How long should a budget hard cooler actually hold ice?

Across the reviewers we read, realistic expectations for a $40–$100 plastic hard cooler are 2–4 days of ice retention when pre-chilled, kept in shade, and packed with a high ice-to-content ratio. Marketing claims of '5 days' are best-case lab conditions; specialist subreddit threads consistently report shorter real-world numbers, with rotomolded coolers (Yeti/RTIC class) doing meaningfully better at 3–4x the price.