Blueair’s brand new handheld fan is a super quiet solution for on-the-go cooling, with a quirky design for table top use too
I love a portable fan for on-the-go-cooling, and this Blueair version is the quietest I’ve tried
Stylish, simple to operate and super-quiet, there's a lot to love about the Blueair AlwaysCool Portable Handheld Fan. It's lightweight and comes with a handy wrist strap that means it's easy and secure to take on the go. If you want to use it at home, you can tilt the head and lay it down to use it hand-free. While it understandably gets louder as you work up the speed settings, it's quieter than other handheld fans I've tested. But for that reduced noise level, it's not quite as powerful as some pricier competitors. And while it has 100 speed settings, I didn't notice a lot of difference between many of them.
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Pleasingly quiet
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Really easy to use
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Lightweight
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Tiltable fan head
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Long battery life
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Bulkier than other handheld fans
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Not a lot of variation between wind speeds
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Struggled to read the display outdoors
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As we head into yet another heatwave, I'm all about keeping cool wherever I go. And with many of the best fans on the market sold out after unprecedented demand earlier in the summer, it's a relief when new products are released just as we need them.
Blueair, known for it's air purification products, has just launched its first portable handheld fan, and I've been lucky enough to test it out in and around my own home over the last few (very warm) days.
This is how I found using it and whether I think it's worth your money.
In a nutshell
Blueair is the name behind some of the best air purifiers we've tested here at Ideal Home, so I definitely had high expectations when it came to their brand-new portable handheld fan offering.
The AlwaysCool Portable Handheld Fan is lightweight, super quiet (thanks to AeroSilent™ Technology) and boasts 100 speed settings, while also offering a substantial battery life of up to 32 hours. It's available in two Scandi-inspired shades, Cloud Linen (and off-white) and Night Charcoal (a deep grey).
Price-wise, it sits in the mid-range for portable handheld fans at £59.99.
Easy to use, effective and quiet, there's a lot going for this portable handheld fan. It also looks good and has a tiltable head so you can rest it on a desk and use it hands-free.
As well as being Ideal Home's Renovation Editor, I also look after all of the website's heating and cooling content, which means I'm well versed in what it takes to keep your home a comfortable temperature year round and how you can do that in the most energy efficient way possible. I tested the Blueair AlwaysCool Portable Handheld fan in and around my 1970s three-bed home and garden, as well as out and about, for a week. Find out more about how we test fans.
Specification
- Type of fan: Hand-held (but adaptable to desktop)
- RRP: £59.99
- Weight: 0.26kgs
- Dimensions (W x H x D): 6.5cm x 18cm x 6cm
- Wattage: not provided
- Wind speed (metres/second): 1.6-3.8m/s
- Running costs per hour (based on energy price cap at the time of writing): n/a
- Number of fan speed settings: 100
- Noise in dB: 40-63dB
- Smart features: None
- Dual functionality: None
- Oscillation: None
Unboxing, setting up and first impressions
The Blueair AlwaysCool Portable Handheld Fan comes in compact and fully recyclable packaging. In the box you get the fan itself (which has a wrist strap already attached), the charging cable as well as an instruction and safety manual.
Although it's ready to go straight out of the box, it does say to charge it fully before the first use. So I plugged it in, and it took about three hours to go from 27% battery to 100%. While it was charging I got a good look at the design, and I can definitely see the Scandinavian influence. It's minimal, with a matte off-white finish and subtle branding embossed on the handle and wrist strap.
There's a display screen in the middle of the fan head, which shows both a battery indicator ring, as well as numerical battery percentage and wind speed (you have to toggle between the two rather than having the battery percentage and wind speed displayed at the same time).
Instead of standing the fan vertically (which isn't possible due to a slightly curved base), the AlwaysCool is designed to lie horizontally. In this position, you can tilt the fan head forwards, which allows you to use it as a desk fan when you're not on the move.
In terms of operation, there is an on/off button on the back, and a dial on the front that allows you to cycle both up and down through the 100 wind speeds.
What's it like to use?
When you press and hold the button on the back, the fan turns on with a default wind speed setting of 50, which gives off a nice breeze. The thing that struck me first was how quiet it was. I clocked it at 52dB at this speed, which is the equivalent of gentle background noise.
While the proximity of the fan to my face meant it was audible, it was quiet enough that I could have a conversation or watch TV without being too distracted. Out and about, I could barely hear it.
Despite being named the AlwaysCool, it doesn't actually offer any cooling, as say a portable air conditioner would. But the airflow does feel nice and refreshing on the skin, although on a really hot day where, like all fans, it's just blowing warm air at you, it might not have the same impact.
Dropping down to the lowest wind speed, my decibel meter app measured a reading of just 40dB, which is similar to the sound my fridge makes, which is very quiet indeed. It still gives decent airflow, even on setting 1. Using my anemometer (which measures wind speed), I measured 1.6 metres per second, which is gentle but still noticeable. It felt very pleasant on the skin, and could still be felt, even from a full arm's length away.
At the top end, in speed 100, I measured a wind speed of 3.8m/s (which is noticeably more powerful) and a noise level of 63dB, which is the equivalent of a chat with friends. At this noise level, you'd have to turn the TV up, but I found I could still hold a conversation without feeling overstimulated by the sound.
Noise-wise, it's very quiet up to about speed 30, when it gets louder, then the noise level kicks up again when you get to about speed 75. While there are 100 speed settings, which is very impressive in terms of being able to customise the fan speed to your exact comfort levels, I didn't notice much difference between many of the speeds.
For example, on speed 10, my anemometer measured a wind speed of 2m/s, with no change until I got to speed 20, which was 2.1m/s. All in all, realistically, you have about 20 noticeably different speed settings which is nothing to sniff at.
I really liked being able to use the dial on the front of the fan to be able to cycle both up and down through the wind speeds, as having to cycle up through all of them just to get to a lower level speed setting would be incredibly frustrating.
When I first turn the fan on, it shows me the battery percentage, before showing me the selected wind speed (with a little fan symbol next to it). I like that there is an ever present battery indicator ring around the wind speed, it's handy to be able to press the power button to get the battery percentage to flash up on the screen. With a handheld model, I don't feel like I need anything more than this, so it's ideal.
The only problem is when I'm using it outside, I really struggle to see the screen, so I tend to go with what feels best rather than aiming for a particular speed setting. From a battery point of view, it would be useful if there was a another small indicator light elsewhere on the body of the fan, so that if used in bright sunlight, you can still have a bit of a heads up if the battery is getting low.
When I'm indoors, though, it's light enough to move around the house with me, and especially into spaces where I don't tend to put a fan, like the bathroom or kitchen. While it's been so hot, I've been using the AlwaysCool while prepping food in the kitchen, tilting the head forwards and laying it on it's back so that I can feel the benefit while having my hands-free to chop and assemble.
I've used it on my desk too, and love that it doesn't take up too much space, or feel like it's drying my skin or eyes out while I work.
When I am using it as a handheld fan, it feels nice to hold, isn't too heavy and I appreciate the wrist strap for added security. It would be possible to replace the wrist strap with a lanyard if you wanted. I'd find this very useful when I was out with my dog and needed to be hands-free to do my dog mum duties with my hands free. But right now, I have to pop it back in my bag, which isn't the end of the world.
When I'm out and about, I usually have a decent sized cross body bag which fits the AlwaysCool easily, and so far, I haven't found that anything in my bag inadvertently turns the fan on while I'm carrying it about. However, if I had a much smaller bag, the dimensions of the fan head might make it slightly harder to transport. Those dimensions also mean this isn't necessarily pocket-friendly, either.
In addition to it's quietness, the AlwaysCool is very impressive in terms of battery life. When used on the lowest setting, you'll get a whopping 32 hours of use out of a single charge, although this will understandably decrease if you choose a higher power setting.
Running costs
As the AlwaysCool Portable Handheld Fan runs off a battery, it doesn't cost anything to run. However, the battery will need to be recharged, which takes about three hours, the cost of which will depend on how much you pay for your electricity.
Cleaning and maintenance
As with most handheld fans, there's thankfully not much needed in terms of cleaning and maintenance. It's a good idea to prevent them from getting wet or dusty so they stay in good working order, and that's about it.
It's a good idea to hold on to the box so that you can store it safely over the colder months when you're not likely to need it.
Who should buy this fan?
If you want a handheld fan that looks good, is both simple and quiet to use, and doesn't cost a fortune, then the Blueair AlwaysCool Portable Handheld Fan will be for you.
However, if you have a bit more to spend and want powerful wind speeds, then the Dyson HushJet Mini Cool fan will be more suitable. It's the most powerful handheld fan I've ever used, with a top speed that will knock your socks off. However, that speed means it's not as quiet as the AlwaysCool.
The Shark ChillPill is another alternative worth considering. It offers stronger wind speeds than the AlwaysCool, and is a bit louder as a result, but it doesn't reach the speeds of the Dyson HushJet Mini Cool. Where the ChillPill stands apart is the added functionality, which warrants the higher price. It has three different heads which means you can use it as a fan, a misting fan or a direct contact cooling plate, all in a single handheld device.
At the other end of the price spectrum, John Lewis has a similar-looking fan for £20, although I've not had a chance to test this one yet, so I can't say for sure how they compare on noise level and wind speed.