This same bottle seems to be sold at Walmart under different names: Bintiva, Tal, Vogue. Mine says "Tal," but rang up on the receipt as "Vogue." They all look the same.
I will be comparing my 17 oz. bottle to a 15 oz. Sip by S'well purchased elsewhere. I conducted a few tests, and was surprised by the results. Note that the Tal bottle cost $7.94 at a physical Walmart store; the Swell bottles normally cost about $24.99. The listing for this review cost $13.99. I'm not sure why the difference in price or why the same bottle comes with so many different names.
I filled each bottle with a cold liquid from the fridge--no ice--and tested periodically. After 24 hours, the Walmart bottle lost 23.9 degrees (F). The Swell lost 25.1. Liquids started around 33F and ended around 58F. With ice, I think they would have faired much better. My whole point was to compare the bottles with each other, and the result was that the Walmart bottle did slightly better, and it cost a lot less. Temps were measured with an absolutely priceless Habor digital cooking thermometer, model HCP3B, purchased at Walmart.com for something like $12. It's worth a million bucks, but that's another review.
The Walmart bottle also holds more--it's a 17 oz bottle (note that the lid takes up some of that room), leaving you with about 16 oz of usable space, maybe slightly less. The Swell is a 15 oz bottle that holds about 14.5 oz once the lid is on.
Despite that the Walmart bottle is bigger, it's actually lighter (when empty), at 10.6 oz (300g). The Swell weighs 11.3 oz (320g). That surprised me. So the Swell holds less, weighs more, and doesn't perform quite as well.
The Swell is somewhat easier to hold, since it has a smaller diameter. Also, I find the lid easier to screw on and off the Swell. However, I found that the lid on both bottles doesn't need to be tightened much. Even filled with warm water and shaken, the lids didn't leak when they were screwed on just to where they catch, and no farther. A normal person wouldn't struggle with these lids at all. I have issues with my hands, so I thought it might be a problem until learning that tightening it isn't necessary.
The upshot is, while I don't know anything about durability of either brand, it seems that the Walmart brand is a great value for a product that performs better temp-wise than a much more expensive brand. I might get another while they're still $7.94 at the store.
I use these for very long day hikes to carry chocolate soymilk, which is a fantastic pick-me-up when I'm dragging on the trail. My plan is to test again with ice water (which will be something of a challenge because my fridge's cubes don't easily fit into either bottle), and then with hot water.
Finally, I've ordered a long & narrow bottle brush to clean these, as they won't be going into the dishwasher. I have cleaned them with a paper towel, some soapy water, and a knife to work the paper towel around the inside, but a bottle brush will be much easier.
