Best Air Conditioner: 8 Window, U-Shaped, and Portable Units Tested for Noise and Cooling

Eight air conditioners were bought and installed one after another in the same 37-inch window: four conventional window units, two U-shaped window units and two portables on wheels. Each was assembled and fitted with the hardware in its own box, then checked for seal quality with a compact blower and a tissue held against the shutters. The measurements that followed were noise at 4 feet in front of the unit on both cooling settings, noise at 4 feet behind the window, discharge air temperature with a calibrated thermometer after roughly fifteen minutes of running, wattage on both cooling settings and both fan speeds, air speed at the vent, and weight.

The U-shaped designs justified their reputation. The Midea and the GE Profile both measured 37.8 dB on low cool against 58.4 dB for the cheapest window unit, a gap of more than 20 dB on a logarithmic scale, and the GE Profile went on to record 43.4 dB on high cool while every conventional window unit sat between 56.1 and 59.8. Cold air, by contrast, separated almost nobody: seven of the eight delivered between 47.2 and 50.8°F, so noise, efficiency and installation fit are what actually distinguish these machines.

The Midea took the best average finish of the group and it earned it on the measurement that separates air conditioners most: noise. It read 37.8 dB on low cool and 45.8 dB on high, 14 to 21 dB below the conventional window units on the low setting and 10 to 14 dB below on the high one, and 56.7 dB from outside, the only unit that finished near the top both indoors and out. It also drew 380 W on low cool and just over 6 W as a fan, the lowest fan draw of the group by a factor of four, and its U-shaped body leaves the window able to open above it. The trade-offs are real but small: 48 lb, a support bracket that has to be fitted to the window, about 25 minutes to install, and the softest airflow here at 9.1 mph. The GE Profile is the other U-shaped unit and finished second with an average of 2.3, beating the Midea on high cool at 43.4 dB and on discharge temperature at 47.3°F. Two things push it below the Midea: 66.8 dB outdoors, the loudest reading of the eight, and 70 lb on the scale.

For a portable, the Black+Decker is the pick at $260. It produced the coldest air of the entire test at 47.2°F, moved the most air at 17.4 mph, and at 49.2 dB on low cool it is quieter indoors than any of the conventional window units. The DREO costs $129 more, has the better-made window kit and is the quietest of all at the exhaust at 53.9 dB, which is worth something if the window faces a patio, but its discharge air measured 53.8°F against the Black+Decker's 47.2. Under $200 the LG is the clear choice over the other two budget units: 51.7 dB on low cool against 55.9 for the Garvee and 58.4 for the Amazon Basics, the lowest low-cool draw of anything here at 304 W, 49.2°F air, 14 mph of airflow and the lightest weight in the group at 32 lb, with accordion shutters that sealed noticeably better than either rival's.

Two things are worth carrying into a purchase. The first is that advertised noise ratings do not survive contact with a meter: the claims on these units run from 32 to 56 dB and the measured low cool readings run from 37.8 to 58.4, with the Windmill claiming 49 dB and reading 52.4 and the DREO claiming 45 and reading 50.9. Compare measured figures, not box copy. The second is that a portable buys mobility with running cost and window fit. Both portables drew around 700 to 732 W against 304 to 546 W for the window units, and on this window casing the sash stood proud by about an inch and fouled the exhaust hose connection on the slider kit for both of them, needing tape and extra foam to seal. Where a window unit will fit and stay put, it is the cheaper machine to run; where it will not, the Black+Decker is the one to get.