My journey to finally recommending—and loving—the Owala water bottle

The Owala FreeSip water bottle in a pale blue

Connie Park/NYT Wirecutter

Kit Dillon is a writer focused on travel gear. He has worked for Wirecutter for a decade and lost count of the number of bags he has tested.

I’ve been contemplating the Owala water bottle for far too long. It’s the current reigning champ of the It™ Water Bottle craze. Unmistakable, if you frequent certain corners of the internet, or live with a teenager, or work in an office, or sit at a Starbucks for a few minutes. Once you know what it is, you’ll see it everywhere. Including in the hands of many, many Wirecutter employees.

And yet, I missed it. It didn’t initially make it into our water bottle guide as one of our top picks. Here’s what made me change my mind—and our recommendations.

READ THE STORY

It took awhile. How Owala became a Wirecutter-recommended water bottle→

There are many good reasons to remain skeptical of trends, particularly in this line of work. There are countless brands out there currently mixing unusual color palettes and limited-edition releases as fodder for online success. Of course, everyone loving something is not, in itself, a reason to dismiss a thing. But in an age of viral products and inscrutable frenzies amplified by the internet, I do admit the craze surrounding the Owala made me cautious.

So I asked my many colleagues, the ones I’d seen carrying the Owala or sipping from it during meetings, what they thought about the bottle. The response was resoundingly enthusiastic, with enough anecdotes to summarize several years of testing, let alone a few months. Still I kept researching.

The biggest concern with any water bottle, but particularly a somewhat complex but still plastic-lidded bottle like the Owala, is the durability over a lifetime of use. So beyond our usual Wirecutter-employee testing, I offered the Owala to some of the heaviest gear testers I know: a crowd of surfers and surfboard shapers with only a passing level of concern for their own general safety, let alone that of a water bottle. (Some context: I live on Oahu.)

It has some weakness: The spring clasp can wear out, the straw won’t always stay in place, and I wouldn’t personally travel with it loose in a bag. But it also has some strengths: For someone on the go, a water bottle that you can open with one hand and sip from without having to tilt your head is, and I quote more than one person here, “life changing.”

It’s a good water bottle. And for some even, it’s a great bottle. The kind of object that can, through small ingenuities, improve the course of your day. It’s inexpensive, easy to use, and adaptable. The loyalty it inspires makes sense when you see people using it: busy people who, arms full or eyes steady on the road, simply want this one small thing to work. To open a bottle with one hand and take a sip of water.

It shouldn’t seem too much to ask. And yet, Owala seems one of the few bottles to have figured it out. And for that alone it’s a great choice.

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The 6 best water bottles (including the Owala)

Connie Park/NYT Wirecutter, Michael Hession/NYT Wirecutter

Choosing the exact right water bottle can be tough. It needs to meet your on-the-go preferences, remain leak-free, and also ideally look good. Because these days, a carry-everywhere water bottle can be seen as an extension of your personal style. Gulp. After testing more than 120 bottles since 2014, we’ve chosen the six best ones in a range of materials and styles.

For your on-the-go hydration→

Plus: How Wirecutter decides to change its picks

A flower wreath sitting against a pink background, with a blue sash around the wreath saying "In loving memory: Our pick."

Connie Park/NYT Wirecutter

When we update one of our guides with new picks, we often hear from readers who are anxious to know whether the old pick they own is still good. That’s a fair concern: Nobody wants to spend money on something that’s obsolete. Our mission to recommend only the best means we sometimes choose new picks, but by and large, we stand by our older picks. And when we don’t, we’ll tell you why.

Some common reasons why picks change→

One last (gifty) thing: A luxe aluminum suitcase

An Away The Carry-On: Aluminum Edition in silver.

Michael Murtaugh/NYT Wirecutter

This metallic Away suitcase is one of our favorite luxurious gifts for a reason. It has all the benefits our travel experts love about Away’s original The Carry-On (durability, spaciousness, ease of use)—with even smoother wheels, slow-release handles, and extravagant leather details. It’s so handsome our gift experts call it, “the George Clooney of suitcases.”

A statement suitcase for the travel lover in your life→

See Wirecutter’s gift of the day: more of our absolute favorites for the season—from luxe and sparkly splurges to precious stocking stuffers.

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