The 6 Best Window Air Conditioners to Fend Off the Late-Summer Heat

The biggest problem with most window units is the installation. The second and third, respectively, are the noise level and the way it looks. While it may sound funky, this style of AC is made to solve all those issues. What you get from the U-Shaped air conditioner is near silence. The shape allows the hot side to sit fully behind your window, so it functions more like a built-in unit—one you can’t hear as much. On top of that, Midea has one of the best inverter systems out there. Instead of cutting on and off over and over, this unit does a great job of getting your room cool and maintaining temperature with the fan at a lower speed. So yes, it’s efficient too.

And on top of all that, the shape of this unit actually allows you to slightly open your window. You obviously can't throw it wide open, but on those days when it's nice enough to not run the air conditioner, you can crack the window and catch a breeze. The 8,000 BTUs is perfect for a larger bedroom or office space, but may wind up being small for a living room. You can buy it in 10,000 and 12,000 BTU versions for something more suitable.

LG’s window air conditioners are admittedly on the expensive side, but they tend to have it all. Quiet and energy-efficient dual inverter cooling, an app that’s worth its salt (plus a dedicated remote), and included parts for a quick, easy install, you’ll find it all here. It’s got a dry mode and a fan mode too, and a light will go on whenever you need to clean the filter so the guesswork is taken out of the equation.

When it comes to the smart functionality, you pretty much get the same stuff here as with the Windmill. But the way we see it, LG’s ThinQ app is part of a larger ecosystem, so it’s likely to be supported as the years go on and better tech is made. If longevity is your primary concern, LG is one of your best bets.

Not to beat a dead horse here, but Windmill was a favorite brand of ours even before the sleek new redesign of the 2.0 models with LED lights and all that. Case in point right here. This older Windmill unit is still for sale on Amazon and it’s smaller than the smallest unit the brand currently manufactures and only slightly less powerful. You can get it for under $200 on Amazon and it will still cool off a room well, and connect to the Windmill app so you can still control the unit from anywhere you’re on WiFi.

The only real downside here is the sound level. The product description compares the average noise output to a “light rainfall” and frankly, well, it could be quieter. We are trying to sleep here after all.

If you want something that can efficiently cool off a large room in a matter of minutes, Hisense has one of the better (and more affordable) options. While it doesn’t offer that sleek minimal front that the Windmill and U-shaped Midea unit do, this is definitely one of the more good-looking options that still has a more "old-school" look. But you will forget about the style when you hear its features. Let’s start with the LED display, smart app integration, and a washable filter that will save you on buying replacements. And at 12,000 BTUs, it can cool rooms over 500 square feet.

What makes it really stand out: There are three different running modes. There’s a cooling (the obvious AC) mode, a fan feature, and even a dehumidifier. The dehumidifier is perfect for those in hot and sticky climates. We especially love the fan feature though, because sometimes that’s all you need.