Best water gun 2023, with the best Super Soakers and other water pistols

The best water pistols will make your friends scream "H2-OH NO!"

SPYRA water gun in red colorway being used by a woman to shoot water
(Image credit: SPYRA)

The winter season is a great time to buy one of the best water guns on the market as makers and retailers, funnily enough, struggle to shift stock in the colder months. And that leads to discounted price points and plenty of Super Soaker bargains.

Grab a great water pistol now and then, come the warmer months of the year, you'll be set to wreak watery carnage upon your friends and family.

Water blasters are also great birthday gifts, too, so it really does make sense to shop while prices are low.

T3's water gun expert, Robert Jones, has got more soakings than he likes to remember from his offspring in pursuit of finding out what truly is the best water gun on the market, and right here he guides you through the best options.

We've picked something for everyone – from the low-budget pistols to the top-of-the-range blasters that are sure to give you the upper hand in any stand-off. 

However, if the thought of being outdoors and getting wet doesn’t really appeal to you, why not battle it out indoors instead with the best Nerf guns. Or if action isn’t your thing, then the best board games or the best Lego sets might be more up your street.

What's the best water gun for adults?

Unlike the pump-action varieties of water blaster suitable for kids, adults need more serious H2O-spewing firepower.

The best water gun for adults is the SpyraTwo water gun, which is capable of firing water bullets up to 50 feet. You can check out the SpyraTwo in T3's best water gun buying guide.

Best water guns and Super Soakers 2024: the list

Why you can trust T3 Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about how we test.

Super Soaker FloodinatorT3 Award

(Image credit: Future)

1. Super Soaker Floodinator Water Gun

The best water gun for serious soakers

Specifications

Mechanism: Pump to fire
Capacity: 2 litres
Range: 11.5 meters

Reasons to buy

+
Decent water tank size
+
Easy access filler cap
+
High pressure stream

Reasons to avoid

-
Pump-action is tough for younger kids

Sending a steady stream of water up to a satisfactory eight metres or so, this blaster should form the basis of your aqua unleashing arsenal. The pump action gets the flow in motion and with a generous two-litre capacity, targets will get wetter than the average washing machine rinse cycle. 

This Super Soaker is also the ideal and highly entertaining method of deterring un-wanted critters from your back garden. No, we’re not referring to BBQ guests. The only downside really is that you might want something smaller for younger kids, and the cap that seals it is quite stiff (which means no leaks, at least). Read more in our full, five-star Super Soaker Floodinator review.

Joyin water pistolT3 Award

(Image credit: Future)

2. JOYIN 2 Pack Water Pistol

Two kids? Two water guns. Easy

Specifications

Mechanism: Pump to fire
Capacity: 739 ml
Range: 11 meters

Reasons to buy

+
Great value for two pistols
+
Good capacity and range
+
Strong starter water pistol for younger kids

Reasons to avoid

-
No cool branding

Water fights tend to be more fun with a second participant, so this two-pack makes it more economical to pick up multiple guns at once for a big spraying battle. They should be small enough for most kids to handle, as long as no one minds have unbranded guns instead of 'cool' Super Soakers.

The pistols here themselves are standard pump-action stuff, with a water capacity of 739ml (not bad for the size), and a promised reach of around 36 feet, which is a long way. As starter water gun packs go, it's perfect – as our full JOYIN 2 Pack Water Pistol review will tell you.

Fortnite Super SoakerT3 Award

(Image credit: Hasbro)

3. Fortnite TS-R Nerf Super Soaker Water Blaster

It's Fortnite-themed and sprays water – what more do you want!?

Specifications

Mechanism: Pump to fire
Capacity: 1 litre
Range: 10.6 metres

Reasons to buy

+
Everybody loves Fortnite
+
Good water capacity
+
Reaches far

Reasons to avoid

-
Too large for small kids

Bring Fortnite from the screen to outside! It's a pretty solid design in general, even beyond the branding – it offers a full litre of water to spray through pump action, reaching around 10 feet/3 metres. 

This makes it all a bit less extreme than the Floodinator above, which may be very welcome news to parents. Less water is easier for kids to handle as well – this is generally a great middle ground between water pistols and bigger, beefier spraying options.

Super Soaker Freezefire 2.0T3 Award

4. Super Soaker Freezefire 2.0 Water Gun

The best water gun for sending a shiver down the spine

Specifications

Mechanism: Pump to fire
Capacity: 591 ml
Range: 11.5 metres

Reasons to buy

+
Compact and concealable
+
Large filler cap
+
Good size for smaller hands

Reasons to avoid

-
Only offers a half litre tank

After a casual “would you like ice with that” comment from the host of the annual Super Soaker creative team’s BBQ, one attendee still had his work hat on. Within weeks the Freezefire was created, an oversized filler cap in which to stick cubes of ice and the ability to send a shivery stream during water gun wars. It’s a tidy little Super Soaker, and one small enough to conceal into a surprise soaking session. It is the most likely to be turned into a receptacle containing sangria, mind.

Nerf Super Soaker Microburst 2 blasterT3 Approved badge

(Image credit: Nerf)

5. Nerf Super Soaker Microburst 2 Blaster

The best water gun for surprising your opponents

Specifications

Mechanism: Pump to fire
Capacity: 284 ml
Range: 10 metres

Reasons to buy

+
Small but powerful
+
33-foot range
+
Easy to hide

Reasons to avoid

-
Small capacity

As much as we love big water pistols, sometimes the trick to winning a water fight is to have something so small that If your opponents notice it at all, they dismiss it as a little toy. That's when you blast them. This little and eminently affordable Super Soaker packs an impressive punch: it can shoot water up to 33 feet, enabling you to soak your target from a good distance. The combination of long range and the element of surprise means you can usually shoot and get away again before the other person has even had time to react.

The downside to a small, stealthy super soaker is capacity: this little pistol can only hold about 10 fluid ounces, which is just short of 300ml. On the upside the filling hole on the reservoir is nice and wide so you can refill it with a quick dunk into a bucket of water or a few seconds under a running tap. 

Super Soaker XP100T3 Award

(Image credit: Future)

6. Super Soaker XP100

The classic Super Soaker reinvented

Specifications

Mechanism: Pump to fire
Capacity: 1.26 litres
Range: 10.6 metres

Reasons to buy

+
Glorious nostalgic design
+
Trigger-based spraying
+
Removable water bottle for easy refills

Reasons to avoid

-
More expensive than equivalents

Look familiar? The original Super Soaker is back, baby! In a slightly tweaked new form, but still with that all-important green removable bottle. This is also a water gun that doesn't just rely on pumping – you pump to prime it, and then pull the trigger to actually fire, which is more convenient than pumping alone.

It promises decent spraying power, and the capacity of 1.2l is good – plus it's not too large for most kids. There is a bit of a leak issue, but maybe you won't mind that – our full Super Soaker XP100 review explains it all.

Nerf Super Soaker DartFireT3 Award

7. Nerf Super Soaker DartFire

Fires water... and darts, too!

Specifications

Mechanism: Pump to fire, dart trigger
Capacity: 1.1 litres, 5 darts
Range: 11.5 metres

Reasons to buy

+
Can fire 5 Nerf darts
+
11.5-metre range
+
Easy to switch modes

Reasons to avoid

-
1.1 litre capacity

If soaking your opponent isn't enough for you, then you should consider the Super Soaker DartFire, which not only can fire jets of water at your foes but Nerf darts, too. You don't get a lot of darts to fire (just 5 in fact), however you can switch modes on the fly and once your opponent is thoroughly wet through, you can finish them off with a foamy coup de grâce.

Water Pistols for Kids in a 2 pack on a white backgroundT3 Approved badge

(Image credit: Ancesfun)

8. Super Squirt Guns Water Soaker, 2 Pack

Double H2O trouble

Specifications

Mechanism: Pump to fire
Capacity: 750 ml
Range: 10 metres

Reasons to buy

+
2 water pistols included
+
Futuristic design
+
Quick to refill

Reasons to avoid

-
Capacity isn't massive

Some good value here for those who are buying for multiple kids. The Super Squirt Guns Water Soaker 2 Pack delivers two H2O cannons that can fire 10 metres. The water guns are fed by bottle-shaped reservoirs, that can be quickly filled at a tap and then slotted in the back of the blaster. The reservoir isn't the biggest on the market but still a quite sizeable 750ml, meaning you'll be able to get some serious drenching in before needing to refill.

SPYRA water gun

(Image credit: SPYRA)

9. SpyraTwo

The world's most powerful water gun

Specifications

Mechanism: Battery powered
Capacity: 100 shots
Range: 50 feet

Reasons to buy

+
Can shoot up to 50 feet
+
Battery powered firing mechanism
+
Smart, 10-second recharge

Reasons to avoid

-
Expensive
-
Arguably too good for kids

If you're more of a big kid and want, officially, the world's most powerful water gun then you need to buy a SpyraTwo.

This water blaster comes in two colourways, blue and red, and features a state-of-the-art battery powered firing mechanism and maximum range of 50 feet. This means all you have to do is pull the trigger to send a stream of water flying out of the gun.

And, what's even better is that per water charge the SpyraTwo can fire 100 water rounds before needing a recharge.

But then, when you do need to recharge, you can do it in just 10 seconds thanks to this water gun coming with an ingenious and super-fast recharging system.

This is a seriously next-level water gun.

Best water gun: bonus water balloons!

Bunch o BalloonsT3 Approved badge

Bunch o Balloons

Take down the heat and overwhelm the enemy

Specifications

Mechanism: Your arm
Capacity: As much water as you can fill them with
Range: As far as you can throw

Reasons to buy

+
Fills up over 100 balloons in a minute
+
Head-slappingly simple to use
+
Good amount of packs in initial purchase

Reasons to avoid

-
Your opponents will certainly stock up on them next time

If you’ve attempted filling regular balloons with water in the past then you’re already halfway to hitting the buy button. Whilst the satisfaction of hearing the drop of a normal latex water filled sphere is satisfying enough, the process of loading it is tedious. Step up Bunch o Balloons, three bunches in each pack, complete with attachment for hose attaching. Just turn on the tap and watch them fill up, get all 105 done in under a minute. This replenishing speed means you can now rely on them as part of your strategic water warfare arsenal. Time to darken the skies and rain down on your recipients with your H20-infused spheres of watery doom.

How we test water guns

T3 tests water guns by buying them from retailers, filling them with water, and then shooting our friends and family with jets of H2O.

During testing we rate Super Soakers and other water-spewing weaponry on build quality, water capacity, features and range, which we feel are the most important elements to a good water gun.

We're looking especially to see if manufacturer claims prove accurate in the real world, so if a product is advertised on its ability to fire water jets far, but in reality they go just a few meters, we'll tell you.

Each year during the summer T3 also has a big water gun battle royale, where the team lock and load before engaging in watery combat.

Robert Jones

Rob has been writing about computing, gaming, mobile, home entertainment technology, toys (specifically Lego and board games), smart home and more for over 15 years. As the editor of PC Gamer, and former Deputy Editor for T3.com, you can find Rob's work in magazines, bookazines and online, as well as on podcasts and videos, too. Outside of his work Rob is passionate about motorbikes, skiing/snowboarding and team sports, with football and cricket his two favourites. 

With contributions from