Dyson launched its first portable handheld fan, the HushJet Mini Cool, on April 9, and it sold out almost immediately. The company built a waitlist of more than 20,000 people, and unlike a lot of product drops that manufacture scarcity for marketing purposes, Dyson isn't a company that usually plays that game. The demand is real.
The HushJet is an impressive piece of engineering on paper. It weighs 7.5 ounces, pushes air up to 55 mph in Boost mode using a 65,000-RPM brushless motor, and runs for six hours on its lowest speed. It comes with a lanyard and a charging stand, and you can use it handheld, on a desk, or worn around your neck. Dyson's pitch is that its HushJet nozzle produces powerful airflow without the high-pitched whine that most small fans make, and the company rates it at 72.5 dBA in Boost mode – loud, but tonally smoother than the competition. I'll let you know when I get my review sample.
If you got shut out from picking one up, Dyson says restock is coming soon. In the meantime, you have options – and depending on what you actually need a portable fan to do, some of them might serve you better than the $99 Dyson would have. Here's what you can buy today.
If you want more than a fan: SharkNinja ChillPill
The ChillPill ($149.99) costs $50 more than the Dyson, but it does things the Dyson can't. Alongside a ten-speed bladeless fan that pushes air at up to 25 feet per second, it has a cryo-cooling plate that presses directly against your skin, and a dry-touch mist that adds evaporative cooling without soaking your face.
I tested the ChillPill, and the cooling plate is the standout feature. On my skin, it dropped surface temperature by about 14 degrees within a few minutes. The plate runs in eight-minute cycles, which is enough for a meaningful cool-down without murdering the battery. The fan is genuinely strong for something this small, and the styling looks more like opera glasses than a gadget.
There are limits. The mist reservoir only lasts about four minutes in continuous mode, and the intermittent mist setting, designed to stretch runtime, didn't feel like it was doing much cooling in my testing. The battery indicator is also vague — you get a rough idea of remaining charge, not a percentage. But if you want cooling that works even in the hottest temps, the ChillPill is the only fan on this list that can actually lower your skin temperature on contact. Read my full ChillPill review.
If you want the closest match to the Dyson: JisuLife Handheld Fan Pro
The JisuLife Handheld Fan Pro ($69.99) is a similarly-specced alternative to the Dyson at a lower price. It has a metal body, a 15,000-RPM motor, a 100-level speed dial with a digital display, and an 18W fast charge that fills the 5,000 mAh battery in about 90 minutes. JisuLife claims up to 15 hours of runtime on the lowest speed, which is more than double the Dyson's.
I haven't tested this model personally, so I'm going on what the company says and what buyers report. The product holds 4.7 stars on Amazon across a large number of reviews, which is a reasonable signal that it performs well for most people. It's not going to match Dyson's engineering or acoustic tuning, and the max airflow is around 9 meters per second versus the Dyson's 25. But at $70 with similar physical heft and a premium finish, it's a credible stand-in for someone who wanted the Dyson primarily for its all-day battery and was willing to pay for quality.
If you just want a fan: Aecooly Aero Ultra
At $30, the Aecooly is one-third the price of the Dyson and a fair bit less than the JisuLife. It claims a 19,000-RPM turbine motor, wind speeds up to 11 meters per second, seven speed levels across two modes, and an aluminum alloy body. It has 4.4 stars on Amazon, which is decent but a step below the JisuLife's reliability signal. Again, I haven't tested this one.
Honestly, what you're paying for is a good fan, not a premium one. If you want something to throw in a beach bag or keep at your desk for the occasional hot afternoon, $30 is a hard price to beat.
[Image credit: Dyson, Techlicious, JisuLife, Aecooly]
