Earlier this spring, Anker announced its latest foray into an entirely new product category with its EverFrost-powered cooler. Now beginning to ship today for the first time, the new debut effectively arrives as a portable mini fridge with up to 53L of capacity. After trying it out for the past few weeks and even impressing some dads at a recent barbecue, I’m ready to explore if the $799 starting price is worth the cash.
Hands-on with the new Anker EverFrost cooler
In its march to consume just about every gadgety product category imaginable, Anker is now officially shipping its new EverFrost cooler. Hitting the scene just in time for summer and all of those upcoming cookouts, the battery-powered beverage chiller is looking to succeed where other bands have failed. To do that, it’s leveraging the brand’s usual reliable build quality and pairing it with some tech to match.
Giving your typical cooler a futuristic face-lift, the new EverFrost is designed mainly like any other cooler – for the most part. The exterior is covered in a hard shell plastic that definitely seems like it can stand up to the kind of wear and tear you’d expect from transporting a cooler around campsites and other outdoor locales. It very clearly arrives with the kind of design you’d expect to see on a power bank for your everyday carry rather than something that’s going to keep your beers nice and cold.
Aside from just the sci-fi aesthetic Anker is going for, the cooler does also have a unique form factor, thanks to the technology it packs inside. The actual internal space isn’t a typical rectangle volume but instead has an upside L-shaped spot for you to store drinks and other goodies. As for the reason behind that, Anker had to store the 299Wh battery somewhere.
This is a powered cooler, remember, and so you’re giving up some precious space to house the chilling capabilities. But what you lose from the battery, you make up for in not needing to waste space on ice or mess with getting the perfect ratio of having drinks layered in ice. I’d definitely say it’s worth the trade-off.
As far as the actual specs go, the Anker EverFrost comes in three different models that are only different in their storage capacities. The 33L, 43L, and 53L versions all come backed by the removable 299Wh battery. It can be refueled via a typical AC outlet at home, with the car adapter, or even solar panels for off-grid use. On a full charge, you’re looking at over a day of chilled drinks, but that really depends on just what setting you have it on. I’ll talk a bit more about how it actually performs down below.
Buy now
Available for purchase at Amazon as well as the official Anker storefront, the new EverFrost powered cooler is now shipping and set to arrive before those summer cookouts and picnics arrive. It starts at $799 for the entry-level 33L model, while the larger 43L version clocks in at $849. The largest 53L capacity rounds out the lineup at $949.
gadgetnewsonline’ Take
Anker’s new EverFrost cooler has officially arrived, looking to bring some tech to the patio, beach, or campsite. Stop me if you’ve heard this one before. Other companies have tried and failed to make a high-tech cooler like the Anker EverFrost. One of the biggest blunders in all of Silicon Valley history, the Coolest Cooler, was something that I actually got to check out back when it was sweeping the web in 2018. That was far from being the product the company promised to ship and has gone down as an infamous cautionary tale in startup lore.
Confident it wasn’t just repeating history, Anker is back with its new EverFrost cooler. The company was kind enough to send over the new release about a month ago for me to check out, and I’ve been using it since around the house, at barbecues, and at the beach.
Over the weekend, though, I put it to the ultimate test, seeing if it could survive a Father’s Day barbecue. I know, I know. It’s a tough gauntlet to get through, especially when trying to impress your significant other’s family at the same time. After all, if there are two things dads love on a summer day, it’s a hot grill and a freezing cooler. So the stakes were high to make sure the Anker EverFrost could live up to the latter.
Setting out on my faithful journey began with a detour to get some craft beer, as every cookout needs. Armed with the Anker EverFrost in the back seat, the cooler was hopefully going to make quick work of keeping the two six packs I picked up nice and cold. The only problem is they weren’t cold to begin with. Maybe it was the fact that Long Island traffic took a bit longer than expected to make it to my destination, or maybe I just underestimated how cold the beverages were from the start. But they were nice and frosty upon arrival. Actually, scratch that. It was definitely the fact that you can turn the cooler down to negative 4 degrees Fahrenheit that made quick work of getting things chilled, to which the several dads in attendance were quite impressed by.
As for how the cooler held up throughout the day, I was able to make it home nearly 11 hours after unplugging it without having to worry about the battery dying. After a full day of keeping the temperature around 35 degrees, there was still about 30% battery capacity left upon walking in the front door. Getting home past 10:00 p.m. ended up meaning I forgot to plug it back in, but the cooler dying overnight ended up being the perfect test to see how well insulated the cooler was, to which I was surprised to see all of the contents still nice and cold the next morning.
Something I don’t particularly love about the Anker EverFrost is that it lacks a dedicated handle. Sure, there is the fold-out shelf on the side that is more or less designed to serve as the main way to lug it around. But I would have loved to see an actual telescoping arm or something pop out. It doesn’t feel as sturdy as it should when transporting the cooler between locations, especially when trying to lug it over beaches or more unruly lawns.
At the end of the day, the steep $799 price tag is certainly going to be a turnoff for everyone but the more dedicated gadget enthusiasts, grill masters, and cookout kings. It sure is neat and well built, but most importantly, it does exactly what it’s supposed to. Sure, it’s not a must-have for everyone, but if you’re the kind of person who wants to arm their setup with a battery-powered cooler, then Anker has delivered.
I’m not sure if you can put a price on consistently showing up to picnics and outdoor gatherings with ice-cold beverages, but $799 seems to be at least in the same ballpark.
Buy the Anker EverFrost cooler now
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