The Best Wearable Cooling Devices (That Aren't Neck Fans)

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Summer is coming, and it's heating up fast, which means if you want to stay cool, you're going to have to get a little creative. Those neck-style fans are popular, but since they blow existing air — they don't cool it — your mileage will vary. Here in hot, humid Florida, where I live, they're pretty much useless, especially at theme parks. They just blow hot air on you. But there's a new lineup of wearable cooling devices that go above and beyond. They're much more chill.

Essentially, the first is a wearable air conditioner delivering 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 down, measuring when to kick on through internal sensors. You're meant to wear it on the back of your neck under your shirt or jacket. It also has smart modes for automation, to keep you cool or warm when it's needed, and a responsive mobile app. Although it's not yet available in the U.S., the current price is £199. Shark's Chillpill for $150 incorporates a fan with a misting function and a metal "cryo" plate for quick cooling — both better than simple neck fans.

But there are also unique options like the Embr Wave smart band, or the FlexiFreeze personal cooling vest. The vest is straightforward. You freeze the ice cubes inside and don the vest to keep your body temperature down without restricting movement. The Embr Wave, however, is much more interesting. It's a USB-C-powered wrist device that sends either hot or cold waves to your skin.

Instead of cooling an entire space like a conventional air conditioner, many of these wearable devices are designed to direct the cooling to a small area of the body and stimulate thermoregulation in the brain. Thermoregulation is how your body balances its temperature. When your brain senses an increase or decrease in internal temperatures, it reacts in various ways. For example, it might activate sweat glands, increasing the body's natural sweating to reduce heat. Wearables can help influence this process to cool you down or, when it's cold, warm you up a little. It works similarly to the U.S. Army's simple cool-down technique in sweltering heat. Submerging your forearms in cold water or an ice bath lowers core body temperature.

Embr Wave generates cooling sensations by moving heat away from your skin in waves, stimulating "temperature-sensitive nerves." That "triggers a natural mind-body comfort response," making you feel cooler. 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 how your body reacts to temperatures. The "cryo" plate portion of the Shark ChillPill works like this, as well.

The effects will largely be subjective and vary from person to person because everyone's body regulates temperature differently. But the Shark ChillPill proposes a 16-degree drop in seconds on contact with your skin from the freezing plate. That's not verified, but if it can achieve that, it's not hard to imagine the personal AC or Embr Wave seeing similar results. Honestly, it beats using the most bizarre idea ever to cool off in a heat wave: yogurt windows.

The issue with most neck fans is that they simply move the existing air, pulling it from the surrounding area, which, if the air is already hot and humid, won't help cool your body down. But that doesn't necessarily mean all fans are out of the equation. The Shark ChillPill is a great tie-in there with its misting function and cooling plate. The actual coolness or colder temperatures of those interactions can help you feel better.

Dyson's new wearable gadget, the Hushjet Mini Cool, might be another contender. It doesn't have any 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's also super quiet and comes with configurable attachments. You can wear it around your neck, hold it in your hands, or stand it up on a desktop with a detachable base. The HushJet Mini is also affordable at $100 when it's in stock.