What's a good compact, silent desk fan for an office?

[ambuletz]

As above.
I'm after a small fan to use at work (office environment up high, so can't open windows).

Requirements.
- fairly inexpensive (£20 or less)
- Szie:smallish. not a tiny usb fan but likewise not a large basic desk/table fan. something in between.
doesn't have to be mega powerful. But I'm not looking for a full sized 'desk fan.
- silent (or extremely quiet so as not to disturb)
- can be mains or USB powered.
+ I don't want one that clips onto the edge of a desk.


I know that there's tons of cheapish USb fans you can get all over amazon/ebay but you've no idea how quiet they really are, some of them have tiny blades with high rpm that make lots of noise and barely push much air to you.

Anyone own any worth a mention?

Edited by ambuletz on Thursday 12th April 19:41

[zygalski]

https://www.maplin.co.uk/p/4-inch-usb-desk-fan-a56...
Pretty much silent & quite a good amount of air chucked out.

[Monty Python]

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Fancii-Small-Personal-USB...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/SENPAIC-Table-Speed-Quiet...

Edited by Monty Python on Wednesday 17th January 08:41

[Lazermilk]

zygalski said:

https://www.maplin.co.uk/p/4-inch-usb-desk-fan-a56...
Pretty much silent & quite a good amount of air chucked out.

I got one very similar to this and it was a bit too noisy for my office, so found another in a local maplin type shop here in Austria, its basically a PC fan on a bendy arm (Arctic make them)

Mine is very similar to this and almost silent (Mine has a USB hub on the base but apart from that looks the same), not too powerful but perfect for what I wanted. its been running most days for at least a year and works as good as it did when I got it. Gets good reviews on Amazon too.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/ARCTIC-Breeze-Flexible-Ad...

[Esders]

I have one of the SENPAIC ones mentioned above. I like it. On the low speed it is quiet. On the high speed it is noisier but still acceptable bearing in mind how effective it is.

The logo had to be covered over with something more PH appropriate though.

Edited by Esders on Wednesday 17th January 13:37

[Esders]

I also mounted it sideways on the wall! Stupid phone / user error.

[parabolica]

Bought one of these a few years ago and it was perfect; still runs fine today. One of those rare, inexpensive and now indispensable purchases from Amazon.

[Jonny_]

I bought a Prem-I-Air 6 inch USB fan a few years ago, given the limitations of a USB supply it produces a pretty decent breeze and is quiet as well. Gets used daily in summer, hasn’t broken yet! Well under a tenner on eBay IIRC.

Now if someone can find me a decent quality mains powered desk fan, I’ll be impressed.

(and FFS don’t suggest a Dyson, they’re comically overpriced, noisy, flimsy, stupid looking piles of trendy ste! )

[zygalski]

Lazermilk said:

I got one very similar to this and it was a bit too noisy for my office...

Strange. My one's virtually silent.

[gr1340]

I got this in 2016 and it’s not bad. Gives a fairly decent blow on the highest setting and the selling point is it also has a battery inside so you be portable if required.
BestFire Upgraded Portable Rechargeable Electric Personal Fans USB Powered 2-modes Speed Adjustable Double Blades Mini Desktop Fan Cooling Fan for PC Laptop Notebook (Black) https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01E5D10EC/ref=cm_sw_r...

This also looks good, great reviews:
Fancii Small Personal USB Fan - Portable Mini Table Desk Fan with Twin Turbo Blades, Whisper Quiet Cyclone Air Circulating Technology - For Home, Office, Outdoor Travel https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B072DSHKCH/ref=cm_sw_r...

[Lazermilk]

zygalski said:

Lazermilk said:

I got one very similar to this and it was a bit too noisy for my office...

Strange. My one's virtually silent.

Mine wasn't the exact one you linked, it just looked very similar, so probably different internals I guess. It wasn't loud but just a little too much for office use.

[ambuletz]

Bumping this for two reasons.

1- I still haven't bought one.
2- it's meant to get very warm next week.

Willing to bump the price up to perhaps £30. Unfortunately Maplin doesn't seem to sell any at the moment.

[parabolica]

In fairness Maplin isn't selling much of anything at the moment

I'd reiterate my suggestion ( this) - just had to buy a replacement after I squashed the original and for a few quid it's great.

[ambuletz]

is that one metal or plastic? is it the same design as shown? I only ask 'cos some of the pictures below that owners have submitted seems to show different designs. some reviews suggest that it's not that powerful...

I'm willing to go for something mains operated too.

Edited by ambuletz on Thursday 12th April 19:05

Edited by ambuletz on Thursday 12th April 19:06

[drab1]

I have one from John Lewis. It has 2 speed settings, both are quiet enough; it's been used in an open plan office for around 2 years and never had any complaints.

It works over usb but comes with an adaptor to be plugged into a mains socket too.

[Lazermilk]

https://www.amazon.co.uk/ARCTIC-Breeze-Flexible-Ad...

I would still recommend one of these, made by PC fan makers so should be built to last, mine certainly has lasted a long time so far and shows no signs of losing power or dying yet.
4.5 star reviews out of 500+ people on amazon

[ambuletz]

thanks for the suggestions guys, I did shortlist a couple of them. In the end I've ended up buying this one.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/iSPECLE-Portable-Comforta...

Should be arriving tuesday, will report back once I have it on how I feel about it. Picked it mainly cos I just like the look of it and although not many people have reviewed it, the reviews are postive. It doesn't look like some of the fans mentioned which are heavily copied by different sellers and a label stuck onto it.

[GeordieSPG]

ambuletz said:

thanks for the suggestions guys, I did shortlist a couple of them. In the end I've ended up buying this one.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/iSPECLE-Portable-Comforta...

Should be arriving tuesday, will report back once I have it on how I feel about it. Picked it mainly cos I just like the look of it and although not many people have reviewed it, the reviews are postive. It doesn't look like some of the fans mentioned which are heavily copied by different sellers and a label stuck onto it.

How is it then? I could do with a new fan for desk.

[ambuletz]

It's not bad. It does the job.

its all made of plastic, but not super cheap plastic, somewhere in between. It's a gentle enough breeze to keep you cool (i'm in a large office building, no windows but some air0=-con). I place mine beyond arms legnth, right at the edge of my desk. there is a little noise but it's not much different to other fans, same goes for strength, not much different. Buy it if you like the asthetic otherwise if you want to buy one of the other ones because they cost less you wont be missing out on performance.

It's nowhere near as strong as a mains operated one, a colleague of mine has one that clamps onto the edge of your desk and that on its lowest setting is more powerful and has a bigger blade. They don't cost much more either.


If you want a different looking usb fan to your colleagues, sure, get it.
If you want to spend less then get the many others out there that'll do the same job.
if you want more power, and have a little more space then consider a mains powered one.

[ambuletz]

Reviving this thread because ...

- it might be useful for people coming into summer this year
- i want to think about getting another/different fan.

for my sake, can anyone recommend? I've had that iSpecle one for a year. it's ok. but if the office is very hot (and no aircon is on) it's not that useful. last summer i sometimes found myself nicking a colleagues mains-powered fan for an hour (until he comes into work) to cool me down so that i can use my desk one.

I'm now of the view that I'd probably like something mains powered. a large blade on low setting will keep me ice cool. One thing i used to do with my colleagues fan was I would have it on 1 side of me, and angle it sideways, that way i could cool myself and someone next to me. My colleagues fan clipped onto the edge of the desk, I think i'd prefer one that sits on the desk.

- large blade (but not large in size)
- mains powereed (for more oomph)
- not noisy.