Yeti's new soft cooler features impressive build quality and durability, but its $300 price tag remains out of reach for many

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• A high-quality cooler is easy to transport, able to stand up to all types of abuse, and insulated well enough to keep your food and beverages cold for days.
• Yeti's been one of the best cooler brands for years thanks to high-quality designs and incredible durability.
• I tested the Hopper M30, and liked that it came standard with tight seals that kept cold in and heat out, is made of durable materials, and has an attractive look.

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Soft coolers have exploded in popularity as of late. A unique innovation of the more standard hard or styrofoam cooler, soft coolers are often far easier to haul around, be it to the beach, a campsite, or wherever your outdoor travels take you. With an increase in portability comes a small decrease in size — you likely won't be packing a weekend's worth of food and drink into one of these.

But that lack of size isn't as much of a drawback as it might seem. Soft coolers have proven perfect for the day hiker who's packed along a lunch and some drinks for themselves and a few others, or for the fisherman who loads up an entire 12-pack for a day spent in a boat.

One of the companies at the forefront of the soft cooler boom is none other than Yeti, a purveyor of a variety of high-quality coolers, drinkware, and camp gear. Its latest is the Hopper M30, a tote bag-style soft cooler that's perfect for days spent at the beach, car camping trips, or tailgating, featuring a magnetic closure system and the capacity to hold up to 20 cans of soda or beer.

I had the chance to test the Hopper M30 recently and walked away a believer, yet again, in the quality of a Yeti cooler. Though it's certainly not cheap, there aren't many (if any) soft coolers like it.

Specs

The Hopper M30 is one of Yeti's largest soft coolers and is designed for one person to easily transport. These are its specs:

• Exterior dimensions: 25 inches long by 12 inches wide by 17.5 inches high
• Interior dimensions: 22 inches long by 10 inches wide by 16 inches high
• Empty weight: 7 pounds
• Insulation: Closed-cell foam
• Can capacity: 20 cans
• Color options: Charcoal, coral, navy, and river green
• Warranty: 3 years

For additional sizing and specifications, check out Yeti's product page.

Setting up the Hopper

It's easy to immediately notice the quality of a Yeti cooler when you take it out of the packaging, and the Hopper M30 is no different. It would take a lot to do any damage to the exterior, and it seems like it'd be great for being thrown around a campsite or lugged into a raft or boat. There are even loops where the strap is stitched into the bag for tying it down or attaching additional accessories.

Though there's nothing to do to actually set the cooler up, I did find that the closure system wasn't exactly straightforward. Since I hadn't read up on the Hopper M30 before unboxing, I was confused as I searched for its zipper where they're usually found on soft coolers. There was none. Instead, the lips seal using strong magnets on either side.

The Hopper M30 is designed to form a tight, leak-proof seal with its strong magnetic lips. There are also clips that cinch down the lips for an extra-tight seal and its shell is made of high-density fabric that resists mildew, punctures, and fading.

The handles work well over the shoulder or in the hands, and there are several places where you can attach all sorts of accessories you may need while tailgating or at the beach.

Insulation test

Though Yeti advertises that the Hopper is capable of keeping ice for longer than 24 hours, I wanted to see how it held up in real-world tests. To do this, I put a frozen 14-inch by 9-inch by 1.5-inch ice gel pack in thee Hopper M30, as well as similar gel packs into a standard 16-quart cooler and a reusable grocery bag. With an ambient temperature of around 70 degrees Fahrenheit, here's how long the pack lasted in each one:

• Reusable grocery bag: 24 hours
• 16-quart cooler: 48 hours
• Hopper M30: 53 hours

Despite its size, the Hopper M30 still outperformed the standard cooler, keeping the ice pack frozen for roughly 53 hours. Of course, the more you use a cooler by opening and closing it, the less that frozen time will be but it's still promising to see it hold ice that long. This means it would function well as a weekender cooler or at tailgates.

Yeti also provides many tips and tricks for getting higher performance out of a cooler like the Hopper M30, including how to store it and the best ways for packing it.

A few drawbacks

The biggest complaint my family had with the Yeti Hopper M30 is that it's hard to keep the powerful magnets open. On the bright side, this ensures no one accidentally leaves it open. But, it does make it hard to load and access items. Apparently, I'm not the only one with this complaint since Yeti created a video detailing various strategies for loading the Hopper M30.

The bottom line

The Hopper M30 is roomy, well-insulated, and easy to bring along on a variety of outings. I'd recommend it for anyone who car camps on the weekends, likes to attend tailgaters, or frequents the beach. It's highly portable yet still has a large enough capacity for a healthy selection of both food and drinks. It's expensive at $300 but worth the price tag if you'd use it often.

What model should you get?

The Hopper size that's best for your needs is a bit intuitive. It all depends on how much you want to hold. For reference, the Hopper Flip 8 holds 6 cans (assuming a 2:1 ice-to-content ratio), the Hopper Flip 12 holds 12 cans, and the Flip 18 and BackFlip 24 each hold 20 cans.

The M30 also holds 20 cans but it's the only model with a tight magnetic seal. The price of each is commensurate with the size. And, since you want as little empty space as possible in your cooler, it makes sense to buy the smallest cooler that will suit your most common needs.

• Should you buy it? I admittedly live on a tight writer's budget, so I'd never think about spending upwards of $300 on a single cooler. But, I know I'm not exactly the targeted customer as I'm not big on spending a lot of time outdoors to go camping or fishing. The Hopper M30 is best suited for shorter trips, including tailgating, beach days, and weekend camping. If you engage in these activities often, then the M30 is your ideal soft cooler.
• What are your alternatives? I've never used any other cooler that comes close to the high quality of Yeti's products. Take a look at our guides to the best coolers and best soft coolers if you're in the market for an alternative, or don't want to spend the $300 for one of these.

Pros: Highly durable, well-insulated, tote bag-style is easy to carry, attractive appearance, long manufacturer warranty

Cons: The Hopper M30's magnetic closure system is hard to keep open

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