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In this guide
The Owala FreeSip is a 710 ml (24 oz) insulated stainless steel bottle sold on one mechanism: a spout with a built-in straw for upright sipping that also opens into a wide mouth for tilting back and swigging, flipped open with a push button and locked by the carry loop. Amazon Australia sells the Denim colourway for A$59.99, shipped and sold by Amazon AU.
Owala's own Australian store charges the same A$59.99 for the 710 ml FreeSip, in other colourways; Denim appeared there only in the 40 oz size on 5 November. Two questions decide whether the money is well spent: what the two-mode lid adds, and what it asks of you at the sink, where Owala recommends hand-washing the cup and taking the lid apart.
Our verdict
Buy the FreeSip at A$59.99 for the sip-or-swig lid if daily hand-cleaning fits your routine; skip it for hot or fizzy drinks, which Owala rules out for this bottle.
- A good fit for
- Cold-water drinkers who want one bottle for upright desk sipping and quick tilt-back swigs, and will pull a lid apart for washing.
- We would skip it if
- Skip it if everything you own goes in the dishwasher, if coffee or tea travels with you, or if brushing a straw channel sounds like a chore you will skip.
Reasons to consider it
- The FreeSip spout does both jobs through one opening: upright sipping through the built-in straw, tilt-back swigging through the wide mouth around it, behind a push-button cover the carry loop locks shut.
- Sold and shipped by Amazon AU, so change-of-mind returns follow Amazon AU's standard 30-day policy for unopened items.
- Owala states its bottles are lead-free, BPA-free and phthalate-free.
The compromises
- Owala recommends hand-washing the cup; the lid goes on the dishwasher's top rack, but its care guide still asks for daily disassembly and full drying.
- Hot, carbonated and perishable drinks are excluded from the stainless FreeSip; Owala points those to its tumblers and the FreeSip Twist.
- At A$59.99 it costs the same as Owala's 710 ml FreeSip Twist, which takes hot and fizzy drinks, so the flip-top lid is the only thing you are choosing.
What we have not verified: The 24-hour cold figure is Owala's claim with no test conditions published. Owala's US page promises a limited lifetime warranty; the terms for Australian buyers are not set out on the product page, so check the warranty page before relying on it. The cleaning routine comes from Owala's US care guide.
The things in this guide
A closer look at the products, who they may suit, and what to check before buying.
FreeSip Water Bottle 24 oz
A$59.99 at Amazon Australia, sold by Amazon AU, buys the patented sip-or-swig spout, a lockable flip-top cover and a 710 ml insulated steel body with a printed 24-hour cold claim.
Before you buy: Water and cold drinks only; Owala recommends hand-washing the cup, and the lid needs regular disassembly, with the slider, gasket and straw cleaned separately.
Price checked 5 November 2026. Retailer prices can change.What the lid actually does
One spout, two drinking modes. Held upright, the bottle sips through the straw built into the FreeSip spout; tipped back, it swigs through the wide opening around that straw. A push button flips the cover, the cover keeps the spout clean between drinks, and the carry loop snaps down over the button as a lock.
That mechanism, not the colour or the steel, is what the A$59.99 pays for. A straw lid and a wide-mouth lid are usually two different bottles; here one lid does both, and the trade-off is a lid with more parts to wash than a plain screw cap.
The cold claim and the cup holder
Cold retention is a printed claim, not a published test: Owala's Australian store says 24 hours cold, with no starting temperature or room temperature attached. Treat it as a ceiling for iced water on a mild day rather than a promise for a car parked in the January sun.
Owala's US spec sheet puts the 24 oz bottle at about 27 cm tall and 7.9 cm across, which fits many car cup holders but not every one. If your car's holders are narrow, measure them before ordering.
The cleaning bill for the two-mode lid
The short version on Owala's Australian store: lid on the top rack of the dishwasher, straw in the cutlery basket, cup washed by hand to protect the finish, although Owala concedes the cup is technically dishwasher safe. The care guide goes further and asks for daily washing in warm soapy water, a weekly baking-soda or vinegar clean, and every part dried before the bottle goes back together, because trapped moisture grows mould.
Daily washing means disassembly. The slider comes off and its gasket comes out, since residue builds there; a slim brush does the cup and a straw brush the straw. If that routine sounds like one you will skip after a fortnight, a simpler lid will serve you better than this one.
FreeSip or FreeSip Twist at the same price
In Australia the choice inside Owala's range is unusually clean. The 710 ml FreeSip and the 710 ml FreeSip Twist both cost A$59.99 on Owala's Australian store. The Twist keeps the same spout under a twist-off cap, and Owala says it can carry hot drinks, with warnings attached; the stainless FreeSip cannot.
With no price gap, buy the FreeSip only if you want the one-thumb flip-top and will drink cold water from it. If a morning coffee might go in the same bottle, the Twist is the one that allows it.
Buying it in Australia
Amazon Australia sells the Denim 710 ml for A$59.99, shipped and sold by Amazon AU, so the standard Amazon AU change-of-mind return of 30 days on new, unopened items applies. A bottle you have drunk from is no longer unopened; faulty items are handled separately under Amazon AU's faulty-item process and the Australian Consumer Law.
Owala's own store matches the price for the 710 ml size but was not offering Denim in that size on 5 November, so buy from Amazon if the colour matters and from Owala if you want the full colour list. Colourways come and go on both.
Who should skip it
Three kinds of buyer should walk away. Coffee and tea drinkers: the stainless FreeSip is a cold-drinks bottle by Owala's own rule, and the same-price Twist is the sanctioned home for hot drinks. Dishwasher-only households: the cup is hand-wash by recommendation. And anyone unwilling to brush a straw channel, because the mould warning exists for a reason.
For a day that really does split between desk sipping and quick swigs at the gym or on the train, the lid earns the price. If you only ever drink one way, a plain screw-cap bottle does the job for less.
How we put this together
Built from the product pages and listings below, without test scores or results we have not measured. Specifications and prices change, so check the original page for the exact model, current price, delivery, and returns.
- Amazon Australia: Owala FreeSip 710 ml (24 oz) Denim (opens in a new tab)
- Owala Australia: FreeSip (opens in a new tab)
- Owala Australia: FreeSip Twist (opens in a new tab)
- Owala: How To Clean a Stainless Steel FreeSip Water Bottle (care guide) (opens in a new tab)
- Owala: FreeSip product page (US) (opens in a new tab)
