Gone are the days of drinking from single-use plastic bottles. Instead, shoppers shell out big bucks to get their hands on a coveted, trendy insulated mug. Think about the last time you were out and about: Whether you were driving or taking public transportation, chances are you saw at least one person with a Stanley, Yeti, or Owala.
Sure, staying hydrated is a worthwhile investment—but over $30 for the best water bottles? Are they really worth it? According to a Yahoo editor, the answer is yes. But which one should you buy? Stanley’s Quencher Tumbler has gone viral many times on TikTok, but is it really the best of the best? Rival brand Yeti has its own legion of diehard fans who swear it “far outperform[s]Stanley tumblers.”
I drink a lot of water throughout the day, every day, so I decided to do one for the team and buy a Stanley And a Yeti. I put both brands through a head-to-head ice test to find out once and for all which tumbler is better. Read on to find out the results.
The candidates
Amazon
First up, we have Yeti’s best-selling Rambler tumbler. It’s made from dishwasher-safe stainless steel and features double-wall vacuum insulation to keep drinks cold. It comes in three sizes – 25 ounces, 35 ounces and 42 ounces – and more than 20 colors.
$38 at Amazon
Goal
Next we have the Stanley H2.0 FlowState Quencher Tumbler. Most people are familiar with the 40-ounce design with the handle, but it also comes in 14-, 20-, 30-, and 64-ounce tumblers. Like the Yeti Rambler, it’s made from durable stainless steel and features double-wall vacuum insulation. It’s dishwasher safe and comes with a reusable straw. The color choices are huge when you order directly from Stanley.
$30 at Target
Stanley vs Yeti
Before we start the review, a few other details about the Yeti Rambler and Stanley Quencher that are worth nothing. First, the tumblers don’t come in identical sizes. I’m comparing the 25-ounce Yeti to the 20-ounce Stanley. Since the Yeti is larger, it should come as no surprise that it’s also heavier. It’s not a brick by any means, but you can tell it weighs more when you hold the two tumblers.
The 25-ounce Yeti Rambler has a handle, the 20-ounce Stanley does not. Both cups fit easily in the cup holders in my car.
And last but not least, neither cup is spill-proof. I filled both and tipped them over—the water poured out almost immediately. If you’re looking for something that won’t spill, consider Yahoo Home editor Kristin Granero’s top recommendation: the Stanley IceFlow.
The ice holding test
OK, now for the main event. To find out which cup is better, I had a simple question: Which cup keeps ice cream frozen longer? To find out, I put 10 ice cubes in each cup, filled both with water from the fridge, and put them in the 30°C sun for two hours. Scientific? Probably not. Practical? Yep.
To my surprise, after two hours in the sun, there was no ice left in the Yeti. There was still some ice in the Stanley – admittedly, it was quite small pieces, but it was there.
Could other factors have contributed to this result? Of course. As I mentioned above, the cups are slightly different sizes, which may have played a role in why the ice melted faster in the larger Yeti. The cups were different colors, which may have affected the results. Still, I can confidently recommend the Stanley as a top-notch cup that will actually keep your drink cold (and your ice frozen) for a longer period of time. I drank from both cups after they had been sitting in the sun for two hours, and the water in the Stanley was colder. The difference wasn’t drastic, but big enough that I noticed it.
In brief
The Stanley H2.0 FlowState Quencher kept my ice frozen longer and my water cold longer. But the Yeti Rambler isn’t to be sniffed at either. It kept the water almost as cold – even after the ice melted – and the handle is handy. While this highly anticipated matchup wasn’t exactly a tie, you can’t go wrong with either of these heavyweights.
