A compressor cools below ambient; a thermoelectric box only below it a little · review

BELKO ArcticCore 30 litres, to −18 °C, USB power bank function review

A 30 litre compressor cool box freezing to −18 °C with app and display control, an energy saving mode, a battery protection mode and a USB port for charging a phone.

By Jean-Benoit Buisson

The bottom line The only cool box here that will charge a phone, with energy saving and battery protection modes both named. Its own listing gives two different minimum temperatures, two degrees apart.

A 30 litre box with a USB port on it.

The contradiction

The title says −20 °C. The third bullet says −18 °C. Two degrees, and the difference matters for whether food stays properly frozen. This page reports both figures and does not pick one.

The port

USB, for charging a phone from the box. No other box in this family has one, and where the box is already wired to the battery it removes a separate charger.

The two modes

Energy saving and battery protection, both named in the third bullet. Neither has a figure attached — no consumption for the first, no voltage threshold for the second.

The control

App and display both. Either can set the temperature, which means the phone is a convenience rather than a requirement.

And the number this family never gives

Daily consumption at a stated ambient and set point.

Availability

German Amazon store quoted about 180 € when this page was compiled.

American, French, Italian and Spanish Amazon catalogues carry an entry for it, with nobody selling.

British Amazon store returned nothing at all, so the buy button there runs a search instead of landing on an empty page.

These figures are what Keepa reported on the day this page was last updated. Availability and pricing move without notice.

Prices quoted in this text were read on 16 September 2026. The live price is at the top of the page.

What it gets right, and what it leaves out

Strengths

A USB port for charging a phone from the box, which nothing else here offers
Energy saving and battery protection modes both named
App and display control, so the set point can be changed either way

Compromises

The title says −20 °C and the third bullet says −18 °C
Battery protection is named with no thresholds
No consumption and no noise figure

Specifications

Temperature range	Down to −18 °C, third bullet; the title says −20 °C, and the two figures differ
Daily consumption at stated conditions	Nowhere in the listing
Compressor type	Compressor, third bullet; not named
Battery protection levels	A battery protection mode is named in the first and third bullets; no thresholds are published
Insulation	Nowhere in the listing
Capacity	30 litres, with other sizes available, from the title
Noise	Nowhere in the listing
Amazon reference	B0FJ8X87S7 (same reference on 5 Amazon marketplaces)
EAN	4062833050337

Questions owners ask about this one

Which temperature is right — −18 °C or −20 °C?

The listing gives both: −20 °C in the title and −18 °C in the third bullet. They cannot both describe the same setting, and this page reports both rather than choosing. Two degrees matters for keeping food frozen properly.

Is a USB port on a cool box useful?

It saves a separate charger where the box is already connected to the battery. It also means the box draws a little more, which — as with every consumption question in this family — is not quantified.