If you need a small cooler for journeys or your bedroom, office or even kitchen counter, the Russell Hobbs Scandi Portable Mini Cooler & Warmer is a stylish and smart device that’s great for keeping your beer cool or even for ensuring your make-up doesn’t melt. This model looks wonderfully retro with its Scandinavian wood-effect details and old-fashioned FM radio-style shell. In fact, it looks better in the flesh than it does in photos.

For such a small and keenly priced unit, the Russell Hobbs comes with a variable temperature thermostat and two heat settings – 750W and 1,500W. Granted, the thermostat control is a simple dial, so it isn’t possible to set an actual room temperature, but that’s par for the course with a heater at this price. Using Dyson’s unique Air Multiplier technology combined with variable oscillation up to an impressive 350 degrees, the Hot+Cool delivers a good wallop of warmth. According to the company, this heater will provide full coverage in rooms up to 81m³. As well as a built-in thermostat, air flow can be altered using the included magnetic remote control or, if you prefer, via Dyson’s excellent app. Screwdriver found, and the screw undone and refitted, you then remove the base plate securing nut from the standing pole, thread the standing pole through the base plate, and refasten the securing nut. Safety features include overheat and tip-over protection. You’ll become aware of the latter the minute you take the heater out the box, because it feels like something is loose inside. Don’t panic, it’s part of the design. If you’re in the market for a saviour against the cold that’s easy to store away when not in use, then this dinky unit is most definitely worth the small outlay.

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There’s no thermostat on this model, since there’s no compressor. Instead, the mini-cooler uses a thermoelectric cooling system, which means that it just chills the inside to between 16ºC and 20ºC below the ambient temperature, although the lowest temperature that it can achieve is around 5ºC. You can take out the middle shelf entirely, which will allow you to fit in full-height bottles, such as the bottle of wine. Russell Hobbs says that it will hold two 1.5-litre bottles.

This is a bit awkward, as it means you need to reach behind the fan to adjust the settings, and seeing as it's intended to be used as a desk fan, that means that when you’re sat at a desk you need to stand up to operate the controls. This attractive Italian-designed model from DeLonghi arrives with a high-quality, cool-to-the-touch metal casing with legs attached. And with its maximum sound pressure of 48dB, it’s one of the quietest fan heaters you can buy. Just be aware that Russell Hobbs doesn’t recommend that you use this product outside – and it shouldn’t be exposed to the rain.In both cases, Russell Hobbs recommends that you leave the cooler for four hours to achieve the right temperature before putting anything into it, so you’ll need to plan ahead. Performance

For additional cooling space if you’re entertaining, added convenience in a home office or bedroom, the Russell Hobbs Scandi Portable Mini Cooler & Warmer does a good job of keeping contents cool, provided it’s kept out of direct sunlight. Despite the lower-quality build, we were impressed by this heater’s performance. It’s very keenly priced, too. USE ALL YEAR ROUND - In the warmer months, the fan only setting can be used to circulate air around the room.However, there aren't really that many settings to choose from, so once you've chosen your desired setting, I suppose it's likely you might just leave it running without much adjustment. Still, it would have been nice to have the controls on the fan base stand. Aside from these minor design foibles, the Capsule Fit heater performs exceptionally well. It comes with two simple controls: a thermostat dial and another for its three heat settings (up to an impressive 2.4kW). The highest heat setting also increases the fan’s speed for extra reach. This retro heater is easy to use and features 2 power settings (750W and 1500W), an adjustable thermostat and fan only setting, making it ideal for use all year round. At temperatures above 25ºC, then, you’ll find that the inside of the cooler won’t get as cold as a regular fridge. Keep it out of the sun and hot rooms, however, and you’ll be fine. Nevertheless, the higher temperature variance means that, aside from temporary storage, I wouldn’t recommend using this cooler for items that can spoil, such as milk. You get slightly less height at the top, making it better for tonic waters and other mixers in smaller cans (although you can fit in 330ml cans). The bottom shelf offers more height: I could fit 500ml cans in there, although there wouldn’t be room for some taller bottles of beer.