I am someone that usually runs pretty hot. Every summer I’m too warm on the Tube, too warm in meetings, too warm cooking and too warm at 2am when my bedroom feels like a sauna.
There’s a reason I live in the UK, and that’s because we usually get around three properly hot weeks a year. I sweat through them, and we move on. But, of course, all this is changing with global warming. And this is why I’m finally considering a personal fan.
You’ve probably seen them on the Underground or in the park. Usually small, plastic, often unbranded and whirring away under someone’s chin. There’s been a lot of excitement about the latest premium personal fans from Dyson and Shark.
So, I decided to try out the Shark ChillPill FA022UK Portable Fan because it has a few more bells and whistles.
The product
The aptly named Shark ChillPill has three attachments up its sleeve, united in the mission of keeping you cool. There’s a fan, an ultra-fine mist attachment and (my favourite) the InstaChill Cooling Plate.
Test one - My commute
Its first real outing was Friday morning on the Victoria line - a packed human furnace.
My first observation was the Shark ChillPill is easy to hold on to. And on the lowest of its ten speeds, it’s quiet enough that nobody around me reacted. On speeds four or five, which is what I actually needed in a packed carriage, the noise is a bit more noticeable, though no one looked over. The breeze is narrow and focused rather than wide, which sounds like a downside until you remember the goal is to cool you, not the carriage.
While it’s not air conditioning, there’s a real, measurable difference between standing in that heat with airflow on your neck and standing in it without. For something that fits in pocket, that’s a good outcome.
Test two - At my desk
Hot days working from home are never fun. By early afternoon, my home office was noticeably hot and it wasn’t helping me concentrate.
The ChillPill has a small hinge in the middle that lets it twist into a tabletop stance. A fan on one side, battery and controls on the other, so it sits on the desk and points itself at you without you needing to hold it. I set it to level three, which isn’t silent (there’s a soft white-noise hum), but I stopped noticing after about five minutes. At those low speeds it’s perfectly compatible with a video call. And it did a good job of cooling me down.
Test three - Cooking dinner
On a hot evening, with the oven on and a pan going, my small kitchen becomes a bit miserable.
I tried two things. First, the regular fan head, propped on the worktop and aimed roughly at my face while I chopped and stirred. Solid. Then I swapped to the cooling plate. It’s a small metal disc that clips onto the body in place of the fan and chills on contact with your skin.
Shark reckons it can drop skin temperature by up to 9 degrees. I can’t verify that number, but pressed against my wrist or the back of my neck, it was super cold and the relief was instant.
Test four - Sleeping better
This was probably the thing I cared about most – because I’m not a fan of a hot bedroom.
My usual thing is a big oscillating tower fan in the corner. It works, but it dries my eyes out and it rattles. The ChillPill is small, sits on my bedside table, running on speed one with the airflow aimed at the pillow. Shark rate the battery at up to 11 hours on the lowest speed, which lines up with what I saw. I went to bed with it at about 70% charge and woke up with it still running.
If you sleep alone and you run hot, it’s a genuinely good bedside companion. If you share a bed with someone who doesn’t, even better‚ you can aim it at just you.
Who should consider buying a personal fan?
A personal fan is not for everyone. If you live somewhere with reliable air conditioning, or you genuinely don’t have a problem with heat, then you can skip the whole category. But for these groups of people, they’re a real game changer…
Commuters on packed buses, trains and the Tube.
Office workers and students in buildings without aircon.
Frequent travellers, particularly long-haul. The ChillPill is a great choice if you’re travelling on a plane without air vents.
Pregnant women and anyone going through hot flushes.
Anyone who sleeps hot, alone or otherwise.
What to look for when choosing a personal fan
If you’ve decided to buy one, the gap between a good and a bad one is big. Here’s what I’d pay attention to…
Battery life. Anything under four hours on a usable speed isn’t really portable. I’d look for six hours minimum on a middle setting, which is roughly what the Dyson HushJet promises and what the Shark ChillPill comfortably beats on lower speeds.
USB-C charging. Non-negotiable in 2026. You don’t want to carry a separate cable for one device.
Weight and size. The ChillPill is 238g, about the weight of a phone. If it’s heavier than your phone, you’ll stop carrying it.
Noise level. This is where the cheap fans fall apart. A fan you can’t run on a call or next to a sleeping partner is half a fan. Read reviews specifically for noise at the speed you’d actually use it, not at maximum.
Form factor. Some fans are handheld, some clip on, some go around the neck. The most premium, including both the Dyson and the Shark, convert between handheld, desktop and wearable so you don’t have to pick. If you’re cycling or running, look for one with a clip or strap.
Safety features. A bladeless or guarded design is worth it if you’re around children or pets.
Multiple speed settings. Because two speeds is rarely enough.
Ready to beat the heat?
Check out our exclusive Shark Chill Pill in Midnight which comes with a handy carry case and a cross body strap. We’ve also got a wide selection of other personal fans, so take a look.
FAQs
Do personal fans actually work?
Yes, but with realistic expectations. A personal fan won’t cool a room or replace air conditioning. What it does is move air directly against your skin, which speeds up the evaporation of sweat and creates a noticeable cooling sensation on the parts of you it’s pointed at. For commuting, desk work, cooking and sleeping, that’s often all you actually need.
Are personal fans worth buying?
For anyone who runs hot, travels often or lives somewhere without aircon, then yes. The current generation from brands like Shark and Dyson is genuinely well-engineered with battery life between six to eleven hours, USB-C charging etc. The cheaper end of the market is still hit-and-miss, so spend a little more for something you’ll actually use every day.
Can a personal fan help with hot flushes?
A lot of users find them helpful, particularly the wearable and handheld styles you can deploy the moment a flush starts. The Shark ChillPill’s cooling plate is especially well suited to this. Pressed against the wrist or the back of the neck, it provides cold contact almost instantly, which is harder to achieve with airflow alone.
How long does a rechargeable personal fan battery last?
It depends on the speed. On the lowest settings, the better personal fans currently run for eight to eleven hours. On top speed, you’re typically looking at 60 to 90 minutes. For overnight use on a bedside table, the lowest speed of a good fan will comfortably last from bedtime to morning.
