Coleman Xtreme Cooler Box 47L review: Chills like a pro, rolls like a dream

If you're heading out on a multi-day camping trip or festival weekend and need a cool box that won't fall apart at the first bump in the path, Coleman’s Xtreme 47L wheeled cooler is the one to beat.

I took this chunky coolbox with me to Love Trails festival in Gower during a heatwave, and it proved itself invaluable. I became, for the first time in my life, popular with fit people.

While others battled with warm beers and liquified Mars bars, I was fielding requests from friends and strangers to stash their perishables in my portable fridge-on-wheels. That alone should tell you something.

Coleman’s Xtreme range has built a solid rep, and the 47L wheeled version is a sweet spot for car campers, festival fans, and families. We’ve tested walking boots with less aggressive tread than the wheels on this beast.

Design, construction and portability

The biggest standout feature is the Coolbox’s massive all-terrain wheels. They’re chunky, treaded, and most importantly, they roll smoothly over extremely bumpy grassy terrain.

There were a million ways this cooler could’ve gotten stuck – wet mud, long grass, rocks, twigs, even loose wool from the local sheep. But none of that stopped it.

With its long, easy-grab handle, I felt like I was wheeling a luxury suitcase across the so-polished-you-can-see-your-face-in-it-and-eat-your-dinner-off-it floor of a posh airport terminal. No exaggeration: 5/5 stars for portability.

The side handles are well shaped – they aren’t extraneously added, but are instead carved into the shape of the coolbox – and the overall proportions make this cooler surprisingly easy to transport.

It’s wide and tall, but not too deep – perfect for squeezing into the more awkward boots of small cars. In our little Ford, it slotted in like a square Tetris piece.

The lid has four wide drink recesses and doubles as a table when you're in camp. It’s the right height to serve as a makeshift side table next to your camping chairs, and it’s sturdy enough to perch on too, in a pinch.

The thick, relatively heavy lid doesn’t have a latch, but it closes well under its own weight. The lack of a fiddly closure means anyone can access it one-handed, though I did feel a bit of anxiety over the complete lack of tangible seal.

The cooler is made from UV-treated polyethylene with PU foam insulation, which makes it both strong and lightweight. Coleman claims ice retention for up to five days in ideal conditions – but I wanted to put that to the test.

The science bit: how cold is it, really?

It’s one thing to say a cooler is good – it’s another thing to prove it. So I ran a simple, slightly nerdy performance test on the Coleman Xtreme to get a clearer sense of how well it holds temperature in full summer heat.

Here’s what I did:

–Measured out 500g of regular freezer ice cubes (about 1-inch thick)
–Placed them into a bowl with 500ml of tap water, starting at 10°C
–Put the bowl inside the cooler, which had an internal air temperature of 20°C
–Placed the cooler in direct sunlight (ambient temp: 27°C – it’s a damn hot summer)

I tracked the water temperature hourly. After the first hour, it had dropped to 1.5°C – much colder than it started. The ice actively chilled both the water and the cooler’s interior. Meanwhile, the internal air temp dropped to 9°C.

Two hours in, the water was at 3°C and the cubes were still solid. By hour three, the water was 5.7°C and the ice had mostly melted. That means 500g of ice took just over three hours to melt  in water during hot, sunny conditions inside the cooler. Note that ice melts much faster in water.

For comparison, I repeated the same test outside the cooler. The same quantity of ice melted in about 12 minutes in the open bowl at 27°C. That means the Coleman Xtreme slowed the melt rate by a factor of roughly 7.5x – a big win in thermal resistance.

Even after the ice was gone, the air inside the cooler stayed at 12°C for the rest of the day, while the external air hovered around 25°C. I left it closed overnight and found the same 12°C internal temp the next morning – no spikes, no warming, just consistent insulation.

A more pratical experiment:

To add a real-world scenario, I bought a 2kg bag of ice and tipped it in. After 24 hours, I came back to find solid cubes still holding shape, floating in about 1cm of meltwater. That’s excellent for any passive coolbox.

By halfway through the second day, I had mostly slush (about 25% ice to 75% water), but the temperature was still just 2°C.

Based on that, I’d say the Coleman Xtreme gives you a solid 48-hour fridge-like window if packed properly with ice. Perfect for weekend camping trips or festivals.

Price and competition

At around £120 (though almost always on sale at most retailers), the Coleman Xtreme 47L is very reasonably priced for a large wheeled cooler with serious insulation. It undercuts high-end rivals like Yeti and Dometic while offering more practical portability.

The Dometic Patrol 35, for example, offers outstanding build quality and ice retention but costs more than twice as much and doesn’t include wheels — making it far less convenient for field use.

Yeti’s Tundra 45 is another premium option with exceptional insulation, but it’s heavy, awkward to carry, and the price tag can be eye-watering if all you want is cold beer at a festival.

More affordable rivals like the Igloo Latitude 60 offer a similar wheeled format at a competitive price, but in my experience, the insulation didn’t hold up nearly as well in warm weather. The Coleman might not win on sleek design, but it absolutely delivers on performance.

Verdict: is the Coleman Xtreme worth it?

As a cooler, the Coleman Xtreme 47L delivers where it counts. It’s a brilliant hauler, with rugged wheels and a clever, car-friendly shape that makes transport easy from door to… zipper. The insulation performs impressively, keeping the contents cold for over 24 hours and resisting ambient warmth for multiple days.

The lid closure isn’t airtight, so it will eventually lose its chill faster than some premium, gasket-sealed boxes. But for a passive cooler at this price point, that’s to be expected.

For a weekend of cold beverages and campsite convenience, it’s hard to beat in terms of value and practicality. If you want a cooler that works hard and rolls easy, the Coleman Xtreme is an excellent choice.

About the author

Milo Wilson is your tester for the Coleman Xtreme Cooler 47L. Milo has been a full-time member of the LFTO team since May in 2023, and we've slowly convinced him to, in addition to his constant trail running, try slowing down every once in a while and camping. He will do it occasionally, but only if he can bring a pop-up tent.