Yeti Roadie 48 Review 2023, Tested by Food & Wine

Ice lasts impressively long.

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As someone who doesn’t often spend a ton of time in the great outdoors, a large cooler has never been an item I deemed necessary, especially in our household of two. But since deciding that I’d like to make an effort to join my nature-loving husband in more outside activities — camping, hiking, picnics, and barbecuing with friends — it seemed like a natural addition to our outdoor gear.

Yeti products are favorites among many serious outdoor enthusiasts thanks to their durability and ability to keep contents cold. Since seeing a friend’s Hopper Flip 18 in action on a trip to the beach, I’d been eyeing the Roadie 24, a wheeled cooler perfectly sized for snacks and beverages. When the brand reached out to see if I’d like to try its newest hard cooler, the Roadie 48, I was a little hesitant to say yes to such a large model. But after a few weeks of testing it out, it became clear that a cooler of this size is much more versatile than I expected.

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The Roadie 48 is a 48-quart hard-sided cooler that can hold up to 42 drink cans (plus ice) and is equipped with rugged, puncture-resistant wheels and a telescoping handle. The wheels make transporting it much easier, letting me roll the cooler over grass and concrete, even effortlessly handling curbs. When it’s set flat, the wheels don’t actually touch the ground, allowing the grips on the bottom of the cooler to keep it from moving, which means it's extra stable. It also comes with a dry goods insert for whatever you want to keep out of the ice (think charcuterie or cheese).

On its maiden voyage, I filled up the cooler with two dozen cans of sparkling water, a bottle of white wine, and 20 pounds of ice. My husband lifted it using the side handles and loaded it into our SUV for a picnic at the park. There wasn’t much shade, so the cooler had to sit in the sun — lucky for us, the thick insulation that Yeti is known for kept our drinks very cold the entire time. In fact, the ice in the cooler lasted longer than I did in the heat; by the time we got home a few hours later, the ice had barely even melted. Impressive.

I also love that this cooler helped me free up space in my fridge during a recent get-together. When I’m entertaining, I try to prep as much as I can in advance, which ends up taking up prime refrigerator real estate. So, the Yeti Roadie 48 became our beverage center, loaded with cans of sparkling water, mixers, limes, and several bottles of wine — more than enough to keep our guests happy throughout the afternoon and well into the evening. We ended up leaving the untouched drinks in the cooler after the party was over, even adding another case of sparkling water because the ice was still plentiful. And the best part is, it was still relatively icy four days later when we decided we should empty it. The drain spout made it easy to simply tip all the water out. It essentially emptied out, and all we had to do was wipe out any moisture with an absorbent towel and let it fully air dry.

With at least one camping trip and a road trip on the schedule in the next few months, I’m pretty excited about having this top-of-the-line model (it may even earn me some respect from our camping buddies). While it’s a bit of an investment at $450, Yeti’s track record when it comes to longevity and performance suggests this cooler will outperform and outlast many other wheeled coolers. It also comes with a five-year warranty against defects in materials or workmanship as long as you register your product. This is just the right size for our household, but if the 48-quart size isn’t enough for you, it also comes in a 60-quart version for just $50 more.