Outwell ECOLUX Coolbox

Review Score

The Outwell ECOLUX 35L is a great coolbox designed for family camping.

Our Score: 9.5/10

We've given the Outwell ECOLUX Coolbox the Thumbs Up award.

Value for MoneyQualityFeatures

The good

• A great looking coolbox that we found performed well, with some great features for practical family camping, such as storing large 2L bottles upright and the split lid to easily access them.

The not so good

• The handle wasn't that comfortable, but other than that, not found much to complain about.

This was a hands-on product review. The product was supplied to us to test and conduct the review.

Price Guide

Outwell ECOLUX Coolbox has a recommended retail price of £203.99.

The best price we've found so far is £174.99. That's £29.00 off the RRP of £203.99.View at Leisure Outlet

Outwell

£182.9910/03/2024

Amazon

£189.9210/03/2024

Leisure Outlet

£174.9910/03/2024

Outwell ECOLUX Coolbox Videos

Outwell ECOLUX Coolbox Photos

Our Review

The ECOLUX is a stunningly beautiful looking powered coolbox from Outwell, with its glossy white exterior, and smart metal and bamboo handle. Our first thoughts on seeing it were, if Apple made coolboxes, they'd look like this.

if Apple made coolboxes, they'd look like this.

But is the beauty only skin deep? How well does it perform as a coolbox? We take it for a spin to try out.

Inside the Coolbox

The coolbox is quite a good size. You can even stand 2litre bottles upright in it.

When the ECOLUX is connected to power, there's also a handy light that comes on when the lid is opened.

Talking of the lid, it has a split lid, so that you can easily access the section with bottles in, leaving the main compartment sealed, keeping items colder for longer.

The smaller section is separated from the main section with a removable divider. This can be filled with water and frozen before you use the coolbox. It's basically one giant ice pack.

Powering the ECOLUX

The ECOLUX can run on DC power, such as from your car. It is also 230V and can run off your mains electricity supply at home or an electric hook-up at the campsite.

If you are on EHU, it does mean that you can keep things cooler for longer...but note that this is a coolbox and not a fridge.

As you can see, it's easy to switch between AC and DC power. You can also set it to Hot or Cold.

There's also a USB port for charging your phone, but only when you take the coolbox off ECO mode.

Inside the box you get two leads: one for a DC connection with your car, and another for AC.

Now unfortunately, the box I was testing was the European version, and so had the European AC lead. However, you can see the correct UK lead in the picture below.

Taking the Outwell ECOLUX Camping

We took the Outwell ECOLUX camping on a baking hot weekend.

Before we set-off, we plugged in the ECOLUX into the power to start it cooking down. Just make sure that it's switched to Cold and not Hot ;-)

We also filled the large ice-pack divider and put it in the freezer - though not long enough for it to freeze.

Of course, a big advantage of having this coolbox is that it works off your car's power, keeping your food cool when you travel, and also can plug into the EHU at the campsite, without the need of a power converter.

this coolbox... works off your car's power... and also can plug into the EHU at the campsite, without the need of a power converter.

However, we weren't going to be using an electric hook-up when camping.

This was going to be a good test of the coolbox. Some powered coolboxes don't insulate too well when not connected to the power.

Some immediate things we discovered with the coolbox as soon as we got to the campsite was that the flies loved the white! It was soon covered in little bugs that we had to keep brushing off.

I also found some good and band points with the handle. It folds down flat so that it's easier to pack into your car. However, the handle isn't that comfortable when carrying a full coolbox.

But despite the exceptionally hot weather and not having the coolbox plugged in, it was still cool the next day, despite being in regular use. That's not a completely scientific test, but it certainly performed very well considering the conditions - and the fact that we hadn't frozen the iceblock.

Verdict

Although you can get some smaller and cheaper coolboxes, the Outwell ECOLUX looks really smart and performs really well.

We also like some of the handy features, such as the large built-in iceblock and the split lid.

We give the ECOLUX the thumbs up.

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