Click Retro Portable Neck Fan Review: Stay Cool, Look Cool

Some neck fans can keep you cool, but not many can make you look cool.

Walking around with a little personal air conditioner strapped to your neck, like you’ve just arrived from the future to warn us about climate change? Unfashionable, unbecoming, unthinkable. Click Retro by Aecooly to the rescue! A personal neck fan disguised as a quirky vintage camera.

The deets

The body measures 76 x 38 x 60 mm (3.0 x 1.5 x 2.36 in) and weighs 104 grams (3.67 oz), so it’s the perfect size to carry around in your bag, and with wind speed at 25 km/h it will make you feel easy, breezy and beautiful, all at the same time.

Designed to keep the fan secure even while walking or exercising, a magnetic back plate holds the fan against clothing. The lanyard attaches to the magnetic plate, which then sits behind your shirt while the camera-shaped fan stays in place on the front. The magnetic attachment is strong enough to keep the fan stable on your clothing while walking, jogging or doing light workouts.

Click Retro comes in 3 colors, brown, black and white. It charges via USB-C, and Aecooly says it takes around three hours for a full charge, with the 2,000mAh rechargeable battery providing up to 10 hours of use on the lowest setting.

The controls are straightforward. Turn it on, cycle through the three speeds and let the little turbine do its thing. There is no complicated app, no Bluetooth pairing and no need to negotiate with another piece of technology before you can get some air moving.

What’s in the Box

Inside the box, you get the Click Retro itself along with the lanyard and magnectic back, charging cable, user guide and instruction manual.

Pros

It’s super cute.

The biggest pro for me is the fact that you can wear it in public without looking like you are wearing a fan.

I tested it at the sort of places where personal cooling devices make the most sense: hiking, at the beach and at sporting events. The camera shape feels natural in those environments. It looks like an accessory rather than a piece of cooling equipment, which makes a considerable difference to the experience.

Cons

Yes, it makes noise.

There is one unavoidable reminder that this is, in fact, an electric fan: it sounds like an electric fan.

At full power, the Click Retro is loud. Aecooly lists the noise level at up to 50dB on the lowest setting, and in a quiet room you are certainly going to hear it. There is only so much stealth a tiny fan can achieve.

At a quiet desk, I would probably find the noise unbearable. At a yoga class, a bit distracting. But, at the beach, a tennis match, an outdoor event or anywhere with a reasonable amount of ambient noise, it becomes barely noticeable. In those situations, I would happily take a little mechanical whirring in exchange for having a nice cool breeze on my face.

Bonus points: It won’t eat your hair

The packaging makes a point of describing the Click Retro as hair-safe and tangle-free.

I don’t have previous experience with neck fans, so I cannot tell you if getting your hair caught in one is a common neck-fan problem. Perhaps there is an entire secret world of people out there desperately trying to extract their ponytails from miniature turbines. Thoughts and prayers.

What I can say for sure is that the Click Retro did not tangle my hair. So, based on my extremely scientific sample size of one head, I am prepared to call that a success.

The Verdict

The Click Retro isn’t just another handheld fan. It does something better, making a familiar, slightly awkward product more pleasant to live with.

Maybe it’s a bit gimmicky, but it’s this small, fun design decision that turns a functional gadget into something you might actually want to wear.

It’s cute, practical and genuinely useful on a hot day. The noise is its biggest drawback, but that feels like a reasonable trade-off for something this small and portable.

Especially when you can stay cool without looking like a dweeb.

---

This post contains affiliate links to partner brands. We earn a small commission if you click the link and make a purchase. There is no extra cost to you, so it’s just a nice way to help support the site. The product featured in this article was provided by the manufacturer for testing purposes. No payment was received for this feature, and the opinions expressed are entirely our own. All images © Inspiration Grid unless otherwise credited.