I Hate How A lot I Love This Hydration-Monitoring Water Bottle

Any time I felt drained rising up, one of many first questions my mother would ask me was, “Have you ever been drinking enough water?” On prime of this, I have been a wellness author for the final decade, which has additional cemented my data of simply how necessary it’s to take care of adequate hydration daily. But, I might by no means really stored monitor of the quantity of water I drank. I assumed my physique would inform me when it was thirsty and that consuming water then could be sufficient.

I used to be unsuitable. After I began testing the hydration-tracking LARQ Bottle PureVis 2 for CNET’s best self-cleaning water bottle list, I spotted my former hydration methodology wasn’t reducing it. Now that I’ve a water bottle to trace my water consumption, it is clear I in all probability wasn’t consuming sufficient water earlier than, and that it was negatively affecting my well being. 

What I like about my hydration-tracking water bottle

The LARQ PureVis 2 was primarily designed to maintain your water sanitized with UV-C LED know-how to take away 99.999% of Salmonella and 99.99% of E. coli. It additionally comes with a filtered straw that removes prescribed drugs, chlorine, PFOS and PFOA. The latter two are lab-made chemical compounds that may have harmful health effects. 

Nevertheless, my favourite characteristic is that it connects to the LARQ app, which helps you to monitor your water consumption. 

To determine how a lot water you ought to be consuming every day, LARQ asks to your birthday, intercourse, peak, weight and exercise stage. You can too regulate this quantity your self.

A number of water consumption visuals

On the LARQ app’s predominant display, there’s a share, a fraction and a line graph exhibiting how a lot you drank immediately. Primarily based on the time of day, a curved standing bar additionally reveals whether or not you have been consuming sufficient water at a tempo that can help you meet your each day aim. Within the app, you’ll be able to set your “awake” and “sleep” hours so it is aware of your timeline. 

I like that this bottle affords a number of visible indicators to indicate how a lot water you have been consuming, so I can simply inform at a look if I have to take extra sips. You can too arrange hydration reminders that can immediate the highest of the water bottle to glow throughout the hours you are awake, nudging you to drink extra water. This glow is surprisingly brilliant, so you will not miss it.

In the midst of the app’s two tabs on the backside is a plus signal you’ll be able to click on so as to add drinks that did not come out of your water bottle. Admittedly, typically I neglect to do that. Six choices are included — water, espresso, tea, soda, juice and milk — for which you’ll add the variety of ounces and the time you drank the beverage. 

Dive into your hydration historical past

On the prime, it reveals the times of the week, every surrounded by a curved standing bar, so you’ll be able to look again at how a lot water you have drunk. If I have been feeling off or low-energy for just a few days, I will usually look again at this schedule and understand that I did not drink sufficient water, as dehydration can cause fatigue. 

Beneath the road graph is a “Streak” part that shows what number of days in a row you have reached 100% of your hydration aim and your private finest. On the very backside is the “Historical past,” the place you’ll be able to view every time you drank water from the bottle and the way a lot you drank. 

Eco-friendly analytics

While you click on on the “Units” tab on the underside bar, you’ll be able to see your system, its battery stage, the final time it was purified with UV-C LED and details about the filter in your straw, if you happen to select to make use of it. If you happen to click on the filter, you’ll be able to see its age, the filtered quantity, the proportion it is depleted and the choice to order a three-pack of new filters ($30+). 

On the prime proper, there’s an analytics button that reveals a few of my favourite information. There’s a bar graph displaying what number of gallons of water you have drunk over the previous week, month or six months. Under that, you’ll be able to see your environmental and monetary affect: how a lot cash you saved on bottled water, your lowered carbon footprint and lowered plastic waste.

The lengthy battery life

One full cost with the included USB-C cable lasts two to 3 weeks. Often, mine lasts about three weeks, however I do not use “journey mode,” which requires extra energy and takes 3 minutes to self-clean the bottle with the UV-C LED. It’s best used with much less dependable water sources within the backcountry, reminiscent of on hikes.

As an alternative, I enable my bottle to mechanically clear itself in regular mode, which prompts each 2 hours for 10 seconds. Generally I additionally press the highest button as soon as (twice triggers journey mode) to activate regular mode for 1 minute. 

What I do not love about this water bottle

Value: As for the explanation why I hate how a lot I like this water bottle, it is primarily the value. The 23-ounce model prices $129, whereas the 34-ounce bottle (the one I’ve) is $139. That is costly for a water bottle. A less expensive various could be a bottle with time and ounces markers, however you’d have to trace the each day complete your self. This one additionally has motivational phrases. 

Handbook cleansing: One other draw back is that you just nonetheless have to scrub the bottle by hand. Despite the fact that it’s “self-cleaning,” that solely applies to the water and components of the bottle that the UV-C LED know-how can attain. So, LARQ nonetheless recommends giving the bottle — and particularly the cap the place buildup could happen — a heat, soapy rinse occasionally. 

The straw: Uninterested in cleansing the straw, and since I have been having bother protecting it in place within the bottle’s mouth, I made a decision to take away it. I am already filling the bottle with filtered water and avoiding utilizing it with much less dependable sources, reminiscent of operating water on hikes, so I do not really feel the necessity to hold the straw. 

Dimension: Lastly, the one different draw back I can consider is that the 34-ounce bottle does not slot in my automobile cup holder, so I’ve to slip it into the compartment in my automobile door or lay it on the passenger seat. Nevertheless, it does slot in my backpack’s facet bottle pocket once I journey. It did fall out of the pocket as soon as and survived the autumn with solely a small dent on the stainless-steel bottle and a tiny scrape on the BPA-free plastic cap.  

The ultimate verdict

Even with the cons I discussed, I nonetheless love this water bottle. The hydration-tracking characteristic has helped me guarantee I drink sufficient water every day, which helps my well being and, particularly, my power. I additionally love that it provides me information about how a lot plastic waste I’ve prevented by consuming from this reusable bottle. 

Basically, this has grow to be my emotional help water bottle. I am grateful that it provides me one much less factor to maintain monitor of throughout the day, albeit one of the vital necessary: my hydration.