Air conditioners and smart fans are obvious ways to stay cool during a summer heatwave, but you can’t take them with you when you walk out the door (unless…?). Once you’re outside in the cruel, hot world you’re at the mercy of whatever establishment whose doorframe you darken. If their A/C sucks or they don’t have it at all, you’re in for an unpleasant time.
Or you could just drop a handheld fan in your pocket, purse, or backpack before you head out the door. During New York’s crushing heatwave this past week, when I found myself in an under-air-conditioned bar where they were showing the Argentina–Egypt game, it was only thanks to a friend’s handheld fan that I didn’t melt into a big, disgusting, corpseified mass. You can snag one of the fanciest handheld fans, the Shark ChillPill, on a sale right now for $100, down from $130.
take a chillpill
The ChillPill has a few things cheaper handheld fans don’t have. For one, you can fill it so that it’ll blow a fine mist on you for up to 10 minutes. It’s a small device, so it doesn’t hold a ton of mist, but it’s good for short bursts every so often; that way you can stretch out its use for a while.
Its fan blows at 25 feet per second, which is a common speed I see regularly on most handheld fans. You can choose from 10 speeds and 10 noise levels on the screen. If you choose the lowest speed you’ll get 11 hours of use from the fan, but cranked to high it’ll last for 1.5 hours. Choose wisely. There are cheaper handheld fans out there, but most don’t come with the misting ability or the wide variety of settings.
other handheld fans worth looking at
I saw not one but two Warmco 5000mAh Portable Handheld Fans in that stifling hot bar. One of them was owned by my friend. At $25 it’s far more affordable than the Shark ChillPill, although it doesn’t mist. As my friend wisely pointed out, if it cools you then why is it called Warmco and not CoolCo? It’d sound, well, cooler.
The Warmco 10000mAh Turbo Portable Handheld Fan is the same as the Warmco shown above, but its built-in battery has twice the capacity and only costs $5 more. You can use its 5000mAh battery to charge your phone, if you have a USB-C cable. It is bulkier and heavier, though.
At $70 the Jisulife Handheld Fan Pro1S splits the price difference between the Warmcos and the Shark ChillPill. It doesn’t have the misting that the ChillPill has, but it comes with a sleeker design than the cheaper Warmco.