Two years ago, at a picturesque outdoor wedding in August, guests were so desperate for relief from the hot and humid weather that they occasionally ducked into their cars for a blast of AC. Dyson's new $99.99 handheld fan, the HushJet Mini Cool, would have been a welcome tool, though its volume might have made it a questionable guest during the actual service or reception. The device is as slim and sleek as Dyson's recent thin vacuum and hair dryer, but it is decidedly not quiet enough to earn the name "Hush." This is unfortunate, as it is yet another product Dyson has redesigned to look and perform better than what's already on the market.
All of its components - including the motor, 5,000mAh rechargeable battery, and spinning blades - are safely contained inside a cylindrical body 38mm in diameter that's easy to slip into a pocket. This is a clear improvement over many handheld fans that use exposed, flexible blades or stuff moving parts into a bulbous top section that limits pocketability. At 208 grams, the HushJet Mini Cool is about the same weight as an iPhone 17 Pro, so it's not a terrible burden to schlep around when temperatures soar.
Using the fan is incredibly easy: a toggle switch turns it on and off, while a rocker button lets you step through five different fan speeds indicated by a strip of five small white LEDs. There's also an even stronger Boost Mode that's only activated while you're holding down the "plus" side of that rocker button. The only learning curve was remembering to grip the fan above the vent that wraps around its base so as not to block the airflow. Some added texture to naturally guide your hand would be a welcome improvement.
Dyson claims up to six hours of battery life at the fan's lowest setting, but at its highest speed (not Boost Mode) it died after 62 minutes. The reviewer was still impressed, not expecting it to last that long at full power. The remaining battery life is displayed using the fan's five white LEDs, but only when it's turned off, making it hard to track depletion while in use. The fan is bottom-heavy and can be used as a self-standing unit, especially with an included accessory to widen the base, though that accessory is easy to lose.
You can power the fan indefinitely via USB-C, but you're limited to the lowest speed setting, where you'll need to stay within about 5 feet to feel anything. Dyson's marketing, including the HushJet branding, heavily emphasizes its engineered quietness, claiming to have lowered frequencies and eliminated high-pitched whirring. However, the reviewer found it was definitely not as quiet as expected, noting it doesn't get anywhere near as loud as Dyson's cordless vacuums or hair dryers but isn't whisper-quiet either.
The handheld fan also has a similar high-pitched whine as those other Dyson devices, despite its tiny electric motor spinning at less than half their speed. For comparison, the reviewer's family has been using Nitecore's izzCool 10 Pro fan for the past year. While the Nitecore's design makes it harder to slip into a pocket and its blast is nowhere near as strong as Dyson's, both fans were similarly loud at their lowest settings. However, Dyson's was well over 10 decibels louder at full power, which is not surprising given that Dyson's fan far outperforms Nitecore's.