Arctic Air is a personal air cooler, humidifier, and purifier all in one. Does it work as advertised? Here is our Arctic Air review.
Where to Purchase
As of this 2022 update, the original Arctic Air is no longer sold. You can, however, still buy the Arctic Air Ultra and Arctic Air Pure Chill.
Arctic Air Ultra: Purchase | My video review | Written Review
Arctic Air Pure Chill: Purchase | My video review
About Arctic Air
Arctic Air is a lightweight and portable space cooler that features a programmable digital thermostat, LCD display, and a two speed fan. The official website is buyarcticair.com, with a registration date of August 2017. The screen capture below was taken of the product website in September 2017.
Claims & Features
- Compact and portable air cooler
- Cools, humidifies, and purifies
- Built-in thermostat with programmable timer
- LCD display (luminous and simple to read)
- 350 watts
- Quiet two speed fan
- Works on a 45 square foot area
- Powered by standard outlet or USB
- Not harmful to environment (does not use Freon)
Arctic Air Review
When I first saw the commercial for Arctic Air, it reminded me of a cool-air version of Handy Heater, which was one of my most popular YouTube videos over the past year. Handy Heater is a small space heater, while Arctic Air is a small space cooler. What’s odd to me is the timing of Arctic Air’s appearance, which came at the end of summer. Handy Heater ramped up its advertising in late 2016, just as the warm weather was fading into Fall. Arctic Air first appeared at the end of summer in 2017 when such an item wouldn’t be in much demand. When Arctic Air began an advertising blitz in 2018, it seemed to confirm that their test marketing campaign in late 2017 was a success.
With that in mind, let’s take a closer look at Arctic Air. This is a space cooler that uses evaporation. In other words, it’s a fan that blows air over water. Their description sounds a bit more impressive: “The compact, eco-friendly personal air cooler that pulls warm air from the room through its evaporative water filter to humidify while it cools! Arctic Air™ cools, humidifies, and cleans the dust particles for better air!”
There is a rather large filter inside which is easy to remove. Replacement filters are currently selling for $10 (at ArcticAirFilter.com) and are said to last about 6 months. The website states that it removes particles from the air, but the instructions refer to it as a “water filter” so it’s unclear exactly what is being filtered.
The good aspect of this product is that it will blow cool air at you, and the air it produces is cooler than a standard fan which merely moves air. It’s not unlike “misters” we have here in the desert, which spray a fine mist that can keep you cool even in very high heat. The not-so-good reality is that you’ll probably need to sit right in front of this to feel much cooling effect. Although the website states that it can cool a 45 square foot area, the reality is that you’ll want to be in the line-of-sight for it to make much of a difference.
You can power Arctic Air with a USB port or standard outlet. I’ve been able to use it with my computer’s USB port and even a Solar Juice Pro power pack. When I took it outside in a mild breeze, I could still feel it a few feet away, but I wouldn’t describe the fan as strong.
Arctic Air is said to hold about 750ml of water (although it was only 600ml when I filled it up). The instructions won’t tell you this, but it works best with very cold water or even ice water. Another factor to consider is humidity. If you are in a very humid environment, I wouldn’t expect this to deliver much relief because evaporative cooling works best in lower humidity (probably around 60% or less).
I tested Arctic Air next to a $9 Walmart fan, and it did blow colder than the cheap fan. The regular fan, however, blew stronger, which offset Arctic Air’s advantage to some degree. The Walmart fan could also be adjusted vertically, while Arctic Air cannot.
One final point that isn’t clear at first is that you’ll need to clean this unit regularly, just as you would a humidifier, especially if you let any water sit in the reservoir after use. You’ll want to keep your expectations low for an item like this. Proximity to the user, humidity, and strength of the fan are all very subjective factors that will determine your satisfaction with this product.
In 2019 the Arctic Air Ultra appeared on shelves. You can read my full review here, or watch my review below.
That was followed in 2021 by the Artic Air Pure Chill, which I also reviewed. You can watch that review below.
Alternatives
You can find countless personal space coolers online and in stores. This $33 model uses ice cubes rather than water. If you want to move up to a slightly higher price range, you can find more powerful models, such as this more expensive evaporative air cooler with a modest 3.4 star rating. I should point out that most space coolers of this size and price range fall in the 3-star consumer rating, as you can see if you scroll down to the comparison of other models on that product page. It would appear that consumers tend to want more out of these devices than they can deliver.
Related Review
The video below is a good demonstration on evaporation works and doesn’t work in dry or humid climates. In this video, I used “cooling towels” (which also work on the principle of evaporation) in Las Vegas and two areas of Maui.
Your Arctic Air Reviews
What are your thoughts about Arctic Air? Drop a comment below and a star rating above to let us know what you think about it.
Updated August 2022
We just purchased the Arctic Air Tower and the small version as well. We bought both on Friday and taking them back today (Monday). Our central air went out last week and until it can be fixed I thought they would be a great in between. I knew they wouldn’t take the place of central air but allow a little cool down to sleep. I tried everything I tried ice cold water, nothing but ice and even froze the filters. The air was a little cool for about ten minutes and you had to sit right on top of it… Read more »
My husband came home with an Arctic Air today “for me” he said, but we both know here in southeast Texas you are just as likely to need an AC in that deer stand as a heater lol. So I read the instructions and put ice water in it instead of just cold water like it says because hey, colders better right? It blew kimda sorta cool air. That’s it. Cools down a room in 5 minutes? How do they get away with making such ridiculous claims. It went back in the box and it’s going back to the store.I… Read more »
Thanks for the comment, and it sounds like your experience was similar to mine!
Beware! My elderly mother was taken advantage of terribly. She was charged nearly 400.00 for four units. These are cheap and do not work! Do not buy!
I’m sorry to hear that. Do you know where she bought them?
What a horrible product. It produces cool air for about 5 minutes “if” you use the ice water method. It’s also very loud. They should have concocted a thing to put around your neck with a shelf to put the product on, because thats how close you need it to your face to get cooled off for the 5 minutes that it actually works. Don’t waste your time hunting down this product. Did a human being actual test this product?
I purchased the Arctic Air as seen on TV. That was the biggest waste of money of all time. No matter what I tried, putting the filter in the freezer wet, putting ice cubes in the water tray, sitting with my face directly in front of the air. I even tried sitting under a sheet to capture any cool air in one location. This is false advertising and I want to know how they get away with this. What happened to pride in the things you sell and quality control and scam protection because this is a scam. Save your… Read more »
I was trying to find a place to put my review on Artic Air , I wanted to send one directly to the Artic Air company but could not find a way to.
This product should be off the market. I agree with another review how can they make such a ridiculous claim that this works.
They should give everyone their money back because I am sure the company has made a lot of money on those who bought this product and unable to return it.