Hands-On With The HidrateSpark Pro 2 Smart Water Bottle

This summer, HidrateSpark released the second generation of its Pro smart bottle. While availability was limited in the first few months, it's now easier to find the device across the United States, Europe, and other regions through the company's website and Apple's physical and online stores.

For the past three years, I've been using the first-generation of the HidrateSpark Pro, and I was excited to try this new smart water bottle for myself, which adds a proper USB-C port instead of a custom one, an improved drink sensor, and Apple's Find My integration. Additionally, HidrateSpark added a new rugged look to the bottle and improved lid, which now lets you easily carry the bottle around while also protecting yourself from spilling a drink when you have it in your tote bag, gym bag, or backpack. Over the past few weeks, I've been using the HidrateSpark Pro 2, and here's how it's going so far.

It's hard to overstate how much owning a HidrateSpark impacted the amount of water I drink every day. Based on my workouts and Apple Health data, it tells me what my water goal is daily, and I've been very diligent about following its advice over the past three years. While most of my friends think it's a bit much to have a device that tracks the amount of water I drink, it's been life changing.

That said, I was really happy about the USB-C port, the new lid, and the other advantages of the HidrateSpark Pro 2. In fact, after using it for a few weeks, the battery shows no signs of needing a recharge. However, the smart bottle does have some reliability issues compared to its predecessor.

One notable example is that I run into an error when I try to add the bottle to the Find My app. I also frequently get notifications that I'm struggling to reach my hydration goal because the bottle doesn't sync in the background to the app like the first generation bottle did. These are quirks that need to be addressed in an update if the Pro 2 is going to surpass the original.

My biggest problems with HidrateSpark aren't actually related to this next-gen hardware. Around two and a half years in with my account, the company's servers had some kind of issue and my account got deleted. One afternoon, I noticed that I had been logged out of my account, and after trying to log back in for a few days, I decided to create a new one without using Sign In with Apple.

Another thing that bugs me is that the app receives updates every once in a while, and none of the last few updates mention iOS 26 or support for the new bottle. For example, I still can't use HidrateSpark widgets because they lost support in the middle of the iOS 26 development cycle -– even though the software has been out for two months now. I've also seen a few people complaining about the bottle not properly syncing with the app with this new generation, and I honestly have no clue how much it has to do with the app itself.

That said, while I do like the brand and I appreciate how much HidrateSpark has improved my hydration goals, I'm so far disappointed with the general experience of what should've been a great product. Keep an eye out for the full review of this smart water bottle in a few weeks.