Drawers that Ninja claims will keep food cold and dry, plus all-terrain wheels, are two of the unique features of this 65-quart cooler
The Ninja FrostVault’s rugged wheels rolled smoothly over the flat surfaces we moved the cooler on.
By Jodhaira Rodriguez
Ninja is known for making some pretty innovative kitchen appliances that CR has tested—the Luxe Café espresso machine and coffee maker, the Sizzle indoor grill, and the Woodfire Grill, to name a few—and their everyday products, including blenders, coffee makers, air fryers, and ice cream makers, tend to perform well. When we heard the brand released the FrostVault line of coolers, we knew we had to test the largest model in our labs.
The brand makes some pretty big claims about its cooler, but its most unique feature is a drawer at the bottom with two compartments that Ninja claims can keep food below 40° F and totally dry for up to three days. If true, it’s a pretty impressive feat. The ice box compartment is supposed to maintain a temperature below 40° F for nearly seven days, too.
With his previous testing of small coolers and my testing of patio coolers in our back pockets, José Amézquita and I set out to investigate these claims. We tested the cooler under room temperature and more extreme hot conditions and monitored the temperature of its ice box and the two Dry Zone compartments for seven days.
Product Specs
Dimensions: 36.61 x 17.36 x 18.89 inches (LxWxH)
Price: $350
Weight (empty): 40.5 pounds
Warranty: 5-year limited
Notable features: All-terrain wheels, locking lid and drawer, handle for easy moving, and 97-can capacity (with no ice)
How We Tested the Ninja Cooler
Amézquita tested three claims from Ninja in CR’s labs:
• Maintains ice and temperature below 40° F for up to six days.
• Maintains the temperature of the dry storage drawer—the Dry Zone—below 40° F for up to two and a half days.
• Cold transfers into the drawer to keep food cool, dry, and separate at food-safe temps.
We conducted two tests of the Ninja’s cooling capabilities: at room temperature (between 68° F and 72° F) and in a temperature-controlled chamber set to remain between 85° F and 90° F. The night before we began each test, we prechilled the cooler with 35 pounds of ice (as Ninja recommends in its cooler user manual). We also added 37 12-ounce cans to the cooler’s ice box.
The next morning, any ice that had melted overnight was drained, and 15 pounds of ice was added to the cooler. We added some apples, a sandwich, a container of cut fruit, crackers, cheese, and ham to the drawer compartments to monitor the buildup of condensation in the packaged food. The temperature inside the cooler and in both compartments of the drawer at the bottom (Ninja calls it the Dry Zone) were monitored from the start of the prechilling process to the end of our testing, seven days later. The temperature on the surface of the cooler was also monitored. Though it doesn’t reflect how people use coolers in real life (think about the constant opening to retrieve drinks throughout the day), the cooler was minimally opened throughout the testing to minimize the possibility of its opening affecting the product’s performance.
So Does the Ninja FrostVault Work?
The short answer is yes, with a few caveats. In our tests, the cooler kept the temperature in the ice box out of the food danger zone for nearly six and a half days when it was prechilled to below 40° F in a room-temperature lab. The temperatures in the Dry Zone drawer remained under 40° F for nearly two days on the left side and just shy of six days on the right side. Amézquita says this difference in performance of the two compartments could be due to the fact that the right side of the drawer is cooled by the ice box from the top, and on one side, while the left side is cooled only from the top. The temperature of the left compartment was about 3 degrees higher than the right at the start of our test. There were also different types of food in each compartment, which could have also contributed to the temperature difference. The drawer was dry—no condensation from the ice in the cooler had formed inside the food storage compartments. There was no ice left inside the ice box, though, technically, the cooler still met all its claims in this test.
When Amézquita conducted the test in the hot temperature-controlled chamber, the drawer never reached below 40° F, so the food in the compartments never had a chance to cool to the right temperature. In the ice box, all of the ice melted after just three and a half days. The ice box temperature rose to over 40° F by the three-and-a-half-day mark, too. Here, the cooler didn’t pass, but with the prechilling not reaching the right temperature, we can’t blame the FrostVault for the failure.
Amézquita attributes the Ninja FrostVault’s stellar performance at room temperature to two unique features: gaskets around the food drawer and ice box lid that create a seal when the cooler is closed, and locks on the drawer and ice box that keep the lid securely closed (both of which you can see in the video above). Also worth mentioning is how easy these locks are to click into place. I was able to do both with one hand.
In addition to the prechill temperature, another thing to keep in mind is the temperature of the food itself. If the food you place inside the drawer is already really cold, it’s easier for the cooler to keep that temperature than to lower the temperature of food that isn’t cold enough. Frequent opening of the cooler can also affect how long it maintains its temperature, as can the amount of ice added to the cooler and the ratio of ice to cans (or any other food or beverage items you store inside).
Is It Worth $350?
Amézquita seems to think so. In fact, he liked it so much that he’s considering buying one for himself after testing it in our lab. That said, it is on the pricier side, so if you aren’t planning to spend the summer tailgating for days at a time, camping far from home, or hosting barbecues with a too-small fridge in the kitchen, you may not need this cooler. If you’re inclined to do all of the above, go for it. This cooler is as cool as Ninja claims (pun intended).
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