Do Laptop Coolers Actually Make A Difference? Here's What We Found Out

With the heat of Tennessee underway and residing in a mini camper with a Zero Breeze air conditioning system that can barely keep up, I've been facing the challenge of trying to keep air flowing under my MacBook Pro, so it doesn't overheat. There are many cooling options to choose from, but today we're going to be looking at the Havit 15.6-17 Inch Laptop Cooling Pad.

This laptop cooling pad is the smallest of the Havit cooling pad options costing $40 on Amazon at the list price. However, Amazon is always having sales, and I was able to purchase this product for $30, which is also the sale price at the time of the publication of this article. This device lacks some of the bells and whistles of other cooling pads that come with multiple speed and direction options. However, it does the basic job of what a laptop cooling pad is intended to do. When put to the test, though, will it actually make a difference?

A laptop can get warm while in use, and many have built-in fans to help regulate temperature and keep the device performing correctly. However, if the CPU overheats, it can cause some serious damage — like the whole motherboard failing or even burning up. This is why it's useful to have a laptop cooling pad.

Every laptop can benefit from a cooling pad, but you'll know if you need one if you can feel your device getting too hot while in use or if the fans are continuously working hard (to the point where you can really hear them). There are also apps like SpeedFan for Windows that can monitor your computer's temperature. If you decide to purchase one, you'll notice that laptop coolers allow airflow between the pad and the laptop, whether it's pulling the hot air away from the bottom of the laptop or dropping it below the pad or pushing cool air up toward the laptop. It all depends on the direction of the fans.

In my experience, the unboxing process was fairly straightforward. It only came with four components: the cooling pad, a USB cable, two non-slip stickers, and a user manual. Holding the cooling pad, it felt incredibly light, and you could clearly see the three fans that do the work. The battery to make the laptop cooler work is protected inside the plastic casing along with all the wires to each fan.

Additionally, it looks easy to take apart if needed for cleaning purposes. The only thing holding it together is the screws all along the outer edge. However, the thin ABS metal top and the bottom plastic casing do feel a bit on the cheaper side. I'd recommend being easy with the gadget because it could break or dent easily if handled improperly.

There's not much that needs to be done to set up the laptop cooler. It comes with non-slip stickers that need to be placed in the little grooves at the bottom of the gadget. Refer to the picture above to see which grooves I'm talking about. These stickers are what help keep your laptop in place and not slide off since it is a fairly smooth metal top. Place your laptop on top to ensure that it will stay secure. You'll also want to adjust the cooling pad's legs to allow for air to flow underneath while it's on.

If you look at the back of the cooling pad, you'll see two USB ports. Connect the cable to one of the ports and the other side of the cable to your laptop. If you are like me and have a laptop that does not have a USB-A port, you'll need to have some kind of adaptor. I use a Basesailer USB-C to Dual USB Cable Splitter from Amazon for only $9.

After you are hooked up, all you need to do is flip the switch to "on," and you'll see the fans start. It is a very quiet cooling pad, so you'll probably want to actually look down at the pad to ensure that it's working. Because of the direction of the fans and how the blades are rotated, a breeze will be pushed up from underneath the pad and up toward the laptop through the blades. It is a truly simple design.

It does raise the question of how well this laptop cooler works. My first tests were in the morning. I wanted to test the airflow coming from the top, so I placed a paper towel on it. The fan blades were able to levitate the paper towel and even push it off a few times. When I put the laptop on top, I could feel a bit of air being pushed out from under the laptop. Keep in mind that I keep a case on my laptop that has little rubber feet, so it was lifted a bit to help with the airflow.

For my second test, I want to point out that I live in a small camper and have very limited air conditioning while currently based in Tennessee where the temperatures are reaching well into the 90s. Don't worry — I have plenty of camping gadgets to stay cool. I mention this, though, because I did another test at the hottest point of the day. Even though the fans were pushing air up toward the laptop, in the middle of the day, it was hot air. With that said, this cooling pad probably isn't going to help your overheating laptop if the air surrounding it is hot. These are fans, not an air conditioner after all.

For me, there are two issues worth mentioning. The first is that the light that turns on when the laptop is plugged into the cooling pad does not turn off. Each fan has two lights attached to the base, so it is quite bright. The only solution I could find is if I were to take apart the gadget and pull the light bulbs out myself. However, I'm not sure if that would affect the wiring components of the device.

The other issue is that there is no way to adjust the fan speed like some other cooling pads I've seen on the market. The blades do move at a decent speed to create airflow, but depending on my laptop's needs, I would like to be able to change the speed to create more or less air.

This laptop cooler is 14.9"L x 11"W x 1.2"H. The company says that it can accommodate up to a 17-inch laptop, but be aware that it will be hanging off the edge a bit while still performing the same job. Additionally, if you usually place your laptop on your lap, bed, blanket, or a similar soft surface, which may be killing your laptop slowly, you're going to need to change your working area. This laptop cooling pad requires space between a hard surface and the fans, so air has space to move through.

You're also going to want to keep the device clean. As fan blades move, they capture dirt and dust. You do not want to push any debris up into your laptop's vents, which could cause damage. As mentioned above, you could carefully unscrew everything and clean it. If the dust is loose enough, using a small blower may push a lot of it out as well. Be aware that neither of these solutions is in the product manual — however, the company does not give their customers a cleaning solution. 

This cooling pad received a 4.5 out of five-star rating from over 40,000 reviewers. Most of the people who tried it out had PC laptops and were impressed with how well the device was able to keep air moving under the laptop to cool it off. One reviewer stated that they frequently have several tabs open and will do Windows updates which causes their Envy laptop to start to overheat. Once they started using the laptop cooler, they could run the laptop the same way as before for hours without any problems.

Some people weren't as impressed with the cooling pad, but it was more for USB placement objections and instability. However, when I placed it on a flat surface, it was perfectly stable. One person didn't like that if their laptop shut off, it wouldn't turn off the device. In all, it seemed the reviews were satisfied that the gadget worked, but some were negatively opinionated about the smaller features.

Overall, I think the laptop cooler does the job it's supposed to at an affordable price. It even makes a good laptop pad even if you're not using the fan feature because it still allows some air flow between the surface and the laptop. I do wish that I could turn off the lights, especially if I was using it at night. In all, though, it's a good size, lightweight, and gives off enough air to keep some good airflow, unless of course you're in a southern heat wave. Then maybe just use it in a climate controlled room.