Choosing between a hard vs soft cooler is an important decision. While it may seem relatively minor, it’s a crucial factor in ultimately selecting the best cooler for your needs. With various options available in terms of size, style, and desired features, the market offers a wide array of coolers. However, when it comes to hard coolers vs soft coolers, you can generally categorize them into two types. Below, you can learn which type of cooler might best suit your requirements.
What is a Soft-Side Cooler Bag?
Firstly, let’s delve into what a soft-side cooler bag is. As the name suggests, a soft-side cooler bag is made of soft, pliable, and flexible materials.
ANOBO’s soft-side cooler bag is produced using durable and puncture-resistant TPU materials, providing a comfortable feel, an attractive appearance, and ease of portability. It also boasts sufficient strength to withstand daily wear and tear. These cooler bags use high-quality insulation material of 2.33cm thickness, ensuring long-lasting low temperatures inside to keep your beverages cool and frozen.
What is a Hard-Side Cooler Box?
On the other hand, a hard-side cooler box is made of rigid materials, usually plastic, that are tough and resistant to bending, capable of withstanding harsh environments. As the name implies, these boxes typically have larger storage space but are heavier and less easy to move.
Key Differences Between Soft-Side and Hard-Side Coolers
- Size Difference: Soft-side cooler bags are often smaller compared to hard-side cooler boxes. Hard-side cooler boxes can be quite large, while soft-side cooler bags are designed to be more compact and lightweight. ANOBO, with excellent design capabilities, creates soft cooler bags in backpack and hand-carry styles, enhancing portability.
- Weight Difference: Soft-side cooler bags are lightweight and more suitable for portability. Hard-side cooler boxes can be heavier and usually require transportation by vehicle, often placed in the vehicle’s trunk for use during long drives. However, the larger storage capacity of hard-side coolers makes them suitable for heavier loads.
- Insulation Performance: Due to the thicker structure of hard-side cooler boxes, they offer superior insulation performance, keeping ice in a frozen state for a longer duration. Soft-side cooler bags are suitable for maintaining temperature for several hours to three days. ANOBO uses 2.33cm high-quality insulation material, providing outstanding insulation and employs advanced high-frequency welding technology, which is more efficient in insulation compared to traditional sewing techniques, ensuring excellent insulation performance.
- Durability: Hard-side cooler boxes are more durable and suitable for extended camping trips and intense outdoor activities. While soft-side cooler bags are designed to be abrasion-resistant, they may not be as durable as hard-side cooler boxes in extreme conditions. ANOBO further enhances the abrasion resistance of soft-side cooler bags by using high-density 600D PVC and TPU materials.
Primary Uses of Soft-Side vs Hard-Side Cooler Bags
- Soft-Side Cooler Bags: Suitable for short-distance travel, exploration, camping, sports events, gym, hiking, or cycling. They are lightweight, compact, and easy to carry.
- Hard-Side Cooler Boxes: Suitable for large gatherings, long-distance camping trips, or family gatherings with a larger capacity and excellent insulation performance.
Conclusion on Hard-Sided vs Soft-Sided Coolers
The final choice depends on your needs and preferences. Choosing between a hard-side cooler box and a soft-side cooler bag will depend on your specific requirements and preferences. Hard-side cooler boxes offer better insulation performance and larger capacity, suitable for extended outdoor activities. Soft-side cooler bags are lightweight, portable, and stylish, making them suitable for short trips and everyday use. Of course, you can also consider owning both to cater to different situations and needs. If you want to provide your customers with a high-performance custom soft-side cooler, ANOBO would be your best choice.
