Igloo Marine Ultra 70 Review

The Igloo Marine Ultra 70 is a part of Igloo's Marine Cooler Collection that has some new durability-focused upgrades to address common points of failure in previous models. The hinges are from Riteflex resin, which they describe as “An impact-resistant, highly flexible, temperature and chemical-resistant material.” The lid is fully insulated, and stainless steel hardware is used throughout the cooler.

Insulation

When it comes to meeting those expectations, the Igloo Marine Ultra kept things below 40 degrees for just over four days. Once that threshold was passed, the 50-degree point came and went fairly quickly, less than half a day later. Overall, this performance was just slightly below the average of all the tested coolers.

Moving and Lifting

The Igloo Marine Ultra claims a whopping 70-quart capacity. In our measurement, we came up with 76 quarts. Either way, this is a formidable storage space for a cooler and puts the Marine Ultra well into “potentially very heavy” territory when fully loaded.

The empty Igloo weighs 13.6 lbs, and while that's significantly lighter than most other coolers of this capacity, it still is pretty large and, when loaded up, is likely to become cumbersome to carry on your own. The handles don't feel terribly robust, but we appreciate that they flip outward, which protects your hands from hitting the sides of the cooler when you walk.

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Packable Space

The Marine Ultra has decent capacity for a weekend of camping or a large bonfire with friends. The manufacturer claims a capacity of 102 12-ounce cans, but we were able to fit 114. The simple design of this cooler makes it easy to pack, and we like the detent in the lid's hinges that keeps it open on its own while we load food and drinks.

Ease of Use

In the past, from Igloo, we've seen slippery, untextured plastic used on the handles, so our review of the Marine Ultra 70 was a pleasant surprise. We love the texturized grip that is somewhat soft and squishy to the touch on the new handles on the Igloo, even if we are sorry to say these are the only handles on the entire cooler. The drain plug is threaded to hook up a water hose if you'd like, which is nice, but we wish it had more grip on it, as it can be quite difficult to remove, especially when wet.

Should You Buy the Igloo Marine Ultra 70?

The Igloo Marine Ultra 70 offers large capacity, decent insulation performance, and a great price. Igloo has stepped up its game with this cooler, delivering much-needed upgrades to improve critical components prone to failure, like the hinges, lid latch, and handles. Considering that, we think the Marine Ultra is a great buy for those looking for a high-capacity cooler on a budget. Still, we feel it falls short for marine-specific users, particularly given the lack of non-slip feet and grippy textured material in key locations. We also still have some durability concerns.

What Other Coolers Should You Consider?

If you're in the market for a high-capacity cooler but Igloo Marine Ultra isn't right for you, check out the Xspec 60qt. It's similar in size to the Igloo and has higher insulation performance, better durability, and many useful additional features. If portability is paramount, the Xspec 45 Towable is an excellent wheeled cooler and a jack of all trades, delivering outstanding performance across all of our testing metrics. Yeti also offers a wheeled option with similar capacity and a stellar performance, the Yeti Roadie 60, but the price tag comes in 5.5x higher.