With some air coolers, there’s a risk of adding to the room’s humidity, which can be a problem if it already suffers from excess humidity. Plus, where water tanks are open inside the cooler, there’s also a risk of spillage – which can be a worry if you’re using a desktop model plugged into your laptop or PC. Oscillation Mode - The unit oscillates left/right at a 90 degree angle, spreading cool air further. Display / Controls - The appliance has a digital display and intuitive soft touch controls for ease of use. It also comes with a remote control that allows for use from the comfort of your sofa or from across the room. We also like the fact that you can clean the filter under the tap or in the dishwasher, and that the illuminated side panels can be set to glow with a choice of seven colours if you fancy a little mood lighting. While it could be easier to remove the filter and get the water tanks in and out of place, for sheer value and convenience, this cut-price compact cooler is a winner.

The front is home to a substantial grille, but look closer and it’s apparent that air only exits from an area to the left. It’s an odd quirk, but unlikely to be an issue in practice. Below this, a cutaway shows the tank’s water level at a glance. Timer - A 7.5 hour timer lets you time how long you want the unit to run for. When the timer reaches zero, the appliance will automatically switch off. Three Fan Speeds - Three fan speeds give you control over the effectiveness and noise output of the appliance. As the name suggests, it also has basic smart features. With the cooler connected to your Wi-Fi network, you can control it from your smartphone or even an Alexa or Google Assistant speaker, although the voice commands don’t cover much more than switching modes or turning the unit on and off.On the top panel you’ll find some very basic, push-button controls. There’s one button to toggle the cooling on and off, and another to swing the vertical louvres – and hence the airflow – left and right. Four smaller buttons set the fan to one of three speeds, or turn it off altogether. Portable Design - The appliance is lightweight, compact and has four easy-roll castor wheels. You're therefore able to move the unit easily from room to room. It’s hard to give a definitive verdict on such a unit’s cooling performance, since much depends on the humidity of the environment in which you’re using it. I tested it in a room with an ambient temperature of 22.9℃ and a higher-than-ideal humidity of around 60-63%. I recorded a minimum output temperature of 21.4℃ at 15cm, a drop of only 1.5℃. Portability - The unit is designed with portability in mind. It has four easy-roll castor wheels for mobility purposes. This, together with its compact and lightweight design allows it to be moved around from room to room.

While some of the water is recirculated through the system, some will inevitably leave the cooler in the air blown out by the fan. Because of this – and the fact that the water in the absorbent pad or membrane can grow stale – you need to keep the air cooler filled and change the water in the tank daily. You should also wash the pad or membrane occasionally or you might get some pretty nasty smells. Is there anything worth looking out for? This cheap cube desktop cooler doesn’t have a lot of bells and whistles, but it’s a good way to chill your fevered brow while you’re plugging away at your desk. Its two removable 300ml tanks mean it doesn’t constantly need refilling, and you can freeze them if you want some extra cooling. The three-speed fan gives you options from subtle breeze to full-on gusting, and on the lowest setting it’s quiet enough that it won’t disturb you while you work. As far as features go, the Honeywell keeps things simple. One dial switches between off and the three fan settings, while the other selects cooling, oscillation or cooling and oscillation. What matters more is that it dishes out a consistently good, cooling airflow, with the louvres shifting side to side to spread it over a wider area. You’ll still need to clean the honeycomb cooling membrane regularly to avoid unpleasant smells, but if you’re keener on keeping cool than faffing around with modes and features, this is the air cooler to buy.If you have your heart set on a particular brand or even a selection of brands then we’d suggest you spend a bit of time writing up a list of the brands that you would happily buy. This can really help you in narrowing down the selection when it comes to choosing a product. For example, over at Currys PC World you can filter products by brand, so you could filter just to show the brands on your list. This is especially useful knowing that there are 41 Heating and cooling to choose from at Currys PC World.

The overall quality of any product is important, but it’s especially important when you’re considering Heating and cooling. You’re making an important investment in this product so you want to be sure that it’s going to be durable and serve its purpose for a decent length of time.

Turn the speed up to full and you’ll need to raise your voice slightly to hold a conversation. I measured the noise at 56dB from 15cm, rising to 59dB from 1 metre. Again, from the side my noise measurements were lower, at 52.5dB and 48.8dB. At this speed power consumption rose to 63W. This is a medium-sized air cooler, designed to lower the temperature in a small room. It has a far more powerful fan than personal coolers such as the HoMedics MyChill Plus and, in theory, offers stronger cooling performance, too. The next step in the price analysis was to look at the average price you would typically expect to pay for Heating and cooling and as Currys PC World was selected for this review we’ve used them for gathering our information on the average price of Heating and cooling.