HydraCoach Intelligent Water Bottle

So, as promised, the HydraCoach Intelligent Water Bottle (which I type incorrectly every time) needs to be reviewed. I have to admit, I often do a terrible job of staying hydrated throughout the day. I often fill my day with a lot of Diet Pepsi, rather than water. I've tried all sorts of enhancers and flavored bottled waters, but none really stood out to me (except for the occasional grape Gatorade Propel). Lately, I've realized how much water I lack in my daily intake, so I've been upping what I usually do. The HydraCoach seemed like a great solution to my issues.

The basic idea behind the HydraCoach is that it's an interactive water bottle that calculates how much water you take in on a daily basis. You enter your weight and your daily consumption goal, which is pretty straightforward. The HydraCoach, which is designed to hold up to 22 ounces of water, calculates what percentage of water you drink in a given time frame. The HC (abbreviated because the name is taking me forever to type) also records data of water consumption.

The positives: I like feeling motivated to reach a goal, so drinking water all day feels like a contest. I'm a teacher, so I speak all day, and drinking more water definitely helps my vocal cords. The HC is easy to use, once you have it set up correctly.

The negatives: Accuracy is a big one, though I've only been off by an ounce or two each time. The HC is picky about how you drink; you're supposed to bit down lightly on the two grooves in the cap, then take a deep sip. Maybe it's just me, but my teeth hurt a bit after a few hours of drinking. The bottle also comes with the following tagline: "To ensure accuracy, take deliberate, pronounced, sips. Low intensity sips may not register with hydration monitor."

Apparently I'm terrible at sipping, because it seems like half of my sips don't even register.

Another downside is the price. I purchased my HC from Amazon (go Prime Shipping!), which cost around $20. I've seen them ranging all the way up to $30. Does the price match with the product? Not enough to convince me to buy another one.

Finally, this may be me being naive, but I was almost waiting for something exciting to happen once I reached my daily goal. I wasn't expecting fireworks or unicorns, but a nice message that I hit my goal for the day would have been nice. My HC just kept on ticking past my goal. On, and on...not even counting those low intensity sips that I probably got in earlier.

Above all, the HC is a neat, fun product in theory, but I'll probably just stick to a regular water bottle and keep track of my water intake on my own.