Best Coolers of 2024

The big difference you hear a lot about when shopping for a cooler is ice retention—specifically, how long a cooler can keep a full load of ice frozen (melted ice, aka water, isn’t great at keeping drinks cold). The new, expensive options all hang their hats on this test, with rotomolded coolers specifically designed to pull it off (and thus justify their price tags).

That’s all well and good, but I was concerned that a standard ice retention test by itself wouldn’t tell us the whole story. Sure, some coolers would probably keep ice frozen for much longer than others, but using melting point as a benchmark seems to ignore everything that comes before it. I wanted to get a good idea of ​​performance, not just after days, but after hours, before any ice had melted.

To do that, I started with a modified version of the ice retention test. Instead of a full load of ice in each cooler, I went with an amount of ice equal to 10% of the total volume of each cooler. (I already have an accurate measurement of the total volume of each cooler from the capacity test described earlier.) Less ice meant more challenge for the coolers, hopefully giving us a more detailed picture of how well they performed relative to each other.

I specifically wanted to track the ambient temperature in each cooler, so I spread the ice in each cooler I tested under a raised pot of propylene glycol solution (diluted antifreeze) with a temperature probe in it. Why raised? The temperature in the ice would have been about the same in all the coolers, making retention the only real variable. Tracking the ambient temperature up there was much more telling and gave us some additional variables to consider.

Oh, and I did all of this in one of our appliance lab’s climate-controlled test chambers. I made sure to leave each cooler open in the chamber for a few hours beforehand, so they all started at room temperature (around 80 degrees Fahrenheit, to mimic a good outdoor summer temperature).

In the end, it proved to be a fruitful test. After 48 hours (72 hours for the largest coolers), I had a handy graph showing me the temperatures inside each cooler on a minute-by-minute basis — and the difference from cooler to cooler was striking. To put this data into perspective, I separated the coolers into separate size categories after separating the soft-sided coolers into their own category. That left me with small coolers (under 40 quarts), medium coolers (40-59 quarts), and large coolers (60 quarts or more). You can find the graphical data for each of those categories below, as well as our performance data on the soft-sided coolers (again, don’t expect much from these types of coolers).

Mobility and sustainability

I also took each cooler’s design and features into account during testing, and noted any concerns about durability. For example, I wasn’t impressed with the lid on the Igloo Latitude Wheeled Cooler. It doesn’t close properly, and the plastic-studded hinges are a total joke. Give it a gentle yank and the entire lid falls right off — and the cheap plastic wheels left me unimpressed, too. Not great if you’re in the market for a camping cooler.

The Rovr Rollr wheeled cooler fared much better, thanks to a sturdy design with heavy-duty wheels, a sturdy steel handlebar, and an optional $50 accessory that lets you tow it behind your bike. I also liked that the interior has a divider that makes it easy to separate items you don’t want to get wet from the ice, and that you can customize it with different liner designs. My only gripe is that the T-shaped handlebars have comfortable rubber grips on the sides but not in the center, where you’ll want to grip when carrying it with one hand.

Speaking of coolers on wheels, the Igloo Journey Trailmate 70-qt. All-Terrain Cooler also came with a dizzying array of extras and features. Overall, it wasn’t as durable as the Rovr, but I guess they’re designed for different purposes. If I’m heading out into the woods for a weekend with a few friends, I’ll definitely take the Rovr. If I’m heading to the beach with my family for a day, I’ll probably opt for the Igloo.

Oh, and if you’re going to be spending a lot of time camping in an area where bears are a problem, you’ll probably want to invest in a bear-resistant cooler. Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee holds a running list of certified optionsincluding a number of coolers from this roundup. Several of the models I tested from Cabela’s, Orca, Rovr, Magellan Outdoors, and Yeti all make the cut.

It’s also worth considering whether your cooler is sturdy enough to stand on, something that comes in handy when you’re camping. Most of the coolers I tested were, but some went a step further. The Bison Gen 2 Cooler, for example, goes so far as to advertise itself as an ideal casting platform to stand on during your next fishing trip, and even sells anti-slip traction mats for the cover in different versions.

Between the hinges, lid, drain plug, and lid latch, the Bison cooler felt the most premium. It didn’t retain cold air as well or as long as other roto-molded models, and it costs about $150 more than our most affordable roto-molded pick, the Xspec 60qt High Performance cooler.

Latch and lids

Let’s take a moment to talk about hinges and latches. Some are good, some are bad, and some just don’t exist. Coolers with removable lids are generally lower-end coolers that aren’t going to perform 100% of the time — with one exception that I’ve found so far. Magellan Outdoors has a double-latching, double-hinged removable lid that just so happens to win our picks for best small and large cooler. The easy-to-use, double-latching design means you can open the cooler from either side, and if you prefer, you can release the latches on either side to remove the lid entirely.

Now let’s compare that to most newer cooler designs on models like the Yeti, RTIC, Orca, Cabela’s, or Frosted Frog which have rubber T-shaped grips that you have to pull down to secure the lid. They are difficult to pull down, even if you are an adult. I had three other adults help secure these grips and of the four of us, two were able to do it, one couldn’t, and the last only after an inordinate amount of wrestling. Performance is important, but design matters too — and sometimes it’s a deal breaker.

I understand that a rubber bungee style locking mechanism is probably very efficient from a cost and maintenance perspective for the manufacturers. Less moving parts and it’s rubber so… it just kind of flexes around, but there is a locking mechanism that I’ve seen that is probably a great middle ground between the rubber latches and what you’ll find on Magellan Outdoors products. I’ve seen this on products like the Xspec 60qt cooler , Amazon’s Commercial 20qt cooler , and the Lifetime 55qt high performance cooler . These latches use rubber bands to secure the lid, but at the end of each band is a plastic handle that you can push against the attachment point to easily achieve the tightened fit. It’s a lot better than the rubber T-handles, but make no mistake, Magellan Outdoors still gets my vote for best locking mechanism.

The Yeti Hopper Backflip 24 was the first backpack-style cooler we tested, and while its overall performance wasn’t stellar, there were some things I did like. First, it’s a backpack. I like that. Whether you’re hauling gear to the beach or heading out for a day of hiking, having your hands free is always a bonus. It also has plenty of straps and attachment points — I imagine it’s more gear-focused on hiking than beach trips, but either way, you can still stow extra gear safely.

There are no latches, since this is a soft-sided cooler, just a zipper. The zipper claims to be both water- and leak-proof. We tested this during our capacity evaluations, where the entire cooler is filled to the brim with water and then closed. In the closed state, full of water, I swished it around without spilling a drop, so it’s safe to assume that leaks won’t be an issue. Our recent Magellan Outdoors soft-sided cooler (title holder for Best Soft-Sided Cooler) has the same zipper setup.

Final thoughts

Surprisingly, or not, brands matter. Everyone expects a Yeti cooler to perform well. They also expect them to cost more than their competitors. I recommend keeping an eye on other brands that we’ve come to respect and that have a more attractive price tag. Magellan Outdoors, Frosted Frog, RTIC, and even the Amazon Commercial coolers are worth considering, pretty much in their product lineup, based on what I’ve seen.

The only thing I’ll say about this is that I’m still surprised that there aren’t more high-end models that try to differentiate themselves from the rest with clever extra features, like a built-in battery to charge your devices when you’re camping outdoors (or even better, a solar panel).

If that’s what you’re hoping for, your best bet is to head to Kickstarter and Indiegogo, where expensive, gadgety mega-coolers like the Coolest Cooler and the Infinite Cooler enjoy a reputation for notoriety. I say notoriety because both money-grabbers have a history of production delays and notoriously unhappy customers.

It’s more than enough for me to recommend the healthiest dose of skepticism if you’re ever tempted to back a campaign like this with your cold, hard cash. I mean, come on — the last thing you want from your cooler is getting burned. Stick with an old-fashioned cooler like the one I recommend above.