Mobicool W48

Mobicool W48
Capacity: 48 litres
Price: 99.99
Minicoolers.co.uk

Features
The W48 provides a cavernous 48-litres of capacity and can be powered by the mains or a 12V DC cigarette lighter. It also has fold away handles to help carry it, along with a set of wheels to make it even easier to transport. It has a maximum cooling capacity of 18C below ambient temperature.

For
It's all about size. The huge amount of space that's available has got to be this unit's main selling point. However, its 532 x 400 x 452mm (l x w x h) dimensions don't mean its mobility is curtailed the fold away handles and wheels make it extremely easy to transport away from the car. Its sub-100 price is another big bonus.

Against
Whereas its size might be an advantage for some, owners of sports cars, superminis and small family cars will find its bulk too much to take literally.

Performance
After 1.5 hours with its fans running, the W48 kept the core temperature of our test sandwich at 10.3C 16.7C below the ambient temperature of 27C. Without the fans turning, the temperature increased to 16.6C after a further hour, before hitting 19.9C 60 minutes later.

Verdict:
The unit's size might prove to be an insurmountable problem for some, but for anyone planning a large get-together this is the ideal unit for BBQ or picnic alike. Its good performance and reasonable cost also works in it favour.

All coolboxes at-a-glance
See how all the cool boxes compare with each other on one graph. Simply click here to see all the temperature plots in one place.

We've included a couple of unpowered cool boxes too - just to see how they compare with the powered units.