Our Honest Review of the Hydro Flask vs. Stanley Tumbler May Surprise You
"Hearst Magazines and Yahoo may earn commission or revenue on some items through these links."
[table-of-contents] stripped
Take a scroll through social media and it’s clear that we’ve become a society obsessed with hydration. What originally seemed like a COVID-era fad of buying large drinkware to tote around has become ubiquitous. For many of us, reaching for a water bottle as you leave the house is just like grabbing your wallet and keys—you don’t want to go anywhere without it.
When deciding which tumbler brand to select as your go-to hydration vessel, the decision often comes to Stanley or Hydro Flask, two of the most popular water bottle brands on the market. As a regular user of both, I tested each brand’s 40 oz. tumbler to determine who comes out on top in the great Stanley vs. Hydro Flask debate.
Hydro Flask All-Around Travel Tumbler
What sets Hydro Flask’s All Around Travel Tumbler apart from most of its competitors is its flexible upper straw. The straw’s bendable design means it won’t poke or scrape your mouth the way a hard plastic straw may, especially if you’re drinking on the move. And if you’re guilty of chewing on your straws like I am, this soft alternative to a traditional straw will hold up better over time.
Pros
Flexible straw means you can drink on a walk or in the car without the straw jabbing you in the mouth.
Pull-off lid makes refilling and closing your cup quick and easy.
Fits most car cup holders.
Handle helps evenly distribute the weight of the cup. It's easy to carry one-handed.
Full plug where the straw attaches to the lid creates a protective seal that limits leaking.
Cons
Only drinkable using the straw or by removing the lid entirely, making it incompatible with hot beverages.
Comes in fewer colors and limited edition collections than Stanley.
Stanley Quencher H2.0 Flowstate Tumbler
A coveted cup and internet sensation, the Stanley carries a lot of notoriety. The Stanley brand has been a symbol of vacuum-sealed drinkware since 1913. Known for its insulation, Stanley tumblers are often the brand that immediately comes to mind when someone says “tumbler.”
Pros
Can drink with a straw or straight from the lid, which is good for hot beverages.
Fits most car cup holders.
Most tumbler accessories are designed to fit Stanley, meaning you can customize your cup or get convenient add-ons to dress up your tumbler or give as gifts.
Available in over 30 colors with additional designs available seasonally.
Cons
Screw-on lid must be lined up properly and twisted on tightly to avoid additional leaking (leaking can still happen through the straw hole and/or drinking hole depending on how the lid is set).
Feels top-heavy when holding by the handle, making it feel a bit heavier than the Hydro Flask when full.
Stanley vs. Hydro Flask
While both tumblers will keep your drinks cold, there are some nuances with the style and design that bring your cup choice down to personal preference. If cost is the most important factor to you, the Hydro Flask All Around™ retails for $39.99, and the Stanley Quencher H2.0 Flowstate™ for $45.
To answer common questions about how these tumblers compare, I’ve put them head-to-head to analyze their features.
Design
While similar in having a handle and exposed straw, the Stanley and Hydro Flask have specific design features that set them apart.
What size do they come in?
Both tumblers are available in 32-ounce and 40-ounce sizes. The 40-ounce Stanley weighs 1.4 pounds when empty compared to the slightly less 1.27 pounds of the Hydro Flask. While a negligible difference, any difference is helpful when you add the weight of 40 ounces of liquid on top of it. As the owner of both the Stanley and Hydro Flask in their 40-ounce sizes, when holding them by the handle, the weight of the Hydro Flask feels more evenly distributed and easier to hold than the Stanley, which feels more top-heavy.
The Hydro Flask is shorter in stature than the Stanley but with a wider base. Despite that, the Hydro Flask still fits in my car cup holder, so both are great for long road trips where you want to preserve drink temperature for extended periods of time.
Which has more color options?
If you’re looking for a specific hue or want your cup to match the color scheme of your desk or kitchen, you'll find a wider variety of options with Stanley. The Stanley Quencher H2.0 FlowState is available in over 30 core colors, and that does not include seasonal releases or limited editions like the exclusive Starbucks Stanley.
Hydro Flask has about half the colors that Stanley does, with color selection varying based on retailer. If you’re looking for a completely personalized gift, both Hydro Flask and Stanley offer custom engraving when ordering directly through their sites.
Which cup is leakproof?
While neither cup is fully leak-proof, their design plays a big role in where they leak from and how much.
The Stanley lid is made of three components—the straw, lid, and tab. The tab is designed to rotate around so you can reveal the mouth spout, the straw hole, or to close it off entirely (which is only possible when the straw is removed). However, even when all spouts are closed, water will spill out when turned on its side or upside down.
To compare, the Hydro Flask lid has two parts—the lid and the straw. The lid presses on, creating a tight seal without needing to make sure it is screwed on perfectly. The straw has a base that plugs directly into the lid, blocking any water from coming out around the straw the way it can with a Stanley.
When put to the test, both cups leaked when turned upside down, but Stanley leaked substantially more than Hydro Flask. When turned on their sides (as in, knocked over on a table or inside a bag), water came out of the straw of the Hydro Flask and out of both the straw and the lid on the Stanley.
To prevent leaks, add a straw topper (Amazon has plenty) to either tumbler to stop water from running out the top of the straw.
Insulation
Your drink of choice plays a big factor in which tumbler is best for you. As a cold drink-only person, I drink from both cups interchangeably. If you are a hot beverage drinker, you’ll want to go with the Stanley tumbler for its mouth spout on the lid.
Which keeps drinks cold the longest?
The Stanley tumbler is made of 90% recycled 18/8 stainless steel, BPA-free. According to Stanley’s website, the Quencher keeps “your drink cold for hours.” While the 40 oz. design does not claim a specific number of hours, its 20 oz. counterpart is made of the same material with the same lid design and claims to “keep things cold for 8 hours and iced for 30 hours.”
Similarly built, the Hydro Flask tumbler is made from BPA-free 18/8 pro-grade stainless steel and has a TempShield®️ double-wall vacuum insulation inside to keep drinks at a consistent temperature. While Hydro Flask also does not publish an official hour claim for the All-Around, their Standard Mouth water bottle is made of the same vacuum insulation and “keeps cold drinks cold for 24 hours.”
I’ve sipped very cold water out of both of my cups 24 hours after putting ice water in them and find that there’s not a notable difference between the two — both will keep your drinks cold for extended time.
Cleaning
As with any drinkware, it’s critical for your health and safety to wash your cup thoroughly to prevent mold and bacteria. Both the Hydro Flask All Around Travel Tumbler and the Stanley Quncher H2.0 FlowState Tumbler are dishwasher safe for easy routine cleaning.
Which is easier to clean?
That said, you’ll want to perform a deep, thorough clean every couple of weeks to prevent mold and bacteria buildup. When it comes to deep cleaning by hand, the Hydro Flask is the clear winner.
Made of BPA-free thermoplastic urethane, the Hydro Flask’s flexible upper straw is attached to the lid and connects to a plastic straw inside. Because the upper straw attaches directly into the lid, it's removable, and therefore easy to wash out with a straw brush.
When cleaning a Stanley, you’ll want to completely disassemble the tab, lid, and straw. Liquid can makes its way onto the lid and under the tab, which can lead to mold growth. Since the Stanley is a screw-on top, it also has grooves in the lid that need to be cleaned that the Hydro Flask's press-on lid does not.
Regardless of what tumbler you drink from, it’s important to regularly remove all parts, scrub them thoroughly with soap and water, and make sure they are fully dried before assembling.
Safety
Stanley has come under fire this year for the use of lead in the vacuum sealing process. The manufacturing process includes a lead pellet to seal the vacuum insulation, which is then covered by a layer of stainless steel to avoid human contact. While Stanley has publicly stated that you can “rest assured that no lead is present on the surface of any Stanley product that comes into contact with the consumer nor the contents of the product,” if lead is still of concern, Hydro Flask shares that they are proud to be lead-free for over a decade.
The Final Verdict
In a world obsessed with Stanley Quenchers, this test led me to favor the Hydro Flask All Around Travel Tumbler. From the easy-to-close lid to the flexible straw, it’s the small details of the Hydro Flask that make it a more functional choice for me. The lower cost sealed the deal. While this doesn’t mean that you won’t find me also regularly sipping from my Stanley, if you asked me to go out and purchase myself a new tumbler right now, or give one as a gift, I will go with Hydro Flask.
All Around Travel Tumbler 40oz
amazon.com
$39.95
Quencher H2.0 FlowState Tumbler
amazon.com
$45.00
You Might Also Like
