Dyson’s handheld fan is more powerful and louder than I expected
Two years ago I attended a picturesque outdoor wedding in August where the hot and humid weather had guests occasionally ducking into their cars to enjoy a blast of AC. Dyson’s new $99.99 handheld fan would have provided some much-needed relief then, although I’m not sure I would have been comfortable powering it up during the service or reception. The HushJet Mini Cool is as slim and sleek as Dyson’s recent thin vacuum and hair dryer, but it’s not quiet enough to earn the name “Hush.”
That’s unfortunate because the HushJet Mini Cool is yet another product Dyson has redesigned to look and perform better than what’s already on the market. All of its components — including the motor, 5,000mAh rechargeable battery, and spinning blades — are safely contained inside a cylindrical body 38mm in diameter that’s easy to slip into a pocket. Many handheld fans use flexible or folding blades that are left exposed and not ideal for kids, or they stuff the moving parts into a bulbous section on top that limits pocketability.
At 208 grams the HushJet Mini Cool is about the same weight as an iPhone 17 Pro, so it’s not a terrible burden to schlep around when temperatures soar, and it’s incredibly easy to use. A toggle switch turns the fan on and off, while a rocker button lets you step up and down through five different fan speeds indicated by a strip of five small white LEDs. There’s also an even stronger Boost Mode that’s only activated while you’re holding down the “plus” side of that rocker button.
The only learning curve was remembering to grip the fan above the vent that wraps around its base so as not to block the airflow. Some added texture on the outside of the HushJet Mini Cool to naturally guide where your hand should grip it would be welcome.
Dyson claims up to six hours of battery life at the fan’s lowest setting, but at its highest speed (not Boost Mode) it died after 62 minutes. I was still impressed, because I didn’t expect the fan to last that long at full power. The remaining battery life is displayed using the fan’s five white LEDs, but only when it’s turned off. Being able to track how fast the battery level drops with the fan running would be a useful way to estimate how much cooling time you have left.
The HushJet Mini Cool is bottom-heavy and can be used as a self-standing fan, and Dyson includes an accessory to widen the base and improve its stability. It helps, but it’s also an accessory that’s easy to lose. And while you can power the fan indefinitely by connecting it to a power source over USB-C, you’re limited to the lowest speed setting. At that setting you’ll need to stay within about 5 feet of the fan to feel anything.
Dyson’s marketing for the fan, including the HushJet branding, emphasizes how it’s engineered to be quiet. “Dyson’s obsession with acoustics means tonal comfort: with the HushJet nozzle, we’ve lowered frequencies, eliminated high-pitched whirring, and silenced the sound of whining motors,” the company said in a press release. But it was definitely not as quiet as I expected it to be.
It doesn’t get anywhere near as loud as Dyson’s cordless vacuums or hair dryers, but the HushJet Mini Cool isn’t whisper-quiet, even at its lowest setting. The handheld fan also has a similar high-pitched whine as those other Dyson devices, despite its tiny electric motor spinning at less than half the speed of theirs.
For the past year my family has been using Nitecore’s izzCool 10 Pro fan to beat the heat whenever AC isn’t available. Its design makes it harder to slip into a pocket, and at full power its blast is nowhere near as strong as Dyson’s — even at half power. While both fans were similarly loud at their lowest settings (measured using the NIOSH Sound Level Meter app on my iPhone), Dyson’s was well over 10 decibels louder at full power. That’s not surprising given Dyson’s fan far outperforms Nitecore’s, but the sound of the HushJet Mini Cool was generally far more noticeable, since it produced noise at higher frequencies.
At a noisy outdoor music festival, crowded carnival, or bustling state fair I can see myself comfortably pushing the fan’s speed to its third or fourth speed setting without worrying about getting too many annoyed looks. But in quieter settings, like that stifling-hot outdoor wedding I attended, I would be hesitant to fire up the HushJet Mini Cool. At least until the wedding DJ took over.
Compact electric air dusters like the Wolfbox MF100 are stronger and cheaper than the HushJet Mini Cool, but they’re typically much louder because they’re designed to be pointed at keyboards covered in Doritos crumbs, while fans are designed to be pointed at your head. Dyson’s HushJet Mini Cool is better at balancing size, performance, and battery life. If used nonstop it can last half a day at an amusement park. You can definitely find a quieter alternative, but I doubt you’ll find a more powerful one this size.
Photography by Andrew Liszewski / The Verge
There’s nothing like an RPG over vacation
With a vacation comes a big choice: What game should I focus on during the trip? I thought about grinding out the harder levels of Super Meat Boy 3D, but I was looking for something more chill. I could have dabbled more with Slay the Spire II, but I already know that's a game I'll be playing for a long time. I wanted something that I could really get lost in and finish in a little over a week. People of Note, a new music-focused RPG from Annapurna Interactive and Iridium Studios, turned out to be exactly what I needed.
In the game, you play as aspiring pop singer Cadence. What starts as a journey to outperform a popular boy band turns into …
The AI apps are coming for your PC
Hi, friends! Welcome to Installer No. 124, your guide to the best and Verge-iest stuff in the world. (If you're new here, welcome, send me your Coachella fits, and also you can read all the old editions at the Installer homepage.)
This week, I've been reading about restaurant bread and GLP-1s and Lenny Rachitsky and Artemis II fashion, watching the new boy band doc because I will always watch a boy band doc, also watching every clip I can find from Justin Bieber's Coachella set, filling the Schitt's Creek-shaped hole in my heart with Big Mistakes, getting increasingly excited about The Mandalorian and Grogu, and watering my new lawn so it …
OpenAI’s former Sora boss is leaving
Last month, OpenAI gave up on its Sora video generation tool, and on Friday, the Sora team's leader, Bill Peebles, announced that he is leaving the company. OpenAI has been shifting its priorities as part of an effort to avoid "side quests," and Peebles' departure is just one of many recent changes as the company moves to focus more on coding and enterprise use.
As part of a note Peebles posted on X, he said:
I am immensely grateful to Sam, Mark, Aditya and Jakub for fostering a research environment that allowed us to pursue ideas off-the-beaten path from the company's mainline roadmap. It's tempting in life to mode collapse to the most i …
Should you stare into Sam Altman’s orb before your next date?
Tinder users who prove they're a real person by visiting an identity-verifying orb will soon be able to get five free boosts in the app - and it's just the latest service to embrace the orb. World, which was co-founded by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, initially tested Tinder verification using its facial scanning orbs through a pilot program in Japan last year. It's now expanding the service to "select markets, including Japan and the United States."
To verify that they're not a bot or an AI agent, users have to physically visit one of World's orbs in person. According to World, the orb "takes pictures of your face and eyes, then encrypts and sto …
Anthropic’s new cybersecurity model could get it back in the government’s good graces
The Trump administration has spent nearly two months fighting with AI company Anthropic. It's dubbed the company a "RADICAL LEFT, WOKE COMPANY" full of "Leftwing nut jobs" and a menace to national security. But some of the ice may reportedly be melting between the two, thanks to Anthropic's buzzy new cybersecurity-focused model: Claude Mythos Preview.
Anthropic's relationship with the Pentagon soured quickly in late February after the company refused to budge on two red lines: using its technology for domestic mass surveillance or lethal fully autonomous weapons with no human in the loop. Anthropic's tech has in the past been used heavily b …
Betting on the news raises ethical questions for journalists
Prediction market exchanges have created an environment where just about any piece of information is potentially monetizable: How well will BTS's new song perform this week? How hot will Los Angeles get? Will Donald Trump be impeached? Users can wager on all of that and, on some platforms, more gruesome and violent outcomes in the real world.
The rapid rise and expansion of Polymarket and Kalshi have put newsrooms in a strange position. Prediction market evangelists often claim that their odds are more trustworthy and accurate than polls and traditional media - effectively positioning the industry as a replacement for news. At the same time …
This charming gadget writes bad AI poetry
I've never been as charmed and frustrated by one gadget as I have with the Poetry Camera.
It's a delightful object. White and cherry red with a color-matched woven strap, it looks playful and adorably lo-fi. If I saw it on a store shelf, I'd absolutely pick it up.
But aside from obviously appealing, I'm not exactly sure what it is. I mean, I know what it is. It's a camera that makes AI poems instead of photos. You take a picture, and instead of printing a photo, you get an AI-generated poem inspired by the scene, printed on thermal receipt paper. But after printing dozens of poems, I can only report feeling frustrated instead of inspired.
…Our new favorite budget phones
Over the last few months, every phone maker under the sun has refreshed its lineups, especially at the affordable end, with no major budget phone launches now expected until next year. That made it the perfect time to go back and reassess The Verge's recommendations for the best budget phones you can buy right now.
You won't be too surprised to hear that the iPhone 17E is now our recommendation for the best cheap iPhone, not least because it's the only cheap iPhone. Still, this year's addition of MagSafe charging makes it a much more well-rounded package than last year's 16E, and with the same A19 chip as the flagship iPhone 17, you won't f …
The best budget smartphones you can buy
Some of us take a kind of “eat to live” rather than a “live to eat” approach to gadgets. They’re tools that help you get things done, not something you want to invest a lot of time or money in. If that’s you — and there’s no judgment here from a certifiable gadget nerd — then you can probably think of more worthwhile ways to spend $1,000 than on a phone.
Budget phones to the rescue. These devices are roughly $600 or under, and they’re more capable than ever. You won’t get all the bells and whistles, but you will save a little money to spend on, I don’t know, actual bells and whistles. It’s your world.
What compromises can you expect from a budget phone? Some combination of the following: slower processors, less storage, and worse cameras than flagship phones, almost across the board. Many have lower-resolution screens, most skip wireless charging, and water resistance is often less robust than on a pricier phone.
The best cheap iPhone
Apple iPhone 17E
Score: 7
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Where to Buy:
Screen: 6.1-inch, 1170p, 60Hz OLED / Processor: A19 / Cameras: 48-megapixel f/1.6 with OIS, 12-megapixel selfie / Battery: 4,005mAh / Charging: 20W wired, 15W MagSafe wireless / Weather-resistance rating: IP68
The iPhone 17E is the minimum viable iPhone — and I mean that in a good way. It has the same speedy A19 chipset as the standard iPhone 17, starts with a decent 256GB of storage, and offers a full day of battery life. It also comes with MagSafe, unlike last year’s 16E, opening up faster magnetic wireless charging and a world of grips and accessories.
Still, there are a few big omissions in Apple’s cheapest iPhone. The most obvious is that it’s limited to a single 48-megapixel rear camera, lacking even an ultrawide. That’s something plenty of buyers are likely to find limiting. Fewer people are likely to be bothered by the phone’s lack of an always-on display, its 60Hz refresh rate, or the fact that it doesn’t support Apple’s Dynamic Island, which is a handy way to keep track of Live Activities.
For some, those will be good reasons to spend $200 more on the iPhone 17. For others, they won’t — my mom had never even noticed her old iPhone 12 had a second rear camera, so I don’t think she’ll miss it on her new 17E. Android alternatives at this price will also get you extra lenses, smoother displays, and faster charging. But if you want an iPhone, and $600 is where your budget stops, the 17E is the best you’ve got without shopping pre-owned.
Read our full iPhone 17E review.
The best cheap Android phone
Google Pixel 10A
Score: 7
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Where to Buy:
Screen: 6.3-inch, 1080p, 120Hz OLED / Processor: Tensor G4 / Cameras: 48-megapixel f/1.7 with OIS, 13-megapixel ultrawide, 13-megapixel selfie / Battery: 5,100mAh / Charging: 30W wired, 10W wireless / Weather-resistance rating: IP68
You couldn’t call the Pixel 10A an ambitious phone; it’s essentially a carbon copy of last year’s Pixel 9A with a slightly flatter camera bump. Still, Google’s competition hasn’t advanced much either, which means the 10A remains the best cheap Android phone you can buy, short of picking up a discounted 9A while it’s still on sale (well, at least in the US — buyers elsewhere should look to Poco and Realme for some stiff competition).
The 10A is powered by the same Tensor G4 chip as last year, though its 6.3-inch OLED screen is slightly brighter. The battery is the same size, but Google says it should last a little longer thanks to optimization, and the 30W wired and 10W wireless charging is a fraction faster, too. The biggest addition over the 9A is satellite connectivity, which is useful if you regularly find yourself off the grid.
The 10A’s cameras remain one of its biggest strengths, with the 48-megapixel main camera (the same as in the regular Pixel 10) joined by an ultrawide. You won’t find many phones with better cameras at this price, though you will find some with more lenses.
Read our full Google Pixel 10A review.
The budget phone with a big, beautiful screen
Nothing Phone 4A Pro
Score: 6
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Where to Buy:
Screen: 6.83-inch, 1260p, 144Hz OLED / Processor: Snapdragon 7 Gen 4 / Cameras: 50-megapixel f/1.9 with OIS, 50-megapixel 3.5x telephoto, 8-megapixel ultrawide, 32-megapixel selfie / Battery: 5,080mAh / Charging: 50W wired / Weather-resistance rating: IP65
The Phone 4A Pro is one of the few Nothing phones to get a true US release. In a way, it’s also one of the brand’s most conservative designs, with its transparent plastic mostly giving way to opaque metal, outside of the chunky camera module (which has the boon of a 3.5x telephoto lens but mixed performance otherwise). The metal design also means there’s no wireless charging, though fast 50W wired charging helps make up for that.
The 4A Pro will mostly appeal for its large 6.83-inch display, which is brighter than rivals and features a faster 144Hz refresh rate. That pairs nicely with Nothing’s eye-catching software design, which makes the 4A Pro a looker in just about every respect. That said, while the software may look good, Nothing only promises three OS updates, meaning the company’s latest handset won’t suit anyone looking for a phone for the long run.
Read our full Nothing Phone 4A Pro review.
Other budget phones to consider
- The 2026 Motorola Moto G Power offers a lot despite its starting price of $299.99. It features a 6.8-inch LCD display, a 5,200mAh battery, and a 3.5mm headphone jack, which is increasingly rare in 2026. Additionally, the device combines both IP68 and IP69 ratings, meaning it’s rated for both submersion in water and exposure to high-pressure water jets and steam, in addition to full protection from dust. Our biggest concern with Motorola’s budget phones is how much bloatware they come with — be prepared to opt out and uninstall a bunch of stuff you never asked for.
- The Samsung Galaxy S25 FE is another perfectly capable phone that doesn’t quite earn a recommendation here. It’s a little outside the scope of this guide at $649 anyway (although you can sometimes pick it up at a discount), but you do get a telephoto lens and a nice, big screen for that price. Still, you’re better off saving a bunch and picking up the Pixel 10A or trying to score a trade-in promo for the newer Galaxy S26.
- The Samsung Galaxy A57 recently launched in the US with a starting price of $549, up $50 from the year before. The device has all the makings of a solid midrange phone, including a 6.7-inch OLED display, a 50-megapixel main camera, an Exynos 1680 chip, and a 5,000mAh battery with 45W wired charging. It’s thinner than its A56 predecessor and has been upgraded to IP68 protection, too. Although we haven’t tested it yet, it faces stiff competition from the Pixel 10A, which starts at $499.
- The Samsung Galaxy A37 5G is another great choice that’s available in the US for $449. The device sports a big OLED display, an Exynos 1480 processor, and an IP68 rating for water and dust resistance. Samsung is promising six years of OS and security updates, which is a lot for a phone in this price range. While we haven’t tested the A37 5G, its predecessor offered a good balance of hardware and price, and the latest release sounds just as compelling.
- TCL’s Nxtpaper 70 Pro recently went on sale in the US, though it’s exclusive to T-Mobile and Metro. Its main selling point is its 6.9-inch Nxtpaper 4.0 matte LCD screen, which is supposed to be easier on your eyes than a traditional LCD. It also features a “Max Ink Mode,” which turns the screen monochrome and silences notifications, plus somewhat higher specs than its predecessor.
Senior reviewer Allison Johnson also contributed to this post.