Top 5 Best Small Portable ACs in US - Personal Mini Cooler Reviews 2021

May 16th Updated, Paul Jones
May 16th Updated, Paul Jones

Paul is our expert product reviewer & editor at Smarter Choice. When he's not in the gym, he's probably binge watching Netflix together with his lovely wife and his cat Minka.

Traditional Air Conditioners are outdated. They are expensive, noisy, dangerous to clean and cost a fortune in electricity. AND you can’t move them around the house.

So, what about fans? They are cheaper, sure, but they only blow the air around. What if the air is hot? It will just make you feel worse.

Small portable air conditioners are a popular way to stay cool indoors when the weather turns warm. They can be less expensive than central air conditioners, more practical than swamp coolers, and easier to install than window AC units and mini-split systems. They’re also far more portable than other solutions.

Our team spent 24 days testing over 11 popular portable air conditioners available on the market. We found that A much cheaper alternative by Blast Auxiliary is outperforming both traditional air conditioners and fans from other big brands.

Scroll down to see the top 5 mini AC units, followed by our review of the winner.

9.8

5/5

"Most effective device"

2948 Reviews

evaSMART Personal Air Cooler

9.0

3.8/5

" Great, but not budget friendly"

2393 Reviews

Polar Mini Rechargeable Portable AC

8.2

3.8/5

"Quite Good"

2567 Reviews

Blast Wearable Neck AC

9.5

3.8/5

" Good Price For Value"

2185 Reviews

We Bought and Tested the Most Popular Air Coolers in the Market

After a thorough comparison between the best portable air conditioners, Blast Portable AC represents the best value for money on our list. Not only does it cool the temperature down in seconds, it cleans the air of common allergens and dust particles. It is truly portable and the fact that it can operate without being plugged in means you don’t have to lug cables around everywhere you go. It scored the highest in our energy smart tests and is significantly quiter than other devices. All that for under $100 makes the Blast Portable AC a MUST for anyone looking for constant fresh and cool air in the middle of the summer.

Why is Blast Portable AC (Gen 2) our #1 Pick in 2021?

It passed every test with flying colors, including the most important one – keeping our homes cool for an affordable price.

Under controlled testing, Blast Auxiliary Portable AC rapidly reduces the sweltering heat in rooms down to cool and comfortable conditions. It cooled a sweaty 95 degree room down to a fresh 70 degrees in just 6 minutes!

This was no box room either, although it will be perfect for that. We ran our test in a 350sqft living room, so that level of cooling was much more than we expected.

For results like that, you’d think it would be burning through the electricity at a rapid pace – but surprisingly, it was the exact opposite. Blast Auxiliary AC is the most energy efficient portable air conditioner we tested, making it incredibly cheap to run.

With an air conditioner this good, you may actually worry about rooms becoming TOO cool, but thankfully Blast Portable AC has multiple settings to suit any room size or temperature preference. It was so easy to get the desired temperature we felt comfortable at.

Portability is another area where Blast Auxiliary scores top marks. It’s so small you can easily place it in rooms of all sizes. It would be perfect to give to a child moving into a new apartment or dorm room, as it’s so light and easy to transport. And because it’s powered by USB, it will work practically anywhere. You could attach a mobile power bank and take it on camping trips!

Personal Air Cooler Vs Air Conditioner

A personal air cooler or “mini air conditioner” is actually an evaporative air cooler, a.k.a. a swamp cooler, which pulls the warm air from your room and runs it through the cool water it has in its tank. That’s how it manages to decrease the overall heat in the room. Mini evaporative air coolers are a more affordable option, but aren’t optimal for humid spaces.

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