For coolers on the larger side (like the RoVR 30) it’s key to have padding on the hand or shoulder straps for comfort while carrying a fully loaded cooler. The price spread among soft coolers is significant, ranging from just $21 for the Coleman 24-Hour 16-Can Cooler all the way up to $350 for Yeti’s top-end Hopper M30. That said, even the cheapest options on our list are reasonably well built and will get the job done for days at the beach or packing a lunch on the road, which will be enough to sway many. Other coolers such as the RTIC 20 Can Soft Pack Cooler have an additional exterior zip-up pocket that fits small items, like your phone, keys, and wallet, and is waterproof for extra safekeeping.
One exception is REI Co-op, which offers a full refund or replacement within one year of purchase for members (90 days for non-members). Finally, it’s worth noting that many companies provide different warranties for their hard-sided versus soft-sided offerings. For example, Yeti’s hard-sided Tundra series is covered with a five-year warranty compared to three for the Hopper collection. If you want a soft cooler for under $25, check out the Ozark Trail Soft Sided Cooler. When it comes to cold storage, the Ozark Trail did decently, keeping its interior cool for 38 hours. However, the quality of its webbing feels on the thin side and the straps are less comfortable than others on this list.
However, this Orca soft cooler is a direct and more affordable alternative to our best upgrade pick. The Arctic Zone Titan Deep igloo trailmate Freeze is the best soft cooler we’ve tested. A few factors are holding these coolers back from significantly longer ice life.
Whether you’re going the super affordable route or looking for coolers with the most high-end design features, you can find the perfect Igloo cooler bag right here. When compared to other soft coolers in our guide, a few design choices—like placement of the side handles under the hook point for the strap making it feel very cramped—knocked a few points off. Igloo® provides the best coolers, ice chests and insulated cooler bags. The Booe 30L Waterproof Insulated Tote at $199 is near that high tier. For this soft cooler guide, we examined the most popular, innovative, highly acclaimed, and bestselling products with diverse storage and carry capacities, ice retention ability, and across a price spectrum. Ultimately, due to the ice retention, the Igloo Pursuit Tote is a solid option for errands and small trips but be sure to cool the bag before use.
It’s a good choice if you need extra cold temperatures to keep ice cream or meat not just chilled but frozen. Our major gripe with the Hydro Flask soft cooler is that it’s less comfortable to carry for long periods of time. The shoulder strap is fine, but the handles are on the thin side and lack padding. Both soft coolers and hard coolers have their strengths and weaknesses. Hard coolers tend to be better for longer trips or catering to larger group sizes, while soft coolers are great for shorter trips for fewer people. The weights of soft coolers are typically reflected by their size and capacity.
The soft coolers in our guide range from the Mountainsmith Takeout, which can fit six cans, to the 38L Snow Peak Soft Cooler. Most of our choice soft coolers are either larger (30 L to 38 L) for group multiday trips or more compact (12 L to 19 L). Durability varies considerably between soft coolers, and a good way to differentiate between models is to look at denier (D), which is a measurement of fabric thickness. igloo trailmate Rigid designs like Yeti’s Hopper M30 and Engel’s HD30 (both 840D) sit at the top of the pack. These designs have tough exteriors that feel very confidence-inspiring around sharp gear and have stood up very well to regular use throughout testing with little wear to show for it. RovR’s TravelR 30 is another standout in terms of durability with a burly TPU base and welded seams that give it a very hardwearing feel.
These elements made up for the zipper not being leakproof and for the cooler not staying as cold as other options in this guide. The Snow Peak Soft Cooler 38 did well on a weekend road trip to climb in Colorado’s Sangre de Cristo Mountains and camp out, but wouldn’t be able to igloo trailmate retain ice for longer durations. Our ice retention test corroborated that experience, showing the cooler is capable of holding ice for nearly 2.5 days. But the flexible walls allowed us to flatten and fold the cooler for easy storage, saving us space in a tight apartment.