The Best Portable Air Conditioner of 2025, Tried And Tested By Experts
Finding the right portable air conditioner can completely transform your comfort during the hottest (or even coldest) months—whether you’re cooling a small bedroom, a spacious living area, or a screened-in porch. After extensive hands-on testing of dozens of models—evaluating everything from energy efficiency and noise levels to cooling speed and smart features—we’ve narrowed down the best portable ACs you can buy in 2025. Whether you’re after maximum power, improved indoor air quality, true cordless portability, or simply the best value for your money, these top picks deliver reliable performance for a wide range of needs and budgets.
Summary of Best Portable Air Conditioners:
The best overall: Midea Duo MAP14HS1TBL, $680 $580 at Amazon
The best overall, runner up: TMidea Duo MAP12S1TBL, $580 $480 at Amazon
Best for improved air quality and comfort: Frigidaire FHPH142AA1, $599 at Amazon
Best for a cordless option that is truly portable: EcoFlow Wave 3 Portable Air Conditioner, $1,299 at Amazon
*All products featured on Manhattan Times are independently selected by our editors. However, we may receive compensation from retailers and/or from purchases of products through these links.
1) The Best Portable Air Conditioner: Midea Duo MAP14HS1TBL, $680 $580
The Midea Duo MAP14HS1TBL outperforms other portable air conditioners by delivering superior cooling while using less energy and generating less noise. This efficiency comes from its variable-speed inverter compressor and innovative hose-in-hose design. In our tests, it distributed cool air evenly, with no more than a 1-degree temperature difference across the room.
It also includes all the standard smart features, supporting Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant, plus a smartphone app and remote for even more customizable control.
With its built-in heat pump, the Duo easily switches between cooling and heating to keep your space at your desired temperature year-round—not just during the summer.
2) The Best Portable Air Conditioner, Runner Up: Midea Duo MAP12S1TBL, $580 $480
The Midea Duo MAP12S1TBL is essentially a more compact version of our top-rated model, offering nearly all the same impressive features, just without the built-in heat pump. While it’s technically rated as slightly less efficient—largely due to the way efficiency standards for portable air conditioners are calculated—it still boasts the same advanced inverter compressor and innovative dual-hose design that set the top pick apart.
In practice, this means it delivers excellent cooling performance with lower energy consumption and quieter operation than most standard portable ACs. During testing, it maintained consistently comfortable temperatures throughout the room, coming remarkably close to the performance of its larger sibling. It also includes the same smart-home capabilities, supporting both Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant, and can be controlled via a smartphone app or the included remote for tailored comfort.
If you don’t need the heating function and want a slightly smaller, more budget-friendly option that still offers outstanding cooling power and modern features, the Midea Duo MAP12S1TBL is an excellent choice.
3) Best for Improved Air quality and Comfort: Frigidaire FHPH142AA1, $599
The Frigidaire FHPH142AA1 stood out in our tests for more than just its cooling power—it impressed us with how evenly it kept the temperature throughout the entire room, rarely fluctuating by more than half a degree from one spot to another. Even better, it did all this with a remarkably low noise level, making it one of the quieter options we tested, especially among non-inverter portable ACs.
This unit also comes with the option to upgrade to a MERV-14-level air filter, allowing it to double as a capable air purifier. That’s a rare and valuable feature for a portable AC, particularly if you have allergies or want to keep dust and other fine particles out of your living space while you cool it.
Although it uses a traditional single-hose design and doesn’t reach the same energy efficiency levels as inverter-driven models, the FHPH142AA1 is still impressively powerful and nearly as quiet. It consistently delivered solid performance, quickly bringing down the temperature even on hot days without sounding overly intrusive in the background.
Beyond cooling, this Frigidaire also functions as a heater, making it a versatile year-round option for maintaining comfort through changing seasons. The only real drawback we found was the window-panel kit, which wasn’t as sturdy or as well-designed as some of its competitors. That made the installation a bit trickier and required more fiddling to get a secure, airtight fit.
Overall, if you want a multi-season portable unit that cools evenly, operates quietly, and can help clean the air too, this Frigidaire is a compelling choice—just be prepared to spend a little extra time setting it up.
4) Best for Basic, Affordable Cooling: Black+Decker BPACT14WT, $486
The widely popular and wallet-friendly Black+Decker BPACT14WT proves that you don’t have to spend a fortune to get dependable cooling. Among all the portable air conditioners we tested in its price range, this unit delivered the best raw cooling power—quickly bringing down the temperature in our test space and keeping it consistently comfortable, even during particularly hot stretches.
That said, the budget price does come with some trade-offs. Compared to our higher-end picks, the BPACT14WT is noticeably louder, producing a constant hum that might be distracting if you’re sensitive to noise or planning to run it while sleeping. Its controls are also more basic and somewhat clunky, lacking the intuitive interfaces, precise adjustments, or smart-home features that we’ve come to appreciate in more premium models. And you won’t find small extras like smoother caster wheels or sleek remote controls here.
Still, when it comes down to the essentials—cooling a room effectively—this Black+Decker model absolutely holds its own. It’s a straightforward, no-frills unit that reliably lowers the temperature without draining your bank account. If your main priority is solid performance at a price that’s closer to what you’d pay for a window unit, and you can live without the extra bells and whistles, the BPACT14WT is a smart, practical choice that gets the job done.
5) Best Cordless Option that is Truly Portable: EcoFlow Wave 3 Portable Air Conditioner, $1,299
The EcoFlow Wave 3 Portable Air Conditioner stands out in a category that rarely lives up to the name “portable.” Unlike traditional portable ACs that still rely on window venting and nearby outlets, the Wave 3 is equipped with a built-in battery capable of delivering up to eight hours of independent cooling or heating. Switch it to fan mode, and you can stretch that runtime even longer, making it incredibly versatile for situations where power access is limited.
Another advantage is that it doesn’t require venting through a window. This feature alone makes it a perfect fit for tents, RVs, cabins, or seasonal outdoor spaces like screened-in porches and patios—places where you simply can’t run a traditional exhaust hose. Its compact design and carry-friendly build make it easy to move wherever you need a quick boost of climate control.
It’s worth noting that the EcoFlow Wave 3 isn’t as powerful as standard home-focused portable air conditioners. It doesn’t have the capacity to cool an entire room to a consistent temperature like our top picks do. However, when positioned to direct airflow at a seating area or a few people, it performs impressively well, creating a localized bubble of comfort that can be a lifesaver on a hot afternoon or chilly evening.
All things considered, if you need a truly go-anywhere solution for targeted cooling or heating—especially in off-grid or partially enclosed environments—the EcoFlow Wave 3 offers a level of freedom and flexibility that typical portable ACs simply can’t match.
This completes our list of the best portable air conditioners. If you want more posts about the latest news, check our other home page here.