Thermos Hydro Active Sports Bottle, 700ml, Charcoal

Initially I loved this bottle, it's sturdy, and the water didn't taste of plastic or metal. However a few weeks after I received it, the rubber seal around the inside of the lid starting fraying. I frequently found myself tasting/ eating bits of rubber, and now the lid doesn't stay firmly closed, with water leaking every time I use it. It's a real shame as that is the only problem I have with it, and if this issue was fixed I would buy one again- but not until then!!!

Ordered the charcoal version and the first thing you notice is that it is more blue/green grey than actual grey, but since this is a superficial thing, it doesn't bother me.

The product is made of three parts. The bottle, the lid and a plastic reservoir.
The bottle is tough (it won't fold or collapse onto itself when you squeeze it or place it within a bag) and has rubber plastic embedded into it for grip. I noticed a slight plastic taste when using it for the first time (which is to be expected for most bottles) but it's not noticeable on subsequent usages.

The lid too has rubber bits but the rest of it doesn't look as professional as the bottle. It is a flip lid (that you screw on and off) with a rubber seal and doesn't open without a fair amount of pressure from your hands. If you plan on having it within a bag near other items this is a good thing as it is less likely to pop open and spill it's contents everywhere. Of course this does mean it's not as easy using it in action (i.e when you're running on a treadmill at the gym), but i'd rather it be this way than not.
It is listed as holding up to 700ml but it could actually hold more without the reservoir. The reservoir takes up 100ml of water in volume. This means if you fill it to the 700ml line and take out the tube, it will drop down to 600ml approximately.
It has markings for ml & oz on one side and the Thermos brand logo on the other.

The reservoir is a tube with again a screw on cap. It's meant for filling with water and freezing it so you can keep cool water colder (note: Don't fill to the top, as the ice will expand). You could use it for other things I suppose but I can't comment on that. It is icicle shaped and is located in the centre vertically. It rests around the base of the lid, and has holes to allow liquid to pour in and out but because of their size it won't allow as much as you could if you don't use it. There is also a bit that sticks out so you can hold onto it and pick it out but because of it's design ( it's | shaped ) you don't have much of a grip when the both the tube and bottle contain liquid. Making it T shaped would solve that issue.

To summarise I can't find anything majorly wrong with this product. The other negative reviews suggest that the lid flips open easily. It doesn't from my experience. The only thing I can imagine that would cause it to do this is that it wasn't securely closed in the first place and or the bottle contained carbonated liquid (which they do say is not suitable) or liquid that was hot leading to a buildup of steam inside. The thing I need to point out again though is that the cooling tube takes up some volume so you won't get the exact 700ml, but if volume of liquid is more important than keeping it cool then you can always take the tube out.

HTH.

I'm very pleased with this product.
I wasn't really expecting much for the price, and was pleasantly surprised by its quality.
It doesn't leak, and the central cooling system is very useful.
It's handy to be able to see the water level to know when to top up.
I am also reassured that it is BPA free.
My partner recently borrowed it for a trip to the gym, and was so impressed that we've now bought a second one.