10 best portable air conditioners to keep you cool in the summer, tried and tested

It’s not often we get excited about boxy-looking portable air conditioners, but we knew Meaco’s all-new pro series portable air conditioner was going to be a summer hero the second we took it out of its packaging.

The pro version of the MeacoCool MC series 8000 (our previous best buy) is an absolute dream. Just like the older model, it’s easy to shift from room to room, it’s (relatively) unobtrusive and it’s small enough to store away during the winter when it’s not in use. More than that, it brings on board our most requested feature – wifi support via Meaco’s new app.

While the app definitely still needs some work, we loved that we could quickly and easily pre-cool our room before arriving home, meaning it was as chilly as a supermarket as soon as we walked in. We could even set the timer directly through the app. The most enjoyable thing was that when we were too far from the remote at night time, we could just turn on the app to toggle off the AC. Simple.

With its 8,000 BTU rating, it’s best for small to medium-sized rooms, so bedrooms and small living rooms (16-26 square metres). It was also smaller and lighter than many units we tested, weighing a mere 23.5kg and standing only 70cm tall. This meant we could easily wheel it around the house and drag it up the stairs. It also had one of the longest ducts of all the appliances, so we had a little more flexibility with where we positioned it.

Best of all, it comes with both a standard window kit and a flexible kit, which – rejoice! – works on any window and makes a huge difference in cooling. It has a 24-hour timer, sleep mode and remote control. Plus, it’s a lot quieter than the original model.

If you spend £20 more, you can upgrade to the Meaco 8000CH pro portable air conditioner (£379.99, Amazon.co.uk), which also has a reverse heat pump – that means you can use it as a heater in the winter months as well as an AC in the summer months.

Vonhaus’s 7,000 BTU portable air conditioner is a really affordable machine for what you get. While it’s a little basic, that doesn’t mean it’s a bad machine.

It has a pretty minimalist design and cooled our room quickly and efficiently. It was also quieter than most of the portable ACs we’ve tested, matching the Meaco series 8000. It has 7,000 BTUs, so is ideal for small to medium rooms, and the casters underneath made it easy to wheel around. We also liked that we could pick it up, using the handle, if we really wanted.

While it comes with a window venting kit, it’s only good for sliding and double windows, and the hose was actually a little too short for our high windows, so bear this in mind.

There are two fan-speed settings, and we were able to set timers and turn down the temperature with the included remote (though, it’s quite flimsy). We were particular fans of the automatic mode – a feature that only kicks the portable AC into gear when the temperature in our room exceeded 24C and switched to fan mode when it fell below 24C. Really neat.

It’s very hard to find a smart portable air conditioner for a cheap price. Air cons are pretty expensive already, and smart app controls make them even pricier. But Black+Decker has launched a series of air conditioners that are smart and controllable from your phone – and they’re not too costly.

One of our favourites is the Black+Decker 5000 BTU, a highly portable, lightweight model that looks sleek and modern in the home. Featuring curved edges and a black top with capacitive touch buttons, it’s a doddle to use. It’s not the most powerful air conditioner unit, but managed to cool down our small office room in about 45 minutes.

There are three modes – cooling, dehumidifying and a standalone fan mode – as well as a handy child lock button. The only downsides are it’s loud and pricey. Despite its size, it’s about as loud as the 9,000 BTU models we’ve tested.

It’s also good to note this air conditioner uses the Smart Life app instead of the Black+Decker app, so don’t mistakenly download the wrong one. Once you’re set up with the Smart Life app, it’s easy to turn the air conditioner on and off from outside the house; turn on sleep mode; and bump up the speed setting. It’s a small machine, but a mighty one, and it’s great to finally have a smart portable unit.

AEG’s comfort 6000 portable air conditioner isn’t a cheap machine by any means – it’s an eye-watering £580 – but it’s seriously powerful, sleek and modern. It’s controlled entirely using the app or with the soft capacitive buttons on the top of the machine. It’s big, and pretty darn heavy, but the casters made it easy to move around on our hard-wood floors.

Don’t be deceived by its name, either, the AEG comfort 6000 is a 12,000 BTU model, not a 6,000 one, so it cools large rooms in a pinch. It brought the temperature down in our medium-sized living room in just 15 minutes, giving us instant relief from the heat. While it’s a little louder (64dB) than other portable air conditioners on this list, we quickly got used to the roar of its engine. Pleasingly, the hose was long enough for our tall windows.

It’s a truly smart machine, thanks to the AEG app. We were able to set schedules so it came on in the afternoon, and adjust the target temperature, fan speed and the mode, from auto to cool to dehumidification. It also works with Google Assistant, and was a doddle to set up. A definite good buy – if you can afford it.

The Wood Milan 7K wifi air conditioner is a chunky bit of kit, so there’s no hiding it in any sized room. It is on wheels, so easy to move around, and a handy remote means you don’t have to move from the sofa to set the perfect temperature. It can even be connected to Alexa or Google Nest (or any other similar smart device), so you never have to step foot into a sweaty home again.

Like all of these ACs, the warm air is sucked out of the atmosphere and needs somewhere to go, so you will need a window to make this work effectively. An adjustable hose is included to help, alongside a window-sealing kit, should you wish to make it a more permanent addition. Or, if you’re set on sitting it in a windowless room, you can keep it cool while heating up another space. For example, our tester used the AC unit in the bedroom, leading the hose into the living room which then got even warmer.

Most importantly, it does get a room quite cold quite quickly, and will run almost all day. Although, if you use the dehumidifying feature, the unit will shut down if this is not emptied around every eight hours.

While it’s not the most powerful air conditioner in Pro Breeze’s arsenal, the 7,000 BTU AC has been a godsend in our loft bedroom, which gets notoriously toasty during the summer months. Normally, we suffer through summer with the windows open – a nightmare for our hayfever – and a fan but, now, we will be turning to this air conditioner time and again. It has four modes in one: a sleep mode, two fan speeds, a dehumidifier mode and, of course, a temperature-targeted cooling mode, which enables you to cool rooms down to as low as 16C. With a digital display on top of the unit and an included remote, you’ll be able to adjust the fan speed and mode without leaving your bed.

As well as the unit, inside the box, you’ll get an exhaust hose and two sealing kits – one for sliding windows, one for hinged. We used the latter on our window and, we’ll be honest, it wasn’t the most straightforward to set up. That said, when the Velcro had been applied to the right window frames (both inner and outer), it was easy enough to attach the seal and slip the hose through the zip.

Clunky setup aside, our only other complaint is how loud the machine is. Even on the lower fan speed, it’s still pretty noisy. When we used the high setting, it did somewhat swamp the noise coming from our telly. So, if you plan to have your AC on overnight, we’d definitely recommend using the sleep mode, which gradually reduces the fan speed and thus the noise levels – though not by much.

All in all, for less than £300, we think this is a pretty impressive unit. It is big and heavy – though, wheels do help with manoeuvrability on wood surfaces and a bit on carpet – but it cools down the room fast. Plus, and this is probably its biggest selling point, it also has a Class A energy efficiency rating – that’s pretty cool in itself.

Russell Hobbs’s do-it-all air conditioner not only fans and cools but boasts a dehumidifying function for preventing dampness when the weather cools – making this device a stellar year-round investment.

Complete with a remote control (batteries included), it features two speed settings in both the cool and fan mode, with the touch controls making it easy to switch between functions. In the cool mode, the room is both cooled and dehumidified (with the hose out the window). The fan mode is just as effective; there’s no oscillation function but air flow can be manually directed.

The exhaust hose is essential for the dehumidifier function, as it discharges excess moisture outside. Coming with a window kit, it was easier than it looked to attach the hose – plus the sealing kit means you can make it a more permanent fixture, by applying the Velcro tape on both the inside window frame and outside frame.

Our only gripe is it’s a little noisy, though the night mode option reduces the display’s brightness and noise for sleeping. It’s also worth noting how hefty the machine is (the wheels help with manoeuvrability), which is fine for larger spaces but may not be the ideal choice for a small room.

The MeacoCool MC 14000 is the second largest portable conditioner in British company Meaco’s armoury. With 14,000 BTUs, it can cool rooms between 25-35 square metres, and it made quick work of cooling down our living room, though this one doesn’t have wifi.

It’s a beast of a portable air conditioner, though, weighing a hefty 31.5kg and roaring like an aircraft engine. As a result, it’s difficult to cart around, but there are casters on the bottom, which helps. While it does look like a big clunking refrigerator, especially sitting in the corner of our room, it’s extremely powerful, cooling our room down by 6C in just 25 minutes. There are two other modes – a dry mode, for dehumidification, and a fan mode, if you want to use it like a fan, though we found this less useful, because it only swivels to a 90-degree angle, meaning we didn’t feel the breeze when we were sitting lower than the unit.

Despite costing significantly less than the De’Longhi Pinguino below and weighing roughly the same, it’s more efficient, with 14,000 BTUs. This is the air con unit you want in a heatwave. Popping into the room it’s in will feel like you’ve just stepped out of the desert and into the Arctic. There’s also a new R290 refrigerant inside, which Meaco says makes it more environmentally friendly.

Read our full MeacoCool MC 14000 review

The EcoFlow wave 2 was the unexpected star of the Consumer Electronics Show last year, and for good reason. When manufacturers say portable air conditioner, they don’t usually mean actually portable. EcoFlow does. The wave 2, with its eight-hour detachable battery (optional, but at an extra charge), is an absolute dreamboat for campers.

Best for tent camping and caravanning, the small and lightweight machine doesn’t merely cool down your tent, it doubles up as a heater, too, providing 6,100 BTUs of heating to your mobile home. Despite facing an uphill battle with the sun’s rays, it cooled down our caravan pretty fast. There are three modes – eco, sleeping and fast – and all can be controlled via the app, which additionally predicted how much hours of battery life we had on current use before it would run out. It lasted a while before needing another juice up, too.

It’s also surprisingly quiet, delivering a soft background hum that didn’t really disturb our sleep. The thing you’ll have to consider, though, is the price. This thing is not cheap, and will set you back more than a grand, and that’s without the battery pack. If you want to use it on the go, you’ll have to cough up even more for the extra battery unit or you’ll only be able to use it connected to the mains. However, for those frequently on the road, it’s a really good investment.

Air conditioning units are never going to be a thing of beauty but this De’Longhi model was by far the best-looking we tested – with a matte black surface, matching black remote, and glossy digital screen. It’s very easy to work with, so you can tweak the temperature or fan speed from the remote, or even program the timer without budging from the sofa. It lowered the temperature in our kitchen in no time, thanks to its high BTU rating, and because the hose was slimmer than other models, we didn’t need to open our windows quite as widely. It has a dehumidifier function, a timer and a useful light to indicate if conditions are uncomfortable, acceptable or optimal.

Best of all, it was much quieter than most units, albeit not quite silent, as the name suggests. It operates with a decibel range between 49 and 53 and we soon stopped really noticing it. It would be a great addition to a home office or child’s bedroom, though it can also cool much larger rooms of up to 110 metres cubed.