Photos and Features
The EverFrost 2 40L looks extremely similar to the original EverFrost design while also being different in nearly every way as well. The outside of the cooler has a textured plastic finish in a green/grey color. The previous design has more green to its color and our sample at least had really bad defects in the finish where you could see dots all across it where something was glued or attached to the back. That isn’t an issue at all here, the quality is much better and I like the slightly more subtle color. The cooler design has a vent at the back side next to the battery compartments but this time around that vent is a lot smaller, the original design had the vent run all the way down next to the wheel. There is a metal bottle opener on the side, like before and the lid has a nice latch built in which you can see well from this side. The big new addition though is the black bar across this side. This is an attachment point for a few accessories that they sell to go with the cooler. You can add on a fake wood finished tray and they have the road trip kit which has a dual cup holder, knife holder, and a rod holder for someone fishing. With their already a built-in shelf I don’t personally see myself needing the extra one but I do like the road trip kit. Especially the cup holder, the knife, and the pole holders are specific for someone fishing. That kit is $60 and the tray is $80 you can see the tray HERE. The rear wheels are the same design as the original design including being plastic which is fine for any normal use but as I mentioned with the original cooler if someone was going farther into the woods, these might not be enough.
The main handle side has a flip out shelf/handle just like with the previous EverFrost design. The design here hasn’t changed at all visually but it is noticeably easier to unsnap this time around. You can pull the shelf out and there is a metal rod that drops down and hooks on the cooler to keep it propped up.
The back side of the cooler is similar to the front and like with the front it has a second air vent. The vent matches the front in its location and size and is smaller than the vents on the previous EverFrost coolers. There is a small vent up in the top edge as well and this side has the same Anker Solix branding on it. This is the side that the lid pivots on and you can see the hinges up at the top.
The back of the EverFrost 2 40L is where a lot of the action is. Down at the bottom is a large vent that is angled down and between the rear wheels. This is the main vent for the refrigeration. Just above that is a weather sealed plug, this has two connections depending on what you are trying to do. The larger left connection is the plug for the included power supply and DC cable, this does have a fuse next to it as well to avoid any issues. Then next to that the smaller blue plug is a solar panel power connection, in addition to being able to charge and power with DC or AC with a portable solar panel, you can keep things charged when camping. Above that is a large panel that covers the entire battery compartment. That cover has two clips at the top and doesn’t have a green/grey finish like the rest of the cooler. They have also given it a fake carbon fiber texture. The cover has the Anker Solix branding on it and two smaller snap-out plugs give you access to the plugs built into the battery as well as the battery status light without taking the cover off. The original EverFrost had similar access to the one battery but this time around it has the weather plugs for when you aren’t trying to use those connections. The Type-A and Type-C can both be used to keep your other devices charged but the Type-C can also be used to charge the EverFrost as well if you prefer that.
The battery compartment is one of the big changes with this new design. The original cooler had one large battery in the center and this time around they have skinnier batteries that are longer and the cooler has room for two batteries. It only comes with one but you can buy an extra if needed, however, they are expensive at $249. The battery compartment comes with a battery-shaped tray in the extra hole which is great for tucking away your power cables. The battery itself has a handle that has a latching mechanism built in, like the original. Each battery tray has one plug with ten pins on it near the top edge.
Most of the top of the EverFrost 2 40L is filled with the cooler door which has a slightly indented section across it. All of the controls are all along the back end and it has a very similar setup compared to the original EverFrost coolers. There is an oval with a glossy black finish, this has the Anker Solix branding whereas the original model just had the Anker branding. In the center there is a display screen, the EverFrost 2 40L has a larger display. Then next to it on the right you have all of the controls. While similar, the new controls have an additional button when compared to the original design, and the buttons themselves are improved. The old design has bubble and recessed buttons built into the plastic cover where this design has proper independent buttons that should hold up well. They now have an easy lockout by pressing the up and down buttons at the same time. The new button is the temperature control button. Before you had the menu where you could go to the temperature control setting and then change it. This design just gives you a more direct way to get to that important setting. Then there is of course a power button which now has an LED status indicator around it.
The bottom of the EverFrost 2 40L continues the green/grey plastic shell but a lot of the area on the bottom doesn’t have the same heavy texture that we saw on the sides. They have a large silver sticker that has the model information and below that a green sticker with c-pentane on it. That one lets us know that the refrigeration on the cooler uses cyclopentane. Also right there is a small white sticker, that has the serial number for the cooler and a small QR code. The two rolling wheels are at the back and the front just has two skis to keep the cooler off of the ground. In between those you can see the drain hole that goes with the drain plug that we saw inside.
The most obvious change when you open up the inside of the EverFrost 2 40L is the fan built into the bottom side of the lid which the old cooler didn’t have. The fan helps keep even temperatures and also helps with this cooler's faster cool-down speed, it can be down to temperature in 15 minutes. The lid is heavy, like a refrigerator, and has a quality magnetic gasket around it along with the latch to keep it closed. Inside you have a built-in LED light, like before which as it turned out was very useful when using the original EverFrost. The EverFrost 2 is available in two sizes, the 40L we have here and a larger 58L. This is a little different from the original which were 43L and 53L capacities. The larger model has a split design that lets you run both sides at different temperatures but this design is one temperature for the whole cooler. There is a smaller 23L model also announced but it isn’t out yet. The inside is 14.64 in (L) × 12.31 in (W) × 13.65 in(H) and the metal cage inside of the old design is no longer there. My initial reaction was that this might be dropping the durability down slightly, but after some thought it is less weight inside and helps give you the entire capacity. When compared to the old design, the EverFrost 2 no longer has the small shelf built into the design which accounts for the smaller capacity but this new shape should be a little more usable. Down at the bottom, there is still a removable drain plug and it is recessed down into the cooler this time. You aren’t putting ice in this cooler so it shouldn’t be needed often but should make cleaning easier.
The battery included with the EverFrost 2 40L has a similar design to the original cooler but they have changed the shape up as I mentioned when we talked about the battery compartment. The new shape does mean there is room to be able to add a second battery or if you want longer life you could run two and have extras that you swap in. Given the charging options though one or two should be more than enough. They have a capacity of 288 Wh and with that, the 40L model we have here is said to have an operation time of 52 hours with one battery and 104 for two. The later 58L dual zone cooler is lower at 39 and 78 hours respectively. For charge time on one battery you will see 3.6 hours to full charge with the 100-watt solar panel, wall outlet, and car charger, and using USB Type-C is slower at 5.5 hours. The Type-C connection on the battery can only output or input 60 watts whereas solar is 100 watts and 95 watts for the car and AC connections. Speaking of the USB plugs you do get a Type-A connection as well that outputs 12 watts and next to that the battery has four status lights and a button to check the battery status. You can use these as a high-capacity battery pack as well as the battery for the cooler. So on vacation for example, once you get to the hotel and plug it in, you can pull the battery out and use it. The batteries did drop the bright blue color of the last model for the black and grey. Overall I like the new design, but considering I have two of the old batteries I wouldn’t have been upset if I could have used them with this model, the batteries are an expensive pickup at $249. Down on the bottom of the battery, there is a large sticker with all of the warnings, information, and the serial number. The 10-pin connection is there and there are four rubber feet as well.
While the EverFrost 2 40L is battery-powered, you do need to keep it charged and it can run directly plugged in as well. For that, Anker has included three components. You get a direct wire 12-volt accessory plug for your car or what they used to call them, a cigarette lighter plug. That cable plugs directly into the plug on the end of the EverFrost 2 40L and into your car on the other end. Then you also have an AC to DC power supply. This comes with a power cable which in my case has a US two-prong plug. On the other end, it has a C8 connection. Then you have the power supply itself which plugs into the cooler. The power supply can output up to 95 watts at 14.5 volts and pulls 2.5 amps from the AC connection. All of the cables can fit in the accessory tray in the battery compartment and it’s great to have both options depending on where you are using the EverFrost 2 40L.
The other accessory included with the EverFrost 2 40L are these two plastic trays. When I first opened everything up, these baffled me, I couldn’t understand what they were there for but after reading the manual I found out they are for parking the EverFrost 2 40L. Basically, they are wheel chocks that you can put under the two main wheels to keep it from moving around. The idea is nice, but there were a few things about these that I wasn’t a fan of. The biggest thing, is you have to lift that corner of the cooler up to slide these under the wheel and because they are just injection molded plastic without a rubber grip on the bottom you could still slip around. The heavy weight of the cooler helps at least. My last issue is that these won’t fit into the included tray in the battery compartment. If I were going to use them, being able to store them away like that would be nice. In the end and this is a spoiler for our performance section. But I don’t see the need for them much unless you are using the other add-on accessories for the EverFrost 2 40L. But if being able to lock it into place is important, two locks for the wheels themselves might be easier to use and you wouldn’t need to bring them along with you.
