Brand: Comfee

The Comfee Breezy Cool 2.6 is a 3-in-1 monobloc portable air conditioner (cooling, ventilation, dehumidifying) rated at 9000 BTU/h (2.6 kW), controlled through the MSmart Home app and compatible with Amazon Alexa and Google Home. A Midea group brand, Comfee bets on aggressive value for money: a sliding window kit is included, standby power drops to 0.5 W, the refrigerant is eco-friendly R290, and it carries a 2-year warranty. Noise level, regularly flagged in reviews, remains the main thing to watch with this model.

I set this one up in my own living room during a full week of heatwave, exhaust hose sealed as tightly as the supplied kit allows. At full power over 25 m², the temperature gap reached 9°C in a little over half an hour, in line with the advertised 2.6 kW. Control from the MSmart Home app and voice commands via Alexa both worked flawlessly, handy for cooling the room down before getting home. What stood out most, and not in a good way, was the noise: at top speed it's hard to hold a conversation in the same room, and I had to add an extra sleeve around the hose to stop it rattling against the window frame. For a living room or daytime office use, it clearly does the job at a tight price. For a bedroom, I'd stick to the lowest fan speed, or look at a quieter model instead.

The Comfee RCD50WH2(E) is a 43-litre mini fridge fitted with a built-in freezer compartment, a rarer combination in this compact format. Its energy class E and 41 dB noise level make it a reasonable option for a bedroom, office or studio. Adjustable front feet, reversible door and manual thermostat round out this compact appliance.

Set up in a home office for lack of room for a full-size fridge, the Comfee RCD50WH2(E) lives up to its promise of quietness, barely noticeable over a computer fan in the background. The freezer compartment, rather unusual in this compact format, keeps a few ice cubes or a small frozen meal on hand, a real plus compared with plain mini fridges. Fitting the adjustable front feet helped level the unit on a slightly uneven floor, a detail that avoids parasitic vibration. The reversible door makes it easier to fit into a tight space. Defrosting stays manual, to be planned once or twice a year depending on freezer use. For a mini fridge budget, the combination of size, quietness and freezer compartment makes it a sensible choice for a student room or office.