Brita Stainless Steel Filter Bottle Review

Our go-to for a bottle with a built-in filter, the Brita Stainless Steel is impressively sleek, considering its purpose. We've found that filter bottle technology has improved leaps and bounds over the past few years, and the Brita Stainless is the pinnacle of this technological advance. We often forgot it had a filter in it, as its functionality isn't hindered by the filter. This bottle passed our hands-on tests with ease, plus it's lightweight, portable, and easy to operate. Brita claims that the filter in this bottle reduces chlorine taste and odor, as well as particulates, which our test results support. However, note that this bottle is not a suitable substitute for filtering water from a natural source. It is meant to be filled with potable water only.

Performance Comparison

Ease of Use

Because it has a built-in filter, this bottle takes a moment to learn. The challenge to operating this bottle is attaching the filter. We read a few reviews online where folks felt that the straw wasn't working, but we found that with proper installation, the filter and straw function seamlessly.

The installation and replacement of the filter is easy — a simple twist locks the filter in place on the bottom of the lid. The straw then operates with ease, meaning no unnecessary sucking is required. Typical of straw-style bottles, there is always a tiny bit of water in the bottom that the straw won't reach. Similar to the filter, the lid itself screws onto the bottle with two full twists. The flip cap is obviously separate from the twist-on lid, which we appreciated.

This bottle, like most with a button-operated flip cap, is great for driving and other multi-tasking situations. The Brita Stainless was our favorite to use at the gym or while working, since it provides filtered water and easy one-handed drinking. Unlike other button-operated caps, the Brita is sensitive and always responds with one touch, another feature that majorly impressed us.

Durability

This stainless-steel bottle is extremely solid. We were impressed by not only the stainless-steel part of the design but also the plastic lid and flip cap. These components are typically the first to fail on some stainless bottles, but the Brita inspired confidence. When dropped, it hardly received a scratch on this portion of the bottle. Plus, the hinge design on the carry handle is substantial and well-thought-out.

In terms of leaking, this bottle performed very well. Often, lids with flip caps will leak when shaken up. Though we don't recommend putting drink mix in this bottle (why taint your freshly filtered water?!), when we did so for testing purposes, the lid showed no signs of leakage, even as the effervescent drink powder fizzed and expanded inside the bottle. Additionally, this bottle didn't leak at all when left on its side for a few hours.

Weight

You'd think that a bottle with a built-in filter, straw, flip-cap, and carry handle made from stainless steel would weigh a ton — think again. The Brita Stainless is on the lighter end of the spectrum among the stainless water bottles we reviewed. That said, it has a fairly small capacity and small size overall.

We had no problem carrying this bottle around through our daily activities. It weighs under a pound; its weight-to-volume ratio is similar to the other top-ranked stainless bottles we reviewed, despite its additional features and functions.

Taste

Performing our standardized taste test on the Brita Stainless felt a bit blasphemous. We felt that this bottle is meant for water only — since it has a refillable filter designed for filtering chlorine tastes and particulates. We hated to think about passing drink mixes, tea, and other flavored beverages through the filter (especially since these filters have to be replaced regularly). That said, we performed our taste test on this bottle anyway and found that flavors tended to linger in the straw, lid, and filter, just as we had suspected. The fairly complex lid has plenty of nooks and crannies where flavors can get stuck. We didn't detract many points for this, though, as this bottle is only meant to be filled with water.

The bottle is meant to be cleaned by hand; the manufacturer doesn't recommend putting it in the dishwasher. We used a bottle brush to get into the bottom of the bottle, but the lid and straw were a bit more challenging to clean thoroughly.

Should You Buy the Brita Stainless Steel Filter Bottle?

If you are looking for a filter bottle, look no further; this one was our undisputed favorite. It's sleek, portable, and weighs less than most stainless options out there, plus it conveniently fits in a universal cup holder. It is durable and more or less leak-proof, inspiring confidence when thrown in the bottom of a gym bag or a messenger bag on the daily commute. The easy-to-use button flip-cap had us hydrating with ease. Overall, this is a great bottle but is definitely designed for a specific use, limiting its versatility. We wouldn't recommend putting any other beverages in this bottle besides water.

What Other Water Bottles Should You Consider?