The Best Neck Fan We Tried Looks Like Something Out of a Sci-Fi Movie

This fan blows air so intensely that, after wearing it for about an hour and then taking it off, my cheeks felt slightly numb. It wasn’t that my cheeks were cold; the blast really felt that strong. The Torras Coolify isn’t interested in a tepid breeze. It wants to launch hurricane-force winds at your face. Coupled with the slight air-conditioned chill that this neck fan produces and presses to the back of your neck—akin to, say, a damp rag but less wet—this neck fan could be a contender for those bound for Disney World (unless, of course, the heat index is higher than 99° F. More about when you should not use neck fans later. Please be safe!).

It cools with a fan that blows air up and down. It also has an air conditioning function that uses thermoelectric technology (often found in portable fridges, wine coolers, and small air conditioners) to cool a pad that presses against the back of the neck. This AC function is more cool than cold and has nothing on holding a cold can of soda to your skin.

But it does produce a moderate cooling effect, especially because it’s combined with the fan. It’s also flexible in width, a critical quality that I wasn’t able to adjust with either of the other neck fans. This makes it a more comfortable and useful cooling experience because one can elect to direct the air at the sides of the face rather than straight past the ears or directly into the eyes. Interestingly, the Coolify also comes with a heating function, though it was tested in an extremely hot July, so I did not engage with this particular feature.

There are lots of caveats here, though. It is, perhaps unsurprisingly, loud, especially at higher settings. If you’re a white noise hater like I am, you may cool down, but the process will be unpleasant. The settings are difficult and completely unintuitive, and the instructions that come with this fan (and all the others, frankly) are so sparse as to be nearly useless. With each setting change, the device emits a loud beep. And the device is long—its adjustability doesn’t extend to length, unfortunately—and, while baby-wearing, this made it difficult for my baby to rest his head on my chest. 

Subjective, yes, but it’s dorky-looking, with a wide center section where the air conditioning unit is. If worn with enough confidence, I think this is survivable. Sure, you might look like you stepped right out of “Star Wars.” So?

Despite the bravado I attempted to wield in my description and wearing of the Torras Coolify, science fiction is not my look. I (and, I imagine, many others) would be hesitant to don the Torras except in situations so hot and dire that the little neck AC and fan would offer only the paltriest of help. The Jisulife steps in with the aesthetic that the Coolify so desperately lacks. 

This fan resembles headphones, which have a long history of being casually slung around one’s neck without embarrassing the wearer. I got mine in a forest green colorway, but it also comes in black, midnight blue, cloud pink, and light gray. It emits a quiet hum at its lowest setting and a louder one at its highest, but this despiser of white noise found this one to have the gentlest and least obtrusive sound. The product itself feels substantial and solid, as if made from quality plastic, but isn’t so heavy as to feel uncomfortable resting on the collar bones.

Its cooling abilities, however, are more moderate than those of the dorkier Torras Coolify. It’s a fan only, and it’s not adjustable, so the cool air may hit your eyes instead of your jawline, depending on your face size and shape. When wearing it alone, the air was directed at the sides of my face (and occasionally, if the fan moved a bit, at my cheeks and eyes), but its length made baby-wearing a bit awkward, because my son bumped his face into it a couple of times (he was not harmed). 

But its cool factor (no pun intended? Or is it?), combined with its pretty good fan, means this is the product I’m most likely to reach for when taking my kid to day care or walking the dog. Others who are less concerned about aesthetics and noise should consider the Torras Coolify.

Despite running our air conditioner at a (in my opinion) bone-chilling 72° F from May until September, my husband gets hot while sitting at his desk. The rechargeable Panergy Handheld Misting Fan is an excellent solution to this problem, and I’ll be purchasing one for his desk imminently.

This little fan is 7 inches tall, about half of which is a blade fan and half of which is a handle. The fan can stand upright on a flat surface, or you can bend the handle and position the fan head at the desired angle. Atop the head is what looks like a plastic bonnet, which you can fill with water that the fan sprays out of its center in an ultra-fine (read: not wet) mist. Two buttons—one for the fan, one for mist—are on the handle, and are simple and easy to use, unlike those with the Torras Coolify, which continue to perplex me even after using it for several hours.

It’s a great solution to hot but stationary situations, like the apparent desert climate of my husband’s desk (to be fair, all those monitors and that gigantic PC generate a bit of heat). The mist is a nice additional cooling mechanism, and the fan comes with a small plastic bottle with a narrow tip to make filling the reservoir easier. I can also imagine stashing this fan in my bag when I know I’ll be hanging out somewhere warm, like on a sun-baked restaurant patio or in a friend’s backyard. 

But it’s not a neck fan, so it’s not as useful when on-the-go, like when I’m walking my dog or running around the house doing chores. The mist is not endless; I timed it, and it lasts 26 minutes before running out. The mist also makes a faint hissing noise, which may bother some users. Otherwise, the fan itself is relatively quiet. 

The Panergy neck fan comes in the same delightful shade of pink as its handheld fan (it also comes in white and black). This is where its notable accolades end. There’s little here that differs from the Jisulife, with one exception: the fan’s flexibility.

The Panergy has a pliable silicone back, allowing it to be nearly as wide or as narrow as desired. I wish it were flexible lengthwise, too—but none of the fans I’ve tried have been, so I don’t hold that against it. This fan is on the longer side, though, sitting a bit lower on my collarbones than the Jisulife and, to a lesser extent, the Coolify. And while it’s not flexible lengthwise, it can adjust up and down, so that you can lift one side of it up and closer to your cheek or ear (the other side has to remain resting against the collarbone; otherwise the product has nothing to support it). 

It is loud, however. I used this fan while on a walk with my toddler, and at the highest of its three settings, I had to strain somewhat to hear my baby’s babbles. I left it at its middle setting, which was sufficient for the near 90° F heat (with a perfectly acceptable 50 percent humidity), and at which I could hear my son without a struggle. At its lowest, the fan is adequate for a warm, under-air-conditioned room, and the noise is quiet enough that one can listen to music at a tolerable level (which, to my sensitive soul/ears, is pretty quiet). 

The flexibility here is a draw, as are its color options. But we bought this at its list price—$55—and I can’t say I notice an otherwise significant difference between this and the Jisulife beyond that. 

You get what you pay for, and that’s evident with the Arctic Air Freedom Personal Air Cooler. It works, but it’s loud even at the lowest of three settings, the plastic is lightweight and feels cheap, and it comes in only one color, white. The instructions promised that the fan comes partially charged, but I was disappointed to discover mine didn’t, and despite over an hour of charging, the fan battery died as I was sitting at a cafe on my way home from day care. It lasted for the duration of the walk—about 45 minutes there and part of the way back. Don’t make my mistake: Charge this fan completely before use. 

To its credit, the direction of the airflow on this fan is the best of any that I tried. It directed air up at my jawline and all the way around the back of the head. Despite the product listing’s “flexibility” claim, though, I couldn’t figure out how to actually do that.

But it works, so if you’re on a budget, this is a decent option.