Unlike a heavy and more permanent window air conditioner, portable AC units are designed to be easily moved between rooms. With the added mobility, you can stay cool as you move between different spaces throughout the day. Most portable air conditioners come equipped with wheels, which makes them easy to move from room to room, and while all units will help you beat the heat, there are a few different options depending on the size of the room and the specific features you may need.

We tested six portable AC units, ranging in price from $349 to $699, to see which ones stood out the most and what array of options they offer so you get a good value for your money.  

Read more: Window Air Conditioners vs. Portable Air Conditioners: Find Out Which One Is Best for You

The contenders

We tested six portable air conditioners for this best list: the Frigidaire FHPC082AC1, the GE APCD08JALW, the Haier QPWA14YZMW, the LG LP1419IVSM, the Midea MAP14HS1TBL and the Whirlpool WHAP131BWC. In the chart below, you can get an overview of each unit and how they compare in terms of pricing, specs and features. 

Portable air conditioners

	Frigidaire FHPC082AC1	GE APCD08JALW	Haier QPWA14YZMW	LG LP1419IVSM	Midea MAP14HS1TBL	Whirlpool WHAP131BWC
Price	$349	$579	$590	$699	$699	$526
Area it covers (in square feet)	350	350	550	500	550	350
Btu	5,500	8,500	9,700	10,000	12,000	8,000
Weight (in pounds)	50	62	71	71	77	75
Dimensions (HxWxD, in inches)	26.8 x 12.17 x 13.78	28.9 x 16.7 x 14.7	32 x 18.5 x 15.35	32.36 x 22.13 x 19.84	34.48 x 19.53 x 16.73	27.9 x 18.7 x 15.16
Special features	Remote control, timer, dehumidifier function, sleep mode	Remote control, timer, dehumidifier function	Remote control, timer, app, dehumidifier function	Remote control, timer, app, dehumidifier function	Remote control, timer, app, supports Alexa and Google Assistant, dehumidifier function, sleep mode	Remote control, timer, sleep mode

At a glance, you can see we tested some units with similar specs, while also covering a wide range of options. Not only do the prices vary from $349 to $699, but half of the units are designed to cool smaller 350-square-foot rooms, while the rest can handle larger spaces up to 500 or 550 square feet. They also vary in terms of Btu, which range in the units we tested from 5,500 to 12,000 Btu. 

It's worth noting here that there are currently two different standards for determining Btu capacity: the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers' Btu rating and the Department of Energy's Seasonally Adjusted Cooling Capacity Btu rating. For that reason, many manufacturer sites list both the ASHRAE and the SACC ratings in their specs. 

For example, the Frigidaire FHPC082AC1 we tested has an ASHRAE capacity of 8,000 Btu, while the DOE's SACC rating for the same unit is 5,500 Btu. The SACC standard was developed more recently and is being broadly adopted across manufacturers, so we use the SACC Btu capacity as the default standard anywhere we reference Btu capacity in this list. Still have questions about this? Learn more about the SACC standard here. (PDF) 

How we test 

To test portable air conditioners, we heat a climate-controlled room to 92 degrees. After the room reaches 92 degrees, we turn off the heat and turn on the portable AC unit to cool mode, with a medium fan speed and a set temperature of 68 degrees. We run the unit for 2 hours and 30 minutes and repeat the same test twice per AC unit. We then use the data collected during the tests to measure two things:

• How consistently the portable air conditioner kept the room within 5% of 68 degrees
• How consistently it kept the room within 5% of the AC unit's individual lowest temperature

Once we have this information, we compare the results across the units to see which ones maintained the set temperature for the longest period of time. We also look at which units maintained their individual lowest temperature for the longest time. We did this so that if a unit didn't reach 68 degrees in the allotted time, we were still able to track how consistently it maintained the lowest temperature it did achieve. The higher the percentage, the better the unit performed. 

When looking at performance, it's important to note that the units we tested don't have identical specs, so direct performance comparisons are not the only thing we consider when arriving at our list of best portable air conditioners. We also look at a unit's features and other options in reference to its price and specifications to determine its overall value. 

We also don't draw direct performance comparisons when looking at units of vastly different sizes and capabilities, say, the 12,000-Btu Midea MAP14HS1TBL versus the 5,500-Btu Frigidaire FHPC082AC1. For this reason, we compared performance results in two groups based on coverage area. Specifically, we compared the Frigidaire, Whirlpool and GE models (which all have coverage areas of up to 350 square feet) against one another and the Haier, LG and Midea models (which have 500-to-550-square-foot coverage areas) against one another.

Performance

Delving a little more into performance, you can see how long all six portable air conditioners maintained a temperature set point of 68 degrees. Again, because we aren't comparing the larger units (the Midea, LG and Haier models) directly with the smaller ones (the GE, Whirlpool and Frigidaire), we've displayed the larger units at the top of the chart and the smaller units at the bottom, and used different colors to help you differentiate between them more easily.

The Midea air conditioner performed the best, maintaining the 68-degree set point for 85.4% of its runtime. The Haier model came in second with 75.5% and the LG model in third with 74.2%. For the smaller units, the GE air conditioner came in first at 39.7%, followed by the Whirlpool model at 25.2% and the Frigidaire unit at 15.2%. 

For the second test, we looked at how consistently the unit maintained its lowest temperature. Again, we divided the results in the chart below, with the larger units in green on the top and the smaller units in yellow on the bottom. 

The Midea air conditioner once again outperformed the other large units by maintaining its lowest temperature for 80.1% of its runtime. The LG model came in second at 73.5% and the Haier model in a close third with 70.9%. For the smaller units, the GE model performed extremely well, only closely trailing the larger Haier air conditioner at 68.9%. The Frigidaire model came next at 57% and the Whirlpool model came in third at 49%.

Overall the powerful Midea model knocked out the other larger units by coming in first in both tests. The smaller Whirlpool model outperformed its competition by maintaining the 68-degree set point longer in the first test, but the smaller GE unit dominated in the second test, maintaining its lowest temperature for longer than either Whirlpool or Frigidaire.

In addition, we made charts to track the temperature changes of each unit over time. The chart below focuses only on the larger units we tested. The Midea unit's temperature dropped more quickly than the others and maintained the lower temperature for most of its run, whereas the LG and Haier units performed similarly throughout.

We also tracked the temperature changes for the smaller units throughout testing. The GE unit's temperature dropped more quickly than the others, followed by Whirlpool, then Frigidaire, but they all ended up reaching and maintaining a similar temperature in the second half of their runs.

Portable air conditioner FAQs