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We always make a concerted effort to recommend budget-friend items, but sometimes more expensive gear simply performs better and lasts longer. This is why we love Yeti coolers. Across all our testing, we consistently found that almost all the best coolers are made by Yeti. They keep drinks cold for days, have exceptional ice retention, and are incredibly durable.
If you’ve ever met a Yeti person, then you know the term “cult following” applies. Whether they’re actually into outdoor adventures or just enjoy the outdoorsy aesthetic, Yeti people are nothing if not brand loyal. Thinking about becoming a Yeti person? Then it's worth considering which products are best for you, because you don’t want to spend upwards of $400 on something that isn’t going to meet your needs.
Read on for info to help you find the best Yeti cooler for your lifestyle, and to learn about all the non-cooler Yeti gear you might want to add to your collection—or gift the Yeti obsessive in your life.
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Yeti hard coolers
Yeti soft coolers
Why are Yeti coolers good?
Yeti drinkware
Yeti accessories
Why is Yeti gear so expensive?
Yeti hard coolers
The Yeti Tundra is the iconic hard-sided cooler with rubber T-rex latches and rope handles. Yeti proudly proclaims that this cooler is bear-proof, even against grizzly bears, when properly locked. The insulated walls are over 3.5 inches thick, and during our testing, it kept liquid at refrigerator temperatures for over 36 hours. We also found that the Tundra still had a substantial amount of ice inside it after three days.
To some extent, this comes down to personal preference, but we think the Tundra 45 is the best Yeti cooler for most people. It can comfortably hold two dozen beers and ice (it can hold over 50 beers without ice), which is plenty for most activities. It’s also the biggest Tundra that we’d reasonably say one person can carry on their own. The Tundra 65 is not impossible for one person to manage, but it can feel a little awkward when it’s full.
Yeti makes some ridiculously large ice chests—like the Tundra 350 that holds 549 cans of beer or more than 300 pounds of ice—that really only makes sense for big events like outdoor weddings with a few hundred guests. If that’s not what you’re looking for, here are some other products in the Tundra line we think are worth the price.
Specs: 21.1” W x 15.9” D x 15.4” H; Holds 39 cans (no ice), 29 lbs. ice (no cans)
Specs: 25.6” W x 15.9” D x 15.5” H; Holds 54 cans (no ice), 37 lbs. ice (no cans)
Specs: 21.1” W x 15.9” D x 15.4” H; Holds 77 cans (no ice), 58 lbs. ice (no cans)
Specs: 21.1” W x 15.9” D x 15.4” H; Holds 131 cans (no ice), 78 lbs. ice (no cans)
Specs: 21.1” W x 15.9” D x 15.4” H; Holds 139 cans (no ice), 93 lbs. ice (no cans)
Specs: 21.1” W x 15.9” D x 15.4” H; Holds 150 cans (no ice), 102 lbs. ice (no cans)
Specs: 21.1” W x 15.9” D x 15.4” H; Holds 193 cans (no ice), 129 lbs. ice (no cans)
Specs: 21.1” W x 15.9” D x 15.4” H; Holds 229 cans (no ice), 154 lbs. ice (no cans)
The Roadie debuted as Yeti’s smaller hard cooler, intended for things like day trips or an afternoon at the beach. In 2022, the company came out with a bigger, taller, wheeled version of the Roadie cooler—the Roadie 48—that is currently our favorite hard cooler overall. Thanks to its long, telescoping handle, the Roadie represented a big improvement over the brand’s first wheeled cooler, the Yeti Tundra Haul. The Roadie is big enough to hold cold drinks (including wine bottles, thanks to the added height) for a party, or food for a multi-day camping trip. The wheels make it incredibly easy to move around, even when it’s full. Yeti also still makes the Roadie 24 as well as the larger Roadie 60, but we think the middle-of-the-road size is perfect for most uses.
Specs: 16.6” W x 14” D x 17.4” H; Holds 33 cans (no ice), 26 lbs. ice (no cans)
Specs: 19.8” W x 20.1” D x 20.6” H; Holds 76 cans (no ice), 54 lbs. ice (no cans)
Specs: 23.7” W x 20” D x 20.5” H; Holds 98 cans (no ice), 68 lbs. ice (no cans)
Yeti Soft Coolers
Yeti’s soft-sided coolers are a little less hardcore than the Tundra and Roadie lines, but they’re much lighter and easier to move around. The largest option in this line, the M30, weighs only 6.8 pounds to a comparably-sized Tundra’s 21.4 pounds. Because soft-sided coolers have fabric exteriors filled with closed cell rubber insulation, they won’t keep ice frozen for days the way a hard cooler can. However, for most everyday needs—outings to the beach, youth sports games, short road trips, things like that—they provide more than enough insulation to keep your food and drinks ice cold for the day.
A note on the Yeti recall of 2023
We are aware that Yeti’s Hopper coolers were recalled during the first half of 2023 because the magnets inside could come loose. The brand told us the issue has been corrected, and that previously recalled coolers would become available again in October 2023. We waited to publish this piece until the safe coolers hit the market, and we’ll only be linking to the Yeti site for soft-sided coolers to ensure you’re getting the most up-to-date version of these coolers.
Choosing the best Yeti soft cooler depends largely on how you plan to use it. Yeti’s new M12 backpack cooler may actually be the most perfect day trip cooler on the market today. It’s the right size for a picnic and a six-pack, it’s incredibly comfortable to wear, and it comes with a dry pocket to hold things like keys and a wallet so you don’t need to carry an additional bag. The Hopper M15 and the M30 cooler bags are better for car-centric trips that don’t involve more than a walk across a parking lot. They hold more than the backpack coolers—the M30 can hold an entire case of canned beverages—but while they come with shoulder straps for easy carrying, they can still get heavy when full.
Specs: 12.4” W x 8.6”D x 10.6”H; Holds 11 cans (no ice), 10 lbs. ice (no cans)
Specs: 14.3” W x 10.7”D x 12”H; Holds 24 cans (no ice), 16 lbs. ice (no cans)
Specs: 17.7” W x 11.5”D x 12.8”H; Holds 30 cans (no ice), 28 lbs. ice (no cans)
Specs: 17" W x 8" D x 16" H; Holds 20 cans (no ice), 12 lbs. ice (no cans)
Specs: 20.3" W x 9.2" D x 16.0" H; Holds 32 cans (no ice), 15 lbs. ice (no cans)
Specs: 15.3” W x 9.9”D x 18.1”H; Holds 36 cans (no ice), 22 lbs. ice (no cans)
Specs: 25.2” W x 11.9”D x 17.3”H; Holds 42 cans (no ice), 32 lbs. ice (no cans)
Why are Yeti coolers good?
While we don’t think Yeti is the only brand of cooler worth buying—we’ve had good experiences with Coleman and RTIC coolers as well—we’ve tested a lot of Yeti coolers and they repeatedly score top marks for performance.
Yeti’s hard coolers have a thick, rotomolded polyethylene (plastic) shell that leaves room for a lot of forced polyurethane foam insulation between the inner and outer walls, similar to spray foam insulation used for homes. A Yeti Tundra cooler has two inches of insulation in the walls and three inches in the lid. When you combine this with features like durable gaskets and interlocking lids, very little air or heat from the outside can penetrate the shell to change the internal temperature.
The brand’s soft coolers use closed cell rubber insulation, and while it doesn’t perform as well as the foam insulation used in Yeti’s hard coolers, it still offers an excellent barrier from air outside the cooler. They seal tightly with powerful magnets or watertight zippers, but it's worth noting that the fabric on the soft coolers is water-resistant, not waterproof. Because of this, you wouldn't want to leave one outside in a downpour. A soft cooler is best for a light duty day out rather than a rugged adventure.
Yeti Drinkware
In recent years, Yeti has started to offer a wide variety of vacuum insulated mugs, cups, and water bottles in every conceivable size. We’ve found the 10- and 20-ounce mugs with Magslide lids to be the most useful, since they can hold up to everything from banging around a campsite to car commutes and parties full of small children who can’t be trusted around stemware.
Almost all of Yeti’s cups are also compatible with Yeti’s new cocktail shaker, which is very good as far as camping cocktail equipment goes. It has a leak-proof seal that takes advantage of the tumbler’s insulation, so you can preload the shaker with a drink and some ice, then shake and strain at your destination. We tried this method and found that our cocktail was still cold, and had very little excess dilution.
Yeti Accessories
Yeti makes a few other odds and ends that we’ve found quite useful over the years. Their Colster can insulators are far superior to foam koozies when it comes to keeping cans of beer or soda cold, and their Beverage Bucket is the most hardcore ice bucket we’ve ever come across. Like all of Yeti’s drinkware, this ice bucket is vacuum insulated, so your ice will actually stay frozen. While it’s not included with the bucket, we highly recommend the Yeti ice scoop, which is so heavy duty it could double as a hammer in a pinch.
Why is Yeti gear so expensive?
If you’ve scrolled down this far, you’ve probably noticed that all Yeti products, from $50 ice scoops to $500 hard coolers, are expensive. There are a few factors at play here, but first and foremost, Yeti uses high-quality materials and conducts extensive product testing—we spoke with someone from their team who told us how they simulate bear attacks to test bear resistance. They also offer a longer warranty than some other brands that make similar products. For example, Yeti’s warranty on a cooler is five years, compared with a brand like RTIC (they also make a high-performing rotomolded cooler that performed well in our testing) which only offers a one-year warranty. Then, there’s the markup for cool factor. Like we said earlier, Yeti people make the brand part of their lifestyle, much like buying Nike sneakers of Apple tech products. For some people, the logo alone is worth the markup.
