The 2 Best Entries in the Mini Water Cooler Market

Unfortunately, the available products in the mini water dispenser market are pretty lacking in quality and features for the most part. However, out of roughly 12 products that were tested, two of them stood out above the pack as superior in build quality, features, and general “bang for the buck.” However, great features and construction also tend to come with a hefty price point, and these small water coolers are no exception. While you can spend much less on one of these units, the features will suffer accordingly. The two areas that suffer the most in the cheap products are:

Water aroma/taste

ConstructionWhile construction is a feature that one would expect to suffer in a cheap product, water quality is one area where you probably do not want to sacrifice your satisfaction in return for saving a few bucks.

That being said, here are the 2 best mini water coolers currently on the market:

Cuisinart WCH-850

This heavy duty water cooler features an built-in water filter which helps fight the nasty taste and odor that many water supplies suffer from. While this is a point-of-use rather than point-of-entry filter, it still gets the job done nicely. Included in the list of contaminants that are removed:

Chlorine taste and odor 97.5%

Mercury 92.8%

Benzene 84.1%

Cadmium 96.6%

Copper 85.0%

Tetrachloroethylene 92.5%

Toluene 89.8%That’s quite an extensive list, so they really went all out in terms of giving the user the absolute cleanest water possible.

Another great feature of the WCH-850 is the exceptionally good water cooling. While many smaller water dispensers suffer from an inability to refrigerate water in any meaningful way, but thankfully that is not the case here. I was able to get a full 1.5 gallons (full capacity) cooled down in a couple of hours, the best performance I saw out of all the units I tested.

Oasis Onyx Ultra

The big draw for this unit is the eco-friendly filter. Completely biodegradable, these green filters should last you anywhere from 2 to 4 months depending on how much the water dispenser is used. When the filter finally does require replacement, Oasis has made it incredibly easy on even the most inexperienced user. Specifically, the filter housing (which is reusable, by the way) simply twists off of the filter element, easily making way for a replacement.

Other features that left me impressed included a hot water option with emergency shutoff capability, a leak detector that could potentially save you lots of arduous cleanup in the unlikely case of defect, as well as a water dispensing area that is lit by a cool looking and functional LED.

Conclusion

The rest of the small form factor water dispenser market quite frankly left a lot to be desired, especially after reading some user reviews. Complaints about reservoirs being made of questionable plastic materials and poor build quality almost convinced me that there were no serious contenders. Thankfully, the above two products came through on all fronts, making them my personal picks for the best in small water coolers!