- Bink water bottles are rising in popularity, taking the spots held by Owala and Stanley cups.
- The glass bottles have silicone sleeves in fun colors and hydration markers to help you drink more.
- I wasn't overly impressed with the Bink product; it's just another trendy bottle.
For a good chunk of my life, reusable water bottles were just something I carried to soccer practice.
As an adult, however, they're status symbols.
Every store seems to have a designated aisle for travel cups. I've also seen countless teens carrying Owala tumblers, and readers regularly want to discuss the Stanley craze with me.
The top contender at the moment comes from Bink. If you haven't already, you're sure to see the brand's silicone-covered glass bottles all over Instagram and at Pilates classes.
I know I have. So, I tried one myself and am here to share that the product, unfortunately, didn't change my life.
It's just a slightly better bottle than the last one I used daily.
What's attracting people to Bink? A few things.
I purchased Bink's most popular product, the 27-ounce Day Water Bottle with a flip cap, at Target. They're normally priced at $38 each, though I got mine on sale for $24.99.
Over the week I tested it, I found a handful of things to like, including its silicone case. It made the bottle comfortable to hold and eased any worries about damaging the glass.
The latter was important to me, as I was previously gifted a 40-ounce Stanley and used it throughout 2024. No matter how careful I was, the stainless-steel bottle seemed to dent on every outing.
That isn't an issue with Bink.
When I used the bottle at home, I also appreciated its compact size. I could loop my finger around its moveable strap and bring it wherever needed — without feeling like I was lifting a gym weight.
I had the opposite experience with Stanley. The brand's tumbler was so large that it felt too heavy to lug around, even from room to room. Its square-shaped side handle was also big and always in the way.
In an email to Business Insider, a representative for Stanley 1913 noted that its 40-ounce bottles have lifetime warranties and "convenient handles."
"We're consumer-obsessed at Stanley 1913," the representative said. "These intentional design details resonate with those who have come to know and love our brand."
The Bink bottle isn't perfect
Some users have complained on TikTok about Bink bottles spilling and not keeping drinks cold for hours, and sure, they don't work like Stanley cups in those ways. Still, neither complaint was a dealbreaker for me.
What frustrated me more is that, in my experience, Bink bottles can be a headache to travel with.
Its wide shape is too bulky to fit in any car cupholder I tried, and I didn't want a full water bottle rolling around my passenger seat. I had to balance it atop the console and hope it didn't fall.
In an email to BI, Bink's cofounder, Ben Parfitt, said the brand now sells an $18 accessory that allows its 27-ounce bottles to fit in car cupholders and a slimmer 21-ounce cup that fits on its own.
Though I wouldn't spend more to make the bottle I have work, I would consider trying the latter.
There's also the fact that you need to refill your bottle three times to drink the recommended 84.5 ounces, as directed by its hydration markers.
Parfitt told BI that the bottle was intentionally designed to "hold a decent amount of water while not being too heavy and cumbersome."
In that area, I think the brand succeeded. It's why I liked using it at home and preferred it to my Stanley in terms of size. I just found it a little frustrating when I was out between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. and didn't have a place to refill.
A more minor issue was that the silicone sleeve quickly collected pet hair and other particles, which felt a little gross. I constantly found myself wiping it off.
You can wash Bink bottles via dishwasher with or without the sleeves. If you choose the latter, though, Bink fans on TikTok say you'll have a tough time getting it back on.
In response, Parfitt said Bink sleeves are now "slicker" on the inside and easier to take on and off.
"The best way to put the silicone sleeve back onto the bottle is by feeding the glass through one of the side cutouts in the sleeve," he said.
Bink bottles are trendy but not a necessary purchase
When I first covered Bink in February, numerous friends and colleagues told me they wanted to try the bottle themselves.
They loved how it looked and, as they had before with Stanley and Owala, thought that this could be the perfect bottle for them.
That might be the case, but I can't widely encourage them or anyone else to give in to the temptation of this new fad.
I wanted to love Bink's bottle, but I didn't. I certainly don't hate it either. It's simply just a bottle.
The only recommendation I can truly give is that if you still really want to try it, just don't get too attached. Another bottle will probably take its place before you know it.
