How do custom Stanley dupes perform against the real thing? While we don’t love the term “dupes”, it’s arguably the best way to describe budget-friendly alternatives to Stanley’s best-selling 40 oz tumbler. We put the original Stanley to the test against six of our favorite brandable dupes, and the results are in! Our team tested how well each one maintained hot and cold temperatures, and we’re happy to report that all of them exceeded our expectations.
Read on to see how these custom Stanley dupes fared in our ice and hot water challenges. We’ve also included a brief index of all the options we tested to help you choose the right drinkware for your brand.
The Contenders
Left to right: #1: Intrepid, #2: The Nova, #3: Pinnacle, #4: The Forty, #5: The Denali, #6: Apex Ridge, Stanley
Ice Challenge
We set up the tumbler in our conference room, each filled to the top with ice.
After eight hours not much melting had happened for any of the cups.
Twenty-four hours in we started to see melting in the tumblers. Most of the tumblers still had about half of their ice left with the Denali, Nova, and Stanley retaining the most ice.
After thirty-six hours, the majority of the ice melted with five of the cups still holding ice. The Stanley, Denali, and Nova tumblers contain the most ice with Urban Peak and Pinnacle close behind.
At the 48-hour mark, only three cups contained a minimal amount of ice with Stanley as the winner by a sliver of ice with the Denali and Nova tumblers close behind. After 48 hours, only three cups had a small amount of ice left, with Stanley winning by a narrow margin over Denali and the Viking Tumbler.
Hot Water Challenge
The starting temperatures varied for this challenge thanks to a finicky electric kettle, so we used each tumbler’s starting temp as the control for this challenge. Performance ratings were based on how many degrees each tumbler dropped over time.
After eight hours the drinks are still warm enough to drink, but starting to become lukewarm. By this point, the Pinnacle and Nova tumblers dropped 60 and 59 degrees, respectively, making them the top performers in heat retention.
It’s no surprise that after 24 hours, all of the tumblers were no longer warm. Overall, the Pinnacle and the Nova tumblers had a tiny edge over the competition for heat retention, but all performed as expected.
In-Depth Guide to Custom Stanley Dupes
We put together an in-depth comparison of the original Stanley vs. our custom Stanley dupes to help you decide which one is right for your brand.
The Original: Stanley 40 oz Quencher
This tumbler went viral for a reason. With trendy colors, 40 oz capacity, and a shape that fits most car cupholders, it’s easy to see why. If you need a premium gift or just want to leverage the power of a strong retail brand, the original Stanley tumbler makes a fantastic gift. Keep in mind that inventory and color selection may be limited, and you’ll pay a premium for the Stanley brand.
The Custom Stanley Dupes
1. 40 Oz. Intrepid Stainless Steel Tumbler
The Intrepid Stainless Steel Tumbler comes in eight colors, making it easy to match your brand standards while staying on trend. This cup is vacuumed insulated, double wall construction with stainless steel outer and inner. It comes with a screw-on lid and a twelve-inch straw. (Pro Tip: If you decide to laser engrave your logo on this one, upgrade to the oversized laser imprint. The standard size for laser engraving is much smaller than the 1 color imprint option.)
2. The Viking Collection™ 40 oz. Nova Travel Mug
The 40 oz. Nova outperformed all the other dupes in both our tests by a small margin, making it our top contender in both the hot and cold challenges. This travel mug comes in six stylish colors with matching straws which is a unique feature compared to other dupes. We also like the slider lid on this one which makes it easy to switch from hot to cold beverages.
3. Pinnacle 40 oz Vacuum Insulated Eco-Friendly Travel Tumbler With Straw
The Pinnacle tumbler also performed well in both challenges, coming in 2nd place for the hot water challenge. This eco-friendly travel tumbler offers great style with color-matched handles, straws, and accents on the lid. Made from 91% post-consumer recycled stainless steel and 100% recycled plastic, it’s good for your budget and the environment.
4. The Forty-Double Wall Tumbler with Handle
An oversized imprint area for laser engraving sets this dupe apart from the others. (The standard laser imprint size is nearly double that of others with no additional run charge.) The tradeoff? Fewer color options. It comes in four corporate colors so you can still get creative with the imprint.
5. Denali 40 oz Tumbler
The Denali tumbler is packaged in a gift box which makes for the best presentation of all our Stanley dupes. It also landed in the top two in our ice challenge. The metal handle gives it a distinctive look as well. It comes in six colors and offers the most creative options for adding your logo. In addition to typical imprints, you can decorate the handle, laser engrave around the entire cup, or print a full-color wrap.
6. 40 oz Urban Peak Apex Ridge Vacuum Travel Mug
Urban Peak is a private label brand known for its durability and utility and it delivers yet again with the 40 oz Apex mug. The innovative lid features a push-on, flip top with a Tritan snap-locking closure lid and straw hole making it the best spill-proof dupe.
