REVIEW – I go through phases where I forget to drink water for most of a day and then try to make up for it in one aggressive sitting at 9pm, which isn’t a hydration strategy any doctor would endorse. Owala sent over the FreeSip in the 40oz size to see if a bigger bottle parked on my desk would actually change that habit instead of just giving me a bigger container to ignore. The first one to show up was Nailed It, their grey colorway, and a second Very, Very Dark bottle followed not long after, so I ended up running this test with both.
Note: These FreeSip 40oz bottles were sent to me by Owala at no cost. They had no editorial input and did not see this review before it published.
Photos and video by Gregory Morley.
The Basics
The FreeSip is Owala’s signature water bottle, built around a two-way lid: a push-button pops the lid open, and from there you either sip through the built-in straw or tilt the whole thing back and drink from the wide-mouth opening like a regular bottle. The 40oz size is the largest in the FreeSip line, meant for people who want to fill up once and not think about it again for most of the day.
What You Get
- Owala FreeSip 40oz water bottle, in Nailed It (grey) and Very, Very Dark (black) colorways
- Built-in straw
By the Numbers
- Price: $39.99
- Capacity: 40oz
- Colors reviewed: Nailed It (grey), Very, Very Dark (black)
- Body: triple-layer, vacuum-insulated stainless steel
- Lid and spout: BPA-free, lead-free Tritan plastic
- Cold retention: keeps drinks cold up to 24 hours
- Dimensions: 11.64 in tall, 3.60 in diameter
- Lid: dishwasher-safe; cup is technically dishwasher-safe too, but hand-wash is recommended to preserve the finish
Design & Build
At 40oz, this is a genuinely big bottle, tall enough that it doesn’t fit in most standard car cup holders, worth knowing before buying if that matters to you. The push-button lock on the lid is the standout design detail: press it and the top pops open on a hinge, and a built-in loop doubles as a carry handle. Locked shut, it’s stayed sealed through every bag toss and car ride so far.
Between the two colors, Nailed It is the more understated of the pair, a plain matte-ish grey with no logos shouting at anyone. Very, Very Dark takes that further: it’s a noticeably more matte finish than Nailed It, with more texture and grip to it, and one of the better-looking colors Owala makes for this bottle. Nailed It’s grey stops at the body, while Very, Very Dark carries the black all the way through, straw included, so there’s no lighter plastic peeking out anywhere on it. Nailed It ended up staying at my office desk and Very, Very Dark took over at home and the gym, and having two of the nicer color options in their lineup instead of one grey bottle everywhere has been a nice, if unnecessary, perk.
Making It Yours
Beyond picking a stock colorway, Owala also lets you customize a FreeSip directly on their site before it ships: your own text, art from their library, or an uploaded image, either engraved or printed. Engraving is laser-etched into the powder coating to reveal the bare stainless steel underneath, a durable tactile finish that’s best suited to bold logos, text, and high-contrast designs rather than fine detail or gradients. Color Print instead cures a full-color UV ink design onto the bottle, better suited to custom art, gradients, and finer detail, with a raised tactile finish instead of an etched one. Either option runs $10 on top of the bottle price.
I ran the Lonely Guy Gadgets logo through the engraving tool on a Very, Very Dark 40oz bottle just to see how it works, and the online customizer makes it easy: pick engrave or color print, add text, art, or your own upload, then position and size it before adding to cart.
The Two-Way Lid
The FreeSip spout is the whole reason this bottle has a following. One push on the button pops the lid open, and from there it’s just a matter of how you hold the bottle: sip upright through the built-in straw at a desk or in the car, or tilt the whole thing back and drink straight from the wide-mouth opening instead. There’s no separate mode to switch between, both ways to drink are available the moment the lid’s open, so the bottle works for sipping through a workday and for chugging after a workout without switching bottles.
The FreeSip also beats every YETI I’ve used it against here. YETI’s straw lids never touch the bottom of the bottle, so there’s always a stubborn inch or two of water you can’t get out through the straw no matter how hard you pull. The FreeSip’s straw runs deep enough that once you’ve sipped it as far down as it goes, you just tilt the whole bottle back and guzzle the rest straight from the mouth opening in one motion. It sounds obvious written out, but going from straw stuck sipping air to just drink the rest normally without unscrewing anything is genuinely clever, and the straw itself is built into the lid so there’s nothing sticking up or looking sloppy on a desk.
Keeping Up With It
The insulation claim is 24 hours cold, and water filled first thing in the morning has still been noticeably cold by the end of the day rather than lukewarm, the actual test that matters. The size is the bigger behavior change: filling it once in the morning covers most of a full day of drinking, so there’s no mid-afternoon refill trip to talk myself into. Both bottles live in daily rotation, one at the office and one at home and the gym, and neither has leaked once, even knocked on its side.
The lid pulls it further ahead of my old YETI Rambler 32oz’s magnetic top. That magnetic lid works fine once it’s on, but I could never get it open and drinking with one hand, and I lost count of how many times it popped off and skittered across the floor even though it’s supposed to stay clipped to the side of the bottle. The FreeSip’s push-button lid opens one-handed every time and has never come loose in a bag or a cupholder.
What Could Be Better
At 40oz, this bottle is too tall for most car cup holders, so it rides in a seat or a bag instead, a real inconvenience for anyone who drinks in the car. Full, it’s heavy enough that carrying it one-handed all day is noticeable. And while the cup is technically dishwasher-safe, Owala recommends hand-washing it to preserve the finish, an extra step for something used daily.
Watch the Review
Quick Questions
Q: How long does the FreeSip 40oz actually keep drinks cold?
A: Owala rates it at up to 24 hours, and in testing, water filled first thing in the morning was still noticeably cold by the end of the day rather than lukewarm.
Q: Is the whole bottle dishwasher-safe?
A: The lid is dishwasher-safe, and the cup is technically dishwasher-safe too, but Owala recommends hand-washing the cup to preserve the finish.
Q: Will it fit in a standard car cup holder?
A: No. At 40oz it’s tall enough that it doesn’t fit in most standard car cup holders, so it rides in a seat or a bag instead.
Q: What’s the difference between the Nailed It and Very, Very Dark colorways?
A: Nailed It is a plain, matte-ish grey. Very, Very Dark has a noticeably more matte, textured finish. Both are the same bottle, just different colorways. Owala makes the 40oz FreeSip in a lot more than these two, including Out of the Blue, Read My Lips, Rose Quartz, Sugar High, Open Air, Terracotta Sunset, Burgundy Bay, Candy Coated, Beachfront, Coastal Mist, Blue Oasis, Crown Jewel, Rock On, Denim, Calm Waters, Green House, Shy Marshmallow, and Off the Grid, plus Water in the Desert and Lemon Limeade when they’re back in stock.
Final Thoughts
The FreeSip’s two-way lid solves the sip-versus-chug problem better than a single-mode bottle, and the 40oz size does what it’s supposed to: fill it once, drink from it all day, refill less often. Against the YETI gear it replaced, it wins on the two things that actually get used every day: the straw drains the whole bottle instead of leaving an inch stranded at the bottom, and the lid opens one-handed instead of relying on a magnetic top that’s just as happy to fall off and roll under the couch. The tradeoffs come with any bottle this large: it’s tall, it’s heavy full, and it won’t fit in most cup holders. For a desk bottle or a gym bag that doesn’t need to survive a car ride, it’s an easy recommendation, and Nailed It and Very, Very Dark are both genuinely good-looking ways to own one.
Price: $39.99
Where to buy: Amazon
What I like: Straw actually drains the bottle instead of stopping short, one-handed push-button lid beats a magnetic top that keeps falling off, 24-hour cold retention holds up, Very, Very Dark’s matte finish is one of the nicer colors Owala makes
What I don’t: Too tall for most car cup holders, heavy when full, cup is dishwasher-safe but hand-wash is recommended
