During testing, it was clear that hard-sided coolers were superior at ice retention over soft-sided coolers. So, if keeping your perishables as cold as possible for as long as possible is your top priority, then the choice is clear. However, there are several advantages to soft-sided coolers. During testing, the soft-sided coolers that incorporated waterproof zippers tended to have superior waterproofness over the hard-sided set. They were also significantly lighter than the hard-sided coolers and had a larger internal capacity relative to their overall size.