Icebox vs Cooler vs Portable Fridge Freezer – Which One Is Better?

Whether you’re camping, caravanning, boating, fishing, relaxing on the beach, having a picnic or party, or doing a long drive, it’s always better with the refreshments you love. This guide would give some tips for how to choose a suitable product between portable fridge freezer, cooler and ice box.

Icebox, camping cooler and portable fridge freezer all have their own benefits and disadvantages. For icebox and cooler, to keep the contents of a cooler cold longer, you have to continuously fill it with ice. That sounds a little cumbersome, but it’s the only thing you need to worry about. And if you have the requirement for warm function, a warmer and cooler would be helpful. It could rise the temperature to 50℃. But the price of that would be a bit higher than common cooler and icebox. It usually named thermoelectric cooler or warm and cooler which needs AC or DC power.

For portable fridge freezer, the size is usually larger than icebox and cooler. And it need a stable power to keep it running. But it could freeze your foods or drinks, that would be wonderful for a long trip. Most overland, off road and 4×4 fans would choose the portable fridge freezer.

For a picnic or short travel, it’s OK to choose either the icebox or cooler. You could prepare the ice before traveling, the icebox or cooler would keep the drinks or foods in a low temperature for 24H(due to the room temperature). The temperature inside would be about 20℃lower than the room temperature. It can’t freeze the seafood or ice cream no matter how much ice you put in. A common icebox or cooler just need about 100$, then you could enjoy a wonderful summer. And for next summer, maybe you could buy a new design for that.

But if you are planing to have a long distant travel or enjoy a holiday that is far away. A portable fridge freezer would be your reliable partner. The most important part for a portable fridge freezer is the compressor, just like the heart of human.

Secop (Danfoss) is the best compressor in the market. It’s  stable and quite while working. Some portable fridge freezer factory would choose wancool, LG and so on. Of course, it also has some brands which are not so famous. They might can’t be so stable in extreme environment. So a good portable fridge freezer regularly approach the thousand-dollar range. And the price doesn’t stop there. Portable fridge freezer need to be powered with solar panels, household AC power, or 12v DC power from your car. If the power is shut down, the portable fridge would keep cool for about 36H(due to the room temperature). For most portable fridge freezer, you could set the temperature between 10℃ and -22℃ as your wish. All it takes is the press of a button to set your food to the perfect temperature. Some models even come with the ability to control temperature with your phone.

Deciding between a icebox, cooler and a portable fridge freezer is a personal choice, everyone is going to have their own opinion, here is some tips for you:

Choose a icebox or camping cooler if:

• You have a low budget
• You just want to have a short time party
• You just want to take drinks for trip
• You want a product that you want to buy the newest design every year
• You new to keep your food warm( a warmer and cooler would be better for you)

Choose a portable fridge freezer if:

• You have a healthy budget
• You know your way around electronics
• You’re the fans of off road 4X4 drive.
• You are a full-time traveler (van life or RV living)
• You love cooking and want better control of the temperature
• You need a freezer