Which Insulated Water Bottles Brand Wins?
2021 test14 productsGadgets & Tech

Which Insulated Water Bottles Brand Wins?

This head-to-head test of 14 insulated water bottles options has the measured results for each. See how they ranked and watch the full test video.

The verdict
Coleman
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. Products are listed in the order they finished.

Claimed specs

  • 1Stanley Stanley Classic
    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

  • 2Coleman
    31 hours

    cold / 11 hours hot claimed, spill-proof, 24 oz

  • 3Hydro Flask Standard Mouth
    21 oz

    TempShield double wall vacuum insulation, claimed 24 hours cold / 12 hours hot

  • 4Hydro Flask Sport
    21 oz

    claimed 24 hours cold / 6 hours hot, priced $3 more than the standard mouth version

  • 5Klean Kanteen
    10 hours

    hot / 65 hours cold claimed, 20 oz, claimed to not shatter, BPA- and toxin-free

  • 6Aquatec
    12 hours

    hot / 24 hours cold claimed, double wall vacuum insulated, holds 21 oz, marketed as eco-friendly

  • 7East Rim

    keeps liquid hot or cold, double wall and vacuum insulated, extra wide mouth

  • 8Hydrology
    22 oz

    vacuum insulated, 18/8 stainless steel, per the brand's website claimed 48 hours cold / 12 hours hot

  • 9Under Armour
    24 oz

    vacuum insulated, claimed 20 hours cold

  • 10Thermos Flask
    24 oz

    per the brand's website claimed 24 hours cold / 12 hours hot

  • 11Yeti Rambler
    18 oz

    dishwasher safe, 18/8 stainless steel, no information available on the brand's website regarding hot/cold retention duration

  • 12Brita
    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

  • 13Contigo

    claimed 24 hours cold / 10 hours hot, 20 oz

  • 14Bubba

    stays cold, leak-proof, BPA-free, lifetime guarantee; not designed for hot contents and excluded from the hot-retention tests

Weight

  • 1Stanley Stanley Classic
    482.3 g
  • 2Coleman
    407.7 g
  • 3Hydro Flask Standard Mouth
    333.1 g
  • 4Hydro Flask Sport
    310.7 g2nd

    second lightest of all 14 products

  • 5Klean Kanteen
    359.8 g
  • 6Aquatec
    334.7 g
  • 7East Rim
    327.7 g
  • 8Hydrology
    381.4 g
  • 9Under Armour
    424.8 g
  • 10Thermos Flask
    408.2 g

    tied for heaviest up to that point in the video with Coleman

  • 11Yeti Rambler
    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)

  • 12Brita
    391.6 g
  • 13Contigo
    324.7 g
  • 14Bubba
    273 g

    the lightest of all 14 products

24-hour cold retention test (final temp, lower is better)

  • 1Stanley Stanley Classic
    50.6 F

    the best (coldest) result of all 14 products, won this test outright

  • 2Coleman
    54.5 F4th

    4th best of all 14 products

  • 3Hydro Flask Standard Mouth
    55.4 F

    tied for 5th of all 14 products (tied with Hydro Flask Sport)

  • 4Hydro Flask Sport
    55.4 F

    tied for 5th of all 14 products (tied with Hydro Flask Standard Mouth)

  • 5Klean Kanteen
    52.9 F3rd

    3rd best of all 14 products, essentially tied with Aquatec's 52.8

  • 6Aquatec
    52.8 F2nd

    2nd best of all 14 products

  • 7East Rim
    60.6 F

    described as struggling, one of the weaker results of the 14 products

  • 8Hydrology
    57.1 F
  • 9Under Armour
    55.7 F
  • 10Thermos Flask
    56.7 F
  • 11Yeti Rambler
    57.9 F

    described as struggling despite being by far the heaviest product

  • 12Brita
    57.5 F

    described as not quite as good as most of the other brands

  • 13Contigo
    58.7 F
  • 14Bubba
    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

No-preheat hot retention test (207F water, 4 hours in freezer)

  • 2Coleman
    136.7 F4th

    a loss of 70 F, 4th best in the final ranking of this test

  • 3Hydro Flask Standard Mouth
    150 F2nd

    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

  • 4Hydro Flask Sport
    150.5 F

    a loss of 56.5 F, the best result of all 14 products, narrowly beating the standard mouth version

  • 5Klean Kanteen
    134.8 F

    a loss of 72 F

  • 6Aquatec
    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

  • 7East Rim
    132.7 F

    a loss of 74 F

  • 8Hydrology
    143.8 F3rd

    a loss of only 63 F, the best result up to that point in the video; finished 3rd overall in the final ranking

  • 9Under Armour
    135.9 F

    a loss of 71 F

  • 10Thermos Flask
    132.2 F

    a loss of 75 F

  • 11Yeti Rambler
    119 F

    a loss of 88 F, the worst result of all products in this test

  • 13Contigo
    129.2 F

    a loss of almost 78 F, one of the worse results of the 14 products

  • 1Stanley Stanley Classic
    not tested
  • 12Brita
    not tested
  • 14Bubba
    not tested

36in drop test (upright)

  • 5Klean Kanteen

    experienced a large dent

  • 6Aquatec

    experienced a pretty large dent

  • 7East Rim

    captioned in the transcript as 'E-trim', did very well, no specific damage described

  • 8Hydrology

    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

  • 9Under Armour

    very minor damage

  • 10Thermos Flask

    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'

  • 11Yeti Rambler

    described as 'also a tank', very minor cosmetic damage

  • 12Brita

    experienced a rather large dent

  • 13Contigo

    survived with a very small dent

  • 14Bubba

    survived with minor damage

  • 1Stanley Stanley Classic
    not tested
  • 2Coleman
    not tested
  • 3Hydro Flask Standard Mouth
    not tested
  • 4Hydro Flask Sport
    not tested

36in drop test (on the lid)

  • 1Stanley Stanley Classic

    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'

  • 5Klean Kanteen

    held up just fine with a little cosmetic damage; a big dent in the side but still held water

  • 6Aquatec

    performed poorly, described as spewing water everywhere; narrator categorizes it as 'light duty'; lid broken, quite a bit of damage to the side

  • 7East Rim

    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

  • 9Under Armour

    performed poorly, quite a bit of water loss on impact, the cap cracked and no longer holds water

  • 10Thermos Flask

    the cap held fine, held up very well, a crease to the side but still holds water

  • 11Yeti Rambler

    described as 'up there with the Coleman' for durability, a very durable Thermos, no damage other than a very small crease

  • 13Contigo

    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

  • 14Bubba

    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'

  • 2Coleman
    not tested
  • 3Hydro Flask Standard Mouth
    not tested
  • 4Hydro Flask Sport
    not tested
  • 8Hydrology
    not tested
  • 12Brita
    not tested

Preheated hot retention test (5 hours in freezer)

  • 1Stanley Stanley Classic

    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

  • 2Coleman
    19.9 F4th

    loss, 4th best, the same rank order as the no-preheat version of this test

  • 3Hydro Flask Standard Mouth
    16.8 F2nd

    loss, 2nd best of all products, just behind Hydro Flask Sport

  • 4Hydro Flask Sport
    16.5 F

    loss, the best of all products

  • 8Hydrology
    18.3 F3rd

    loss, 3rd best of all products

  • 5Klean Kanteen
    not tested
  • 6Aquatec
    not tested
  • 7East Rim
    not tested
  • 9Under Armour
    not tested
  • 10Thermos Flask
    not tested
  • 11Yeti Rambler
    not tested
  • 12Brita
    not tested
  • 13Contigo
    not tested
  • 14Bubba
    not tested

Farm-A-Bego test (vehicle run-over at approximately 50 mph)

  • 1Stanley Stanley Classic

    did not survive; narrator notes 'that's a lot of damage' and that none of the tested containers could withstand this test

  • 9Under Armour

    described as 'in pretty bad shape' afterward, one of only 4 brands individually described in this bonus test

  • 10Thermos Flask

    did not survive; lid stayed on but the container itself was described as ruined

  • 12Brita

    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

  • 2Coleman
    not tested
  • 3Hydro Flask Standard Mouth
    not tested
  • 4Hydro Flask Sport
    not tested
  • 5Klean Kanteen
    not tested
  • 6Aquatec
    not tested
  • 7East Rim
    not tested
  • 8Hydrology
    not tested
  • 11Yeti Rambler
    not tested
  • 13Contigo
    not tested
  • 14Bubba
    not tested
All measurements (5 more)+

36in drop tests

  • 2Coleman

    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

  • 3Hydro Flask Standard Mouth

    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

  • 4Hydro Flask Sport

    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'

  • 1Stanley Stanley Classic
    not tested
  • 5Klean Kanteen
    not tested
  • 6Aquatec
    not tested
  • 7East Rim
    not tested
  • 8Hydrology
    not tested
  • 9Under Armour
    not tested
  • 10Thermos Flask
    not tested
  • 11Yeti Rambler
    not tested
  • 12Brita
    not tested
  • 13Contigo
    not tested
  • 14Bubba
    not tested

No-preheat hot retention test (207F water, 4 hours in a -40F freezer)

  • 1Stanley Stanley Classic
    134.4 F

    a loss of 73 F

  • 2Coleman
    not tested
  • 3Hydro Flask Standard Mouth
    not tested
  • 4Hydro Flask Sport
    not tested
  • 5Klean Kanteen
    not tested
  • 6Aquatec
    not tested
  • 7East Rim
    not tested
  • 8Hydrology
    not tested
  • 9Under Armour
    not tested
  • 10Thermos Flask
    not tested
  • 11Yeti Rambler
    not tested
  • 12Brita
    not tested
  • 13Contigo
    not tested
  • 14Bubba
    not tested

36in drop test (upright, onto angle iron)

  • 1Stanley Stanley Classic

    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

  • 2Coleman
    not tested
  • 3Hydro Flask Standard Mouth
    not tested
  • 4Hydro Flask Sport
    not tested
  • 5Klean Kanteen
    not tested
  • 6Aquatec
    not tested
  • 7East Rim
    not tested
  • 8Hydrology
    not tested
  • 9Under Armour
    not tested
  • 10Thermos Flask
    not tested
  • 11Yeti Rambler
    not tested
  • 12Brita
    not tested
  • 13Contigo
    not tested
  • 14Bubba
    not tested

Internal construction (cut open for comparison against Yeti)

  • 3Hydro Flask Standard Mouth

    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

  • 1Stanley Stanley Classic
    not tested
  • 2Coleman
    not tested
  • 4Hydro Flask Sport
    not tested
  • 5Klean Kanteen
    not tested
  • 6Aquatec
    not tested
  • 7East Rim
    not tested
  • 8Hydrology
    not tested
  • 9Under Armour
    not tested
  • 10Thermos Flask
    not tested
  • 11Yeti Rambler
    not tested
  • 12Brita
    not tested
  • 13Contigo
    not tested
  • 14Bubba
    not tested

Internal construction (cut open for comparison against Hydro Flask)

  • 11Yeti Rambler

    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

  • 1Stanley Stanley Classic
    not tested
  • 2Coleman
    not tested
  • 3Hydro Flask Standard Mouth
    not tested
  • 4Hydro Flask Sport
    not tested
  • 5Klean Kanteen
    not tested
  • 6Aquatec
    not tested
  • 7East Rim
    not tested
  • 8Hydrology
    not tested
  • 9Under Armour
    not tested
  • 10Thermos Flask
    not tested
  • 12Brita
    not tested
  • 13Contigo
    not tested
  • 14Bubba
    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.

From the test video verdict.

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