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Carrying a water bottle has become second nature to me. I always keep one in my bag to stay hydrated (drinking more water is actually one of my new year’s resolutions) and to avoid single-use plastic bottles. Since I’m picky about my water bottles, I thought I’d give a shout-out to my favorite kind — S’ip by S’well — and compare it to other brands that I’ve tried.

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Is There a Difference Between S’ip and S’well?

S’ip is the sister brand of S’well, which makes stainless steel insulated water bottles. Both lines come in an array of designs, though the S’ip ones seem more playful. Both don’t sweat (by that I mean create condensation on the exterior). The S’well line is more upmarket and sold at upscale stores like Nordstrom. A 17-oz bottle retails for $35 while a 25-oz size is $45.

By comparison, the S’ip by S’well bottles come in a 15-oz size and retail for $25. They can be found at Target, where they were exclusively sold at first (and where older designs often get marked down, like the navy one with the gold cap shown above and this one and this one.) You can also find them at other retailers now. S’well and S’ip bottles are similar in size though different in form factor. Both brands also make travel mugs.

Is there any difference between them besides the price? Construction wise, the S’well bottles are triple walled. They keep drinks cold for 24 hours and hot for 12 (so says the S’well website). The S’ip bottles are double walled, so while they’re insulated, they’re not quite as insulated.

UPDATE 10/11/19 – A reader asked how long drinks stay hot in the S’ip bottles. I did a quick test with the travel mug, starting with boiled water at 200 degrees. It lost about 10 degrees an hour, so it was still hot 4 hours later, and warm 6 hours later. I will do a more detailed test later.

The S’well is a little bit taller and heavier than the S’ip. (On my postal scale, the S’ip weighed in at 11 oz and the S’well at 12 oz). However, the S’well has a slightly larger capacity at 17 oz versus 15 oz. Even though the S’ip doesn’t perform as well as the S’well, I found it’s good enough for me, especially since I usually refill my bottle several times throughout the day. I tested its insulation one day by filling it with ice and water. Although the ice had mostly melted 24 hours later, the water was still refreshingly cold.

Both brands seem well made and never leak, a problem I’ve had with other bottles. Reaching into my bag and realizing its contents were wet would dampen (ba-dum-bump) my day. While I’m sure the problem could be attributed to user error, I’ve never had this experience with a S’ip bottle (either the water bottle or the travel mug.)

I tested the S’ip by S’well mug recently by leaving it full of coffee on its side for hours. It didn’t leak one bit. (BTW, for some reason the green one shown above is on sale at Target now at nearly half off, same with this design and this one.) The only complaint I have about the mug is that sometimes when drinking from it, particularly when I’m trying to consume the last of my coffee, I’ll have to tilt the mug up more and the opened latch touches my nose.)

Other Water Bottle Brands I’ve Tried

In comparison, here are some other brands I’ve tried: Sigg, Nalgene, and Klean Kanteen. Here are their capacities and the diameters of the openings.

Sigg – 15 oz, 1”
Nalgene – 14 oz, 1.75”
Kleen Kanteen – 18 oz, 1.75”
S’ip by Swell – 15 oz, 1.25″

The Sigg has the smallest opening, which was problematic when it came to getting ice into it. I can get my bottle brush into it, but with some amount of force. After owning a Sigg bottle for many years, it also started to smell bad. I tried baking soda, lemon, vinegar, all sorts of things to try to clean it, but the odor never quite went away.

The Nalgene and Klean Kanteen feature wider mouths. No problems here with ice cubes! Made out of BPA-free plastic, the Nalgene is lightweight and the cap is attached — handy for those prone to dropping things. But I also found the Nalgene smelled after a day or two. Washing it took care of the odor, but that meant I had to wash the bottle daily.

With the Klean Kanteen, the main problem for me was leaking. I guess I didn’t tighten the cap all the way and I often found myself taking everything out of my bag to try to clean up a water spill inside.

Since switching to S’ip, I haven’t had that problem once.

The Ice Cube Factor

At 1.25″ the mouth opening on the S’ip is a bit narrow; same goes for the similarly-sized S’well. Ice cubes from a dispenser (such as the kind built into refrigerators) fit, but they aren’t going to make it into such a small opening without some help. I found I had to dispense the ice into a separate glass and then insert each ice cube by hand, one at a time. If you use ice from a standard ice cube tray, they’re too wide. I now own an ice tray specifically for making long and narrow ice for bottles.

But that’s my only complaint about the S’ip. As a fan of cold water, I love that my drink stays cold — and never spills.

How the S’ip Has Held Up

I’ve been using my S’ip bottles daily for several months and they’ve held up well. The paint does chip from use, particularly on the bottom and the edges, but otherwise, they’re fine and still performing well. (The paint job on the S’well seems of higher quality and hasn’t chipped. Then again, the one I own is stainless steel at the bottom, so it’s not fair to directly compare them.)

The packaging claims that S’well responsibly makes its bottles in China. Bonus: S’well also partners with UNICEF USA to donate funds towards clean and safe water access. Its website says it has committed “$800,000 since 2015.” This year, S’well is supporting water programs in Madagascar, a country where nearly half of the population lacks access to clean drinking water. That’s something I’m happy to support with my purchase. I’m even thinking about getting one of their smaller 10-oz-sized ones (like this adorable rocket print one) to use on days that I carry a smaller bag.