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Summer is coming and it’s heating up quickly, which means if you want to stay cool, you’re going to have to get a little creative. These neck-style fans are popular, but because they blow existing air (they don’t cool it), your mileage will vary. Here in hot and humid Florida, where I live, they are virtually useless, especially at theme parks. They just blow wind at you. But there’s a new line of portable cooling devices that go way beyond that. They are much colder.
Essentially, the former is a portable air conditioner offering discreet personal cooling. The best examples are the Sony Reon Pocket Pro Plus or the Shark ChillPill. Sony’s Reon Pocket uses a metal cooling plate to keep your body temperature low, measuring when to start using internal sensors. You are supposed to wear it on the back of your neck under your shirt or jacket. It also has smart automation modes, to keep you cool or warm when needed, as well as a responsive mobile app. Although it’s not yet available in the US, the current price is £199. Shark’s Chillpill for $150 incorporates a fan with a misting function and a metal “cryo” plate for rapid cooling – both better than simple neck fans.
But there are also unique options like the Embr Wave smart bracelet or the FlexiFreeze personal cooling vest. The vest is simple. You freeze the ice cubes inside and put on the vest to keep your body temperature low without restricting movement. The Embr Wave is much more interesting, however. It’s a USB-C-powered wrist device that sends hot or cold waves to your skin.
They restart your body’s natural thermoregulation
Instead of cooling an entire space like a conventional air conditioner, many of these portable devices are designed to direct cooling to a small area of the body and stimulate the brain’s thermoregulation. Thermoregulation is how your body balances its temperature. When your brain detects an increase or decrease in internal temperature, it responds in different ways. For example, it could activate the sweat glands, increasing the body’s natural perspiration to reduce heat. Wearable devices can help influence this process to cool you down or, when it’s cold, warm you up a bit. It works similar to the U.S. Army’s simple recovery technique in sweltering heat. Immersing your forearms in cold water or an ice bath lowers your core body temperature.
Embr Wave generates cooling sensations by moving heat away from your skin in waves, stimulating “temperature-sensitive nerves”. This “triggers a natural mind-body comfort response,” making you feel refreshed. Compared to the Sony Reon Pocket Pro Plus, which physically cools the back of your neck or other more sensitive areas of your body. Both work in the same way, changing the way your body responds to temperatures. The “cryo” plate part of the Shark ChillPill also works like this.
The effects will be largely subjective and will vary from person to person because everyone’s body regulates temperature differently. But the Shark ChillPill offers a 16 degree drop in seconds upon contact with your skin from the freezing plate. This is unverified, but if he can pull this off, it’s not hard to imagine Personal AC or Embr Wave seeing similar results. Honestly, it’s better than using the weirdest idea ever to cool down in a heatwave: yogurt windows.
Fans with additional cooling can work
The problem with most neck fans is that they simply displace existing air, pulling it from the surrounding area, which, if the air is already warm and humid, will not help cool your body. But that doesn’t necessarily mean all fans are out of the equation. The Shark ChillPill is a great addition with its misting function and cooling plate. The actual coolness or cooler temperatures of these interactions can help you feel better.
Dyson’s new portable gadget, the Hushjet Mini Cool, could be another contender. It has no visible blades. It has a special nozzle and honeycomb mesh to optimize airflow from a motor underneath, and the system leverages evaporative cooling rather than just blowing hot air. It is also very quiet and comes with configurable accessories. You can wear it around your neck, hold it in your hands or place it on a desk with a removable base. The HushJet Mini is also affordable at $100 when in stock.
