Snackeez is less than satisfactory as-seen-on-TV product

Hunger. We’ve all been there — 8 a.m. class and no time for breakfast, 3 p.m. class and no time to grab a snack, 6 p.m. lab and no time for dinner. Not a crumb of food from dawn ‘til dusk.

It’s at times like these, when there is no time for food, that an as-seen-on-TV product may come to the rescue. Snackeez, a new product from IdeaVillage products, claims to be an “all-in-one, go anywhere, snacking solution,” which has a design that “lets you hold a drink and your favorite snack all in one hand!”

Snackeez, which for the most part looks like an ordinary drinking glass with a straw, actually has two compartments — a 16-ounce cup for drinks and an eight-ounce cup for snacks. The snack cup even comes with a flip top that closes when not in use and the cup has a handy non-slip grip.

I stumbled upon Snackeez while wandering through Wal-Mart trying to find a product that would be beneficial to a college student such as myself. Upon seeing this product, I figured it would be worth a shot. And at $10.52, I would probably get my money’s worth.

In regards to myself, I always like to sleep until the last possible minute, because sleep is important. This product, I hoped, would solve my hunger problem caused by being short of time in the morning. I could just throw some banana chips or grapes in and fill it with water and be good to go for my early class.

The first time trying this product, I filled it with Cheez-Its and didn’t have time to fill it with water because I was running late. On the plus side, eating crackers out of the Snackeez cup was much less noisy and disruptive in class than eating them straight out of a box or bag. However, I did find that it was difficult to open the flip top to get to the snack.

Later in the day, I put more crackers in the cup and filled it with water. When I attempted to put the lid on, water spilled everywhere. The snack part of the lid pushed the water out, making room for the snack cup. So, although the product advertises 16 ounces, it really only holds about 10 before making a mess. Luckily, it was just water.

I assumed the grip section of the cup would prevent it from sweating. Indeed, I was wrong. The cup did sweat, quite a lot. In fact, I found that the grip made the cup harder to hold, thus defeating the purpose of a non-slip grip. So, the grip is only useful if the drink has no ice or isn’t particularly cold.

Next, I went to actually drink from the cup, which was also a challenge.For reasons unclear, when drinking through the straw it felt as though I was drinking an extra thick milkshake rather than water.

Overall, I don’t think I would recommend this product to a friend. Had the price been lower, I might recommending it.

In truth, I didn’t enjoy Snackeez as much as I thought I was going to. The only feature I really like about it was it was a discreet way to snack in class. It ended up being more of a hassle than a convenience, so I think I’ll stick with grabbing a quick snack and my water bottle for now.