13 Best Coolers for Sunshine and Nighttime (2026)

A comprehensive guide to the best coolers of 2026, tested in real-world conditions ranging from backyard BBQs to weeklong adventures.

We've been hunting down the best coolers for years. Whether you're heading out for an evening picnic, a weekend adventure, or a weeklong overlanding trip, you need to chill—your food and drinks, that is. There's a wealth of options these days, from little soft-sided coolers perfect for a day trip to heavy-duty, high-performance wheeled coolers with ice retention times that seem to defy the sun—like our top pick, the Yeti Tundra Haul.

Cooler manufacturers aren't necessarily lying about how long ice will last in their coolers, but they are testing under ideal conditions that are never going to exist in the real world. We've been testing coolers for more than four years now, and we've stored them under the sun, in bike trailers, and in cars, all while trying to keep food and drinks cool and edible. Below, you'll find our top picks for each category, as well as a few alternatives, plus general buying tips if none of these capture your fancy.

For your other outdoor needs, be sure to check out our other buying guides, like the Best Portable Grills, Best Camping Gear, Best Camp Cookware, Best Tents, and the Best Binoculars.

Updated April 2026: We've added new coolers from Dometic and Rovr, reformatted this guide, removed a few older picks, and ensured accuracy throughout. Next, we'll be testing additional coolers from Rovr, Yeti, Coleman, and Solo Stove.

**Best Cooler for Most PeopleBest Yeti DupeBest Affordable CoolerBest Backpack CoolerBest Cooler for Camp ChefsBest Cooler for Using Less IceBest Cooler ToteBest Cooler for Large PartiesBest Electric Refrigerator/FreezerBest Stackable CoolersBest Electric Cooler With Ice MakerBest Cooler With SpeakersBest Cooler for PicnicsCompare Our Top 13 CoolersMore Coolers We Tested****What Do I Look for in a Cooler?****How Do I Efficiently Use My Cooler?**How Does WIRED Test Coolers?

The Best Coolers

From barbecues to beaches, this hard cooler has become ubiquitous, and for good reason. It's expensive and heavy, but Yeti's rotomolded Tundra Haul is built like a tank with 3-inch-thick insulated walls, a heavy aluminum arm, and puncture-proof, one-piece wheels. When it's full, you'll need two people to lift it into the trunk of a (very big) car. The Haul kept ice frozen for six days in blazing 90-degree heat while stored in direct sunlight on my colleague Adrienne's deck. I've managed to get five days out of it in the insane humidity of Florida in the spring. If you can afford it, a Yeti hard-sided cooler is the best cooler around. —Scott Gilbertson

RTIC is known as the slightly cheaper competitor to Yeti, offering basically the same rotomolded performance at a significant savings—it depends on the product and size, but they're typically 20 to 40 percent cheaper. I've actually come to prefer this 45-quart cooler over my old Yeti 65. First, it's the right size. A Yeti 45 is 34 quarts, which is a little small for a weeklong trip with four people, whereas the RTIC 45 is a true 45 quarts, with enough room for a gallon of milk, a case of beer, and a little fruit.

This model weighs 30 pounds empty, thanks to its closed-cell foam core, but the padded handles make it easy enough to carry even when loaded. It will still fit comfortably in a sedan, whereas if you jump up to the Yeti 65, it won't. Second, I've had no problems with a leaky drain plug on the RTIC one, whereas I eventually gave up on the Yeti cooler and used J-B Weld silicone sealant to stop the drip. The Vader-esque black is perhaps not the most efficient color for a cooler, but it resists stains. I've had no issues with ice retention. —Martin Cizmar

I have had a version of this basic Igloo ice chest for more than a decade, and it has withstood the test of time. The wheels haven't gotten damaged, although I have somehow managed to break the handle. It's easy to rinse out and light enough to carry easily when it's empty. This is a great option if you'd like to use a cheaper cooler to store snacks and drinks, so you don't have to constantly open your premium cooler that's keeping your meat, milk, and freshly caught fish ice-cold. —Adrienne So

While there is no shortage of cooler backpacks on the market, I haven’t seen many that can double as a real travel pack with handy internal and external pockets and a laptop sleeve. My husband and I tested matching versions of the Unrestricted while carrying food on a weeklong trip to Honolulu and on one of the more strenuous hikes in our area, Dog Mountain in the Columbia River Gorge. It performed well as a travel backpack, with easy-to-access pockets on the top and front, padded straps, and dual water bottle holders (I kept a rolled-up Rumpl tech towel in one). It also kept sandwiches perfectly cool for about eight hours with an added ice pack. (Dometic sells a set of two ice packs that securely snap in, for $45, but I just tossed in these $13 ones, which were fine. Note that you definitely will need ice packs, as the Unrestricted didn’t do great in our Coors Light test—two cans lost their blue mountain at room temperature in under 12 hours.) This pack may not be the most comfortable option for a long hike with significant elevation gain, but for city walkabouts, trips, short hikes, and strolls, it’s perfect. It’s roomy—with space for up to 34 cans—and versatile, and with its 900-denier Cordura re/cor pack cloth exterior, it can survive much of what you might throw at it, whether that’s being tossed off a mountain or enduring a pack of hungry teenagers tearing through it in search of candy. —Kat Merck

This cooler has a built-in drawer for dry storage. It's nice for storing foods you want to keep separated from any potential ice water mishaps. The drawer stays nice and cold, and it doesn't need to be filled with ice. Make sure to lock the drawer when transporting the cooler to keep your stuff in place. I also like the cooler's locking handle and the big, chunky wheels that make it easy to maneuver even though the cooler is on the heavier side.

My only real complaint is with the drain plug, which is placed between the two wheels. The inner compartment has a recessed area near the drain hole, and to fully drain it, you need to tilt the cooler up. It's not too big of a deal, but can be annoying if you don't want everything inside to shift around. I also wish the handle were telescoping, since it can feel a tad short when trying to pull it around. All in all though, I'd recommend it.

Source: Wired Robotics