Selecting the perfect water bottle is essential to maintaining daily hydration and optimal health. If you're trying to consume the recommended 3 liters/day for women and 4 liters for men, you need a bottle that's able to keep up. Our short article below highlights key features of the 50+ water bottles that we've meticulously tested throughout the years, identifying the best application for different bottle types in addition to helpful features that allow them to integrate effortlessly into your daily routine. Whether you're hitting the gym, maintaining hydration on travel days or commutes, or looking for a durable design to hit the trails with, we've got you covered.
Why Buy a Reusable Water Bottle?
If you don't already think a reusable bottle is a good idea, allow us to convince you with three simple points:
It's Better for the Environment
Producing one bottle takes fewer resources and creates less pollution than the production of bottled water. Each refill saves a disposable plastic bottle from being made.
It Costs Less Over Time
If you are buying bottled water each time you could be refilling a reusable bottle with tap water, you're throwing money away.
It's Healthier
With tap water tested by local, state, and federal agencies, there is no reason to believe it is less safe or cleaner than bottled water. In fact, there is reason to believe the opposite. Filling a reusable water bottle with filtered tap water helps you avoid ingesting microplastics that come from single-use plastic water bottles.
What to Consider When Buying a Water Bottle
When selecting your next reusable water bottle design, we recommend considering the bottle material that best suits your needs. We find ourselves reaching for plastic materials when we need something lightweight and affordable, glass designs when we're after optimal flavor, and stainless steel when we need something durable and don't mind the extra weight.
You should also decide whether or not you need a bottle that provides temperature regulation as well as your preferred type of closure. Do you need a bottle to keep your smoothie cold during your daily work commute? Should it have a straw attachment so you can keep your eyes on the road? Or do you need a leakproof option that's perfect for tossing into a backpack or tote? Does your bottle need to be large enough to get you through activities between refills or cupholder compatible to prevent spills during long travel days? The sections below dive deeper into these considerations, highlighting the pros and cons of different materials, closure types, capacity, and everyday convenience.
Bottle Materials
Over the years, we've tested a variety of water bottle materials, often identifying our favorites based on our chosen activity for the day. Although taboo in this day and age, we find the durability, affordability, and convenience of a reusable plastic water bottle perfect for travel and outdoor activities. We love a glass-lined or glass bottle when seeking optimal flavor and maintaining hydration on our daily commute or demanding work days. For versatility, durability, and temperature regulation, we'll grab a stainless steel design that features double wall insulation capable of keeping hot drinks hot and cold drinks cold, no matter the climate we're in. Below we'll dive a little deeper into the pros and cons of each bottle material, hopefully making it a little easy to narrow down your selection.
Plastic
By now we understand that plastics in this day and age aren't the best practice when it comes to leaching chemicals, temperature regulation, and odor-free flavor, however, there is a time and a place for a reusable plastic water bottle. Plastics are perfect for anyone on a budget, who is looking for a lightweight bottle to maintain hydration in the mountains during day hikes and backpacking trips, as well as when you're traveling and don't want to risk losing your expensive design as you transition through airport security.
Stainless Steel
Stainless steel insulated water bottles are becoming more popular as they provide excellent durability and temperature regulation for drinks hot and cold. Many designs are capable of keeping beverages like coffee and tea hot for up to 12 hours, while also maintaining cold drinks like electrolytes and smoothies for up to 24 hours. Although heavier and more expensive, we think they provide ample return on your investment due to their lasting performance and durability, in addition to their odor-free flavor.
Glass
Glass bottles are known for their purity of flavor, eliminating any risk of transferring chemicals between hot and cold beverages. Glass bottles are for those people with sensitive flavor pallets that don't mind the lack of durability nor the heavier weight. We find them perfect for commuters and those after hydration at their desk, but don't recommend these bottles are designs versatile enough for the trail or to float the river. We love that glass provides a more sleek design that's easy to clean and more eco-friendly.
What's the Best Opening Style?
In our opinion, there's no “best” spout style, it truly comes down to personal preference. There are many options to choose from today and many of the water bottle designs that we tested allow you to rotate between different styles, perhaps selecting a telescoping lid for your morning brew and swapping to a straw option for your afternoon hydration.
There are wide and narrow mouth openings which have their pros and cons. Wide mouth openings are perfect for hydrating while seated at a desk or when you need to chug some electrolytes after an intense work out. While small mouth openings better regulate the rate of flow, allowing you to prevent spills and take sips without pause. Wide mouth bottles that are easy to fill, which combine with small mouth closures on the lid are often our favorite combination, providing the best of all worlds. We love how easy a wide mouth bottle is to clean and refill, as well as the convenience of a small mouth opening that can prevent spills and make it easier to hydrate on the go.
Closures come in a variety of materials such as stainless steel, silicone, and a variety of plastics. Similar to water bottle materials, stainless is best for lack of flavor transfer and limited chemical transfer, but it does conduct heat and doesn't have the best mouth feel. Some designs feature silicone straws and gaskets, which can distribute a plastic flavor and limit durability. And while plastic is lighter in weight and more affordable, plastic lids come in a variety of textures and densities, some featuring a better mouth feel than others.
And lastly, it's important to consider whether or not the closure you've selected actually covers and protects the portion of the bottle that you'll be drinking from, especially since there is no greater barrier to hydration than a dirty, moldy, and coated mouth piece.
As previously mentioned, most bottles that we tested provide a variety of closures that allow you to mix and match based on your planned activities for the day. We will often select a telescoping closure for our morning brew, a wide mouth bottle with small mouth closure when we need to hydrate on the go, and straw closures for longer travel days when we want to stay hydrated without taking our eyes off the road.
Should I Get an Insulated Bottle?
If you're waffling between an insulated versus a non-insulated bottle, hopefully these perspectives will help with your decision. We tested non-insulated, single wall designs as well as double-wall vacuum-insulated bottles. The biggest differences are often in price as well as temperature regulation. Single wall bottles feature one layer, are often lighter in weight, as well as more affordable. Double-wall vacuum-insulated bottles consist of two layers with a vacuum seal between them, that slows down the rate of temperature transfer. Double-wall bottles often keep cold drinks cold in hot climates as well as hot drinks hot in cold climates.
Insulated bottles are often considered more versatile, since they allow you to swap between hot and cold beverages, most bottles are capable of maintaining hot beverages for up to 12 hours and cold drinks for up to 24 hours. Those bottles that eliminate flavor transfers are perfect for anyone who is after a design versatile enough to start their day with coffee and switch to electrolytes when it's time to hydrate later in the day.
In addition to maintaining hot and cold beverage, insulated bottles also prevent your bottle from “sweating” on the exterior, which can make it difficult to grip and transport. For this reason, insulated bottles are better suited for cold drinks, protein shakes, or smoothies, since they will keep them cold and prevent the bottle from sweating.
Just keep in mind that insulated bottles are often heavier, bulkier, and more expensive. That said, our review highlights those that are worthy of the higher price, and perfect for daily use. The weight and bulk isn't a big deal for daily commutes and desktop warriors, however, if you also want a bottle that's durable enough for use on the trail or down the river, the weight and bulk of an insulated bottle can be a limiting factor.
How Easy is it to Clean?
It's recommended that you clean your water bottle every day with soap and water, or a trip through the dishwasher.
It's important to maintain proper hygiene and cleanliness of your reusable water bottle to provide optimal taste and flavor. In our review, we identify the water bottle designs that are dishwasher safe and easy to maintain, allowing them to fit effortlessly into your daily routine.
The bottles that received the highest marks featured simple designs without a ton of features that would allow flavors to linger after you switch to a hydration from your morning cup of Joe. The bottles with intricate lids or small mouth openings often received lower scores as they were more difficult to clean and therefore allowed flavors to linger and transfer between beverages.
Glass bottles or glass-lined stainless steel bottles with minimal plastics in the construction were often among our favorites when it came to the bottles that were easiest to clean and maintain, making them our go-tos for daily use.
What Features Are Actually Useful?
After testing several different water bottle designs, we highlighted the most important features that contribute to everyday convenience, namely carry handles, cupholder friendly designs, and filter bottles that maximize flavor.
Daily hydration is difficult to maintain, therefore a nice and convenient carry handle is essential to removing any barriers, making it easy to tote your bottle from one activity to the next. Our favorite handles were sturdy and capable, some even featuring a thin layer of silicone to maximize comfort and grip. Our least favorite bottles featured thin plastic handles or cord that weren't comfortable, nor did they inspire confidence in their longevity.
Cupholder compatibility is essential for anyone who is trying to hydrate during a long travel day or commute as it keeps your vessel conveniently within an arm's reach. These bottles are also great for preventing spills and maintaining a clean car interior, allowing you to drive with peace of mind that your vessel will remain upright. The bottles that featured a larger size in addition to cupholder compatibility were our favorite bottles in this regard, especially since you could travel for extended periods without taking your eyes off the road or requiring a refill.
Filter bottles are perfect for those with sensitive pallets, often utilized in public spaces with water fountains or while hiking along the trail. These bottles are a great way to remove hydration barriers when traveling or hiking the trails after work. Filter bottles are also a great way to reduce your reliance on single use plastics, as they provide great tasting, safe drinking water, no matter where you're traveling.
Hydration Alternatives and Accessories
Looking for a way to stay hydrated on more adventurous outings? You might want to check out a running hydration pack, a mountain bike hydration pack, or a backpacking water filter.
Conclusion
We hope our short article helps you identify the best water bottle design to meet your needs and maintain hydration no matter what you have planned for your day ahead.
