We give everything you need to know about the Ello water bottle in this article.
What is there to say about water? It covers a large chunk of our planet, it makes up the majority of our bodies and we need to drink it to stay hydrated. Though this is the case, many people, ourselves included, struggle with drinking our daily eight cups.
If you’re anything like us, having an attractive water bottle within reach can certainly make meeting your water consumption goals more attainable. Our favorite and most highly recommended water dispensers need to look good enough that we want to haul them around with us and keep harmful and nasty-tasting substances from leaching into our beverages.
In this review, we take a closer look at Ello water bottles to determine if they deserve a place by your side.
What Are Ello Water Bottles?
The brand Ello goes by the mantra that everything is better in glass. Although it does offer some BPA-free plastic and stainless steel bottles, the majority of its wares have a glass construction.
The company certainly isn’t alone in its thinking that it’s best to both consume and store beverages and foods in glass containers. Many are catching on to the fact that not only can glass be easier to clean than some of their plastic counterparts, but it’s also free of harmful chemicals that are present in some plastics.
Outside of the ease of cleaning a glass Ello water bottle, they’re undeniably cool-looking. The company is known for incorporating eye-catching design elements into its drinkware, including bamboo, silicone, cork and wood details. It considers hydration vessels as more than just a simple bottle, but an added chance to accessorize.
The Ello Water Bottle
Whether made of glass, ultra-durable plastic, swathed in vividly-hued silicone or accessorized with other unique detail elements, there’s sure to be an Ello water bottle that catches your eye.
Our aim with this review is to help you decide if it is worthwhile to spend your money on one of these flasks. Also, with so many varieties available, we’ll introduce you to some of the brand’s most popular options and rate them so you can determine if one of them is best suited to fit your needs and lifestyle.
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Zest
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If you prefer to keep your water consumption interesting by adding flavor from fruits, vegetables or herbs, then this infuser bottle is the Ello product you should check out.
This two-part glass bottle twists apart and uses a stainless steel strainer to keep infused fruits or veggies in place. What makes this particular infuser bottle stand out from the rest is that the infusing section is at the bottom of the bottle, rather than near the middle or top.
This means that every last sip has the opportunity to be infused with flavor. The downside to the Zest bottle is that reviews from users are nearly mixed half and half when it comes to satisfaction.
The main complaint that many have is that their bottles have leaked, either from the lid or from where the bottle connects at the infuser. Some experience this issue, and some do not; however, since user ratings are so mixed, it’s difficult for us to recommend Zest as a great glass and infuser choice wholeheartedly.
The Specs
- Materials: Stain-, leach- and odor-proof glass
- Capacity: 20 ounces
- Weight: 1.16 pounds
- Free of: Phthalates, PVC, BPA, cadmium and lead
- Design Details: Wood lid, silicone gripper, and carry loop
- Available Colors: Gray, mint, pink and violet ice
- Our Rating: 3.5 stars
Wren
Wren is an Ello water bottle that’s perfect for those who prefer to drink their beverages from a straw rather than straight from the bottle. The locking flip lid reveals a soft silicone straw underneath. Wren is a glass bottle sheathed in a vibrant silicone sleeve with a playful design.
The biggest downside to Wren is if you are trying to avoid allowing plastics to touch your consumables, you will basically be drinking your water out of a plastic straw when using this bottle.
A couple of owners noted that their bottle tops broke soon after purchase, but contacting Ello gave them replacements quickly. The large 26-ounce size is a plus for on-the-go water consumption.
The Specs
- Materials: Stain-, leach- and odor-proof glass
- Capacity: 26 ounces
- Weight: 1.24 pounds
- Free of: Phthalates, PVC, BPA, cadmium and lead
- Design Details: Silicone sleeve, plastic lid with cork detail, plastic silicone straw
- Available Colors: Denim and mint
- Our Rating: 4 stars
Chi
Even though it’s clear that Ello believes glass beverage holders are the way to go, based on its wide range of glass bottle offerings, sometimes this breakable material simply isn’t the best choice. Obviously, the biggest downside to using glass is its proclivity to break easily if dropped. That’s where Chi makes its entrance. Perfect for use during more active endeavors, Ello’s Chi bottle is made of Tritan BPA-free plastic. Even though it contains plastic, Chi maintains Ello’s signature style with a colorful non-slip silicone sleeve. The lid flips with the push of a button to reveal a soft silicone drinking spout.
The biggest negative that we came across while researching this Ello offering was that some owners of the bottle complain of leakage. It seems the issue is really hit-or-miss, with some purchasers experiencing some leaking, while others have no problems and love the bottle.
The Specs
- Materials: Tritan BPA-free plastic
- Capacity: 24 ounces
- Weight: 8.8 ounces
- Free of: Phthalates, PVC, BPA, cadmium, and lead
- Design Details: Silicone sleeve, silicone carry loop
- Available Colors: Coral, gray, pink, and teal
- Our Rating: 4 stars
Syndicate
If your ultimate desire is to acquire a glass water bottle that’s perfect for day-to-day use, then Syndicate won’t let you down. One of Ello’s most popular beverage holders, this bottle has a lid that easily flips open with the simple push of a button.
The glass container is protected by a food-safe silicone non-slip sleeve that’s available in a wide range of vibrant colors.
In our opinion, one of the best things about Syndicate is its simplicity. It allows you to drink water straight from the glass without your mouth having to make contact with any plastic parts.
While it may be simple in design, the incredibly large selection of colors still allows you to choose a bottle that fits your style. On the other hand, the biggest downside is that users have noted that mold or mildew can start to form on the silicone ring within the flip-top lid.
The bottle is easy to disassemble, so if you do choose to purchase this one, just be sure to regularly take it apart and clean every piece thoroughly to avoid mold formation and build-up.
The Specs
- Materials: Stain, leach and odor-proof glass
- Capacity: 20 ounces
- Weight: 1 pound
- Free of: Phthalates, PVC, BPA, cadmium, and lead
- Design Details: Silicone sleeve, silicone carry loop
- Available Colors: Blue tide, bold blue, cobalt, coral, denim, fuchsia, Georgia peach, strobe green, grape, gray, mint, pink, purple, and teal
- Our Rating: 4.5 stars
Testing The Waters: How Does Ello Water Bottle Compare?
When finding the best water bottle is your goal, you could start to feel like you’re in an endless loop of perusing the multitude of available options out there. Our aim is to make this process and your decision as simple as possible. We’ve chosen two competing brands and bottles that are similar to Ello’s offerings to compare which one is most deserving of your hard-earned dollars.
We’ll start by taking a look at the Purity glass water bottle from Contigo. Like many of Ello’s water bottles, the Purity bottle is completely constructed of glass and housed in a protective and colorful silicone sleeve.
What sets Contigo’s bottle apart is that it has a wide opening for easy water drinking, and there are no plastic pieces used in the bottle’s construction. The lid is metal, and all of the other non-glass components are food-grade silicone in construction.
Several owners of this bottle have complained that parts of the container, specifically the strap connecting the lid to the bottle, break easily. In many instances, this happened within a month or two of purchase. In this regard, Ello may have a slightly higher build-quality than the Contigo bottle.
Our second comparison choice is Lifefactory’s glass water bottle with a flip cap. Like the other bottles mentioned in this review, Lifefactory’s offering is made of glass and encased in a protective and vibrantly-hued silicone sleeve.
One of the major differences between these and Ello’s bottles is that Lifefactory does not claim that this particular option is 100 percent leak-proof, due to the nature of its lid. With that said, it’s no surprise that some owners of this bottle have complained of significant leakage.
Another complaint from users is that the silicone sleeve provided with the bottle tends to stretch out easily and quickly.
Stats On Ello’s Competition
Capacity: 22 ounces
Warranty: No warranty is offered, but they do have a 30-day guarantee
Capacity: 22 ounces
Warranty: No warranty is offered, but they do have a 30-day guarantee
Ello Pros and Cons
Pros
Pros
- Most options are made of leach-, stain- and odor-proof glass
- Eye-catching design details with many vibrant color choices
- All reviewed models are dishwasher safe
- checkSilicone sleeves don’t have to be removed to clean bottles
Cons
Cons
- Complaints of leaks are rampant among owners
- Glass is more susceptible to breaking
- If not cleaned frequently, some silicone lid components are susceptible to forming mold or mildew
Our Final Verdict
Upon conclusion of our extensive research into Ello’s water bottles, our top pick in its product line is the Syndicate bottle. This bottle is an especially great pick if you already do, or are trying, to avoid plastic drinkware.
The drinking bottle portion of this product is completely glass, so your beverage doesn’t come into contact with plastics, and you drink directly from the glass.
Even though there were some complaints from customers regarding leaking bottles for nearly all models of Ello water bottles that we researched and reviewed, Syndicate seemed to have fewer complaints noted for this particular issue. If you opt to purchase this bottle, the largest issue to watch out for is mold or mildew forming around the silicone stopper located in the container’s lid.
The threat of experiencing this problem can be lessened by regularly removing the bottle’s components and washing them thoroughly. Overall, we give the Syndicate Ello water bottle a rating of 4.5 stars out of 5, and we believe Ello bottles, in general, deserve a 4-star rating.
One of our favorite aspects of Ello’s bottle offerings is its unique designs and the huge selection of bright colors available. We love that the brand incorporates details, such as real wood, cork, silicone and bamboo, to create one-of-a-kind drinkware whose appearance truly does stand out from the rest.
With the multitude of options available in today’s market, it seems that the water flask you keep by your side has become a very personal choice. With a wide selection of build materials, sizes and design details, the water bottle you choose to carry makes a visual statement to the world about more than just your preferences, but it is also a direct reflection of your personal style.
To that end, an Ello water bottle fulfills its main purpose of transporting your beverages and certainly does so in style.
You missed a major con…the Syndicate is notorious for the pin holding the lid parts together coming out at inopportune times. This then requires the user to make a habit of checking pin position every time the lid is about to be opened or closed.
Otherwise it is a good product which I have had since July 2018 with no design improvement regarding the pin problem apparent in the newer versions.