Dyson Hushjet Mini Cool review: Is this portable fan worth $100?

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It's so hot (it's the heat). I've already sweltered my way through two severe heatwaves so far this summer: first a record-breaking scorcher during a trip to London, then a good old-fashioned corn-sweater in my homeland of Chicago. What better time to be trying out the new Dyson HushJet Mini Cool?

Dyson launched its first-ever bladeless portable fan in April, positioning it as a more powerful and thoughtfully designed alternative to the trendy handheld fans sold for $10ish on Amazon, Shein, Temu, and TikTok Shop. It's not that cheap, as to be expected with a Dyson gadget, coming in at a crisp $99.99. Yet it's much less expensive than the $149.99 Shark ChillPill, another premium portable fan that beat it to the market by a month. (The Shark vs. Dyson rivalry abides.)

My colleague Samantha Mangino previously reviewed the ChillPill and really liked it, but ultimately decided it's not worth buying at full price. After months of testing, I've got a verdict for the HushJet Mini Cool.

It's super lightweight... and lampreian

The HushJet Mini Cool has a tubular body that hides a brushless DC motor. It funnels air from a cluster of small intake holes up through a starburst-shaped nozzle. There's a clear plastic shell around this nozzle and a honeycomb-shaped grill over the top. You can twist the plastic shell to point the nozzle upwards. Dyson throws in a lanyard so you can wear it around your neck, plus a stand and a velvet travel pouch.

On an aesthetic level, it's a little off-putting. A visit to London's Natural History Museum made me realize that the HushJet Mini Cool looks exactly like a beheaded sea lamprey. I've seen some folks accuse it of doing a Dune sandworm impression. Still others have deemed it "the Dyson butthole fan" and likened it to a sex toy. (The fleshy stone/blush colorway doesn't help its case there; I'd go for the ink/cobalt or carnelian/sky finishes instead.)

But there's actually a lot of merit to the HushJet Mini Cool's strange design. Without the bulk of blades and a wired guard, it fits easily in small bags and doesn't get caught on things. Plus, it only weighs 0.46 pounds, or just five ounces more than my iPhone 15 Pro. One day, I put it in my purse before leaving for errands and forgot it was there until hours later, when I reached for my wallet at a coffee shop. (It fits perfectly inside a one-liter belt bag, FWIW.)

I can also attest to the HushJet Mini Cool's durability. I pulled an "Australian guy unboxing his new iPhone 6" with my review unit, and the only evidence is a barely visible scuff on its nozzle's shell.

While its design is sleek and sturdy, it's not flawless. Holding the HushJet Mini Cool naturally means your palm inevitably covers a patch of its intake holes, blocking some airflow. Additionally, specks of dirt can get trapped between the nozzle and its shell, and they're very hard to clean out. A Q-tip is too big — you'll probably need an air compressor (or a second HushJet Mini Cool).

So anyway, I started blasting

The best thing about the HushJet Mini Cool is how powerful it is. There are five standard airflow speed settings to choose from, plus a Boost mode that you can enable by holding the top of its speed control button. Its lowest setting is relatively tame but still produces a nice, concentrated breeze if you hold it close to your skin. (This is the only setting you can use while it's charging, FYI.) At settings two and up, it gusts.

Dyson says the HushJet Mini Cool can hit airflow speeds of up to 80 feet per second, or 55mph. I didn't have an anemometer on hand to verify that, but I believe it. The upper speed settings cooled me off in seconds, and the Boost mode turned it into a handheld jet engine — you can still feel its blowing from five feet away. Dyson's engineers crammed an astounding amount of wind into this little guy.

The trade-off is that it's loud and annoying. The lowest speed setting produces a conspicuous motorized whir, while the stronger ones make a vrooming sound with a high-pitched tone, almost like a dog whistle. It sounds just like a vacuum or hair dryer. (Hey, Dyson should make those!) My colleague Leah Stodart thought Dyson's HushJet air purifier lived up to the "Hush" part of its name, but I can't say the same for this fan.

There was one particularly blistering day in London when I walked several blocks with the HushJet Mini Cool on the fifth setting. I might as well have been holding a sign that said "TOURIST!!!" in big red letters. Though its cooling relief was welcome, I felt bad for subjecting passersby to its racket.

Battery life is decent for how powerful it is

The HushJet Mini Cool has a 5,000 mAh battery capacity and charges via USB-C. In my testing, it lasted six hours and 29 minutes on the lowest speed setting — a hair longer than Dyson's advertised six hours — and at the highest (non-Boost) setting, it held out for 50 minutes. That's not bad when you consider how hard its motor works. It won't go all day, but it'll at least get you through the hottest part of an afternoon.

When the HushJet Mini Cool is running low on juice, you'll see a teeny-tiny red indicator light on the back of its base (right above the charging port). My review unit reached a full charge in about two and a half hours, which is slightly faster than Dyson's rated charging time of three hours.

The HushJet Mini Cool's compact design and super-strong airflow make a persuasive case for it, but I think most people will deem it overkill — both in terms of power and price. Much cheaper portable fans we've tried here at Mashable suit the average person's cooling-down needs just fine, and they don't sound as obnoxious.

I'd really only recommend buying a HushJet Mini Cool if you find it on sale, and you plan on using it mainly in outdoor settings (or a loud bar) where it won't be a nuisance. (I'm thinking golf, picnics, and music festivals — definitely not weddings.) Maybe pick up a pair of earplugs while you're at it.

Without having tried the Shark ChillPill myself, it seems like a better buy if you've decided to splurge on your next portable fan. While it's slightly heavier and even more expensive, it lasts almost twice as long and has a fun party trick with its swappable misting and cooling attachments. Mashable's Mangino told me that it's also loud, but not shrill.