NewAir AF-310 review

The NewAir AF-310 is an unobtrusive swamp cooler that performs best in small spaces.

NewAir AF-310 review
(Image: © Amazon)

Top Ten Reviews Verdict

The NewAir AF-310 portable swamp cooler is an efficient and affordable option that is best suited to smaller, indoor spaces.

Pros

  • +

    Energy efficient

  • +

    Compact

  • +

    Can take ice

Cons

  • -

    Small tank size

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The NewAir AF-310 is a slimline and unobtrusive swamp cooler that can squeeze into small rooms and do a great job of keeping them cool. This cooler is not the best option for large or outdoor spaces, but it’s more than adequate for indoor spaces under 100 square feet and as a budget model, it’s also the cheapest in our best portable swamp coolers list.

It’s also one of the better looking portable swamp coolers on the market, so you can cool your room in style. The NewAir AF-310 also comes with a great range of features that aren’t always available in more expensive models.

NewAir AF-310 portable swamp cooler: Pricing and value 

At around $116, the NewAir AF-310 portable swamp cooler sits towards the budget end of the market. For such an inexpensive model, it’s not really surprising that it’s a bit short on cooling power. The Honeywell CO610PM portable swamp cooler can cover 850 square feet, but it’s also about three times as expensive as the NewAir AF-310. 

But while this portable swamp cooler lacks power, it packs in extra features designed to make it even more useful in small areas. It has a range of control options and a remote to enable you to adjust settings without returning to the cooler itself. Overall, this is a good value option for small spaces.

NewAir AF-310 portable swamp cooler: Features 

The NewAir AF-310 portable swamp cooler is an affordable, energy-efficient evaporative air cooler that’s designed to squeeze into small spaces. It produces an airflow of 320 cubic feet per minute (CFM), which enables it to cool areas of up to 100 square feet. While this is on the small side, it does manage to cool a lot of indoor rooms just fine. 

It’s tank size is also small, only holding one gallon of water, but it does have a water-level detector that lets you know when you need to refill the tank. The control panel is clear and easy-to-use and the included remote control is a great touch that enables you to adjust the cooler’s output from across the room. There’s a sleep mode as well as a 7.5 hour timer so you can customize your cooling setup.

The cooler works as a fan when the evaporative cooling option is disabled and there are a range of cooling options. There are three fan options as well as three different cooling modes and you can also select an oscillating fan mode. This is a particularly good selection of cooling options in a budget swamp cooler.

The NewAir AF-310 is light on energy-use too. It consumes about the same energy as a lightbulb, so it won’t have much of an impact on your energy bills. 

NewAir AF-310 review

(Image credit: Amazon)

NewAir AF-310 portable swamp cooler: User reviews 

The NewAir AF-310 scores an average rating of 3.4 out of 5 with users on Amazon. A lot of users think it’s great, reporting that it cools their rooms better than expected and mostly report that it’s not too noisy at all.

However, there are quite a few reviews reporting either leakages or that the evaporative feature doesn’t seem to be working for them. There are some suggestions that these problems could be due to more humid climates where the cooler is unable to add more moisture into the air, or that the water and ice filling feature is being incorrectly used. Either way, it’s worth noting that a number of users are experiencing this problem. 

Those that don’t experience the above problems are really impressed with the fan, the cooling power is highly praised, while the fan oscillation is also commended a number of times, although one reviewer noted that the oscillating only applies to the louvers and not the whole fan so it doesn’t cover a very wide area.

Overall, reviews are really split. Those that haven’t experienced problems with the evaporative features love the NewAir AF-310 portable swamp cooler, those that have tend to comment that it’s a 'glorified fan'.

Should you buy the NewAir AF-310 portable swamp cooler? 

The NewAir AF-310 is a portable swamp cooler best suited to small indoor spaces and, while no swamp cooler is designed for humid areas, this one may struggle more than most in climates that aren’t hot and dry. But, if you need something more cooling than a fan for the odd room or two in your house, this budget option could serve you well.

For larger spaces, or better reliability, check out the Frigidaire FEC1K7GA00 portable swamp cooler. It will put a bit more of a dent in your pocket, but it can also offer much more cooling power.

Stevie Keen
Contributor

Stevie is a freelance digital consultant, copywriter and photographer. She's worked for brands like the Radio Times and Wallpaper*, and has also written for Amateur Photographer, Clash Magazine and Flash Pack, amongst others. Stevie's bylines cover all things related to the home - from air conditioning units to refrigerators to gas grills (and everything in between).