This Is the Best Cooler We've Ever Tested—And It's Not Close
When I saw the vacuum-sealed Oyster Tempo 23 cooler, I instantly wondered out loud, ‘Why has no one thought of this before?’ Given the immense success of Hydro Flask’s multi-hued, double-wall stainless steel bottles—and the subsequent proliferation of beverage containers using the same technology to radically increase the time drinks stay colder (and warmer)—the idea seemed like a no brainer. And I knew I had to test it against the current gold standard among the best coolers, a Yeti.
Oyster took six years to create their extruded aluminum, double-walled, air-tight cooler, largely because of the shape. A bottle is cylindrical, so the curved walls can support the pressure needed to create an insulating vacuum layer in-between the two metal walls. Making a vacuum-sealed cooler, with its traditional rectangular design, requires a support within the two walls to withstand the pressure.
Why go through the trouble though? Because a metal, double-walled, vacuum-sealed bottle will keep cold liquids cold for an astonishing amount of time. And that’s the main purpose of a cooler, to keep things cool—not, as some marketing campaigns imply, to keep the contents safe from bears for an hour.
Though, no doubt, I appreciate a brawny cooler that can withstand being dropped out of the back of a UTV or hit by a truck. But for most of us, that ruggedness is just an aspirational fantasy.
What the majority of people want and need is a cooler that’s light, durable, and great at keeping our food and drink cold. That’s where the new Oyster Tempo shines, as I found out in a recent multi-day testing period.
Cooler Science
Why should vacuum-sealed aluminum walls be better than plastic walls filled with foam? The thermodynamics of its design—a near-vacuum inside two vessels reduces heat conduction and convection, making whatever’s stored inside stay hot or cold much longer.
Oyster was started by two Norwegians intrigued by the lack of real innovation in the cooler space, they created what they call the world’s first “performance cooler.” After many failed prototypes, they were able to combine two nesting aluminum shells together that were then filled with a silica that would allow air to pass through it. That was enough to support the walls from collapsing after pulling a vacuum inside them.
Through their six years of testing and research and failure, Oyster optimized three key thermal drivers: core insulation, thermal bridge, and thermal circulation. Insulation is the vacuum, the thermal bridge is where the opening seals, and thermal circulation is how well the inside cools down. On internal tests, they found that the cooler—which holds 23.2 liters (36 cans)—gets significantly colder, gets colder faster, and stays that way longer than hard-sided coolers (like the Yeti).
Related: Cooler test: Yeti vs. OtterBox
One of the obvious advantages to the Tempo is the fact that the inside material is a thin aluminum wall that’s vacuum-sealed against the outside temp. That simply is going to make the cooler a better performer over a thick, plastic-walled cooler that will take a lot of energy to cool down.
This is why Yeti and other hard coolers advise owners to “season” it for a few hours before use by filling it with ice. This chills the inside down so there is minimal heat transfer when you eventually add your contents. But, with the Oyster Tempo, which advertises “no ice needed,” you don’t have to perform that step. The thin aluminum walls will reach equilibrium with cold contents quickly.
Adam Bible
How I Tested the Oyster Cooler Vs. a Yeti 45 Cooler
I performed a simple ice vs. time showdown for my main test. I placed the Tempo and my Yeti 45 cooler in a 68-degree basement for 24 hours with their lids open. I then weighed out 12 pounds of ice for each, and used a laser thermometer to check the temp of the inside walls of each cooler: 51.8 F for the Tempo and 62.7 F for the Yeti. I dumped the ice in, secured the lids, and placed them in my backyard next to each other on the grass in a spot that receives both direct sun and shade during the day. The weather was clear with a high of 82 and a low of 61.
After 24 hours, I opened them up poured the remaining ice into a large colander and drained the water. The leftover ice was then weighed on a digital scale. The Yeti had 1.15 pounds remaining while the Oyster had 6.27 pounds left—more than four times as much.
If it was a close result, say a few ounces or so of ice between the two, tons of variables could've affected the ice test and made it inconclusive. The major difference in leftover ice though—a little over 5 pounds out of the starting 12 pounds—showed that the Tempo was the clear winner.
Related: Here Are The 5 Best Portable Coolers For The Summer
To be fair, the larger Yeti 45, with more internal volume, requires more energy to cool down than a smaller volume. But at 1,841 cubic inches to the the Oyster's 1,421 cubic inches there isn't nearly enough additional space to make up for the difference in final ice weight.
Weekend Testing
After the test with the Yeti 45, I toted the Tempo around for two weekends to check its performance in real world situations.
For the first test, I left it in the back of my Toyota FJ Cruiser for 24 hours when the temp was in the 60s and rising to the 80s during the day. I did not have my laser thermometer on hand, but before I drove to the grocery store to secure 36 cold beers, I felt the inside. It was cool to the touch even though it was uncomfortably warm in my truck.
Toting the Oyster to a friend's barbecue with the strap attachment on one shoulder was easy to do with a full cooler. The Oyster weighs 12.3 pounds empty (compared to 21.4 pounds for the Yeti 35 and 24.6 pounds for the 45). You'll never need to have two people gang up to carry the Tempo.
At the get together, the beers stayed cold enough—holding their grocery store cooler temperature—in the Oyster Tempo for the duration of the party without adding any ice or cold water.
For the next real world exercise, I put two Oyster Thermal Ice Packs in my freezer overnight. These freezer packs fit perfectly in the bottom of the Tempo and still allow you to pack in 36 cans. They help get the inside of the cooler to around 40 F without ice.
Related: The 50 Best Beers in the World
I first tried seeing if the ice packs could cool down 36 room temperature beers to an acceptable temp for drinking on a warm late spring day. I loaded everything in it, left it on my covered patio for 12 hours, and then went back to it to see how it did. Not that great, the beers were still warm enough to be not quite as refreshing as a truly cold one is. The laser thermo recorded a can temp of around 52 degrees.
I then threw the Thermal Ice Packs into the freezer for another overnight session and chilled the beers down in a refrigerator. After the beers and ice packs were ready I put them all back into the cooler (which had been sitting on the porch with the lid closed). I then left it closed in the same spot in similar weather for 12 more hours and came back the next morning to check.
The ice packs did their job and the average temp of the beers was a little colder at 39 degrees. Over the Memorial Day weekend I dipped in and out of the cooler over three-days in 80-degree weather and only at Monday night did they start to be a little too warm for satisfactory consumption, with an average temp back up to around 49 degrees.
For the final test, I wanted to see how the cooler performed with tap water filling up the volume instead of air (water has a high specific heat, meaning it takes more energy to increase the temperature of water so once cooled, it can keep things colder longer).
So I refroze the ice packs and then filled the cooler with grocery store "cold" beer at around 56 F and with cold water straight from the tap, which was at 72 F. I checked it after 18 hours and the beers were down to 49 degrees and the water was at 46 F. After another 12 hours marinating (outside temps were again mid 80s to low 60s) the beers were at 53 and the water 52 F. Solid performance for no ice added.
Sleek Appearance and Thoughtful Features
Another advantage the Tempo has over other hard-sided coolers—and really almost any cooler on the market today—is that it’s truly a thing of beauty. The Tempo's design harkens back to the clean vintage lines of aluminum coolers from the ’50s, updated into something current and sleek.
The matte silver-grey of the fluted aluminum sides is very pleasing to the eye, and the lid is a wondrous contraption. It's thin and light, with easy-to-use latches on both sides, which work as both a hinge and a fastener so you can open it from either side. One caveat is that if you push the lid open too far back, like to 120 degrees, it will often fall off—you quickly learn to not push it that far. But the removable lid also makes it easier to clean and you can quickly turn it into a handsome open container to fill with ice for serving drinks at a party.
Another great Tempo feature are the carrying options. You can choose between a sleek aluminum handle or a wide, red nylon strap. Each is quickly attached and detached by simply twisting two knobs on either end of the cooler. And those knobs and the latches are all easily taken apart to clean or replace if needed.
Related: Outdoor Barware That Makes a Killer Camp Minibar
The Downside to the Oyster Tempo
The only flaw that the Oyster Tempo 23 has, per my short testing period, is that its relatively soft aluminum skin quickly picked up a few dents just. It in no way would stand up to the abuse that a Yeti or other hard-sided cooler can go through. And if it gets punctured, which isn't hard to imagine, the vacuum—and its cooling properties—would fail.
I didn't put it through anything punishing because I knew it wouldn't hold up compared to a Yeti. In fact, I did notice that where the bottom piece joins the side wall on the outside, a small gap had opened up. That potential fail point would get worse over time but it may just be a result of testing one of the first Tempos to market.
I contacted Oyster HQ and sent photos of the problem and they said they hadn't seen that type of flaw yet. But they quickly offered to return the cooler for examination, and to send me a new one, which will be a courtesy extended to any consumers that have the same problem.
But, most people don't need a burly, massively heavy (especially when loaded with ice) plastic cooler that can withstand the punishments of white-water rafting trips or being accidentally dropped out of a bush plane.
They want a cooler that looks great(check), performs well (check), and is light enough for one person to carry when fully loaded (check). It is pricey though. A Yeti 35, its closest competitor in terms of interior volume, is $275. The Tempo 23 First Edition Bundle is now on sale for $500—normally $605—which includes both handles, and two Thermal Ice Packs. The only other cooler that matches it in style (but weighs 34.4 pounds and has a larger volume of 54 cubic inches) is the Yeti V Series, which costs an eye-watering $800.
The Bottom Line
The Oyster Tempo 23 excels at everything most people need a cooler to do—lacking only extreme durability. It should be on your list for your next cooler if you value style, performance, and portability.
[$500; oystercoolers.com]