I tried Shark's $150 ChillPill—and the cold metal plate is the best part

The Shark ChillPill 3-in-1 can be a fan, mister, and cooling plate, all in a hand-held size. This portable cooling solution is built for indoor and outdoor use, so it can be used at home, the gym, or an outdoor festival.

Even before summer arrives, Southern California’s constant heat waves have allowed me to see what this device is all about. Its high price might be a deterrent, but in terms of cleverness, the Shark ChillPill delivers in nearly every way.

The best part is the cooling plate

The fan attachment might be the most boring one, but it’s probably the most practical. At its highest speed, it can push up to 25 feet per second. That’s enough to visibly move your hair. It’s easy to feel from an arm’s length. Since the ChillPill twists, it can sit on a table and point the airflow at your face. 

The dry-touch evaporative mist is definitely the most visual cooling method. It’ll shoot several inches, but shouldn’t soak anything in front of it, like your face. The small reservoir holds about 10 minutes' worth of misting.

When I first saw the ChillPill, I was the least interested in the “cryo-inspired” cooling plate. However, after trying it, it’s the one I like the most. Shark advertises that it can lower skin temperature by 16 degrees Fahrenheit. It’s hard to check that specific claim, but the plate is super chilly.

It feels like always having an ice cube at the ready. None of the attachments are silent as they pull in air or push it out. But the cooling plate is the quietest. So, it can likely be used in most places. It’s not only my favorite, but my teenage daughter confirmed she liked it the most, too.

The downfalls of the ChillPill

Each of the ChillPill’s three functions works just fine. It doesn’t have a weak spot in terms of one of its attachments. More so, the pitfalls revolve around noise and duration. The fan can move a decent amount of air, but it also makes a fair amount of noise to achieve that.

The noise is the loudest with the fan, but it isn’t limited to the fan attachment. You can hear the motor working for the cooling plate and mist. It would be tough to use the fan at higher speeds in an office or school. It would likely be a distraction. The noise is less of a concern outdoors or in busy, loud environments like a gym. 

While I like the mist attachment, it’s definitely my least favorite. Again, the misting itself works fine, it’s the ancillary part that makes it less attractive. The water capacity can provide about 10 minutes of use which doesn’t feel like much when you are trying to cool down. It can also be a little tricky to fill with water.

The battery life for the ChillPill can be great at 11 hours, at the lowest settings. But boosted to the max settings, the battery life can drop to 1.5 hours. It’ll take 3.5 hours to get it back to a full charge. How important these aspects are will depend on where you plan on using the ChillPill or how often.

Is the Shark ChillPill worth buying?

The Shark ChillPill 3-in-1 is a great little cooling device. It can be stashed in a purse or backpack and taken nearly anywhere. The twisting feature that allows it to be propped up on a table makes it even more versatile. 

The ChillPill is about as easy to use as possible. Whether it’s a feature or not, there’s no Bluetooth or connectivity to a mobile app.

The hardest part of the ChillPill to swallow is its $150 retail price. You’ll want to have a very specific use in mind that will keep you using the device regularly to get some value out of it. However, to save a few bucks, Costco has a 2-in-1 version without the mist for $129. In my opinion, the fan and the cooling plate are the two best attachments anyway.