Air up O

Most reusable water bottles are designed to disappear into a backpack. The air up O takes almost the opposite approach. This is a bottle you are supposed to see, carry and, to some extent, wear.

The air up O is an 800ml Tritan water bottle that combines air up’s familiar scent-based flavour system with a distinctive rounded body and adjustable crossbody strap. The Stormy Blue version reviewed here is paired with the Dark Turquoise rope-style strap, giving it more of an accessory-like appearance than the typical sports bottle. At the time of writing, air up lists this limited-edition combination at £35.

That crossbody design is the biggest reason to choose the O over another air up bottle. Instead of needing a bag, bottle pocket or free hand, you can carry 800ml of water over your shoulder. It makes immediate sense for festivals, days out, travelling, theme parks, shopping trips and anywhere else where carrying a conventional bottle becomes irritating.

The other attraction is air up’s Scentaste system. Rather than adding squash, flavour drops, sugar or sweeteners to the water, a scent pod sits around the mouthpiece. As you drink, air passes through the pod and carries aroma into your mouth. Through retronasal olfaction, your brain interprets that aroma as flavour even though the liquid itself remains plain water.

It remains one of the more unusual hydration products on the market, but it is important to understand what you are buying. An air up does not make plain water taste exactly like a full-strength fizzy drink or glass of squash. The effect is deliberately more subtle and depends heavily on your sense of smell.

With the O, there is an additional question. Is the wearable bottle design genuinely useful, or are you paying an extra premium for style?

After looking closely at its everyday usability, design, scent system, maintenance requirements and ongoing pod costs, the answer is more positive than expected, although there are several compromises worth knowing about before buying.

Quick Verdict

Overall rating: 4.3 out of 5

Best for: People who struggle to drink enough plain water, frequent travellers, festival-goers, commuters and anyone who likes the air up system but wants a more portable bottle.

Short summary: The air up O is one of air up’s most distinctive bottles. Its 800ml capacity, lightweight Tritan construction and adjustable crossbody strap make it genuinely convenient away from home, while the scent pod system can make plain water considerably more interesting. The unusual shape and strap will not appeal to everyone, however, and the £35 purchase price needs to be considered alongside the ongoing cost of replacement pods.

Main pros:

• Comfortable hands-free carrying
• Useful 800ml capacity
• Distinctive, modern design
• BPA-free Tritan Renew construction
• Flavours plain water without adding sugar or sweeteners
• More than 25 scent flavours available
• Leak-resistant lid
• Particularly useful for days out and travel

Main cons:

• More expensive than several other air up bottles
• Scent pods create an ongoing cost
• Flavour is intentionally subtle
• Only designed for cold, still water
• Hand washing is recommended
• Round shape is less conventional than a normal bottle
• Performance drops if your sense of smell is impaired

Quick buying recommendation: If you already like the idea of air up and regularly carry a bottle while walking, travelling or attending events, the O is arguably one of the most practical versions. If you mainly drink water at a desk or want the cheapest way into the air up system, the less expensive Twist or Click models make more financial sense.

Product Overview Table

air up confirms that the O has an 800ml capacity, is intended for still water and uses a BPA-free Tritan Renew body with food-grade silicone components. The strap is made from a textile and TPE blend designed for repeated carrying.

Design & Build Quality

The first thing you notice about the air up O is its shape. Conventional water bottles tend to be tall, narrow cylinders. The O has a much rounder silhouette, which is clearly intentional. air up describes it as a bottle designed to be worn as well as carried, and that philosophy is visible throughout the design.

Stormy Blue works particularly well with the Dark Turquoise strap. The colours are different enough to create contrast without looking mismatched, and the overall appearance feels contemporary rather than overly sporty.

That matters because this is not really positioned as a gym bottle. It feels more at home hanging across your body while walking around a city, travelling through an airport or spending the day at a festival.

The Tritan construction helps. You get the visual clarity and relatively light weight associated with plastic rather than the extra heft of a large stainless-steel bottle. air up states that the O uses BPA-free Tritan Renew, alongside food-grade silicone for the mouthpiece and sealing components.

It does not have the cold-retention advantage of a vacuum-insulated steel bottle, so buyers expecting ice-cold water several hours later should look towards insulated alternatives. The benefit is portability.

The crossbody strap is what transforms the design from interesting into genuinely useful.

It clips onto the bottle and can be adjusted so the bottle sits at a comfortable height against the body. That means you can walk around without occupying one hand or finding somewhere in a bag to store an 800ml bottle. air up specifically designed the O around this hands-free carrying concept.

Fully loaded, 800ml of water inevitably adds noticeable weight. No strap can make almost a litre of liquid disappear. Even so, distributing that weight across the shoulder feels considerably more practical than holding the bottle for hours.

The lid system is described as leak-resistant rather than completely leakproof, which is an important distinction. When properly assembled and tightened, it feels designed for walking and everyday transport, but we would still avoid casually throwing it upside down among laptops or expensive electronics without checking the closure first. air up’s assembly guidance specifically recommends closing the lid tightly to keep everything secure and leak-resistant.

Maintenance is another consideration. air up recommends hand washing the O’s components using warm water, mild washing-up liquid and a soft sponge, then allowing everything to dry fully before reassembly.

That is hardly difficult, but buyers who expect to throw the complete bottle into the dishwasher every evening may find other air up models more convenient.

Overall build quality feels appropriate for the price. You are paying partly for the design concept and strap rather than expensive materials, but the combination works. The O feels like something designed to be repeatedly carried rather than a novelty bottle with a decorative cord added afterwards.

Features & Performance

The most important feature remains the air up flavour system.

The principle initially sounds like a gimmick, but the science behind it is relatively straightforward. Our tongues detect a limited number of basic tastes, while a large part of what we perceive as flavour comes from smell. air up uses retronasal olfaction by directing scented air from the pod through the drinking system as you sip. Your brain combines that aroma with the sensation of drinking water and interprets the experience as flavour.

The biggest adjustment for a new user is expectation.

If you expect Watermelon to taste like concentrated watermelon squash, you may initially wonder what all the fuss is about. air up itself describes the flavour as subtle rather than comparable with an intense soft drink.

Give it a little time, however, and the effect becomes easier to appreciate.

You still know that you are drinking water, but the scent creates enough perceived flavour to stop every mouthful feeling identical. Sweeter profiles such as Kola, Bubble Gum and some of the fruit options can feel surprisingly convincing, although individual preference will make a huge difference. air up currently offers more than 25 flavours across fruit, soft drink, tea, candy and other profiles.

The drinking sensation itself is slightly unusual.

You should notice small bubbles while sipping because air needs to travel through the system to carry scent from the pod. air up confirms that this gentle bubbling is a normal part of the experience. If there are no bubbles, it can indicate that the pod is incorrectly positioned or one of the airflow holes is blocked.

After a few drinks, this becomes normal.

Setting the O up is uncomplicated. Attach the strap, fill the bottle with cold still water, ensure the straw and mouthpiece are correctly assembled, fit a scent pod and secure the lid. The O is designed specifically for still water, so buyers wanting to use sparkling water should consider the Twist Pro instead.

Pod longevity is reasonably good. air up says each scent pod provides at least five litres of scent-enhanced water. With an 800ml O, that works out at roughly six full bottles in theoretical terms, although actual perceived scent intensity will inevitably vary as a pod gets older.

The current UK range generally puts three-pod packs at around £5.99 to £6.99 depending on flavour, with some options priced differently and larger variety boxes also available.

That makes the running cost considerably lower than buying bottled soft drinks every day, but obviously higher than using a conventional reusable bottle filled with tap water.

There is also an unavoidable limitation to scent-based flavouring.

If you have a blocked nose, cold or otherwise reduced sense of smell, the effect can become noticeably weaker. air up acknowledges that congestion can make its scent flavours less vivid because the system depends on retronasal olfaction.

When everything is working normally, however, the O succeeds at its main job. It makes ordinary water more interesting without requiring anything to be dissolved or poured into it.

Real-World Experience

The crossbody strap becomes the standout feature surprisingly quickly.

At home, it barely matters. If the bottle is sitting on a desk, an O offers relatively little practical advantage over the cheaper air up Click or Twist.

Take it outside and the design begins to make considerably more sense.

On a day out, the ability to carry the bottle across the body rather than dedicating one hand to it is genuinely useful. The same applies when navigating public transport, carrying shopping or travelling with hand luggage.

Festivals are perhaps the most obvious use case. Assuming venue rules allow the bottle, being able to keep your water physically attached to you rather than holding it or repeatedly taking it out of a bag is exactly the kind of simple convenience that becomes more valuable after several hours.

The 800ml capacity hits a sensible middle ground.

It contains enough water to avoid constant refilling without becoming as cumbersome as some 1.2 litre tumblers. The compromise is that 800ml of water still weighs 800g before the bottle itself is considered, so a full O can feel substantial against the body.

The scent experience also becomes better once you stop comparing it with a traditional flavoured drink.

During the first few uses, it is tempting to concentrate intensely on whether you can “taste” the pod. That almost works against the product. Once the novelty settles down and you simply drink normally, the aroma becomes part of the experience rather than something you constantly analyse.

Flavour selection makes a huge difference.

Some people will prefer obvious sweet profiles such as Kola or Bubble Gum, while others will find fruit flavours more convincing. With more than 25 options available, experimentation is part of owning an air up, although that can also mean buying the occasional pod you do not particularly like.

The ability to swap pods helps prevent the bottle becoming repetitive. Instead of committing an entire 800ml fill to one actual drink flavour, you can change the scent experience while the liquid remains water.

Cleaning is where enthusiasm cools slightly.

The O has several components involved in delivering the scent correctly, and air up recommends regular hand washing and complete drying. It is not particularly difficult, but there is more maintenance involved than unscrewing the lid of an ordinary bottle and rinsing it.

The strap also introduces another item that will inevitably pick up wear and dirt over time if the bottle is used heavily outdoors.

Even with those frustrations, the O’s core idea holds up well in everyday use. It makes most sense when it replaces two habits simultaneously: carrying a bottle and reaching for sweet drinks because plain water feels boring.

Pros & Cons Table

The material, capacity, still-water limitation and leak-resistant construction are confirmed in air up’s current O specifications.

Who Should Buy This?

The air up O is particularly well suited to people who repeatedly buy flavoured drinks because they struggle with plain water.

That does not mean it perfectly recreates those drinks. It does not. What it can do is add enough variety to water to make drinking it feel less monotonous.

It is also an excellent fit for people who spend significant time away from home.

Commuters, university students, travellers, festival-goers, theme park visitors, shoppers and people who regularly walk around cities will probably appreciate the crossbody design more than somebody whose bottle rarely leaves a desk.

For existing air up users, the decision comes down to portability. If you already own another model and are happy carrying it in a bag, the O offers little reason to replace it. If you frequently find yourself carrying your bottle by hand, the strap makes a meaningful difference.

It could also make a good gift, particularly for teenagers, students and younger adults who enjoy products where design is almost as important as function. The large choice of pods also creates an easy way to personalise the gift around someone’s preferred flavours.

Parents considering air up for younger children should judge suitability based on the child’s ability to properly use, carry and clean a reusable bottle rather than treating the O as a toy. The 800ml capacity may also be unnecessarily large for smaller children.

Who should avoid it?

Anyone who dislikes subtle flavours, primarily drinks sparkling water, wants an insulated bottle or simply wants the cheapest possible reusable water bottle will find better options elsewhere.

People with a significantly reduced sense of smell should also think carefully because the technology fundamentally relies on scent perception.

Alternatives & Comparisons

air up Click 800ml

The strongest direct alternative comes from air up itself.

The Click is available in an 800ml Tritan version for around £30, making it approximately £5 cheaper than the O while maintaining the same overall scent-based hydration concept. Current Click models are designed around a compact, leakproof format and are dishwasher safe.

For commuting with a backpack, office use or carrying in a car, the Click arguably offers better value.

The O wins when hands-free carrying matters.

air up Twist

The standard Tritan Twist is the cheaper entry into a full air up bottle, currently listed at around £25 for 650ml versions. It uses still water, offers manual pod activation and is dishwasher safe.

If you simply want to find out whether air up works for you, the Twist is the more sensible first purchase.

The O gives you more capacity and considerably better carrying convenience.

air up Twist Pro

At around £30 for a 600ml Tritan version, the Twist Pro has one significant advantage over the O: it supports both still and sparkling water. It is also leakproof and dishwasher safe.

For functionality alone, the Twist Pro is arguably the stronger all-rounder.

Choose the O if the 800ml capacity and wearable strap matter more.

Waterdrop

Waterdrop approaches flavoured hydration differently. Rather than using scent, its Microdrink cubes actually dissolve into water. Its current UK bottle range includes glass and stainless-steel options, with some reusable bottles starting at around £24.90, while many 12-serving Microdrink packs cost around £8.99.

Waterdrop is better for people who want the liquid itself to have a stronger, conventional flavour.

air up is better for someone specifically wanting to continue drinking plain water without adding ingredients to it.

Stanley Quencher ProTour

If your priority is keeping drinks cold rather than adding perceived flavour, Stanley provides a very different premium alternative.

The 1.18 litre Quencher ProTour uses stainless steel and double-wall vacuum insulation, alongside a leakproof flip-straw lid. Current prices vary by colour, with models listed up to around £55.

The Stanley wins comfortably for insulation and capacity.

The air up O is lighter, more compact and offers a completely different scent-based drinking experience.

Is It Worth The Money?

At £35, the air up O is not cheap for a plastic reusable water bottle.

Looking purely at the material, you can buy perfectly competent reusable bottles for far less.

That is not really what you are paying for.

The value comes from three things: the air up scent system, the distinctive bottle design and the crossbody carrying format.

Within air up’s own range, the premium is relatively modest. An 800ml Click currently costs around £30, while the O is £35. That effectively means you are paying roughly another £5 for the unusual shape and adjustable shoulder strap.

Looked at that way, the price feels more reasonable.

The more important cost is long-term ownership.

Scent pods need replacing. Current three-pod packs are typically around £5.99 to £6.99 depending on flavour, with each pod intended to scent at least five litres of water.

Someone who drinks large quantities through air up every day will therefore spend considerably more over a year than someone using an ordinary bottle.

Whether that represents good value depends on what air up replaces.

If the alternative is tap water that you were already perfectly happy drinking, the financial argument is fairly weak.

If it helps replace regular bottles of fizzy drinks, energy drinks or flavoured water, the calculation changes considerably.

There is also value in the portability. Bags without bottle pockets are common, and carrying a normal bottle by hand all day quickly becomes annoying. The crossbody strap provides a simple solution without requiring an additional bottle carrier.

Overall, £35 feels fair rather than exceptional value. The O is one of those products where the price makes considerably more sense once you identify yourself as the target user.

If you will use the strap regularly, it is worth the small premium over other air up bottles.

If you will immediately remove the strap and leave the bottle on your desk, buy a cheaper air up instead.

This is available from: Air Up.

Final Verdict

The air up O succeeds because its most unusual feature is not merely decorative.

The adjustable crossbody strap genuinely changes how convenient it is to carry an 800ml bottle. For travelling, festivals, walking, commuting and busy days out, being able to throw the bottle over your shoulder and forget about it is far more useful than it initially sounds.

The scent-based drinking system remains equally interesting. It will not convince everyone, and anybody expecting the intensity of squash or a soft drink needs to lower those expectations. When treated as a subtle way of making plain water less repetitive, however, it works much better.

The Stormy Blue bottle and Dark Turquoise strap combination also strikes a good balance between playful and understated. It has personality without looking like children’s drinkware.

There are genuine weaknesses.

The O costs more than several other air up bottles. Pods create an ongoing expense. You cannot use sparkling water. Hand washing is recommended, and people with a blocked or less sensitive sense of smell will not experience the system at its best.

There is also no escaping the fact that £35 buys a lot of conventional water bottle elsewhere.

But conventional water bottles are not really what the O is competing with.

This is best viewed as a portable hydration system for someone who wants water to be more interesting and their bottle to be easier to carry.

For that specific audience, the air up O is easy to recommend.

Overall rating: 4.3 out of 5

FAQs

Does the air up O actually make water taste flavoured?

Yes, although not in the conventional sense. The water itself remains plain. As you drink, air passes through an aroma pod and carries scent into your mouth. Your brain interprets this through retronasal olfaction as flavour. The resulting effect is deliberately subtler than drinking squash or a fizzy drink.

How long does an air up scent pod last?

air up states that each scent pod provides scent-enhanced drinking for at least five litres of water. With the 800ml O bottle, that theoretically equates to just over six full fills, although perceived intensity can gradually reduce as the pod is used.

Is the air up O bottle leakproof?

air up describes the O as having an integrated leak-resistant lid rather than marketing it as completely leakproof. The company recommends making sure the lid is properly secured before carrying it.

Can you put sparkling water in the air up O?

No. The air up O is designed for cold, still water only. Buyers wanting to use sparkling water should consider the air up Twist Pro, which is specifically designed to handle both still and fizzy water.

How do you clean the air up O?

air up recommends hand washing the components using warm water, mild washing-up liquid and a soft sponge. Scent pods should be removed rather than washed, and all bottle components should be allowed to dry completely before the bottle is reassembled.

Is the air up O worth buying over the regular air up bottles?

It depends on how you will use it. The O currently costs £35, while an 800ml Click is available for around £30 and standard Twist models start at around £25. The O becomes worth the extra money if you regularly use the adjustable crossbody strap for travelling, commuting, festivals or days out. If your bottle mainly stays on a desk or in a bag, the cheaper air up models offer better value.