Credit:
Reviewed / Timothy Renzi
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Credit:
Reviewed / Timothy Renzi
Reviewed's mission is to help you buy the best stuff and get the most out of what you already own. Our team of product experts thoroughly vet every product we recommend to help you cut through the clutter and find what you need.
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The Arctic Zone Titan Deep Freeze is a soft cooler that comes with a detachable wheeled cart. It has excellent cold retention and versatile storage Read More
The Yeti Hopper Flip 18 is a high-class soft cooler. It's expensive, but every inch of it is high quality. Read More
The BrüMate MagPack 24-Can Backpack Soft Cooler is a portable cooler with magnetic buckles and excellent insulation. Read More
The Orca Walker soft cooler impressed us with its cold retention and durable exterior. Read More
The 20-can Rtic Soft Pack is a moderately compact cooler with comfortable straps and above-average cold retention. Read More
A tough, reliable soft cooler can keep your food and beverages cold while you hike, take a day trip, picnic, or tailgate. Best of all, unlike a hard-sided cooler, many of the best soft coolers can be collapsed down for easy storage when not in use.
After researching and testing the best soft coolers, we found that the Arctic Zone Titan Deep Freeze 60 (available at Amazon) is the best overall choice among the many. It glides effortlessly on wheels, is tough, and, when filled with ice and ice packs, can keep food and beverages cold for up to a day and a half.
In addition to the Arctic Zone soft-sided cooler, we also tested fancier and more compact models like our Best Upgrade pick, the Yeti Hopper Flip 18 (available at Yeti)—a soft cooler that you’ll feel comfortable taking to the beach or the backcountry.
Read on for a look at the best soft coolers on the market right now.
The Arctic Zone Titan Deep Freeze is the best soft cooler we've tested.
Good cold retention
Easy to move
Versatile storage
Short handle
The Yeti Hopper Flip 18 is one of the best soft coolers you can buy right now.
The Brumate Magpack Backpack cooler is an excellent portable soft cooler.
Excellent cold retention
Sturdy design
Uncomfortable handles
Average cold retention
Sytlish
Uncomfortable handles
Lightweight
Below average cold retention
Versatile storage
Below average cold retention
Affordable
Versatile storage
Poor cold retention
Uncomfortable straps
Because of their size, lightweight construction, and other features—like being equipped with padded handles, bottle openers, or backpack straps—soft coolers offer more flexibility than traditional hard-sided coolers. Soft coolers are better for activities like a summertime picnic in the park or a day hike.
Unlike hard-sided coolers, the pliable-sided construction of soft coolers makes them easy to store when not in use. Many soft coolers can be collapsed and stored away after being emptied and wiped clean of water.
A soft cooler on wheels can be easier to transport than one with only handles.
When shopping for a soft cooler, always look for leak-resistant or waterproof closure.
Additionally, give priority to coolers with closed-cell foam insulation over ones that employ other cooling methods.
A soft cooler should also be made from puncture-resistant materials, so that it can stand up to casual (and not so casual) abuse.
Extra features, such as an exterior pocket for carrying utensils are a plus, but not at the cost of cooling capability or durability.
To test the best soft coolers, we filled each one with ice to see how long it took for the ice to melt.
According to our research and experiments, ideally, a cooler, by volume, should have twice as much ice or ice packs inside of it as it does food.
So, if you were chilling a gallon of milk, you’d use two gallons of ice to keep it cool. That said, using more ice allows for better food preservation over a longer period of time.
To preserve food for more than 24 hours, you will need to use a combination of ice chunks and ice chips. The chips help with immediate cooling, and the chunks keep your food fresh over a longer period of time.
Pre-cool your cooler: If you’re storing your soft cooler in a hot garage, bring it inside of your home so that it can reach room temperature. That way you’re not wasting ice in an attempt to lower the cooler’s temperature.
Avoid using ice that’s already melting: Using a bag of ice that is already melting won’t keep your soft cooler as cold as ice straight out of the freezer. This is also true of ice packs.
Keep it in the shade: During your travels, a good way to keep your food and drinks cool for longer is to keep your soft cooler in the shade, whenever possible.
Keep it closed: Open your cooler as infrequently as possible in order to keep what’s inside cold, for longer.
Most soft coolers work best when cooled by ice packs or ice cubes. However, dry ice reaches lower temperatures than regular ice and can be used in most soft coolers. It’s a good choice if you need extra cold temperatures to keep ice cream or meat not just chilled but frozen.
Aside from being colder than ice, the biggest advantage to dry ice is that, as it warms up, it evaporates, instead of melting. So, you won’t be stuck cleaning up a puddle of water.
There are a few downsides to using dry ice, however. While it is colder, it won’t last as long as regular ice.
Additionally, as dry ice constantly emits carbon dioxide, store it outdoors or, lacking that, in a well-ventilated area.
In most situations, the best way to utilize dry ice is to place it at the bottom of your cooler, wrapped in newspaper. Place the items you’d like to stay frozen or colder on top of dry ice.
Edibles that only need to be chilled should be placed closer to the top of the cooler.
When testing soft coolers, we focused on performance, capacity, and how comfortable each is to carry.
Our testing team filled each soft cooler in this guide halfway up with ice. The coolers were then placed in Reviewed’s humidity and temperature-controlled lab space to ensure that the coolers were tested with an outside ambient temperature of 72°F and 50% relative humidity.
We placed two sensors designed to track temperature changes over time inside each soft cooler. We put one sensor at the bottom of the cooler, which was enclosed inside of a methylcellulose block. The other sensor was placed on the ice at the top of the cooler.
The sensor at the top of the cooler was removed daily to record its findings and simulate the temperature gains that occur when a cooler is opened during normal use. We ran these temperature tests until there was no ice inside the cooler.
To test the portability of each soft cooler, the team walked around with each of the coolers to see how comfortable they were to carry. The coolers were all tipped upside down to see if they were, in fact, leakproof.
Finally, we filled each of the soft coolers with soda cans to compare against the claimed carrying capacity.
The build quality and aesthetics of each cooler were also taken into consideration.
Jonathan Chan currently serves as the Lab Manager at Reviewed. If you clean with it, it's likely that Jon oversees its testing. Since joining the Reviewed in 2012, Jon has helped launch the company's efforts in reviewing laptops, vacuums, and outdoor gear. He thinks he's a pretty big deal. In the pursuit of data, he's plunged his hands into freezing cold water, consented to be literally dragged through the mud, and watched paint dry. Jon demands you have a nice day.
Beckett Dubay
Product Test Technician
Beckett Dubay is a product tester at Reviewed, regularly using science-based protocol to test refrigerators, dishwashers, and laundry large appliances, and photographing the process in the lab from start to finish.
Michael Elderbee
Product Test Technician
Michael is a Product Test Technician at Reviewed and regularly tests refrigerators, dishwashers, and laundry appliances. His 5 years as a behavioral technician has given him a strong appreciation for data collection and research.
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