If you're desperate for cooling relief on those hot, sticky days, the last thing you want to be contending with is a fiddly air con unit that's difficult to use and non-responsive controls. Fortunately, the GoodHome Malay was very simple to operate. "The temperature controls are easy because it has a large display that shows what temperature the unit is set to. It also shows the current temperature of the room," Matt said.
You can change the settings using the panel on the unit or with the remote control, so you don't even need to get up to operate it. However, "you need to point [the controller] at just the right place on it for it to work reliably," Matt reported.
Manoeuvrability is also an important factor when it comes to ease of use - after all, the whole point of a portable air conditioner is that it's not glued to just one spot. As it's bulky and heavy, the Malay was tricky to move around, but it does have wheels to help shift it between locations. The wheels were great for use on hard floors, Matt found, but they were less effective on carpets.
Related: Stay hydrated in the heat with the best reusable water bottle
How effective is the GoodHome Malay 9000BTU at cooling a room?
Now, onto the important part: its cooling power. While fans are a lot cheaper to buy and run, nothing comes close to an AC unit when it comes to actually reducing a room's temperature, and Matt was impressed with the GoodHome Malay. "It cools the room that it’s in effectively - so effectively my wife slept in a hoodie on the first night we used it because it was freezing! We’ve actually left it on the lowest setting (15ºc), but it usually cools down to around 18ºc before we turn it off." He also found the fan mode was effective, too.
When thinking about an air conditioner's power, you also need to factor in the space you are trying to cool and the AC's BTU (British Thermal Units) rating. Essentially, the higher the BTU rating it has, the more cooling power it has across a bigger area, but this may mean it's more expensive to run and less energy efficient.
As the name of the AC unit suggests, this particular model has 9000BTU, which should be adequate for rooms up to 20m2, but there is also a 12000BTU version (retailing at £400) if you're looking for something more powerful for rooms up to 27m2. While Matt liked the cooling power of the 9000BTU air conditioner, he said: "I’d probably get the 12000BTU version if I was to buy again."