Stanley AeroLight Transit Bottle (20 oz) Review

If you’re looking for a great way to stay hydrated—and let’s face it, who isn’t?—there’s a good chance you’re in the market for the best water bottle. There are plenty of things to take into consideration, though. Are you looking for insulation? How much drink do you want to bring along? Do you like to sip or gulp?

The Stanley AeroLight Transit Bottle (20 oz) offers a lightweight way to keep your drink cold so that you can bring it wherever you go. Is its unique spout and tall footprint right for your next trip? Let’s find out!

The Rundown

In designing this travel water bottle, Stanley says they created one that’s a third lighter than other stainless steel bottles. They did so with “AeroLight™ featherweight technology,” and—whatever that is—it really seems to have worked. Indeed, the first time we picked this bottle up, we were quite surprised by its lightness. We’ll get more into how it stacks up to similar bottles later, but the tl;dr is that it cuts quite a few ounces from the competition.

The interior is spun steel with double-walled insulation. We tested this bottle with hot and cold water, plus coffee, and are happy to say that as long as you wash it quickly, the coffee flavor doesn’t seem to stick around. However, we think it’s best for water, and we’ll explain more shortly when we chat about the lid.

Before we dive into the nitty-gritty, though, we’ll go over the outside of the bottle, which is satiny smooth and has a hint of shine. Indeed, all the colorways include the word “glimmer,” so we’re not surprised to see a little sparkle when it hits the light. Don’t worry; this doesn’t look like your old dance costume or Aunt Agnes’ New Year’s Eve gown. It’s subtle and hard to see unless you’re looking for it. We’ve got Fog Glimmer here, which evokes the fog after a bit of rain (so the light sheen works well), but at the time of this review, you can also get it in Cream Glimmer, Black Glimmer, Rose Quartz Glimmer, and Lapis Glimmer, which is a deep blue in case you’re unfamiliar with the gemstone of the same hue.

Centered near the top is the Stanley name, complete with the mythical bear logo, so everyone will know what brand you’re supporting with every sip. There’s a rim of stainless steel edging the top of the bottle.

If you like the bear logo, you’re in luck because it’s also on the lid. It’s on a square that looks like a button you should be able to push, but you can’t (trust us, we tried!). This purportedly leak-proof lid does, in fact, prevent any spills, no matter how many times we shake the bottle upside down. That means we can be confident sliding it into an interior bottle pocket next to our laptop, and we don’t say that about every bottle we sip from.

The screw-on lid is plastic, with a flip-up cap that’s easy to open with your thumb and then clicks into place on its backside to keep it from bumping your nose as you drink. There’s a thin rubber gasket that is removable for cleaning, but be sure to replace it, as that’s what maintains the leakproof-ness of the container. When you look inside the opening, there’s a sort of tongue-like piece of the plastic lid. When you drink, the water comes around that tongue and onto yours.

The drinking spout is curved with the edge of the bottle and in a slight uphill on its way to your mouth to provide a pleasant drinking experience. However, we do want to warn you that if you take a rather large swig by tipping the bottle up high, it can dribble down the sides of your mouth as the opening is a little wider than pursed lips. That’s why we prefer using this for clear liquids. If you’re more graceful, however, or know to take care, go ahead and flavor your water or drink other beverages. While you have been warned, to quote the great T. Swift, “It’s (probably) me. Hi. I’m the problem. It’s me.”

Packability

Since we’re not beverage bottle scientists like the designers at our favorite brands, we can’t tell you how they made this bottle so lightweight, but we can tell you that we were really surprised to pick this bottle up because it’s nearly as light as an uninsulated plastic bottle. Not quite, but it’s still much lighter than we expected.

It’s a standard-width bottle, so its narrow base fits in nearly every cup holder and bottle pocket we can find, except for so-called bottle pockets on certain mini backpacks that are really only for skinnier disposable bottles, if that. We like reusable bottles for their Earth-friendly sustainability, and since you’re reading this, you probably do, too, so we don’t count those tiny pockets.

Since it’s so lightweight, we barely feel it in our bag when it’s empty, which isn’t something we can say for every insulated water bottle. That’s a point to consider when bringing it to an amusement park or on another equally exhausting outing. You may not want to carry around a hefty bottle just to be ready for the next time you need a refill, so buying something disposable throughout the day can be tempting. With the Stanley AeroLight Transit Bottle, we think you can have the best of both worlds and be kind to Mother Earth at the same time that you are to your body (by staying hydrated, in case that wasn’t clear!).

Quick Comparison

Ah, now for the fun part. Why should you buy the Stanley AeroLight Transit Bottle instead of another option?

First off, we’ll compare it to another Stanley. Another “AeroLight” Stanley bottle, to be specific. We were pretty surprised to see “AeroLight” in the moniker of the Stanley AeroLight IceFlow Bottle with Fast Flow Lid 16 oz because this bad boy doesn’t seem very light. It weighs 12 ounces and has a capacity of 16 ounces, whereas the AeroLight Transit Bottle clocks in at 9.6 ounces with a 20-ounce capacity. Oh, and just for fun, we’ll throw our trusty Standard Mouth Hydro Flask Bottle 21 oz into the mix since it’s one we have years of experience with, know, and love. With this bottle, you get one more ounce of hydration, but carry around a couple more ounces for the privilege; it clocks in at 11.3 ounces when empty. If you’re looking for a lighter weight option in the Hydro Flask brand, check out their Trail Series, which cuts the heft significantly.

However, you may find the other two options a little easier to carry if you’re not bringing another bag. (Although you’re at Pack Hacker, so why don’t you?) Both the Stanley AeroLight IceFlow Bottle with Fast Flow Lid and the Standard Mouth Hydro Flask Bottle have handles so you can carry them from your resort room to the beach or wherever you want to take them.

Indeed, we find that’s where much of the AeroLight IceFlow Bottle’s weight comes from; while the bottle alone weighs just 7.5 ounces, the Fast Flow Lid and carry handle accompanying it weighs 5.3 ounces, which seems to negate the lightness of the bottle. Yet the additional heft doesn’t seem to be from added insulation: both bottles should keep beverages iced for 40 hours. The Transit bottle should keep your drink cold for 12 hours and the IceFlow cold for 8, though we didn’t find the AeroLight IceFlow Bottle quite lived up to those expectations. And, alas, it’s hard to repeat the same testing process with the Transit Bottle when outdoor temperatures are below freezing, so we’ll have to take Stanley at its word (with a grain of salt) this time.

One more difference to note: The AeroLight Transit Bottle is the only one of the three we can open with one hand. To get into the other two bottles, you have to unscrew a cap and, in the case of the Hydro Flask, hold it or find somewhere to set it, or, in the case of the AeroLight IceFlow Bottle, clip it into the handle.

So, if you’re looking for a lightweight way to stay hydrated while keeping your beverage icy and cold throughout the day, try the Stanley AeroLight Transit Bottle (20 oz). It won’t weigh you down and is a pleasure to drink from on the go, provided you practice more patience and don’t tip it up quite so high.