It doesn’t take a doctor or scientist to understand how vital water consumption is to human life. Keeping properly hydrated is not only crucial to just about any type of workout, but it also comes with an almost endless list of other health benefits (including but not limited to): increasing cognitive performance and brain function, promoting cardiovascular health, and optimizing physical performance. Despite this reality, the average male adult comes significantly short of consuming the recommended approximately 16x 8oz glasses (or 125oz) that they should be consuming each day.
Because of the tremendous importance of proper hydration, a myriad of companies have started producing Bluetooth and/or smartphone-connected water bottles that offer hydration tracking capabilities, the ability to monitor exercise and subsequent water depletion in real-time, and are able to remind their user to drink water when needed. Since the first smart water bottle was introduced several years back, the market has been flooded with a slew of largely mediocre products, however, there are a handful of standouts that have managed to stand the test of time thanks to their ability to afford genuine value and utility. Below, we’ll be exploring the best smart water bottles currently on the market, as well as diving into the most important areas to consider before making your purchase.
Real-Time Hydration Monitoring 101
The Most Important Areas To Consider When Buying A Smart Water Bottle
If you’re unfamiliar with smart water bottles, there are a few areas that you’ll want to be privy to prior to shopping. Directly beneath, we’ll be touching on the most vital aspects to take into account when in the market for a smart water bottle.
Hydration Tracking: Most hydration trackers take your weight, height, and gender into account, before beginning to monitor your water consumption. The more advanced smart bottles are also able to track workouts and physical movement in order to give live info on water depletion. Some bottles do this by using a physical display on the bottle itself, while others can pair with a smartphone app to offer a more robust tracking experience. The vast majority of smart bottles also boast automatic reminders, alerting their user when they need to drink.
Device Compatibility: Before deciding on a smart bottle, we’d recommend looking into the different apps that exist to get a better sense of what each product is capable of tracking or monitoring. Some company’s apps also boast markedly more user-friendly interfaces than others. There are also bottles that can pair with other fitness trackers, apps, or other smart workout gadgets. If you’ve already invested in other fitness tracking gear, this latter area is especially worth checking on.
Self-Sanitizing: Alongside hydration tracking, another pretty noteworthy amenity offered by some smart bottles is the ability to automatically sanitize its contents, typically through the use of a built-in UVC light. This feature is not only fantastic for everyday use but also comes in handy when off of the grid.
Bottle Construction: Just like regular everyday use bottles, smart water bottles come in a wide range of shapes, sizes, colors, and constructions, with some being markedly more hardwearing than others. When buying a smart bottle it’s always worth looking into the materials that are used to make the bottle, as well as the cap, and whatever other primary components there may be.
Industrial Design: In an effort to further distinguish their products from the sea of other bottles on the market, a variety of more design-conscious companies have released some pretty striking and unique-looking water bottle designs, and this very much includes the smart bottle sector. Whether you’re looking for something more subtle and minimalist, or a more modern attention-grabbing design, there’s no shortage of different styles and industrial designs comprising the smart bottle sector at the moment.
Durability: How rugged any regular use water bottle is, is of extreme importance, though this is, even more, the case when dealing with smart bottles, which tend to cost even more. In this regard, smart bottles run the gambit, from ultra-durable metal construction items to connected smart glass water bottles. To further fortify some of these bottles, several manufacturers make supplementary sleeves and cases to better protect their respective smart bottles.
TYLT Bottle
The TYLT Bottle admittedly isn’t what we normally think of when discussing smart water bottles, though is still worth bringing up when having the smart bottle discussion. Based on the idea that we take our EDC bottles with us everywhere we go, the folks behind the TYLT Bottle have cleverly opted to bestow the 17oz dual-walled vacuum-insulated bottle — which is crafted from grade 314 stainless steel and has an interior with an anti-corrosion treatment — with a removable 5,700mAh soft-touch power bank for recharging your mobile devices while on the go. As a point of reference, that’s roughly enough power to fully recharge an iPhone 12 twice. IP65-rated, this item is also backed by a one-year warranty.
THERMOS Connected Hydration Bottle W/ Smart Lid
Made specifically to pair with Apple products, this smart bottle from THERMOS pairs with a dedicated smartphone app with an activity dashboard and hydration goal settings. This item is also compatible with Fitbit accounts, allowing you to add an additional metric to your fitness tracking. In addition to tracking and measuring liquid intake, the Smart Lid is also able to offer live temperature readings of the bottle’s contents and packs Bluetooth connectivity with an impressive 75’ range. Powered by a cell with up to 12 days of battery life, this 24oz smart bottle is offered in transparent teal or gray.
Monos Kiyo UVC Bottle
The Monos Kiyo UVC Bottle is a rugged self-cleaning smart bottle crafted from an amalgamation of Tritan, silicone, stainless steel, and silex glass. Available in six different color options, this bottle uses a USB-C-rechargeable 400mAh battery to power a UVC purification system that neutralizes up to 99.99% of bacteria. Outfitted with a Kiyo loop and boasting a month of battery life on a single charge, the bottle also features a double-walled construction to keep hot beverage hot and cold beverages cold for 12 and 24 hours, respectively, and two purification modes, a 60-second cycle called “Quick Clean” and a more intensive three-minute sanitizing process appropriately dubbed “Deep Clean.”
HidrateSpark STEEL
After building out a profile that factors in the user’s age, height, weight, sex, elevation, and exercise, the HidrateSpark STEEL smart bottle tracks hydration intake via a dedicated smartphone app in order to give its users a personalized drinking plan. Like most of the other items on this list, the actual bottle itself is of the stainless steel vacuum-insulated variety, too. The bottom of the bottle features a customizable RGB LED light display that automatically lights up to remind you to take a drink as needed. On top of being produced in five regular color options and four special edition variants, this bottle is also manufactured in 17oz and 21oz sizes and offered with your choice of screw-off or sippy-style lids.
Ozmo Active Bottle
The Ozmo Active is another stellar addition to any load-out that already includes a fitness tracker from Garmin or Fitbit, as this bottle is able to sync with both to provide additional information on your hydration tracking and levels. Sold in seven color variants, this smart bottle is BPA-free, offers a 16oz capacity, a Tritan construction inner body, and a USB-rechargeable battery that affords three weeks of use and can be fully replenished after only two hours of charging. Other noteworthy details include a soft-grip exterior and embedded LED lights.
equa Smart Bottle
The equa Bottle is an unmistakably high-end take on a smart water bottle, with a sleek exterior that’s offered in three colors and accented with a metal top and matching carrying ring. Built-in motion sensors detect water levels and drinking while glowing lights remind the user when to drink. Best of all, an entire log is kept that tracks the user’s daily drinking and hydration habits, allowing you to glean useful information that you can apply to your diet or workout routine. The bottle’s dual-walled vacuum-insulated stainless steel construction is helped along via a premium coating of copper to afford even better thermal retention properties.
LARQ Bottle Movement PureVis
The LARQ Bottle Movement PureVis is a fantastic addition to any loadout, whether headed to work, the gym, or the great outdoors. Manufactured in half a dozen color options and equipped with interchangeable colored silicone sleeves, this bottle is sold in 24oz and 32oz sizes — both of which feature a powerful UVC light built into the cap that’s able to effectively eliminate a whopping 99.9999% of germs and bacteria like E.coli from the bottle’s contents.
LevelUpWay Glass Hydrogen Generator Bottle
While the scientific jury is still out, there are plenty of athletes that swear by drinking hydrogen water, as it’s touted for its ability to increase energy, reduce inflammation, and shorten recovery times following intensive workouts. This advanced smart bottle turns regular H2O into hydrogen-infused water, adding hydrogen while simultaneously removing ozone and chlorine. This is made possible through the use of an ultra-compact, yet highly-efficient fifth-generation Molecular Hydrogen Generator and Proton Exchange Membrane — with Platinum-coated titanium construction electrode plates — which are built into the smart bottle itself.
The 10 Best Water Bottles For Everyday Use
Want to check out a collection of bottles without hydration tracking? Then head over to our guide to the best water bottles for everyday carry for ten of today’s finest EDC-friendly vessels.
