Best Water Bottles From Our Tests

The Yeti Rambler is a winner—if you like straws. Those of us who do like them appreciated this bottle’s easy-to-grip handle, which has a textured underside that helps prevent any slipping if your hands are sweaty, and the spout, which can be opened with just one hand. I’ve been carrying this water bottle everywhere since testing concluded, to the point where my husband asked, “What’s with you and the water bottle?” It’s comfortable and easy to hold and carry, and I’m confident enough in its leakproof properties to slip it into a bag alongside my wallet and phone without worrying they’ll get wet.

The Yeti Rambler was also the top-rated bottle in our lab tests. In testing, José Amézquita found that it still had ice after 24 hours and says it was one of the least damaged bottles after the durability test (rolling a bottle down a flight of cement stairs).

This water bottle is cute-looking, too, with a sleek, simple shape and a wide variety of color options. (I’m partial to the Lowcountry Peach hue that I tried.) The smallest size, 12 ounces, is an ideal option for kids who need a smaller water bottle that still looks grown-up and cool—it isn’t emblazoned with intellectual property (IP) characters—while the medium version (18 ounces) works beautifully for stashing in a tote bag or tucking into a car cup holder. However, at its largest size (26 ounces), Lisa Fogarty, one of our evaluators, says she bumped her nose into the handle whenever she took a sip.

Takeya’s Active Water Bottle With Spout Lid comes in lovely colors, including a citron green and a beautiful lilac, and has a removable silicone base that helps stabilize the water bottle. The twist-off cap remains connected to the lid when it’s opened, a boon for those of us prone to losing things (or dropping them on subway tracks). The handle, connected to the lid via a hinge, is easy to hold, and it folds back against the bottle when not in use. We didn’t experience any leaking or condensation.

The spout is small, so you can chug without spilling liquid on yourself (or is that just me?), and the lid’s rim is textured with embossed dots, making it easy to grip and twist off. The multitude of sizes means there’s an option for pretty much everyone.

After the durability test, Amézquita reported that the Takeya had only one minor scuff and no dents or other damage, making it the most durable water bottle in our tests. However, it didn’t retain cold as well as the others, and there was no ice left after our 24-hour ice test.

The ubiquitous Owala FreeSip did well in our tests. It was one of the easiest to open, with its unique tab that you push to pop open the lid. Inside, there’s a large spout, and within that, a smaller spout connected to a straw. If you’re not a fan of straws, you can remove it and drink from the bottle chug-style, making this the most versatile bottle we tried. The handle tucks flat into the lid and unfolds 90 degrees for carrying, although the handle itself is marginally less comfortable than the Takeya’s and Yeti’s. The underside isn’t rounded or softly textured like theirs are, though this is a very minor complaint.

The Owala had mixed results in our durability tests. When dropped down the stairs, it sustained several scuffs, scratches, and dents, making it one of the least durable bottles in our lineup. Ice remained after 24 hours, though, so you can trust that it’ll keep your water cold.

The Simple Modern Summit water bottle is remarkably similar to the Yeti Rambler at a little over half the price. Like the Yeti, it has a flip straw lid that you can open and close with one hand, although unlike the Rambler, the plastic nozzle isn’t flush with the lid surface. It comes in fun colors, including Kelly Green, Lavender Mist, and Clementine, plus some prints and ombré options. Its handle is also similar to the Yeti’s, but it’s smaller and doesn’t have a grippy underside for comfort. Other than that, it’s easy enough to carry and slip into a bag; the bottle is streamlined and doesn’t leak.

It performed beautifully in our durability test, getting only a few scuffs and scratches when tumbled down the stairs. And ice remained in the bottle after 24 hours in our cold test. 

And yet we didn’t love this bottle as much as the Yeti Rambler. It lacks the latter’s robust feel (although our tests prove its durability), likely because the Summit was the lightest bottle in our tests. Our complaints here, obviously, are extremely subjective, and in all ways that matter, the Simple Modern Summit is a great option, particularly for the price.

The Hydro Flask Wide Mouth With Flex Chug Cap is fully middle-of-the-road. Fogarty, who prefers chug to straw bottles, liked this one well enough. But it has a flaw keeping it from greatness: Its flex-style lid, which has two lid size options from which to drink, requires two hands to open. If you don’t use two hands, you’ll partly open one cap while attempting to open the other. Even with two hands, you might do this. I’m not sure what the fix is, but needing to grip one cap to unscrew the other isn’t ideal.

Apart from this flaw, which I view as a deal breaker but you might not, this is a decent bottle. It kept ice frozen for 24 hours, albeit with more melting than the Yeti Rambler, Simple Modern Summit, and BrüMate Rotera (see below). When Amézquita dropped it down the stairs, however, it sustained five dents, as well as several scuffs and scratches, indicating a lower durability compared with other bottles in our tests. We liked its well-designed handle, which is made of flexible plastic and feels nice in the hand. The simple shape of the bottle lets it slip easily into a backpack, and it doesn’t leak.

We did not like Stanley’s The Quencher H2.0 Flowstate Tumblery. There, we said it. The Quencher H2.0 Flowstate Tumbler was the only bottle in our tests that leaked, which I discovered on my way to yoga when I was continually splashed with water from the bottle’s straw. It also leaks when it’s on its side. “I couldn’t leave it on the kitchen counter for an hour because it immediately started pouring out of the straw,” says Jodhaira Rodriguez, another CR evaluator. “I don’t think it would take more than 5 minutes for all of the water to come out through the straw after laying the bottle on its side.”

You can close the Stanley, but there’s no place to put the straw, so you have to either tuck it into a pocket or your bag (kind of gross) or ditch it entirely and drink from the small, uncomfortable opening in the lid. This flexibility isn’t intuitive, unlike the Owala’s and even, despite its imperfections, the Hydro Flask’s. 

The muglike handle is well-designed for drinking but not for carrying in the hand because the bottle ends up at an angle prone to leaking. It’s not convenient for storage, either, because the handle gets in the way and takes up space. I had trouble fitting it into the water bottle slot of my yoga mat carrier.

It was dented and scuffed after being dropped down the stairs. To its credit, it kept ice cold for 24 hours in our tests. It also comes in about a trillion colors and patterns, so there’s that.

Let’s set the scene: I forget my water bottle, still filled with water, downstairs on the kitchen counter one warm—but not boiling—evening in April. It’s closed, the straw twisted shut into the lid. The next morning, there’s heavy condensation all over the bottle and the counter. I leave it again the next evening, purposefully this time, and condensation appears again.

The BrüMate Rotera didn’t leak in our lab tests when tipped onto its side, nor after dropping it down the stairs. This condensation problem seems to be one that primarily occurs with time and in the right climate.

It’s also heavy. So heavy! In our tests, it kept ice cold for 24 hours, which could partly explain the product’s weight: The amount of insulation here adds to this bottle’s heft. Unlike the other bottles, it’s entirely encased in a silicone sleeve (with the exception of the lid), which also might contribute to the weight.

This silicone sleeve makes it nice to touch, but its unpleasant weight counters this. The silicone also makes it difficult to slide into a water bottle compartment because it clings and sticks to fabric, and must be firmly pushed down to nestle it in. This was somewhat awkward as I stood near the storage cubbies at my yoga studio, attempting to force my resistant water bottle into the water bottle pocket of my mat bag.

The Rotera is egregiously difficult to open. Its website devotes a bit of space to explaining the opening mechanism, which is neither intuitive nor easy to accomplish once understood. Quite a bit of force is required to pop the straw from the Rotera’s lid, so this bottle would not be a good pick for a child or people with dexterity problems, such as someone with arthritis or carpal tunnel syndrome. 

The best thing about this bottle is its stainless steel straw, which I liked because it made it easier to crush ice than the plastic straws accompanying most of the other bottles. But this is not enough to save it from the deep, dark depths of our results.