Is Ryobi's New Smart Cooler Really Worth It?

For about as long as the concept of partying has existed, it has been a borderline requirement for every party to have a big plastic cooler on hand. After all, if you're at the park or the beach, you can't have a refrigerator handy to keep your various beverages pleasantly chilled, so a cooler helps to protect them from the elements. However, a traditional cooler is nothing more than a hunk of insulated plastic (or worse, styrofoam), keeping drinks on ice for a little while before everything eventually goes lukewarm. Is there a way to keep your drinks chilled for the entire party? There just might be.

Thanks to advancements in the party sciences, smart, battery-powered coolers are now widely available, utilizing internal battery packs and touch controls to keep your refreshments properly refreshing, no matter how long the rager rages for. There are a variety of smart coolers available on the market, but one particularly attractive option is the 24Q Hybrid Power Cooler from Ryobi. Can a power tool brand really epitomize the partygoer's spirit, though?

The Ryobi 24Q Hybrid Power Cooler is a sturdy party buddy. The cooler's hybrid power framework allows you to juice it up with one of Ryobi's proprietary 18V ONE+ battery packs, which can be quickly hot-swapped to keep the cooler from powering down. Of course, considering the device is estimated to run continuously for up to 23 hours on one battery pack, you probably wouldn't need to do that. Even if you run out of batteries, the cooler can also be charged by a traditional 12V power outlet and a compatible car charger.

All of that juice powers the cooler's convenient LCD display, allowing you to manually set the internal temperature at anywhere from a freezing negative 4 degrees Fahrenheit to a mild 68 degrees. You won't have to worry about running out of drinks, as the roomy 24-quart interior can comfortably haul up to 40 12-ounce drink cans. As an added bonus, the cooler also features helpful quality-of-life gimmicks, such as a folding handle and wheels, tie-down loops, a bottle opener, and even a USB-A port for charging phones and small devices.

Ryobi's Power Cooler costs $499, which can definitely seem a bit steep for something you might only use a few times a year. Indeed, if you're in the market for a smart cooler, you could find some knock-off brand of device on Amazon for less than half of that price tag. However, the thing about knock-offs is that the quality you get out of them can vary wildly. Some of them can be good, while others can be shoddy junk that breaks after a single usage.

Ryobi, on the other hand, is a firmly established brand with many years of experience in the field of both power tools and home products. Unlike some no-name brands you've never heard of, Ryobi has proper support centers, not to mention warranties on its products. It may not be guaranteed that your Ryobi cooler won't immediately die on you, but if it does, you have a clear avenue of support you can pursue. Additionally, in such a circumstance, you can easily return Ryobi products to one of the many Home Depot locations around the country thanks to the companies' partnership.

Ryobi's Power Cooler may cost more than the competition, but with that price, you're getting both a quality product and full support in the event it ends up being not high-quality.