held up very well, a crease to the side but still holds water | did not survive; lid stayed on but the container itself was described as ruined | 132.2 F, a loss of 75 F | not tested | not tested | a transcript passage reading 'The Hydro Flask experienced a pretty large dent, too' appears in the position expected for this brand based on price-ascending testing order, immediately before another passage that itself appears to be a mislabeled Hydrology result; tentatively attributed to Thermos Flask here and flagged rather than treated as certain, since 'Thermos Flask' spoken aloud could plausibly be auto-captioned as 'Hydro Flask' | not tested |
| 11Yeti Rambler29.95 | 18 oz, dishwasher safe, 18/8 stainless steel, no information available on the brand's website regarding hot/cold retention duration | 562.4 g, by far the heaviest of all 14 products (too heavy for the narrator's scale to weigh as a single unit; weighed as thermos and lid separately) | 57.9 F, described as struggling despite being by far the heaviest product | not tested | not tested | not tested | described as 'up there with the Coleman' for durability, a very durable Thermos, no damage other than a very small crease | not tested | 119 F, a loss of 88 F, the worst result of all products in this test | not tested | not tested | described as 'also a tank', very minor cosmetic damage | much less of an air gap between the inner container and outer skin compared to Hydro Flask; outer wall about 0.88 mm (nearly twice as thick as Hydro Flask's 0.45 mm), inner wall also considerably thicker |
| 12Brita23.72 | 20 oz, unique built-in filter claimed to last up to 40 gallons (the only brand in this video with this feature), claimed 24 hours cold; not designed for hot contents and excluded from the hot-retention tests | 391.6 g | 57.5 F, described as not quite as good as most of the other brands | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | narrator notes the vehicle's wheels did not pass directly over this container, so it avoided the heavier damage other brands sustained in this specific test | not tested | not tested | not tested | experienced a rather large dent | not tested |
| 13Contigo11.59 | claimed 24 hours cold / 10 hours hot, 20 oz | 324.7 g | 58.7 F | not tested | not tested | not tested | the worst functional failure of the lid-drop test: began blowing water out everywhere, and the plastic at the top of the container totally disintegrated, no longer able to hold water | not tested | 129.2 F, a loss of almost 78 F, one of the worse results of the 14 products | not tested | not tested | survived with a very small dent | not tested |
| 14Bubba7.99 | stays cold, leak-proof, BPA-free, lifetime guarantee; not designed for hot contents and excluded from the hot-retention tests | 273 g, the lightest of all 14 products | 72.1 F, the worst (warmest) result of all 14 products, described as really struggling; also showed a lot of heat loss on the 30-minute thermal-camera check early in the test | not tested | not tested | not tested | survived but with quite a bit of damage, especially to the lid, which broke but remained functional; described as bouncing 'more than an over inflated basketball' | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | survived with minor damage | not tested |
How it was tested
- weight comparison
- 30-minute thermal-camera check of heat transfer through the container wall and lid
- 24-hour cold retention test (starting near freezing, ambient room at approximately 80F, measuring final temperature after 24 hours)
- no-preheat hot retention test (near-boiling water added to a room-temperature container, then placed in a -40F freezer for 4 hours; Bubba and Brita excluded as not designed for hot contents)
- preheated hot retention test (containers preheated to ambient 72F for 24 hours before adding hot water, then placed in the freezer for 5 hours, to isolate the effect of preheating)
- 36 inch drop test onto angle iron, upright, container full of water
- 36 inch drop test onto angle iron, dropped on the lid
- internal construction comparison: Hydro Flask and Yeti cut open and wall thickness measured
- Farm-A-Bego vehicle run-over test at approximately 50 mph (only Stanley, Thermos Flask, Brita, and Under Armour are individually described in the transcript for this bonus test; the description confirms only 'several' brands were included, not all 14)
“The Coleman seems like the best value overall. It does a terrific job with regard to cold as well as warm temperature performance and it's extremely durable.”