I have been intrigued by the Yeti series of tumblers so when I saw the smart cooler at this price I had to order it, I received mine in the mail today and received the yeti 30oz as a gift on the same day (my B-Day), so I had to put them to a head to head test.
Price:
Hands down Smart Cooler is less expensive but about 50%. If you are looking to save some cash Smart Cooler is the way to go. I’ll also note here that the Smart Cooler comes with two lids, one like the Yeti with an always open hole and another with a plastic slide that can be used to cover the hole. I like that Smart Cooler does this and it still comes way under the price of the Yeti.
Packaging:
Yeti wins hands down, obviously there is more of an effort on Yeti’s part to draw you in by the quality of the packaging. Both cups have a strip of paper along the top half with the logo and listing some features, the yeti is secured and the Smart Cooler label was held on via friction and slid right off when I took it out of the box. Overall the Smart cooler has more information on this strip as this is the only documentation with the product, Yeti included a small guided and a sticker placed inside of the cup, which gives you all the information you need on proper care and specs. The Yeti makes you feel like it is a better quality product from the packaging alone and I give the sticker to my kids (ha).
Physical Properties:
At first glance the Smart Cooler and the Yeti look very similar, but upon closer inspection they are different. The Smart Cooler is slightly taller, the base of the Smart Cooler has a larger diameter, the point at which the cups diameter increase in size is sooner on the Yeti than the Smart Cooler (which accounts for the same 30oz rating while the Smart Cooler is a bit taller) and the top diameter is exactly the same on both. The Yeti seemed heavier but the more I tried to determine which if either weighted more I realized I couldn’t tell and would need a scale. I don’t have a scale so I won’t guess which weights more as their isn’t a significant difference from what I could tell.
Both are meant to be able to fit into most cup holders and although the base of the Smart Cooler is larger in diameter it isn’t so much that I see one fitting better than another as a general statement. Of course specifically it would depend on your cup holder.
The finish is a little different, the Smart Cooler is the typical stainless steel while the Yeti has a darker hue, side by side it is noticeable up close but alone or at a distance I really didn’t see much difference. Both look good and I don’t that the difference is significant enough to cause one to look better than the other.
The lip of the Smart Cooler is more rounded, while the Yeti has a more squared off lip. Both were comfortable to drink from. I expected the Smart Cooler to be easier on the mouth but I suspect that the flatter squared edge of the Yeti creates a better seal between the cup and the lid, though once again this difference doesn’t seem to be significant.
The lids of both the Yeti and Smart Cooler are thick hard plastic and seem like they will hold up equally as well. The bigger difference is the black seal that each uses on their lids. Visually they are about equal but the Smart Cooler seems to use a harder rubber than the Yeti. Neither leaked at this time so I won’t say one seal is better than the other at this point, they are just a little different. Both lids are tight when on the cups and both give me the confidence they won’t leak from the edge of the lid.
I don’t favor one over the other in this category, they aren’t exactly the same but the difference are subtle.
Performance:
Since I don’t have a scale and I’ve seen an ice melt review on amazon comparing the two products that I certainly couldn’t add more value to I decided to measure the effectiveness of their ability to keep coffee hot. My set-up is pretty simple. I brewed two 10oz cups of coffee directly from my Keurig into each cup, measured the temperature at various time intervals and noted the temperature drops. Here were my results with the lids off.
At Brew
SC – 75.9c
Y – 72.6c
10 minutes
SC – 67.3c
Y – 63.9c
23 minutes
SC – 56.1c
Y – 54.5c
50 minutes
SC – 44.8c
Y – 43.7c
Temperature drop from time from time of brew to final reading
SC – 31.1c temperature drop
Y – 28.9c temperature drop
As you can see in this test the Yeti out performed the Smart Cooler slightly over the course of the 50 minute test. That is a win for the Yeti.
Final Thoughts (which should you buy):
It gets a little complicated here because so much of this buying decision is based on personal choice. Yeti has branded themselves as the one to beat and the price tag reflects that of a premium product. While the Smart Cooler is differentiating itself by selling at a much lower price point, giving you an extra lid and not spending the money on fancy packaging which you will throw away before your first use anyway. Performance is very close (also supported by a previous review doing ice melt tests it seems the same to be said about keeping cold things cold) based on my test there isn’t a significant difference between the two products in the performance category.
Based on my review of this product (which btw I did receive the Smart Cooler at a small discount to provide an honest review) I cannot recommend either product. To be clear this is because I tested my goto mug that I bought from 7-11 a few years back, I think it cost me $5 and came with a free fill-up. I used this as my control because it isn’t anything special (or maybe it is). It has a plastic lining and the stainless steel outer shell with a rubber gripped (7-11 branded) band around it. During the same 50 minute test it dropped only 26c in temperature beating both the Smart Cooler and the Yeti. I expected my old goto to be blown out the water but frankly it wasn’t and I’m considering returning both products as I’ll have $75 in my pocket and still have a warm cup of joe with my old goto.
I don’t know what I will choose to do, but if I choose to do a few more tests I’ll post some additional results in the future (maybe the magic is in the lid). If my opinion changes I’ll let you know, but if you have to have one, go with the Smart Cooler to save some dough and get an extra lid or if your “in crowd” are Yeti or you aren’t cool then go with the Yeti knowing you have social acceptance and are now in the club.
