The Best Soft Coolers for Keeping Food Fresh and Drinks Cold

Coolers are a bit like cars. (Stick with me here.) Much like the past few decades have seen even the average suburban commuter favor larger, more rugged SUVs for daily trips to Trader Joe’s, so too has the average cooler become bigger, beefier, and packed with features. But, again, like cars, there are plenty of people and purposes that don’t require those bulky, hard-sided Yeti coolers with wheels, charging ports, and cup holders. Sometimes you just need a simple, compact commuter car… er…cooler. And that’s where soft coolers shine.

While hard plastic and aluminum molded coolers are great for camping, car trips, and cookouts, there are times when both space and weight are a factor. Kayaking, canoeing, paddleboarding, and boating (in all its forms) come to mind (hence some soft coolers tout their ability to float should you capsize or lose them overboard). But a less-weighty soft cooler also comes in handy when packing for a picnic, especially if you live in a city and don’t have a car, or you’re making that awkward sandal-footed hike from the boardwalk to the sand on a reliably exhausting beach day. Basically, when you need a cooler that you’ll actually have to carry, soft coolers offer a combination of both can capacity and lightweight portability without all the heft.

• The best soft cooler overall: RTIC Ultra-Tough Soft Cooler PRO
• A great budget soft-sided cooler: REI Trailgate 20L Weekend Cooler
• A comfortable backpack cooler: Brümate MagPack 24-Can Backpack Soft Cooler
• The best option for when you want a soft cooler that isn’t super stiff: Engel HD20 Heavy-Duty Soft Sided Cooler Bag

I should note that soft coolers don’t always mean collapsible or foldaway coolers. Some soft-sided coolers and cooler bags do offer this feature, and we’ve broken that category out where appropriate. However, the “soft cooler” category also encompasses structured or semihard-sided coolers featuring a rigid interior box or frame covered in fabric or other flexible materials. They’re “soft” in that these coolers typically feature plush, insulated walls within a stiffer shell. They’re still super lightweight, but they can’t be crammed into the corner of your closet or garage as easily as something that’s truly soft in every dimension.

RTIC Ultra-Tough Soft Cooler PRO

$134 $114 (15% off)

Amazon

$149 $127 (15% off)

RTIC

Before testing soft coolers, I might have just expected any model that I might buy to keep things cold, and that’s about it. But after testing a dozen soft coolers, my list of “musts” got longer as features and faults started revealing themselves. So even though it was one of the last coolers I tested, I was pleasantly surprised to find RTIC’s Ultra-Tough Soft Cooler PRO ticked almost all the boxes.

What we love: First and foremost, this cooler landed in the top four when it came to both ice retention and holding a cold temperature after 36 hours. (I only used 10 lb. of a maximum 12-lb. ice capacity, and RTIC suggests filling the cooler with a 2:1 ice-to-contents ratio, meaning there was significant air space left inside. More ice could and should improve retention.) The zipper is a little stiff to open and close, but that’s because, while it doesn’t have giant teeth like some others on this list, it does have a rubber seal on it that keeps water in (and out). And when fully closed, the zipper nestles into a slot, making it fully watertight. Yes, it’s totally leakproof, and I say that after initially almost giving it a 99% on leak prevention. When I first tipped this one over, after a couple of minutes, I saw a few drops leaking out. But it turns out, I needed to give the zipper one more tug, and sure enough, the drip stopped. For longevity, the cooler also comes with a tube of zipper lube (yeah) that is recommended to be applied whenever things seem dry or you haven’t used it in a while. (I will leave any sophomoric jokes to you.)

But I digress. I’m talking too much about the zipper, which I say because RTIC’s Cold Lock Press Lid has thick insulation (like 3" worth) that also acts like both a weight and a plug, so even if you don’t zip up the cooler every time you grab a can or bottle, it still shuts and somewhat seals itself. In other words, this one is made for serving as the BYOB hub.

The smooth, welded, waterproof interior makes wiping it clean easy. The exterior is a tough polyester material coated with a thermoplastic polyurethane that’s both durable and sleek in a cool minimalist way. When RTIC sent me a beige or “Beach” colorway, I assumed such a light color might scuff when thrown against my driveway, but it only came out with some minor scuffs. I do wish this cooler had a couple more pockets, but the one front pocket it does have is fully waterproof and generous enough for a couple of phones, wallets, and car keys. Also, it floats.

What we’d leave: The shoulder strap wasn’t the most padded I tried, but it was sufficient for toting this size and shape of cooler around (how much weight you can hand inside is up to you). It also has side and top carry handle options, though I found the sewn-on handle pad that velcros the two top handles together lacked any structure, so it completely gave way to the arc of the straps and was actually more awkward to carry with it than without it.

In the end, RTIC’s cooler hits that sweet spot between price point and practicality. It delivers on pretty much everything a good hard cooler should do without the added weight or bulkiness, and there’s nothing too finicky about its use or maintenance.

REI Trailgate 20L Weekend Cooler

$130

REI

What we love: For sheer performance as a box that keeps things cold, REI won the day. The ice retention is crazy good—it beat the must pricier Yeti, Brümate, and Dometic in that regard—and even a full 72 hours after filling it with 10 lb. of ice, there was still a good 30% floating around, plus the jar of water inside was had only risen to a chill 35° after two days hanging right around 33°. It’s got a generous 30-can capacity and a necessarily comfortable shoulder strap to haul it all. Additionally, the all-soft construction (the only rigidity comes from the stiff fabric shell and cushy box-shaped insulation) sort of melds to whatever part of your body it’s resting on, making it less cumbersome to carry than a more rigid frame. The removable insulation liner makes for easy water dumping and cleaning, even if the fabric does have a few folds and creases in the corners. Another handy feature REI provides is a list of best practices for getting the most out of your cooler printed right on the inside of the insulated lid.

What we’d leave: Given all the positives, there are a few features that the Trailgate lacks compared to its more robust (and expensive) competitors, namely watertightness. To start, REI does not advertise this as a waterproof or leakproof cooler. And sure enough, the moment I flipped it upside down, it started leaking water out of the zipper. Turning it right side up, some of that water ended up in the (minimal) gap between the removable insulated liner and the exterior shell of the cooler, which then leaked out through seams. But because the Trailgate holds on to ice so long, we’ve given it both a budget stamp and a “car trip/overnight” approval because if you take this thing out for a day at the beach or a weekend getaway and keep it flat on its bottom, you will have superior cold-keeping at a fraction of the cost of others on this list.

Brümate MagPack 24-Can Backpack Soft Cooler

$200

Brumate

What we love: You might think, when it comes to comfortable coolers you can wear, the less boxy the better. But Brümate’s MagPack backpack cooler defies that logic with its rounded edges and corners; wide, comfortable straps; and breathable mesh and foam padding. In almost every sense, it’s exactly the same as the shoulder sling version of the MagPack (below), just taller and with backpack straps. It kept our test jar consistently cold (just above freezing, in fact) for 36 hours and only lost about half of its ice in that time. Zippered pockets, especially the dry pocket on the lid, were handy for my keys, phone, and wallet or, perhaps more necessary, a bottle opener (not included), though two additional zippered pockets located on the sides of the box were pretty low profile. And the magnetic flip-top lid offered easy access compared to the clipped flaps and thick zippers on the competition.

As a backpack, one feature that stood out was a mesh-covered foam panel to cushion the wearer’s back, which definitely helped a bit with staving off swampiness. Though I’m sure this backpack would fare just fine on a hike, it does look more like something from the Starship Enterprise than REI (unless you get it in neon pink). My main gripe with carrying this pack around for long stretches was how low it lay on my lower back, even with the straps snugged up tight. The weight distribution was fine, it just kept bonking me in the lumbar. It’s also not totally leakproof, but I only had an issue with the lid seal leaking when turned fully upside down. To give the lid some credit, even when I turned it upside down with 30 lb. of payload inside, the lid stayed shut. (However, depending on how this one fell off my table, the lid did pop open on impact, so be aware it does not fully lock.)

What we’d leave: The one major downside of any backpack cooler is access to and visibility of its contents. By nature, their tall, tubular design forces everything into a column of chilled contents. (As anyone who has used backpacking gear as carry-on luggage knows, if you can’t dump everything out, you’re stuck fishing your arm down inside to find what you’re looking for.) None of the backpack coolers I tested solved this issue, but because Brümate’s has that aforementioned boxier design, it actually improved access to all corners of the interior. So if you’re the one who volunteered to handle the BYOB at an outdoor concert or beach bonfire, this cooler is comfortable to carry, easy to access, and has great ice retention…and even looks good doing it.

Engel HD20 Heavy-Duty Soft Sided Cooler Bag

$180

Amazon

$180

Engel

What we love: Engel’s HD20 cooler bag meets the moment when it comes to a soft bag that keeps things cold. With 1.5" of insulation, it was in the top tier of ice retention and holding cold temperatures, while still being a comfortable bag to carry when fully loaded up. The super rugged thermoplastic polyurethane exterior will stand up to just about anything, and the fact that this cooler is soft means it has some give when hitting the ground, offering even more durability than the coolers we tried with hard plastic parts.

But let’s talk about access: While the HD20 is totally leakproof, its main zipper is a regular-size waterproof zipper (as opposed to the jumbo zippers on Yeti, Dometic, etc.), and this feels a little slight for the otherwise robust construction and thick outer material. The zipper also does not span the entire top of the bag; rather, it is inset about an inch on each side, where a pair of clip-down flaps allows the bag to take on less of a tote shape and more of a boxy profile. What that means in practice is that you’re loading and unloading through a rather rigid slot that won’t stay in any kind of open position. It’s also difficult to see what you’re grabbing, and upon emptying the cooler bag of melted ice water, I found it difficult to get all of the water out from every corner and crevice. However, Engel sells multiple sizes of reusable ice packs, and frankly, any ice pack would work inside the generous interior. (Engel touts this bag can keep ice for 3-4 days, and while that wasn’t our experience with 10 lb. of ice, we did find cold water after 72 hours.) But aside from being awkward to grab a can, this is a cooler bag that lives up to what you’d want a hard cooler to do: Keep stuff cold for a long time and take a beating.

What we’d leave: My only beef with calling this a cooler “bag” is that the bottom panel of the bag is a pretty rigid rectangle: It’s flexible, but you can’t really fold it or roll it, meaning that this cooler pretty much takes up the same amount of space empty or full. If you need something that functions more like a tote than a tank, both the Dometic Unrestricted Tote and Stanley All Day Julienne Max might be more your speed, and both are reviewed below.

I put each of these soft coolers through a barrage of tests to verify their claims and pick our favorites.

We tested a range of soft coolers, from bags to backpacks, for this review.

Adam Campbell-Schmitt

Yeti Hopper Flip 18

$300 $240 (20% off)

Amazon

$300

Yeti

Yeti has made a name for itself in the hard cooler space as a durable and reliable brand, and for good reason. Its soft coolers also deliver thick insulation and road-ready toughness in a much easier-to-tote form. The Hopper Flip 18 is Yeti’s largest box-shaped soft cooler, and even at the top of the range, it was remarkably comfortable to carry. The shoulder strap is wide and comfortable while walking, though the padding is fixed in place, so if you want to adjust how the cooler is sitting on your body, it might require readjusting the strap buckles. The exterior features a stacking compatible lid, is riddled with loops for hanging accessories or other bags onto, and there are both an open and a zippered pocket. The interior is easily wipeable and not baggy or creased in a way that might trap liquid or crumbs.

Part of the Yeti’s appeal is its toughness, but standing up to extreme circumstances can also get in the way. For example, if you have kids around, they will struggle to open the Yeti’s extremely thick and durable zipper to snag a juice box (in fact, even some adults might). Speaking of which, the Yeti also requires some maintenance with occasional applications of (provided) zipper lubricant. But for sheer durability, ice retention, and watertightness, Yeti, by both its reputation and higher price tag, offers more than a few other brands can.

Dometic Recon ZL Large

$325

Amazon

$325

Dometic

Dometic’s Recon seems most poised to take on the Yeti Hopper, and as a functioning chill chest, it matched it pretty much point for point. What sets it apart is its lack of zippers. The latch handles on the lid are easy to access with one hand from two sides, and because the lid opens from opposite sides, it also comes completely detached, which is great for cleaning purposes. This cooler, with its flat top and accessory loops, is also part of Dometic’s Recon system, which is optimized for compatibility, stackability, and packing into vehicles. The carry handles each have a magnetic piece that then clips together to form a single bar to grasp. I found it slipped apart when I held it the wrong way, but when I finally got the hang of it, it was easily one of the most comfortable carry handles I tried. The shoulder strap was supportive enough, but not necessarily something I’d want to hike with.

With all of its sleekness and top-tier performance, keeping ice from melting and drinks staying cold, the one letdown was its lack of a leakproof lid. There is a gasket that will stop water inside from sloshing out over a speed bump in the car, but tipping the whole cooler upside down, it started to dribble—and shaking it while upside down had water raining out. Additionally, after dropping the cooler from table height a few times, I noticed the fit of the lid was a bit wonky on one side, and some of the plastic frame and handle parts got a bit chewed up by the asphalt. Back to the car analogy from before: This cooler is like a luxury Land Rover. It’s fully capable of going off-road, but only if you’re cool with it getting scratched up.

Brümate MagPack 12-Can Shoulder Sling Soft Cooler

$150

Amazon

$150

Brumate

Of all the soft coolers, this one was the least soft, which is to say it has the most rigid boxlike structure due to molded plastic lid and bottom sections. However, perhaps its resemblance to a hard cooler isn’t such a bad thing, as both Brümate coolers I tested were among the top in ice retention and keeping things super cold (like, just above freezing cold). The interior is smooth and easy to wipe clean. The magnetic lid is easy to operate and access without having to zip and unzip all the time or leave it sitting there unsealed during a picnic. There is a zippered pocket on the lid perfect for stashing the contents of your pants pockets, but no others. (The larger model has an additional open pocket on the front.)

The smaller model I tested felt a bit like a large lunch box, but I would venture that the 18-can size is better suited for accommodating more varied occasions. This may seem trivial, but Brümate’s coolers almost look too pretty to knock around, and indeed dropping them on my driveway did create some scuffs that took away from the overall sleek aesthetic. Despite not looking the part, it was a solid workhorse, but its lack of truly “soft” features did make me wonder why I wouldn’t just invest in a small hard cooler instead.

Coleman Pro 24-Can Soft Cooler

$60 $46 (23% off)

Amazon

$80

Coleman

If the name Coleman conjures up the simple old-school coolers you brought on family road trips as a kid, I’m here to tell you that the brand is still delivering on the “hey, it works” category. In spite of all the heavily engineered coolers on this list, Coleman’s simply does the job and offers a lot of storage. There are plenty of pockets, including a rubberized, zippered dry storage pocket on the front and a generous domed pocket on the lid you could probably stuff a jacket into, so it’s got a lot of practical features going for it, even if it does kind of look like a large lunch bag.

While it kept its contents as cold as its pricier competition (within about one degree), at the 24-hour mark, it started to lose ice (and its ability to hold cold temps) to melting exponentially faster. The interior material is looser, meaning it’s not as easy to wipe clean and excavate crumbs. The thin carrying strap also left some comfort to be desired, so this one isn’t ideal for the long haul in multiple senses. But if you’re looking for an inexpensive and simple cooler for a day trip or ballgame, the Coleman Pro won’t let you down.

Stanley All Day Julienne Max Cooler

$180

Amazon

$180

Stanley

If most of your “outdoor adventures” involve a subway ride to a city park, Stanley offers perhaps the chicest tote cooler I tried. I mean, nobody would mistake it for a Birkin bag, but it does look substantially less like a cooler than much of the competition. While it doesn’t totally fold flat, it comes close, yet it performed reasonably well over the first 12 hours, losing only about 35% of its ice to melting and keeping the test jar at around 33–34°. It does have a waterproof zipper (like the kind you might find on a backpack or raincoat) to keep rain out, but it is not watertight, meaning liquid from the inside can leak out. After about 9 hours, you’d definitely need to start bailing some water before this functional fashion statement gets too sloshy.

It’s got thinner insulation than most of the other bags we tried, which, in our experience, invited a little extra condensation on the outside. And though the side handles and shoulder strap fit the chic aesthetic, in doing so, they lack meaningful padding, so this is not a bag you’d want to scramble up any mountains with. In the end, it’s an insulated tote. Consider it a hobo bag you can fill with ice packs.

Dometic Unrestricted Tote XL

$220

Dometic

Like the Unrestricted Backpack, Dometic’s tote is a multifunction bag with tons of storage pockets that also happens to work as a cooler. But like the backpack, it worked a bit less like a cooler than I might have liked. It would totally function for a day trip, maintaining 12–18 hours of temperatures just a degree or so above freezing using 10 lb. of ice. (Again, you can also choose to buy Dometic’s clip-in ice packs, which would make for a less sloshy experience as my ice was half melted by 12 hours in.) But the selling point of this bag is that it’s as packable for a weekend getaway as it would be for using as a cooler, while being capable of folding or rolling up when not in use.

Yeti Hopper M20 Backpack

$325

Amazon

$275

Yeti

Just because I chose another backpack cooler as our most functional pick doesn’t mean Yeti’s Hopper MT20 Backpack cooler didn’t function well. In fact, it performed equally as well as the box-style Yeti cooler I tested in ice retention and temperature. The straps were comfortable, and the bag carried higher than Brümate’s, which kept it off my lower back.

The rub comes down to the Yeti’s magnetic strip closure, which is snapped closed and then folded over and clipped down to “seal” the bag. (I put “seal” in quotes because it wasn’t totally leakproof, as there was some dribbling out of the top corners of the bag when not upright.) This style of opening creates awkward access and impaired visibility of the contents within the cooler. It also means you have to leave some room (i.e., lose some space) for pressing it flat and folding it down. I took this backpack on a beach trip and found it difficult to place and retrieve anything but my smaller food storage containers, so it's not exactly picnic-friendly, but best used as a drinks station. That said, if you’re looking for a reliable backpack cooler that’s geared more toward outdoor activities like hiking, Yeti’s fits the bill.

Dometic Unrestricted Backpack Cooler

$270

Amazon

Dometic’s Unrestricted Backpack Cooler looks and functions much more like a frameless hiking backpack than the other backpacks on this list. It has a ton of pockets, straps, loops, and water-resistant zippers, making it a storage and organization beast. The straps are comfortable and breathable, so carrying 30 lb. around didn’t feel too taxing. The main compartment has an oversized zipper that’s easy to open and close, but sadly it isn’t leakproof. If the bag tips over, water is coming out.

Unfortunately, it was also quicker to let ice melt (50% loss at 18 hours) and saw the temperature in the water jar creep higher before hitting the 24-hour mark. This might be due to the thinner, more flexible insulation material necessary for this to be a totally soft and stowable bag, which, to be fair, is a nice feature. However, if you subscribe to the Dometic Unrestricted lifestyle, there are available reusable (refillable with water) ice packs that clip to bespoke magnetic attachment points inside the bag. If you spring for those accessories—and if you’re only occasionally going to need to pack cold things on your back—this backpack cooler might be the most versatile option. As a cooler, it’s definitely just for the day. But as a multipurpose backpack, it’s got a lot going for it on any length of trip.

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