Made It Here Awards 2026: Best Air Conditioners

Forget the concrete jungle — this summer, Gotham was a concrete crockpot.July’s hellacious “Heat Dome 2.0” turned the MTA into a rolling subterranean bathing club, just less chic and smellier.New York can be a hard place for air conditioners.

Getting them up five flights of stairs to your apartment and through the door can cause irreparable damage.Then you have to hope that your ancient, pre-war windows and outdated wiring won’t crumble to dust when you try to install your unit.

An AC that can make it in New York can thrive in any home across America.   Midea takes the top spot by pairing excellent cooling performance with zero installation difficulties, a quick 20-minute setup time and a quiet output of 56 Db.See all tested window units Holding steady in second place, this portable unit was incredibly user-friendly and offered a speedy, complication-free 15-minute installation.See all tested portable units This solid performer earned third place for the fastest setup time in the group and solid cooling capability.It quietly cools, dehumidifies and circulates air all from your phone.

See our full testing criteriaWe gave a sample of the top-of-the-line units to nine real New Yorkers in Brooklyn, Queens and Manhattan to test out under real-life conditions.No two spaces in the city are the same, even in the same building, so each reviewer has their own idiosyncratic needs for air cooling and dehumidifying.The Midea U Smart Inverter Window Air Conditioner has an innovative U-shaped design that allows you to open and close your window freely, bringing in fresh air while maintaining an unobstructed view.

When closed, an integrated anti-theft mechanism securely locks the window for added peace of mind.By utilizing your window frame as a sound barrier alongside advanced DC inverter technology, the unit operates up to nine times quieter than traditional models.The inverter system delivers over 37% energy savings compared to standard...