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We’ve tested and confirmed additional neck fans are identical to the thermal cooling neck fan we recommend. We also tried (and kinda liked) a higher-end neck fan.
2023 is the hottest summer of your life (so far), and we’re seeing a new crop of wearable gear meant to climate-control your personal bubble, to quote an ad, “Cooler than an air conditioner!” We were skeptical—of the cooling claims for these so-called neck fans and of how we’d look walking around with plastic rings around our collars.
But we were intrigued enough to spend several hours sorting through dozens of promising neck fans. We sought reliable manufacturers (um), good warranties (ha), and some plausible evidence they were working for customers in the wild. We found two main types: basic wearable, battery-operated fans for around $30, and others with a little tech, like a thermal cooling chip, which pushed the price up around $50. We zeroed in on a couple of potential standouts in each class, bought them, and wore them to barbecues, beaches, and bike rides throughout July.
This fan’s battery lasts all day, several accidental drops haven’t killed it, and it fits comfortably around your neck without being heavy, loud, or excessively gusty.
The Penkou Portable Neck Fan is a simple but effective cooling device that sits comfortably around your neck, directing gentle wafts of wind up towards your head.
With three speed settings and a ring of 72 air slots for the fan to exhaust through, it’s enough to cover everything above your neck without blowing directly into your face (which would be annoying anyway). Its plastic construction is durable enough and able to withstand falls from a moving bicycle onto the pavement below (oops), and its discreet design shouldn’t attract much more attention than if you were wearing a pair of over-the-ear headphones around your neck. In fact, several people mistook the Penkou fan for a pair of Beats headphones when they saw it.
It weighs only about half a pound, and the smooth plastic design means you’ll barely notice it sitting on your neck and shoulder (unless you’re already sweaty enough that it’s sticking to you). It’s easy to control, too, with one large button on the front right side that cycles through the fan speeds. The button is recessed just enough that most people should be able to find it by feel without having to remove the neck fan and look for the right spot to press. Depending on the fan speed, the rechargeable battery can last for up to 16 hours, which makes it a good companion for a full workday (especially if you work outdoors).
The noise from the Penkou fan wasn’t particularly bothersome either, even though it’s essentially blowing straight at your ears. If you wear headphones with it on, like I did while walking or working, it’s basically unnoticeable. That being said, the volume of the fan at higher speeds can interfere with conversations a bit. I already have some auditory processing problems to begin with, so sometimes it would take me a moment to realize that the problem was the fan and not just me. Keep it running on low, however, and you should be fine.
The Penkou fan costs about $30. Plenty of other brands sell nearly identical (or maybe even entirely identical) devices for around the same price. It doesn’t have much of a warranty, but our test model held up well over two weeks of nearly nonstop use, including several accidental drops.
Among several thousand mostly positive user reviews, the topic of battery life is mixed but leaning favorable, suggesting some general satisfaction among longer-term customer experiences. The phrase “stopped working,” a red flag we watch for when considering any lower cost electronics items, appears a handful of times, but not often enough to cause major concerns about making this recommendation.
Thermal chips effectively improve this fan’s cooling performance, but its battery lasts a fraction of the time of its more basic competitor.
If the Penkou Portable Hands Neck Fan looks like imitation Beats headphones with a three-speed fan, the Wqss Aoeiu Portable Neck Fan is more like Geordi La Forge’s visor from Star Trek: The Next Generation.
Our pick from Wqss Aoeiu is also available from Egopp or in dark blue from Mosila or CXLiy (we’ve tested them firsthand and confirmed they’re identical). Each has a similar bladeless fan setup to the Penkou fan, but with only about half as many air vents. These vents aim the air up at your head as well as down towards your torso, though they still can’t compete with the Penkou fan’s powerful blasts. What it lacks in exhaust ports, it makes up for with a pair of thermoelectric semiconductor cooling chips, which the product literature claims are capable of dropping their temperature by 30 degrees in just one second. The idea is that, when placed against your neck like a wet compress or an ice pack, these thermal chips will help lower your core body temperature while the fan cools the rest of your head. Neck fans with this technology tend to be more expensive; these fans typically cost around $50.
For some people, however, that markup might be worth it. We found that the semiconductor thermal chip really came in handy during a 12-mile round-trip bike ride on a hot day. I kept a Wqss Aoeiu clone (branded as Egopp) on my neck for the entire ride—and yes, it stayed on, even as I swerved to avoid city buses. I’m a sweaty enough guy to begin with, but I was surprised to notice how much less sweaty I was when I arrived at my destination than I expected to be.
Unfortunately, that thermal chip also consumes a lot of energy. So even though I’d fully charged the fan before I left, it still ended up dying about halfway through my return trip—leaving me much, much sweatier when I got home. It ultimately lasted about three hours with the thermal chip running on full, compared with the 8 or so hours it can run with just the fan on. In other words: It’s great for a quick cool down, but it’s not something you can rely on for an entire day.
Like the Penkou fan, the fan noise isn’t particularly loud, and neither is the low electrical thrum from the thermal chip (although it’s certainly there, like a mini-refrigerator wrapped around your neck). That being said, I have some auditory processing issues, and the whirring tone of this fan sent me into a stupor. It’s not necessarily loud, and it didn’t seem to bother any of the half-dozen other people who I let try the fan, but that specific frequency triggered something weird in my brain, leaving me feeling unbalanced and unfocused. It didn’t bother me as much on the low setting or while wearing headphones. It did make my one-year-old nephew cry, however, although I’m pretty sure that was just a baby thing. Your mileage may vary.
As much as we loved the experience of the thermal chip, the user interface on this neck fan is absolutely terrible. The small buttons are awkwardly placed all the way on the back and are nearly impossible to find by feel alone; even after a month of regular use, I only just started to get the hang of it. You also have to hold the buttons down to activate them rather than just tap them once to cycle through the settings. Also, the longer it runs, the warmer the battery gets, which is not a problem we noticed on fan-only mode. This makes a certain amount of sense, given the higher energy consumption, but it still leads to a strange mixed hot-and-cold sensation on the back of your neck.
All that considered, with both the thermal chip and Penkou fans, I was consistently, pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed the gentle gusts around my nape. They are still pieces of plastic rubbing against your skin, so even with the relief from the fan, you get that sticky, sweaty tingle when your neck touches the plastic. As strange as that sensation is, it still beats being hot and sweaty.
With thermal chips that heat as well as cool, plus Bluetooth connectivity and a fancy carrying case, it’s the fanciest neck fan we’ve tested. And the most expensive.
The Torras Coolify 2S Neck Air Conditioner is easily one of the nicest neck fans available, and a genuinely solid device overall—though it’s still not worth the hefty price tag. It costs as much as our runner-up window air conditioner pick, which can actually cool an entire room, instead of just your face. But if you do have money to burn—or you’re just really, really into neck fans—then this Torras model is without a doubt the best option out there.
The difference between the Torras neck fan and other options is clear from the moment you find it resting in a padded circular carrying case. Not that it matters that much if your neck fan gets exposed to the elements when it’s not in use (I typically just drape mine around one of the straps on my messenger bag, which works just as well). But if you are going to spend an average of $250 for a neck fan, I can certainly understand why you might want to take better care of it.
The fan itself looks much sleeker than the options we’ve tested, with rounded edges and a glossy black finish. A small LCD screen on the right side of the fan displays the current setting as well as the percentage of battery power remaining. It’s a nice touch, even if you can’t actually see the screen while wearing the fan. The buttons are large and easy to find, too, with one on either side of the neck: power settings on the right, mode options on the left.
Like our also-great pick, the Torras fan comes with the option to use a pleasant fan-only mode or to activate the built-in thermal cooling chips for a more direct conductive cooling experience. But unlike those other neck fans we tried, the thermal chips on the Torras neck fan can also be used for heating, giving this fan more year-round usefulness. We plan on continuing to test it through the winter to see if it actually holds up, but our initial experience was pleasant enough on a chilly August evening. It even served as a bit of a muscle relaxant after carrying a toddler around on my shoulders for a while (though I’m not sure that was the intended purpose).
The Torras neck fan also offers Bluetooth connectivity, which allows you to control the fan with a smartphone app. We initially felt like this was an entirely unnecessary luxury—why would I take my phone out when I can just tap a button on my neck? But it may be helpful for some folks, such as those with mobility issues. The app also offers a timer option, which could be useful for some situations.
Before testing the Torras neck fan, we assumed there was no possible way it could be worth the $250 price tag. Frankly, we still feel that way. But it i s a nice device, with plenty of thoughtful features that really made it stand out above the other neck fans that we tried. It’s not a magical solution to personal climate control, but it could bring you some comfort on a hot—or cold—night.
This article was edited by Harry Sawyers.
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Sportswear Aromatherapy Fan Wirecutter is the product recommendation service from The New York Times. Our journalists combine independent research with (occasionally) over-the-top testing so you can make quick and confident buying decisions. Whether it’s finding great products or discovering helpful advice, we’ll help you get it right (the first time).