Every day, do you look around and wonder what is so great about the colorful water bottles filling the space of everyone’s hands? When you’re shopping to find YOUR next water bottle, which one do you choose? The highly trendy Stanley? Or the popular and efficient Owala?

First, what are some reasons water bottles are typically bought? From a survey of 25 people, 85% says they prioritize water bottles that don’t usually leak.  Eighth grader Amelia Dankos-Davis says this is the most important feature for her.  And Giuliana Velotta said, “The Owala water bottle is the best brand and way better than the Stanley because the Owala doesn’t spill.” 

I conducted a spill test experiment with a 40-ounce Stanley Quencher and a 30-ounce regular Owala, by filling each ¾ of the way full, and then tilting them both 180 degrees at the same time. The Stanley (even with a straw plug) started spilling approximately 0.8 seconds after tilting, while the Owala was able to withstand more than two minutes with no droplets. With this test, we can conclude that the Owala has a better, more reliable seal to protect against leaking. This could be due to it’s screw-on top as well as locking handle that covers the push-button opening to make sure the top doesn’t accidentally open while inside a backpack.  

Reviews on the brands’ websites confirm this.  Starting with the brand Stanley, a one-star customer wrote, “Such a terrible product for the premium price they charge. Got 2.0 30 oz and it leaks like hell. Never expected for price they charge. Now I have to get a leakproof set sold on Amazon to fix the leak.” This review was among many customers who have discovered the problem that Stanley does not have a good leak installation.

Although they do leak, the company of Stanley has openly admitted that the cups are  “Not 100% leak-proof” which is a small con the customer is required to adjust to when buying.

Apart from that, we can take a look into why the Stanley is very popular, with its matte designs and adorable colors. It is mainly aesthetic that keeps the Stanley moving off the shelves. As the popularity grew, more and more people on the highly populated social website called TikTok, trends, and celebrities started boasting its success and promoting the water bottle, making it soon an all-country favorite. New color releases were advertised on social media as well, making those who already owned Stanleys going back for the newest color options before they ran out.

Owala offers a variety of vibrant color-block designs as well as a few limited solid options like white and black.  A few male students that were interviewed said that the traditional Stanley model with the handle and straw are seen as feminine.  And while Stanley has embraced its mostly-female audience recently with seemingly limitless pastel color options, the tumbler was ironically initially designed in 1913 for blue collar workers to take onto jobsites according to The Western Howl.  

While Owala wins for being spill-proof and Stanley wins for color and design options, which bottle keeps water colder? 

A test by Good Housekeeping measured Owala’s effectiveness. Their site stated,  “In our tests, the Owala FreeSip did an excellent job at retaining temperature when we tested it with cold water. After one day, the water temperature only increased by 13º, while some of the lesser-performing water bottles increased more than 20º. For comparison, the best-performing water bottles increased only 6º,” they stated. 

To add to that, I too have conducted an experiment on the 40-ounce Stanley tumbler as the starting temperature was 43 degrees Fahrenheit and after a day the temperature rose by 14 degrees.  This marks just a 1 degree difference from Owala, so both bottles do a similar and good job of maintaining cold over a 24-hour period.

Next is the matter of cost.  The Owala site lists the price of a 24-ounce Owala Free Sip starting at 27.99 (higher depending on specific designs and colors.) In contrast, a 30-ounce  Stanley has the starting price range of $36.99 with popular colors as high as $60. The pricing of Owala compared to the Stanley is way cheaper making it a more affordable and efficient water bottle for more people to use. 

Also, Owala’s cheaper cost also offers more versatility according to some.  PopSugar claimed that Owala “has a more comfortable handle design for carrying purposes, and minimizes spills much more than the Stanley.” Owala also offers two drinking options; from the same spout, users can choose whether to sip from the straw or tip the bottle back to chug from the wide opening.  For Stanley users, switching from a straw to a closeable spout might mean buying an entirely different Stanley model or splurging for an new lid.  The option on the left retails on Amazon for $19.99.

Next, a good water bottle should have good durability and protection from being dropped. Stanley’s website boasts that theirs is “made up of all stainless steel to give the water bottle the strength of steel and the insulation.” Several interviewees disagreed with this, arguing that the Stanley dents very easily.

Stanley owner Kathy Zhang said, “The Stanley is cute, but it is definitely not as good for withstanding dents as I only dropped it a couple of times from a short distance and it is already covered in multiple dents.”  Some other reviews from the company’s site show dissatisfaction towards how easily the Stanley could be dented. 

One reviewer noted, “The Stanly [sic] tumbled off the roof and we heard them clatter against the floor…The Stanly product survived the 4ft 8inch fall but is extremely dented. To be fair, the other (green Thermos) product has been coming with me to work for years and has fallen off my cherry picker from like 15ft to a concrete floor and has also walked away without dents.”

For the Owala, Good Housekeeping’s professionals did a drop test along with 35 other brands of water bottles. They concluded,  “Unfortunately, the Owala water bottle did not stand up to our drop test. It dented a little on the bottom and leaked after being dropped three times from a height of three feet. It did not break, however, unlike some of the other water bottles we tested.”

These results show that the Stanley and the Owala pose similar issues of durability with its outside denting when dropped.

All in all, the Owala and Stanley both have great characteristics of a water bottle to be a part of everyone’s favorite. If you were to look for a more cutesy aesthetic water bottle, the Stanley would perhaps be the better option but if you were looking at for something leakproof for travel, the Owala might be the better choice for you.