13 best reusable water bottles that will help you ditch plastic for good

If you want to chuck your water bottle in your bag and forget about it for the rest of the day, look no further. The seal on this bottle is utterly leakproof, even when we left it lying on its side for hours. It operates by pressing a button on the front, which makes the spout pop up. Once its pressed back again, there’s a protective spout cover to stop it getting dirty (a nice touch), and a tiny sliding lock to prevent the button pressing accidentally when it’s in your bag – something that has happened to us far too many times in the past.

The double-wall vacuum insulation keeps drinks cold for up to 28 hours – even after sitting in our car all day – and there’s a carry handle to make life easier. The only downside is it only comes in one size, which some people might find a little too large.

However, if you’d prefer a bottle for hot drinks as well, we’d recommend the Contigo Matterhorn Thermalock vacuum-insulated water bottle (£21.66, Amazon.co.uk ) instead, which will keep liquids toasty for 10 hours.

This has everything you could want in a water bottle, without costing a fortune. It’s available in four attractive shades of muted blue, pink, black and grey; it has a carry handle, and the double-walled vacuum construction will keep drinks hot for 12 hours or cold for 24 hours. We also love the fact it’s not enormous, which makes for easier drinking, and it has a sleek, modern design that makes it look a lot more expensive than it is. Plus, 10 per cent of each sale goes towards the Life’s a Beach charity, which works to eradicate single-use plastic from beaches and waterways, as this makes up a shocking 49 per cent of beach litter. What’s not to love?

This is one seriously good-looking bottle. We loved the range of colours it comes in, including neon green, sky blue and the blush pink we tested. You can even mix and match colours, so the lid is a different shade from the bottle itself.

Although the bottle is made of stainless steel, the inside is lined with ceramic, to avoid any metallic taste transferring to the water. It’s fantastic at keeping hot and cold drinks at the right temperature, too, thanks to the triple-wall vacuum insulation.

There’s a choice of two lids – a one-handed push button lid or one with a golden stainless steel straw, which makes a change from the cheap plastic straws many bottles use. We did find it tricky to lift the spout of the straw lid without touching the end we needed to drink from, though.

There’s not much this bottle can’t do. It looks more like a flask than a traditional drinking bottle, and could certainly withstand any hike or camping trip – that’s unsurprising, though, when you consider the company is best known for its outdoor gear and makes everything from coolers to camping mugs.

The brand recently found more fame when its ‘quencher’ – an oversized tumbler with a handle and straw – became a TikTok sensation.

This quick flip bottle, though, is more for practicality than posing, keeping iced drinks cold for a whopping 40 hours, thanks to its double-wall vacuum insulation. It’s utterly leakproof and didn’t spill a drop even when it lolled around in our bag for a whole day.

We like the fact it operates with a single button and has an extra metal ring fastening to prevent accidental opening, which means this has now become our go-to when carrying hot drinks. However, it’s worth upgrading to the largest size (£38.99, Stanley1913.com) if you can’t reach a water source all day.

No need to turn to pricey bottled water if you hate the taste of tap water. King of the water filter Brita has a nifty solution with this sturdy bottle that includes two MicroDisc refillable water filters. These last for around 60l or four weeks, and have an activated carbon filter that removes chlorine and other nasty-tasting substances. However, good-guy minerals such as calcium and magnesium will still pass through the filter and remain in your water.

We were surprised to discover just how good water can taste when using this bottle – our teen tester in particular was a big fan. We also liked the pull-up mouthpiece that’s protected by a lid, to keep it all clean, though, it is quite stiff to use. The bottle gets bonus points for being dishwasher-safe, though, do remember, you will have to buy replacement filters once a month.

There’s also a squeezable one-handed sports bottle available, if you’d rather drink on the go (£14.18, Brita.co.uk).

Trust iconic cookware brand Le Creuset to make a bottle as discreetly stylish as its covetable casserole dishes. Available in the brand’s distinctive range of stand-out shades with an attractive ombre design, the company has elevated the bog-standard water bottle with small but smart tweaks, for added user-friendliness.

There are ridges on the silver screw cap, to make it easier to undo, and the double-wall vacuum insulation has a copper layer, so you won’t risk condensation. Drinks will also stay cold for up to 24 hours and hot for 12. Plus, it clearly displays the name Le Creuset in block capitals on the front, for tasteful showing off while you’re sipping.

If you’ve ever tried to ram ice cubes into the narrow mouth of a reusable water bottle (surely it’s not just us?), you’ll know it’s no easy feat. However, icy drinks are much simpler with this clever water bottle from Built, which comes with a BPA-free silicone ice mould tray that makes long, thin ice cubes, perfect for popping straight in the bottle without a struggle. The ice cubes will even come with a New York skyline design embossed in them, which is a nice touch.

We loved the look of this bottle, too, thanks to its cylindrical bullet-style shape and go-with-anything charcoal colour. The silver screw lid can be a little tricky to open – especially with wet hands – but it really was leakproof, and the vacuum insulation technology kept our drink chilled for an entire day.

The original air up bottle became a must-have accessory in British schools, convincing even the most water-phobic child to get sipping throughout the day. A flavour pod fits over the mouthpiece and, by the power of smell, convinces the drinker they’re sipping a flavoured drink rather than bog standard water.

The problem was that the original version of the bottle tended to leak, and we lost count of the number of times our junior tester’s school bag came back soaked. Air up has now designed a new version of the same bottle and it’s a huge improvement. It comes with a rubber seal inside to stop any leaking – though, it’s worth checking this is in place whenever you fill it. Ours slipped once without us noticing and the school bag got another drenching. The lid also needs to be fastened correctly to prevent further leaks, which our young tester sometimes failed to do.

We were also glad to see the bottle has been tweaked so it can now stand upside down to drain as the previous version couldn’t. There’s no need to manually activate the flavour pod now, either, as it works automatically unless it’s deactivated. Just remember that you will need to buy replacement pods once the three included with the bottle have run out – air up estimate each one should last long enough to flavour around 15l of water, although, we found they actually lasted a little longer.

It’s not always easy to get clean water on the go. This pricey but clever BPA-free bottle comes with a filter, so you can use water from taps anywhere in the world, or even fill up from a river while camping.

It offers two-stage filtration, which removes bacteria, parasites, microplastics, chlorine, silt, pesticides and even bad smells – all of which are enough to drive you to dehydration. It’s literally a life saver for regular travellers – no surprise, we’ve even spotted these clever bottles being used by the contestants on the BBC’s Race Across The World.

It’s important to remember that filters will need replacing eventually – the membrane microfilter should last for around 4,000l of water, while the carbon filter should be swapped after around 100l.

A stainless steel version of the bottle is also available (from £48 for the 500ml version, Lifestraw.com) if you’d prefer to keep water chilled.

There’s no chance you’ll get thirsty with this oversized bottle, which is great for when you’re on the go all day and might not get the chance to refill.

It’s made from professional-grade stainless steel with a powder coating that can still go in the dishwasher without fading. We particularly liked the wide mouth, which means it fills up in a flash and can be glugged from without wrestling with spouts or straws.

It’s also possible to customise the bottle with a range of mouthpieces, including a chug cap and a straw lid, to get the one that suits you best, though, be aware not all the additional caps can be used with hot liquids.

We love the range of colours it comes in, too, including a suits-all ‘stone’ and a pretty pale blush pink named ‘trillium’.

There’s more to Stanley than the ubiquitous ‘quencher’ (£44.99, Stanley1913.com). Designed specifically for those with an active lifestyle, this slim and sleek iceflow bottle uses Aerolight technology to make it 33 per cent lighter than standard stainless steel bottles, so it didn’t weigh us down even when it was completely full.

It has a recessed grip (so you can grab it with sweaty hands mid-workout) and a large spout for glugging. We thought we might find the screw lid a little annoying in the gym, but it whips off quickly and then snaps onto the carry handle. We simply kept it attached to the integrated hook during a spin class, so we could drink whenever we needed but didn’t have to worry about dropping or losing the lid.

The vacuum insulation really did keep our water cold, too – iced water stays chilly for an incredible two days. It’s definitely earned a permanent space in our gym bag.

The dinky ocean bottle is the perfect size to throw in almost any bag. We carried it with us as we dashed between appointments, and barely realised it was there, yet it still held a decent amount of water, which stayed cold all day.

We also tested this bottle with tea, which remained piping hot for hours and didn’t leak all over our bag. The bottle’s double opening makes it easy to fill and clean, although, thankfully, the whole thing can also go straight in the dishwasher.

We especially liked the fact every bottle bought funds the collection of 1,000 ocean-bound plastic bottles, and there’s an accompanying app to record refills, to collect even more plastic. Collectors in coastal communities exchange plastic for money to access social resources and healthcare, while the plastic is recycled through a traceable system. A win-win all round.

Whether you’re on the go or in the gym, a bottle with a screw lid can be a pain. However, most lids that pop up with one press tend to have a straw, which doesn’t always hit the spot when you’re gagging for a glug.

This Contigo bottle has it all. It’s ready to drink with just one press, has a chug spout for free-flowing water and a cover to protect the mouthpiece from dirt. We also loved the button lock, which prevented accidental presses when it was rolling around at the bottom of our bag. The double-wall vacuum insulation kept our water perfectly chilled for hours, even after a full day, and we didn’t notice any metallic taste. We also liked the 590ml capacity, which was enough to ensure we didn’t swig it all in one go, but was small enough to be carried all day. If you’re not keen on sipping through a straw, this one ticks every box.