WITH the warm weather continuing, it’s a good idea to carry water around with us.
Since Chilly’s insulated bottles hit the market in 2010, almost every shop had produced their own version to keep your drink cold.
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Here, Thea Jacobs And Lily Richardson put stores’ insulated bottles to the test to see if they can keep your water ice cold all day long.
Each bottle contained chilled water and was placed in direct sunlight for 8 hours on a blistering 30C day, and tested hourly.
We rate each one out of five.
Insulated Travel Flask Beige, 420ml, Tesco, £8
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THIS flask isn’t much to look at, but would fit in perfectly in a nice minimalist home.
It’s primarily designed for taking coffees or teas out and keep them warm, but it doesn’t do too badly with cold drinks in this test.
When I put the water into the flask, it was 19.9C degrees. An hour in and it had actually dropped by 0.2C to 19.7C.
The flip lid is easy to use, and it has a smooth directional pour for the liquid to stop spillages.
You can turn it upside down and shake it with no leaks at all.
After six hours the water temperature had risen to 23.3C and the lid was hot to touch.
This doesn’t hold as much liquid as the others.
Temp rise: 4.5C
Rating: 3/5
Smidge Reusable Water Bottle, 500ml, Ocado, £15
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THIS is certainly an assault on the eyes, but given the fluorescent orange, you’d be hard-pressed to ever lose or forget this bottle.
For its size, it’s more expensive than the other options but it does prove worth the cost as I measure the water temperature across eight hours.
It started at 17C when I put the water in, and in an hour it had only risen 0.3C.
This is a nicely sealed bottle and doesn’t leak when placed on its side or turned upside down.
After six hours in the sun, the bottle is warm to touch but not hot and the water inside is still cool at 20.2C.
After eight hours the liquid measured 21.6C.
Temp rise: 4.3C
Rating: 4/5
Contigo Streeterville Thermalock Tumbler 1.2l, Ocado, £30
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A dupe of a Stanley Cup that has become super popular.
It has a removable straw, but there is nowhere to store it when not in use, which seems to be a design flaw.
It also has a chug hole.
While this takes the biggest volume of liquid, it’s not watertight and leaks when everything is closed and lying on its side.
When I turn it upside down, it’s like a miniature Niagara Falls.
After an hour the water temperature has risen from 19.8C to 20C.
After six hours the flask is really hot to touch.
After eight hours the water temperature had risen to 25.5C.
Temp rise: 5.7C
Rating: 1/5
Sistema, 500ml, Waitrose, £12
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THIS is a gorgeous pinky-purple colour and looks really stylish.
It’s a decent price for the size and doesn’t leak when turned upside down or on its side.
The matt coating to the outside keeps it nice and cool despite it spending eight hours in the sunshine at 30C.
This is by far the best insulated bottle.
After two hours the temperature has only risen to 19.5C, 0.5C higher than it was when I filled the bottle.
After six hours the bottle is a little warm to the touch but it is still much cooler than the others.
After eight hours, the water temperature had risen to 23.1C
Temp rise: 4.1C
Rating: 5/5
Gym + Coffee 750ml, Very.co.uk, £22
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THIS is the third largest of the insulated bottles I tested and one I’ve heard pals raving about to take to the gym – possibly because of the name.
It’s a screw top and is watertight when turned on its side and upside down.
After an hour, the temperature of the water inside had risen by 0.5C.
After two, the bottle had become extremely hot to touch but the water remained a cool 19.6C.
I’m starting to see why people rate this bottle.
After eight hours in direct sunlight the water temperature had risen to 23C.
While this keeps the liquid super cool, it does become very hot to touch, which makes holding it to take a swig quite hard – but that is the only down side.
Temp rise: 4C
Rating: 4/5
Insulated Dual Adventure Water Bottle Cup With Handle 880ml, Tesco, £12
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THE design of this insulated bottle makes it look a bit like a baby’s sippy cup crossed with a Stanley bottle – and I can’t say I’m a fan.
The dual straw and chug hole are a nice touch and make it easy to drink whatever the weather.
It doesn’t leak when laid on its side or turned upside down.
Given that it holds a large volume of water, I was expecting the liquid to stay cooler for longer, but that wasn’t the case.
Within an hour it had risen 1.3C from 20.4C.
Thanks to the colour of the bottle – white reflects the sun – it didn’t get hot to touch during the eight hours it spent in direct sunlight.
At the end of the day, the water in the bottle was 25.5C.
Temp rise: 5.1C
Rating: 2/5
Black Matt 500ml Stainless Steel Insulated Water Bottle, WHSmith, £14.99
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THIS looks like a classic Chilly’s insulated bottle, but it’s a WHSmith’s own-brand dupe.
It’s a dark colour which makes me think it’ll become very hot to touch after eight hours in the sunlight – and it turns out that I’m right.
After just two hours the lid, which needs to be screwed off, is scorching hot.
Thankfully, the contents of the bottle are quite cool still.
The water temperature was 19.3C when poured in and after two hours it had risen to 20.7C.
After six hours in the sun, the entire bottle is hot and hard to handle.
I had to use a tea towel to try sipping the contents.
After eight hours the liquid inside measured 23.5C.
Temp rise: 4.2C
Rating: 3/5
NPW Hydrate Feel Great, Waterstones, £6.99
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IT may look like an insulated water bottle, with a nice colour and motivational slogan, but it isn’t actually insulated – just a regular run-of-the-mill water bottle.
So in terms of it giving you a cooling drink, you’d either need to keep it in a shady spot, or, better still, find a fridge to put it in.
When I filled the bottle the water temperature was 19C, after just an hour in the sun it had risen to 28.7C.
Despite the soaring temperature, the bottle still feels cool to touch so is easy to handle.
However, after standing for eight hours in direct sunlight and 30C heat, the temperature of the water inside had risen to 33.6C.
Total temp rise: 14.6
Rating: 0/5
