I first saw the Shark ChillPill on social media and thought it looked like a pretty interesting little gadget to try. Taking it out to the golf course on a warm day seemed like the right way to put it through its paces, because the ChillPill has three different ways of cooling you down: a high-speed fan, a mister, and a chilling plate that makes direct contact with your skin. You can’t use all three at once, which is a little disappointing, but I was curious to see how each one worked in the heat.
Unboxing the Shark ChillPill
The box has plenty of pictures of the ChillPill, but the more interesting stuff is inside. You get the mister attachment, the cooling plate, a couple of small foam pieces that Shark calls water wicks, a USB cable, a magnetic wrist strap, and the instructions.
There’s a charging port on the device, and the power switch slides down and turns green when it’s on. The fan is straightforward to use: press the button and you can adjust its speed and strength. It goes all the way up to 10, although sadly there’s no 11.
The cooling plate gets cold fast
The cooling plate was the first attachment I wanted to try. There’s a fan underneath the plate, so you can actually feel the vibration when it’s running, but the bigger difference is how quickly the plate itself gets cold.
I tried it against my face first, although it doesn’t work quite as well through a beard. I could feel the cooling, but it was much more noticeable on my forehead. For actual use, I’d probably put it lower down on my neck, where that direct contact could cool me down quickly. On a hot day like this, having something that can get this cold so quickly makes the cooling plate the most immediately appealing part of the ChillPill.
The mister takes a little figuring out
The small filters in the box are what Shark calls the water wicks, and they’re used with the misting attachment. There’s a small reservoir that you fill with water, although it doesn’t hold very much. I managed to overfill it almost immediately.
With the attachment installed, I could feel the fan running, but there was no mist. I hadn’t read the instructions at this point, so I wasn’t entirely sure whether I was doing something wrong. A quick test against my glasses didn’t produce anything either. The button has a small water symbol, though, and pressing it brought up the icon. Another press made the symbol blink, which suggested something was happening, even if I couldn’t see any mist.
You need to chill. Or rather, you need a Shark ChillPill.
The missing step turned out to be on the attachment itself. Part of it twists open, and once that was done, pressing the button until the water droplet stayed solid produced a visible mist. The difference was noticeable immediately. The mist felt significantly cooler than the fan alone, and the glasses test finally confirmed that it was actually working. The small reservoir is still something I’d keep an eye on, though, because I do wonder how long the mister can run before it needs more water.
The ChillPill has two cooling levels
The ChillPill has two cooling levels
I initially missed that the chilling plate has two modes. When you turn it on, a dot underneath the snowflake indicates chill mode one. Switch to chill mode two, and it gets a lot colder.
The plate gets cold very quickly, but on a day like this, the second setting is the one I’d use. The instructions also recommend fan speeds based on what you’re doing. Speeds one through three are recommended for relaxing at home, while parks and picnics call for four through 10. It’s a useful guide, especially when it’s hot out.
A portable way to beat the heat
After playing around with the Shark ChillPill, I have to admit I just love the name. Take a chill pill. You can take it pretty much anywhere. On a plane, to the park, out on the golf course, or even to a concert. Basically, anywhere you think you’re going to be hot.
The adjustable fan, misting attachment, and cooling plate give you a few different ways to cool down depending on where you are and what you’re doing. On a hot day at the golf course, the cooling plate gets cold pretty much instantly, making it an especially useful option when you need to cool down quickly. A pretty nifty EDC, if you ask me.
