If you’re unlucky enough to live somewhere in the world that’s experiencing heatwaves and record high temperatures, you’re probably very tired of it at this point. Blistering temperatures aren’t fun whether you’re inside or outside, but without proper AC equipment, it’s tricky to manage either way.

If you’re looking for something to help make that a little easier over the coming summer months, EcoFlow has hopped into the market with a distinctly powerful portable air conditioner unit in the EcoFlow Wave. This little gadget complements EcoFlow’s existing ecosystem of portable power for living off the grid, camping, or just securing solid power backups in case of emergencies.

The EcoFlow Wave works all on its own, however, promising intense cooling in a portable package. But is it worth its premium price tag? Let’s find out.

The Wave, much like its bigger EcoFlow DELTA cousin, is a pretty big device. It’s something you throw in the trunk or garage, not your bag.

But that design houses some impressive hardware. At a 4000BTU rating it’s the most powerful AC unit in its size, with EcoFlow’s own findings saying it’ll cool a 64 square foot room down by about 10 degree Fahrenheit. This is all achieved with an inverted compressor and a design that redirects condensation to evaporation coils inside the unit to keep everything cool. This also means you won’t typically have to drain excess water from humidity like other standing AC units.

Otherwise, it’s a pretty simple design that’s mostly covered in vents and intakes. The back of the Wave is all exhaust (which is also where your warm air will be dispersed to; plan accordingly) and the front houses the control panel, a couple buttons, and a dial for controlling everything.

Since all the Wave does is cool things down, the controls for it are pretty simple. There are a few buttons for turning it on and off, setting a timer, adjusting the temperature, and connecting it to your WiFi network. The dial controls actually setting those degrees/minutes, but otherwise, there’s not much here. Less is more, though, and it works very well.

It’s a pretty heavy unit, too. Not quite as heavy as the EcoFlow DELTA, and you won’t want to move it around while it’s running, but it’s not something you’ll want to reposition twice a day.

EcoFlow prides itself on making its devices work well, but also work with your smart home. You can pair up the Wave to your WiFi network and control it from your phone. This includes checking battery levels, changing desired temperature and fan speed, and choosing different cooling modes.

The flexibility here is nice, but it does seem to lack some features that would really elevate it as a smart device. You can set a timer within the app, but you can’t schedule it to turn on at certain times. Being able to gradually decrease or increase the temperature to conserve power would also be useful, although the eco mode on the AC tries to extend battery life by intelligently managing the cooling.

It’s also pretty flakey in connection speeds, and there were many instances where mine would default to Bluetooth instead of WiFi connections. That’s definitely fine for outdoor usage, but Bluetooth is much slower than a WiFi connection and was noticeable in indoor spaces.

As far as the cooling goes, the EcoFlow Wave does a very good job at what it says on the box. It’s not the cheapest 4000BTU AC around by a long shot, but you can plug this thing in, push a couple buttons, and immediately start to feel the temperature dropping in 10 to 15 minutes.

EcoFlow says the Wave is best suited for smaller areas like campers, RVs, and small rooms, which is definitely true. But I ran the unit pretty extensively in my living room, which features tall ceilings, an open floor plan, and more than enough heat-emitting gadgets. The Wave could still pretty easily keep the center of the room chilly and noticeably dropped the entire room by a few degrees.

In a smaller bedroom, or something more straightforward like an RV, it’s a champ. EcoFlow even includes attachable vents to expel hot air so you could run this more like a traditional AC unit that redirects hot air outside but keeps an enclosed space cool, making this an incredibly dynamic gadget to bring on a camping trip. Or, hey, maybe you just want to cool your room down to 60 degrees at night when it’s 101 outside. I’m not judging.

Don’t expect it to pull down temperatures on extraordinarily hot days when you’re filling a room full of people for a house party or anything, but for just trying to take the edge off of summer or as a travel companion, you’ll have no complaints.

Additionally, you can hook this up to the EcoFlow Delta for an extra 12 hours of battery life and runtime over the built-in 3 hours. EcoFlow also sells a battery that works just with the Wave and conveniently clips on the bottom to double that to 6 hours, so you’ve got plenty of options for keeping this running reliably wherever you are. It’s still compatible with EcoFlow’s solar panels and everything, too.

Much like the EcoFlow DELTA, the real question isn’t whether or not the Wave does a good job, but whether or not you’re willing to pay the $1499 for it.

It’s not going to win any value awards, since you can get AC units much more powerful for a fraction of the cost. But you also don’t need to worry about installation, finding suitable windows or access to outdoor areas, and being able to run totally off the grid or in a power outage. There are certainly trade-offs either way.

For what it does and how effectively it does it, I like the EcoFlow Wave a lot. Cutting out headaches and being able to pick up and go is worth something, and despite some clunky smart features, the Wave still delivers on what it sets out to do.

Born in southern Alabama, Jared spends his working time selling phones and his spare time writing about them. The Android enthusiasm started with the original Motorola Droid, but the tech enthusiasm currently covers just about everything. He likes PC gaming, Lenovo's Moto Z line, and a good productivity app.