Handheld fans are nothing new, but Aecooly is trying to make them considerably more useful with its Cold Air series. Instead of simply blowing ambient air at your face, both the Aecooly Cold Air and Cold Air Ultra combine high-speed airflow with a built-in misting system designed to provide more immediate relief in hot weather.

I have been using both models for around two weeks, which happened to coincide with India’s unpredictable monsoon weather. Some days have been humid, while clear days can still become uncomfortably hot. These conditions gave me plenty of opportunities to test both fans outdoors and around the house.

While the two products share the same basic idea, my experience with them has been surprisingly different. The $39.99 Cold Air focuses on portability, quieter operation, and comfortable personal cooling. The $79.99 Cold Air Ultra is considerably more powerful and doubles as a portable air duster.

Design and Build Quality

Both fans use ABS and PC bodies, but they feel quite different in the hand.

The Cold Air is the taller of the two, measuring 153 x 63.6 x 52 mm. However, at 285 g, it is also noticeably lighter than the Ultra. Its relatively slim handle is easy to grip, and I found it comfortable enough to carry around for extended periods.

The upper section houses a large circular fan, while a small digital display shows the current fan speed and remaining battery percentage. Controls for adjusting the fan speed and activating the mist function are positioned on the handle.

The Cold Air Ultra takes a different approach. It measures 140.4 x 63 x 41 mm, making it shorter and more compact, but its extra weight is immediately noticeable. My unit weighed 354 g on the scale, slightly higher than the 345 g stated on the official listing. Either way, it feels denser and more substantial in the hand compared to the regular Cold Air.

Its design also looks considerably more premium. The front features a large color touchscreen integrated into the handle, providing information about fan speed, battery status, and operating mode. The display also serves as part of the speed-control system.

Both models have an integrated water reservoir for the misting system. Accessing it involves rotating the locking mechanism at the bottom and opening the tank for refilling. The implementation is neat because there is no external water bottle hanging off either fan.

Both also include lanyards, which are particularly useful when carrying the fans outdoors.

Cold Air: The Better Everyday Companion

After using both fans, I found myself preferring the regular Cold Air whenever I wanted something to carry around.

Its biggest advantage isn’t raw performance. Instead, it is how comfortable and unobtrusive it is.

The fan offers five speed settings and uses a motor rated for up to 12,000 RPM. Aecooly lists a maximum wind speed of around 9.5 to 10 m/s, or approximately 33 ft/s.

Those numbers are considerably below the Ultra, but that isn’t necessarily a disadvantage for personal cooling.

At lower settings, the Cold Air produces a gentle breeze that feels comfortable against the face. Even at level five, I found the airflow strong enough to cool myself without becoming overly aggressive.

This became one of the biggest differences between the two products during actual use. The Ultra can move an enormous amount of air, but I don’t always want that much airflow directly against my face. The Cold Air feels more natural for prolonged personal use.

Noise is another advantage. Aecooly rates it at ≤51 dB on low speed, and in practice, I found the Cold Air relatively quiet. I would be much more comfortable using it in a library, airport, office, or other quiet environment than the Ultra.

Its lighter 285 g body further strengthens that advantage. If I were heading outside and could take only one of these fans, the Cold Air would usually be my choice.

Cold Air Ultra: Significantly More Powerful

The Cold Air Ultra is a completely different beast when it comes to performance.

Aecooly rates its high-speed motor at up to 70,000 RPM. Maximum wind speed is rated at 25 m/s, or roughly 82 ft/s.

The difference compared with the Cold Air is immediately noticeable.

Even at the default 20 setting, the Ultra produces surprisingly strong airflow. Push it toward its maximum setting, and it becomes extremely powerful.

There is a downside: noise.

Aecooly rates the Ultra at ≤65 dB at lower speeds. In practice, it is noticeably louder than the regular Cold Air, even at relatively low settings. At higher speeds, the noise becomes prominent enough that I would avoid using it in quiet environments.

It can also feel a little too aggressive when pointed directly at your face at high speed. That’s where the regular Cold Air’s gentler airflow actually becomes an advantage.

The Ultra fights back with much finer control. Instead of five levels, it provides 100 speed levels. You can gradually adjust the output from 1 to 100 using the touchscreen, while the physical control provides quick jumps through 20, 40, 60, 80, and 100.

This makes it easy to find a comfortable middle ground without being restricted to a handful of presets.

Mist Cooling Makes a Real Difference

The feature that separates these fans from conventional handheld models is Aecooly’s Mist Chill system.

Both use a high-pressure micro-pore atomization system with a 0.25 mm nozzle and an eight-channel flow splitter. Rather than spraying large droplets of water, the system produces a fine mist that mixes with the airflow.

Each water fill is rated for up to eight minutes of mist operation.

Aecooly claims the Cold Air can produce a temperature reduction of as much as 14.4°F in 10 seconds, while the company advertises an 18°F drop in 10 seconds for the more powerful Ultra.

Those are manufacturer claims under controlled conditions, so I wanted to see what happened in real-world use.

With the Cold Air Ultra, I measured a surface temperature of approximately 99°F before testing. After using the fan with mist at high speed for a few seconds, the reading dropped to around 88°F. That’s an approximately 11°F reduction.

I later repeated a similar test with the regular Cold Air. My initial reading was around 97.5°F. After using the fan and mist system, I recorded approximately 86.5°F, once again representing an 11°F reduction.

These shouldn’t be interpreted as reductions in core body temperature. They are short-term surface readings and can vary considerably depending on ambient temperature, humidity, measurement distance, airflow, and the amount of mist applied.

Still, the immediate cooling sensation is unmistakable. More importantly, both fans provided noticeable heat relief during my testing.

The Ultra Has Another Trick: Cleaning

Cooling isn’t the only reason to consider the Cold Air Ultra.

Aecooly includes two magnetic nozzle attachments that transform the powerful fan into a portable air duster.

One attachment incorporates a removable brush. It allows you to loosen dust while simultaneously blowing it away, which makes it useful for keyboards, vents, and similar equipment.

The narrower attachment concentrates the airflow into a smaller area. I found the concept particularly useful for blowing small particles out of tight spaces where the standard wide airflow would be less effective.

This is where the Ultra’s 25 m/s maximum airflow becomes useful for something beyond cooling.

The air intake can also be opened for easier maintenance, which is particularly useful if you regularly use the Ultra as an air duster. Dust can gradually collect around the intake and fan blades, so having direct access makes cleaning much easier. The package also includes a small cleaning brush, which you can use to remove dust from the intake area and the fan itself.

The regular Cold Air also features a removable, washable intake mesh. Removing the mesh activates an automatic cutoff for safer cleaning. However, it lacks the Ultra’s dedicated air-duster nozzles, so its primary purpose remains personal cooling.

Battery life and charging

Battery capacity is another area where the two products take different approaches.

The Cold Air packs a 4,500 mAh battery and lasts around 16-18 hours at lower fan speeds.

The Cold Air Ultra uses a much larger 7,000 mAh battery and can run for up to 10 hours at lower speeds. However, its much more powerful motor draws considerably more power, especially when running continuously at or near 100% speed.

Both models charge over USB-C. The Cold Air supports 10W charging and takes around 3.5 hours for a full charge. During my testing, I measured around 8.6W while charging, which is fairly close to its rated 10W input. The Ultra supports faster 20W charging, and I was able to hit the full 20W during my testing. It takes approximately 2.5 hours to fully charge.

The Ultra has another useful trick up its sleeve. Its USB-C port supports reverse charging, allowing me to use the fan’s 7,000 mAh battery as an emergency power bank for my phone or other USB-powered devices.

Which One Should You Choose?

Despite sharing the same Cold Air branding and mist-cooling concept, these fans ended up serving different purposes during my testing.

The regular Cold Air is the model I would pick for everyday personal cooling. At 285 g, it is easier to carry, its airflow feels gentler against the face, and it is substantially quieter. Five speed settings are enough for its intended purpose, while the mist function provides an impressive cooling boost when the weather becomes uncomfortable.

Its claimed 20-hour low-speed battery life is another major advantage for travel, although actual endurance will naturally depend on fan speed and mist usage.

The Cold Air Ultra is for someone who values performance and versatility over portability.

Its 70,000 RPM motor and 25 m/s maximum airflow are in another league compared with the standard model. The 100-level speed adjustment provides much finer control, while the touchscreen gives it a more premium feel.

The magnetic cleaning nozzles also turn the Ultra into something more than a personal fan. Being able to use the same device to cool yourself and then clean a keyboard or blow debris out of a narrow space gives it genuine additional utility.

That versatility comes at the cost of weight and noise. At 354 g, the Ultra feels noticeably heavier, and its high-speed airflow can be louder and more aggressive than I would want for casual face cooling.

Both fans are available for purchase directly from the official Aecooly website. You can find the Aecooly Cold Air here and the Aecooly Cold Air Ultra here.