memobottle A5 Flat Water Bottle

Round water bottles have had a remarkably easy time of it. They roll about in bags, take up the awkward centre bit, and somehow demand their own little postcode next to the laptop. The memobottle A5 approaches this minor daily nuisance with the energy of someone who has seen one too many bulging commuter rucksacks and decided enough was enough.

At 243 x 148 x 30 mm, the A5 is a 750 ml water bottle laid out like a document. That is a satisfyingly literal answer to the problem of carrying flat things: laptops, notebooks, folders, tablets, the unopened post you keep meaning to deal with. We think that clear purpose makes it more interesting than another vaguely sporty cylinder with motivational lettering.

Its construction is Tritan plastic, BPA and BPS free, with a stainless steel lid, and the bottle weighs 170 g. There is no need to pretend this makes hydration thrilling; it simply makes the bottle less geometrically incompatible with the rest of a working day. The A5 memobottle earns its place as a considered carry item, particularly where a conventional bottle turns a neatly packed bag into a game of three-dimensional Tetris.

There is, naturally, a catch for the material purist. This is still a plastic bottle, however unusually shaped, and the flat format will only matter to people who actually transport it. At home beside a sink, it may look cleverer than it needs to. In a crowded bag, though, clever is rather the point.