We really needed another source of cooling in our place. If you are expecting it to cool down an entire room then you are expecting too much. But it does amazing in small areas. You can really feel the cold air coming out.

What helps this work better is adding ice cubes and freezing the filter. We also bought a spare filter to swap them in and out of the unit to freezer. It helps make things way cooler. It definitely helps and it helps with the dry hot spring/summer air.

We also bought a plastic tray to keep under it to collect any dripping water. We haven't noticed too much leakage, but adding water or ice can make it a messy area. So it's always good to just have something under it to keep any spillage contained.

Is it worth the price? Probably. I hate spending money on things that don't work, and it has honestly helped take the bite out of the high temperature days, so that saves money.

Thought it would cool a small bedroom, it did not, it does work ok on my office desk as a personal fan.
Would not purchase again.

This is a DAY ONE review, based entirely on first-impression and how great (or not great) this product has been in the past 12-hours!

Got this thing FINALLY after waiting several days past normal. Who ever thought ordering one of these things during the middle of summer would have made me a victim of supply and demand? ANYWAYS, can't knock a star for waiting for stock! But I was excited to finally open my Arctic Air Portable AC and give it a whirl.

First impressions: this thing is SMALL. It's a cute kind of small though! Very ergonomic, very "future"-looking with the white and the grey and black. VERY simple to use! One button turns it on and cycles the speed, the other cycles through the LED/night light and eventually just turns it off. The front grate has a little slide that let's you re-direct up and down, and also let's you pull out to reveal a tray where the "filter" is.

The filter isn't so much as for the air as to actually provide the "AC" for you. You ABSOLUTELY NEED to wet and freeze this thing, AS PER THE INSTRUCTIONS (which are super simple, comes tacked to the side of this thing, and in a small little packet). I let mine freeze over as much as freezing gets before loading it up.

At the top is a small lip that opens up and let's you fill with water. I used bottled water (I buy loads and loads of it), and one 16 oz. bottle nearly fills the reservoir to the "max" tab. On high, this thing SUCKS UP water! It's also fairly loud and in an irritating kind of way; the noise is almost industrial. Medium sounds much more like a fan, with low very nice and quiet. Medium-setting blows nicely, low is negligible.

Now, does it feel like an AC? Meh, not sure about THAT... But is it comfortable? YES IT IS!! With a completely frozen filter and cold, bottled water, the cool air that blows out is VERY, VERY COOL. Set on my desk next to my monitor and pointed at me like I would a normal desk fan, I feel extremely comfortable in my basement office (a converted room that is not connected to the house AC).

Under these circumstances (frozen filter, cold water), the Arctic Air Portable AC is pretty great! No leaks, no muss, no fuss. Works as advertised! Simple to use! I wouldn't use it in place of an AC or any appreciable room fan, but for personal comfort? Maybe taking it camping and you have a power source with you? Absolutely!

I bought a discounted "damaged box/packaging" that was about 4 or 5 bucks cheaper and I admit I only bought it because a new one would not be shipped till the end of next month so the "damaged packaging" order would be received in less than a week, and it arrived within 5-6 days. It works and I actually had to lower the high setting to medium because I got little too cold. It blows cool air on you if you position it right. I put directly next to my bed and even put a box underneath to raise it high enough with a towel underneath to catch any condensation.
I would recommend this item.
I am not sure how long it will last for a nice 8 hr sleep in bed. It did well with a 4.5 hr sleep before getting ready for work. It did exactly what I needed, let me keep my AC at higher temp so I can sleep well with a cool breeze but not have to use a ceiling fan that can affect my allergies. So far so good.
I did notice that packaging was damaged on the bottom and I could see condensation dry marks on the vents and so I am pretty sure this was a returned used item and not just a damaged packaging. It is plastic so I just applied some disinfectant to everything just in case and first soaking of the filter I added disinfectant to the water I soaked it in.
4 stars for now since I'm not sure how long it will last for a long sleepy time in bed.

First lets start with its environment:
In a bedroom/home office that doesn't really have great air conditioning.
The unit is in a perfect spot for pulling air in and has clearance on all sides.
I am a DIY guy who will fix up computers and who has a basic understanding of how cooling systems work.
I dismantled the unit and replaced some parts, so I will not want a replacement and I will not ask for a refund, this is being chalked up as a learning experience, and I hope the manufacturer will take notes from this.

Positives:
Its filter is easy to remove and does a good task of catching large particles of water so you don't get sprayed on. (and contrary to others saying its not cooling down, it says on the side of the unit and on top of the filter to get it wet, and freeze it. "pro" tip, get the filter completely wet, and freeze it, get a regular 16 oz water bottle, fill it up with water, and place it in the fridge for as long as you need, my case in the morning, i wet the filter and fill the bottle, and when i get home from work say six hours later, its fine. the tank will hold the entire capacity of the bottle.)
The lighting can be turned on and off which is nice for when you want to sleep and not have blue light.

Negatives:
The poorly thought out design of the 12 volt 120 mm PC case fan inside the case is not at all efficient, and at the highest setting, it will make bearing whine. I use a headset with microphone, while the mist isn't aimed directly at me, the whine of the fan, can be heard through my headset. my mic does a great job canceling it out, but my ears can pick it up, even in a meeting or listening to music.
The atomizer (the thing that's a small silver disk in the tank that makes the mist) is a good idea on paper, but if you wanted to make it work, you don't have your driver circuit cut voltage to it, either have it on, or have it off. It will just weep out water, plus this is most likely where everyone who is having the leaking issues started.
The power circuit, it simply takes in the 5 volts from the barrel jack (which could have just used micro USB, mini USB type b, or even just had the barrel plug to USB cable), splits it to the led half and the the other half steps it up for the atomizer and fan to 12 volts. (Now that's fantastic, I love the step up circuit being used in low ended electronics, that is tech you wont really find in other products).

Now I said earlier I had taken it apart, I just changed out the fan to a 3 pin 12 volt 120 mm size computer case fan. DOING THIS WILL VOID ANY CHANCE OF RETURNING IT. I knew that the second I took the screws out so I know I can't return it, and I know I will not be now that it is quieter, and has a higher CFM.

In the end, its not a horrible item, it does the job out of the box, but there was some room for improvement, hence why I did those modifications to mine.
If you follow the manual, wash the filter, keep it ventilated, and freeze the filter, you should be fine.