At the other end of the spectrum, budget-oriented models like the Coleman 316 Series and Igloo Ecocool forgo latches completely and rely on a good fit between the lid and cooler body. This results in reduced insulating performance and means you need to keep a close eye on the lid to make sure it doesn’t pop loose or fall off in transport. Well over half of the coolers on our list cost $200 or more, which goes to show how pricey these units can be. Hard-sided coolers from Yeti, RTIC, Orca, and others are able to keep ice frozen for significantly longer than budget options from companies like Coleman or Igloo. And while bags of ice come relatively cheap, it can be a real pain to have to drain your cooler and replace the ice on a daily basis (not to mention having to travel and purchase more of it).
Even after regular use over several years, the Tundra 65 performs just as well as the day we bought it. Yeti also continues to diversify the colors and personalization options available for this cooler, providing more choices to match your style better. As we prefaced above, if your cooler must-haves include easy coleman instant tent mobility, large capacity, and maximum ice retention, it’s best to consider a rolling hard-sided model. From our picks above, the RovR Products RollR 45, Igloo Trailmate Journey, Pelican 80QT Elite, and Coleman Xtreme have rear wheels and tow handles, and Yeti’s Tundra series also includes the wheel-equipped Haul.
Air bubbles that do not share cell walls and in effect stay insulated from one another are better at reducing the overall transfer of heat through the foam. Closed-cell foam is also much more expensive to produce than open-cell foam. The resulting product is strong and especially rigid feeling, and typically it weighs more than 1.7 pounds per cubic foot with more than 90% of its air cells closed to one another. Closed-cell foam is also water-impermeable—so it’s an ideal material for, say, surfers’ wetsuits. Different types of insulation work in their own ways to minimize heat transfer into a cooler.
Magellan Outdoors has a double-latching, double-hinged removable lid and happens to have won our picks for best small and large cooler. The easy-to-use, double-latched design means you can open the cooler from either side and, if you’d prefer, you can disengage the latches on both sides to remove the lid altogether. The performance data on this little cooler is excellent, with the lowest temperature reached and the lowest average temperature of the bunch.
We test the insulation performance, durability, ease of use, portability, and features of every single model. As some performance aspects are more important than others, we weigh each metric accordingly. Below, we discuss our test results and which models stand out in each area.
There are a few different colors to choose from, which is nice, and the larger coolers have well-placed built-in cupholders which add a bit of spice to the overall look (but not much). And all of the colors come in a solid tone with little in the way of patterns outside of the vertical lines that adorn the body. However, these trips can sometimes be unpleasant due to the limitation of food.
The Polar Cap cooler is constructed with a rugged rotomolded body and a freezer-grade gasket lid, ensuring maximum durability and ice retention. This cooler has been rigorously tested and has shown an impressive ability to stay below 40 degrees for eight days. Not once did this impressive cooler leak, and it gave an impressive performance when rolled around and jumped on. Whether you’re heading out on a multi-day adventure or just want to keep your snacks cold during a day trip, the Cabela’s Polar Cap cooler is an excellent choice for all your cooling needs. For $65, the 50-quart Coleman Xtreme is another standout in the value category, and this time with wheels. With a similar overall construction as our top budget pick, this basic cooler certainly is a far cry from the RovR RollR, Igloo Trailmate, and Pelican 80QT Elite above, but the functionality is decent for the price.
The drain plug isn’t the only factor that makes emptying water easy or annoying. Most of the contenders we tested also have a sloping channel behind the drain to help gravity pull water out. Still, several have unfortunately paired this with a large lip or other obstruction that then stops your drainage progress before it’s 100% complete.
According to the brand, this cooler backpack can keep food and beverages cold for up to 16 hours. It fits 36 cans at a time, and the side pockets can fit a bottle of wine. When the outdoors beckon, this rugged cooler has a bold, sturdy construction with best-in-category cooling performance that’ll keep you and your small crew happy for days. On multi-day trips where restocking ice isn’t an option, or when your camp cooking involves raw meat or other highly perishable ingredients, keeping your cooler at a safe temperature is crucial.
While many similar coolers have thick zippers that are a struggle to operate or very narrow openings that are difficult to navigate, this soft cooler is impressively easy to use. The corners unclip, allowing the top to open quite far for swift loading and locating items. And with a large (for a soft cooler) capacity of 48 cans, the Engel HD30 coleman instant tent just might be enough to get you through a weekend of camping. Despite this oversized stature, it’s more portable than we expected, with comfortable handles on each end that make carrying it that much easier. After years of regular use, this durably constructed soft-sided model looks and works just about the same as the day we first bought it.