Ninja FrostVault 45QT42L Wheeled Cooler with Dry Zone Review

Versions

I’ve got the 42-litre version of the wheeled FrostVault on review. It’s available in the White that I have (FB245UKWH), plus Slate Grey (FB245UKGY) and Olive (FB245EUUKDBGN). The versions are the same, but the Olive version ships with a divider, ice pack and padlocks.

Ninja also sells 28-litre and 61-litre versions of the product, if you need something smaller or bigger.

Design and Features

• Robust wheels
• Clever dry drawer
• Useful space

The original FrostVault was a rigid coolbox, built with a lot of insulation so that food stayed cold for a long time. However, the first models only had carry handles, so they weren’t so easy to move around. Now, the company is back with the Ninja FrostVault 45QT/42L Wheeled Cooler with Dry Zone FB245UK, which has chunky wheels at the rear, so that it’s easier to move around.

As with the original model, the new version is a solidly built, rigid coolbox. It feels tough, and is able to stand a bit of throwing around when taking camping or just rolling it down to the park on a hot summer’s day.

Large wheels at the back make this version easy to roll. Ninja describes them as all-terrain wheels, and that seems fair: they’re big and robust enough for getting over rough ground, such as on a campsite.

To wheel the Ninja FrostVault 45QT/42L Wheeled Cooler with Dry Zone FB245UK, the handle at the front needs to be lifted, and then the front can be picked up off the ground. I think the handle’s just about the right length: long enough to easily lift the front of the cooler, while giving enough space to avoid any scrapes.

For lifting the Ninja FrostVault 45QT/42L Wheeled Cooler with Dry Zone FB245UK into a car (or similar), there are chunky handles integrated into the body. That’s a good idea, as there’s nothing to break, as the handles are part of the cooler’s body.

There are two compartments. Unclip the chunky handle at the top, and the lid can be lifted all the way to get access to the main compartment. If empty, the cooler can take up to 68 cans of drink, which is a lot.

However, to keep the cooler cold, you need to fill it with ice. Ninja recommends adding 9kg of ice to the main compartment, which reduces storage capacity to 32 cans. Ninja recommends that the full space is filled, even suggesting using a towel to fill gaps if you don’t have a full load.

The benefit of a powered portable fridge, such as the battery-powered Anker EverFrost, is that there’s no need for ice, so the entire storage compartment is for food. However, powered fridges are more expensive to buy, particularly when you include the battery.

You should also account for the cost of the ice, as you’re not going to be able to make the necessary volume at home. Depending on where you can shop and the size of ice bags available, you’re looking at somewhere between £6 and £10 to buy enough ice to fill the compartment.

At the front is a slide-out Dry Zone drawer. The ice above keeps the drawer cold at fridge temperatures, but there’s no moisture, so you can store anything that you don’t want to get wet, such as sandwiches, meat or even a box of eggs that you’ll use in a fry-up.

For the best performance, the Ninja FrostVault should be kept out of direct sunlight and even covered with a blanket.

Both compartments can be padlocked with a long-shackled padlock, and Ninja sells suitable models if you want them. That can be useful when camping, as you can lock your food and drink away and protect them from theft.

A tap at the bottom is used to let out water once the ice has melted, and then it’s worth giving the inside a wipe down with a cloth to clean it and then let everything dry out until you need the coolbox again.

Performance

• Holds temperature for days
• Dry drawer has fridge-like temperatures

To see how well the Ninja FrostVault 45QT/42L Wheeled Cooler with Dry Zone FB245UK held its temperature, I loaded it up with the recommended level of ice, and then added temperature sensors to the main compartment and the dry drawer. I kept the cooler in a room at around 18°C, out of direct sunlight.

The ice was fresh out of the freezer at -18°C but soon ‘warmed’ up to freezing (0°C). Overall, the compartment maintained freezing temperatures for just over three days, which is impressive. After that, the temperatures slowly rose, and it was another three days until the temperature creeped over 5°C, after which the temperature increase was more marked.

Still, that’s enough cooling to last for a long weekend of camping, which is impressive given that there’s no power involved.

The Dry Drawer was under 5°C for just under six days, which is very impressive. As the ice really started to melt, the temperature increased rapidly, but fresh food for this long is very good.

Should you buy it?