Don’t let social media convince you that beating the heat requires a $99.99 Dyson HushJet Mini Cool or a $149.99 Shark ChillPill. Once you step away from air-conditioning, there are far cheaper ways to stay comfortable. For my family, the summer essentials have been a pair of budget-friendly handheld fans from JisuLife, a Chinese brand that has spent roughly a decade refining small personal cooling gadgets. They have handled muggy baseball games, packed outdoor concerts, and sweat-soaked hikes without drama.
Early in the season, I grabbed two JisuLife Life10 S fans on impulse at Costco for CDN $25 apiece. They’re also available through Amazon for $32.99, placing them near the entry-level end of JisuLife’s broad product range. The company sells more advanced models that approach $100 and add perks such as reverse charging for phones and up to 100 speed settings. Those extras are tempting, but my priority was simple: avoid spending hundreds of dollars on personal fans that might be lost, dropped, or crushed in the routine chaos of summer outings.
The Life10 S is not trying to be fancy, and that is part of its appeal. A rear sliding switch keeps it from turning on while it’s getting tossed around in a bag, while a single front button moves through five fan speeds. A small LCD screen displays the remaining battery level when the fan powers up, along with the current speed setting. It is basic, yes, but it is also intuitive, relatively quiet, and capable of running far longer than its price might suggest.
When Dyson unveiled its first handheld fan in April, I expected the company best known for moving air to deliver the personal cooling device to beat. My spouse is a devoted fan of their Dyson hair dryer, and I assumed the HushJet Mini Cool would become my go-to tool for surviving hot, sticky days outside, even at $99. But after using both Dyson’s compact fan and JisuLife’s $25 alternative, the cheaper fan is the one I consistently take when I know I’ll be away from AC.
To be clear, Dyson’s HushJet Mini Cool is beautifully engineered and visually striking. At its top setting, it pushes noticeably more air than the JisuLife Life10 S running at full blast. The problem is the sound. Even on its lowest setting, the HushJet is loud and produces a high-pitched whine that recalls Dyson’s vacuums. That tone is fine in brief bursts while cleaning the floor, but it becomes much harder to accept from a tiny fan meant to run near your face and ears. The JisuLife model is not silent at maximum power, but its lower-frequency sound is far easier to live with for long stretches.
What impresses me more about the JisuLife fan is how long its 5,000mAh battery keeps it running. At half power, which we find is strong enough to cool us down on even the hottest days, the fan ran for just over 16 hours before needing a charge. That’s far longer than my son lasted at the water park. For comparison, Dyson estimates the HushJet Mini Cool will run for up to six hours at its lowest setting, and at full power, I had it die after just over an hour.
I haven’t tested the even pricier Shark ChillPill that combines a fan with a metal cooling plate the company claims can lower skin temperature by up to 16 degrees Fahrenheit in seconds. You can cool down by pressing it all over your body, but it only cools for as long as the fan has power. SharkNinja estimates the ChillPill will run for up to 11 hours at its lowest setting, or just an hour-and-a-half at max power. That approach could be very effective, but I’m not spending $150 to find out.
I’ve also tested the wearable neck fans that seem to be very popular among the cashiers at my local Costco, but I didn’t find them to be as effective as I’d hoped. The breeze is spread out across the length of the fan and doesn’t feel as intense as a handheld fan, and wearing it positions the motor right below your ear at all times, so it’s a constant drone. I see why they’re useful, but it’s not an experience anyone in my family enjoyed.
After a successful summer with these fans, I’m already keeping an eye out for sales on other JisuLife models, including a hands-free version you wear hanging from your neck. But I’m also expecting these cheaper alternatives will continue to be the first thing we pack when heading out on adventures for the rest of the summer and probably for years to come.
Photography by Andrew Liszewski / The Verge
