Which 30oz tumbler is the best on the market? In this ultimate tumbler review I'll look at the major brands of tumblers on the market and how they compare to each other in features and performance.
I personally purchased myself a Yeti 30oz, RTIC 30oz, Engel 30oz, Pelican 32oz and Orca 27oz tumbler and used each of them for a matter of months before writing this review.
Primarily I used these insulated cups for my daily smoothies, tea and coffee and more often than not I filled them up right before going for a drive somewhere. Over the past 2 months or so I've gotten a really good idea about the differences in these tumblers.
I must admit that when I spent the money to buy 5 tumblers that were all extremely similar to each other I thought 2 things would be the deciding factors of which tumbler is the best. (Turned out I was totally wrong.)
1. Performance
I thought that whichever tumbler performed the best by holding ice the longest (or keeping my tea hot the longest) would win my vote.
But the truth was all of these tumblers outperformed my actual day-to-day requirements. They kept my smoothies cold for hours, even in the hot car when I went to the beach. And my tea/coffee stayed was all gone before it had a chance to get even lukewarm.
Because performance was so good and so similar between these tumblers it actually had zero bearing on which tumbler I thought was best.
2. The Lid
I'de seen these tumblers with a permanent hole in the lid (I'm looking at you Yeti) and thought:
“That's dumb! The ones with lid covers will be way better”
…but the opposite actually turned out to be true.
The latches on the lids aren't quite strong enough for you to trust them in your bag. So you still use them the same as a tumbler with a hole in the lid, only they are much harder to clean and ended up with 3-day old smoothie caked in them.
The Best 30oz Tumbler Is…
Despite the other brands being way cheaper on Amazon I found the Yeti 30oz Tumbler to be my favorite tumbler of all. I'll talk about why in just a second.
After the Yeti my favorite tumblers in order are:
- Orca 27oz
- RTIC 30oz
- Engel 30oz
- Pelican 32oz
The Engel and Pelican came last because the lid caps ended up being more of a hindrance than a help. They just aren't strong enough to trust when they are banging around in your bag (insulated bottles are better) and when you leave your fruit smoothie in the car for 3 days (like I did) and then try to wash it you'll learn how bad these caps actually are.
The RTIC has a slightly wider diameter at it's base than the Yeti meaning it didn't actually fit in my cup holder (making it almost completely useless to me) and the curvature of the Orca made it slightly harder to hold than the Yeti, plus it's slightly smaller.
Budget Pick
If price is a concern to you then by all means go for the RTIC 30oz. It's still a great cup and performs just as well as the Yeti. Plus if you're cup holders are wider than mine you won't have any issues.
See latest price on Amazon
Performance
When it comes to performance all of these coolers perform remarkably well, holding ice for over 24 hours and keeping beverages warm for over 5-6 hours.
Seriously trying to compare the performance of these tumblers is about as productive as trying to milk a flee. You just aren't really going to get much for all the effort you'll put in.
Different tests show different tumblers performing better with no true winner that completely outperforms the other.
By all means go through YouTube and seek out the performances tests (I watched about 10 of them) and you'll come to the same conclusion as me.
They are all great, and likely perform better than you'll actually need them to. It'll be the other features that determine which is the best tumbler not the heat resistance/retention.
[arve url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRDOpd7fJ0U&t=321s” mode=”lazyload” align=”left”/]Do these tumblers outperform a standard cup? Absolutely.
Are they worth the money? In my opinion, definitely!
Do they keep ice frozen for an extremely long time? Yes, and they'll keep your coffee warm for hours also.
They work really well, but they all work really well so I'de advise not to make a decision based on performance alone.
Price
With the exception of the RTIC, which is way cheaper, all of the tumblers retail for the same amount of money.
However, prices can often be way cheaper than the recommended price on Amazon. See the links below for the most up to date Amazon prices as well as a snapshot of prices when I wrote this review.
Yeti 30oz – $39.99
Orca 27oz – $39.99
RTIC 30oz – $9.99
Engel 30oz – $39.99
Pelicon 32oz – $39.95
I'de avoid buying the Yeti on Amazon.com (even though I'm an affiliate) because a lot of the Yeti's on Amazon are fakes. You're better off buying from Yeti directly or from a registered local dealer.
Features
I thought it would be useful to go into more detail about each of the features of each tumbler in case you want to know more information.
I'll also talk about what I liked and what I didn't like about each.
Yeti 30oz Tumbler – $39.99 RRP
Yeti are THE brand name in both coolers and tumblers and have set the standard that everyone else follows. For tumblers this is no exception, almost every other brand is derived from the Yeti.
It's a very simple tapered design with a thinner bottom so you can hold the cup quite easily and thicker at the top to hold more liquid.
It has a clear plastic lid with a rubber seal that when pushed into place holds really well. I never have to worry about this falling off while I'm drinking and having my drink pour all over my face.
Something you don't notice in the photos is that the lid is angeled toward the sipping hole, so if any liquid gets onto the lid it just runs back into the cup.
The sipping hole is wide and adequate for drinking allowing the liquid to pool a bit as you drink it. Gives the impression you are drinking out of a mug.
While at first I thought the open sipping hole would be an issue it never proved to be and I've never had a spill from this cup.
It's also really easy to clean which I found really important.
Orca 27oz Chaser – $39.99 RRP
My #2 pick the Orce is very similar to the Yeti (you'll hear me saying that a lot).
It's slightly smaller (only 27oz instead of 30oz) but I never really noticed the difference. It still held more than enough liquid for me and my wife to share a smoothie.
The diameter at the bottom is a tiny bit wider than the Yeti but hardly noticable. Instead of having 2 distinct thicknesses like the Yeti does it just slowly increase in thickness until about halfway up.
This makes it slightly harder to hold than the Yeti.
The sipping hole is slightly larger but you don't notice and the lid has 2 pulling tabs to get the lid off instead of 1. Again this isn't really noticed as you only really need 1 and don't use the 2nd.
The seal on the lid is actually stronger than the Yeti meaning it's even less likely to pop up and spill if dropped, so that's a plus.
All in all it's a good tumbler.
Made from dual wall, vacuum insulated 18/8 stainless steel and a copper-clad inner chamber this tumbler will keep drinks hot or cold for hours at a time.
The BPA tritan polymer lid with silicone gasket creates a leak-proof seal.
RTIC 30oz Tumbler – $9.99 RRP
The RTIC has literally made it's name from ripping off Yeti. They even did a major marketing campaign talking about how they are the same as Yeti but cheaper.
Noticeable differences to the Yeti include the seal on the lid which is noticeably weaker than the Yeti. It's not so bad that it would fall out as you drink, but if you dropped the cup onto the ground the Yeti lid is likely to stay on while the RTIC lid I'm not so sure about. Could be a deal breaker for some people, but most people won't even notice.
The sipping hole has a little indent making it bigger than the Yeti and allowing more air in as you drink. This means the fluid flows faster so if you like to scull your beverages fast then this is the cup for you.
The biggest thing you'll notice with the RTIC is the huge price discount compared to other brands. $10 instead of $40! It's a freaking steal and really well priced.
My biggest issue with the RTIC was the wider base, which actually proved to be a deciding factor for me as it didn't fit in any of the cup holders in my car making it practically useless for me.
It's only slight, maybe 1/4-1/2 inch in diameter larger but for some reason that was just too big for my car to handle.
For me money wasn't an issue as I wanted to review the most well known brands, but if you're on a budget skip the Yeti as the RTIC will perform just as well for a quarter of the price.
Engel 30oz Tumbler – $39.99 RRP
Before actually testing out the tumbler the Engel was my #1 pick and I thought it would be my absolute favorite.
However, all the things I thought would be pluses (lid cap, screw on lid, rubber base) turned out to be negatives.
The lid cap is good and has a firm seal but there is no way that I would trust it banging around in my bag with my stuff. One wrong bump and my bag could quickly fill up with smoothie or tea. So it didn't offer the versatility I was hoping for.
Plus when I left my smoothie in the car for days on end after drinking most of it I had residue caked to the lid cap which was really hard to get out. This was the deal breaker for me.
The screw on lid does feel more secure than the pop on lids of the Yeti but when it was wet it was really hard to screw on. I remember one day I wanted to take the Engel but couldn't get the lid on so ended up taking the Yeti instead.
The non-slip rubber bottom makes the tumbler…well tumble…if you knock in by accident when on the table. If you knock other tumblers like the Yeti they slide and are less of a falling hazard.
The rubber grip bottoms are a big no-no in my opinion.
All in all it's a decent tumbler, but it has a few things that make it annoying to use and thus I would advise going with something else unless you absolutely must have the closing lid.
Pelican 32oz Tumbler – $39.95 RRP
This thing feels like it is made for giants. I'm 6 foot tall but felt like an idiot with this thing as it's way taller than all the other tumblers.
The screw on lid was REALLY hard to get on and off. It get's misaligned really easily and got so stuck on occasions that I just gave up on it all together.
The pop lid is weaker than the Engel and has a protruding lip that when bumped open the lid. So definitely not bag safe.
The sipping hole is smaller and you have to pool your liquid in the tip before drinking it which was kind of a weird experience.
I know they have redesigned this cup now, but definitely avoid this design as other tumblers are just way better.
In Summary
To summarize this tumbler review, all of the tumbler perform relatively the same.
The Yeti is slightly nicer to hold than the other plus it's has the premium brand name giving you bragging rights.
The RTIC is way cheaper and just as good, only the base is wider so be careful there.
The Orca is almost as good as the Yeti, the Engel is fine but not great and the Pelican is to be avoided unless you are a giant or completely dedicated to the Pelican brand.
I hope this ultimate 30oz tumbler review has helped you to make your decision. If you found this article helpful please consider purchasing through the links on this page as they are affiliate links and help support the site.
Stay cool!
Ryan
