Top pick
This powerful fan produces a remarkably pleasant breeze and works on a pedestal, floor, or tabletop. Just make sure to recharge it between uses.
The Shark FlexBreeze Outdoor & Indoor Fan is the best cordless fan we’ve found, as it offers a wide range of power settings and a set of oscillation options that generated one of the best-quality breezes we’ve felt in all the time we’ve spent testing fans. Though the FlexBreeze is mounted on a pedestal by default, you can lift it off by its built-in carrying handle to use it on the floor or a tabletop. Its remote control’s magnetic storage strip is surprisingly sturdy—which is good, because the fan’s onboard controls and display screen can be a bit confusing on their own. The 4,000 mAh battery typically lasts four to six hours, which should be fine for most situations, but in testing we had to remember to charge it afterward. If you’re in the mood for a spritz, we enjoyed this model’s misting attachment.
Runner-up
This fan’s massive battery can last more than a day on the lowest settings, but it’s slow to recharge, and the lack of a warranty is a concern.
The Faraday Oscillating Standing Fan has the best battery life of any fan we tested for this guide. It’s also impressively portable, with the ability to fold down into a 6-inch-tall pie-tin-like disk or to stretch out into a 3.5-foot-tall pedestal. It’s surprisingly easy to clean, too, which is more than we can say for other cordless fans we tested. But this lightweight plastic fan is not as durable as our other picks, it doesn’t come with a warranty, and it couldn’t recharge as quickly as other fans we tried.
Best for
Sturdy, reliable, and powerful, this fan can work anywhere (though it may look conspicuous). And it’s a far better deal if you already use DeWalt’s batteries in other tools.
The DeWalt 20V Max Jobsite Fan DCE512B is a great choice overall, and it’s a really good value if you already own other DeWalt power tools. The fan is often sold as a “bare tool,” meaning the battery and charger are sold separately, or packaged with tools such as drills. As a fan, the DCE512B is great, producing one of the best wind speeds of the models we tested and offering sturdy construction resistant to water, dust, and falls. If anything does go wrong, DeWalt covers it with a three-year warranty. The fan’s color and materials definitely give it the look and feel of a power tool.
Budget pick
This affordable personal fan has a flexible tripod base that you can attach almost anywhere. But it isn’t the most powerful or the most durable fan.
For a personal breeze that you can carry in your bag, the Amacool Battery Operated Fan is the way to go. It isn’t quite as strong as our other picks, but it provides more than enough of a gust for one person. Case in point: One Wirecutter writer kept the Amacool fan directed at herself for her entire wedding day, and the only thing more impressive than its cooling capabilities was the fact that its battery lasted until the very last song. The Amacool fan also comes with a built-in LED light, which makes it a great choice as a camping companion or a bedside accompaniment; the flexible tripod legs make it easy to attach to your bed stand. Its one-year warranty is better than the coverage on a lot of similar fans.
