Two years ago I attended a picturesque outdoor wedding in August where the hot and humid weather had guests occasionally ducking into their cars to enjoy a blast of AC. Dyson\u2019s new $99.99 handheld fan would have provided some much-needed relief then, although I\u2019m not sure I would have been comfortable powering it up during the service or reception. The HushJet Mini Cool is as slim and sleek as Dyson\u2019s recent thin vacuum and hair dryer, but it\u2019s not quiet enough to earn the name \u201cHush.\u201d<\/p>\n
That\u2019s unfortunate because the HushJet Mini Cool is yet another product Dyson has redesigned to look and perform better than what\u2019s already on the market. All of its components \u2014 including the motor, 5,000mAh rechargeable battery, and spinning blades \u2014 are safely contained inside a cylindrical body 38mm in diameter that\u2019s easy to slip into a pocket. Many handheld fans use flexible or folding blades that are left exposed and not ideal for kids, or they stuff the moving parts into a bulbous section on top that limits pocketability.
\nDyson HushJet Mini Cool<\/p>\n
Where to Buy: $99.99 at Dyson $99.99 at Amazon $99.99 at Best Buy
\nAt 208 grams the HushJet Mini Cool is about the same weight as an iPhone 17 Pro, so it\u2019s not a terrible burden to schlep around when temperatures soar, and it\u2019s incredibly easy to use. A toggle switch turns the fan on and off, while a rocker button lets you step up and down through five different fan speeds indicated by a strip of five small white LEDs. There\u2019s also an even stronger Boost Mode that\u2019s only activated while you\u2019re holding down the \u201cplus\u201d side of that rocker button.<\/p>\n
The only learning curve was remembering to grip the fan above the vent that wraps around its base so as not to block the airflow. Some added texture on the outside of the HushJet Mini Cool to naturally guide where your hand should grip it would be welcome.<\/p>\n
Dyson claims up to six hours of battery life at the fan\u2019s lowest setting, but at its highest speed (not Boost Mode) it died after 62 minutes. I was still impressed, because I didn\u2019t expect the fan to last that long at full power. The remaining battery life is displayed using the fan\u2019s five white LEDs, but only when it\u2019s turned off. Being able to track how fast the battery level drops with the fan running would be a useful way to estimate how much cooling time you have left.<\/p>\n
The HushJet Mini Cool is bottom-heavy and can be used as a self-standing fan, and Dyson includes an accessory to widen the base and improve its stability. It helps, but it\u2019s also an accessory that\u2019s easy to lose. And while you can power the fan indefinitely by connecting it to a power source over USB-C, you\u2019re limited to the lowest speed setting. At that setting you\u2019ll need to stay within about 5 feet of the fan to feel anything.<\/p>\n
Dyson\u2019s marketing for the fan, including the HushJet branding, emphasizes how it\u2019s engineered to be quiet. \u201cDyson\u2019s obsession with acoustics means tonal comfort: with the HushJet nozzle, we\u2019ve lowered frequencies, eliminated high-pitched whirring, and silenced the sound of whining motors,\u201d the company said in a press release. But it was definitely not as quiet as I expected it to be.<\/p>\n
It doesn\u2019t get anywhere near as loud as Dyson\u2019s cordless vacuums or hair dryers, but the HushJet Mini Cool isn\u2019t whisper-quiet, even at its lowest setting. The handheld fan also has a similar high-pitched whine as those other Dyson devices, despite its tiny electric motor spinning at less than half the speed of theirs.<\/p>\n
For the past year my family has been using Nitecore\u2019s izzCool 10 Pro fan to beat the heat whenever AC isn\u2019t available. Its design makes it harder to slip into a pocket, and at full power its blast is nowhere near as strong as Dyson\u2019s \u2014 even at half power. While both fans were similarly loud at their lowest settings (measured using the NIOSH Sound Level Meter app on my iPhone), Dyson\u2019s was well over 10 decibels louder at full power. That\u2019s not surprising given Dyson\u2019s fan far outperforms Nitecore\u2019s, but the sound of the HushJet Mini Cool was generally far more noticeable, since it produced noise at higher frequencies.<\/p>\n
At a noisy outdoor music festival, crowded carnival, or bustling state fair I can see myself comfortably pushing the fan\u2019s speed to its third or fourth speed setting without worrying about getting too many annoyed looks. But in quieter settings, like that stifling-hot outdoor wedding I attended, I would be hesitant to fire up the HushJet Mini Cool. At least until the wedding DJ took over.<\/p>\n
Compact electric air dusters like the Wolfbox MF100 are stronger and cheaper than the HushJet Mini Cool, but they\u2019re typically much louder because they\u2019re designed to be pointed at keyboards covered in Doritos crumbs, while fans are designed to be pointed at your head. Dyson\u2019s HushJet Mini Cool is better at balancing size, performance, and battery life. If used nonstop it can last half a day at an amusement park. You can definitely find a quieter alternative, but I doubt you\u2019ll find a more powerful one this size.<\/p>\n
Photography by Andrew Liszewski \/ The Verge<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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