Verdict
Comparatively small for such a powerful portable air conditioner, the De’Longhi Pinguino GentleJet Inverter has a 13,000BTU cooling output and can cope with rooms up to 130m3. It gets its name from the clever way it can blow out cold air, ejecting it 180° from the top to give a more natural feel and eliminate cold blasts across the room. Fast to work and quiet for a portable AC unit, this model is ideal for larger rooms or those that get hot. Smart controls and a hinged window kit are the only things missing.
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Compact
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Quiet
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Powerful cooling
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Natural feeling air flow
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No smart controls
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No hinged window kit
Key Features
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GentleJet technology
Gentle air is spread out wide to avoid direct cold jets.
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High-power cooling
Rated at 13,000BTU for rooms up to 130m2.
Introduction
Loud, inefficient and large are three words that are often levelled at portable air conditioners, but the De’Longhi Pinguino GentleJet Inverter (PACAP130IGENTLEJET) is the opposite of these.
Despite being one the most power AC units that I’ve reviewed, rated at 13,000BTU for rooms up to 130m3, this model is actually smaller and slimmer than many, and considerably quieter, too. With its clever GentleJet system that diffuses the cold air it blows out, should this AC be top of your list? Read my full review to find out.
Design and features
- Cool, dehumidify and fan modes
- Remote control
- Relatively small and slim for a 13,000BTU unit
Although the 13,000BTU De’Longhi Pinguino GentleJet Inverter has one of the highest rated cooling outputs, it’s actually quite slim considering. In fact, it’s a little smaller than the 10,000BTU De’Longhi Pinguino 100 Silent.
The biggest difference this makes to me is that, without the hose connected, I can wheel the GentleJet past the end of my bed and the console table for storage; with the Pinguino 100 Silent, I had to lift it over the bed. It’s a small difference, but any space saving is good.
I could move the De’Longhi Pinguino GentleJet Inverter easily enough on hard flooring, thanks to its caster wheels. It also has two handles, although the 30.88kg weight means that this isn’t a device you’ll want to carry too often.
As with other portable AC units, the De’Longhi Pinguino GentleJet Inverter needs to be vented out of a window. For the best cooling, it needs an air-tight fit. To that end, De’Longhi provides a window sealing board that’s designed for sliding and sash windows, with the hose clipping into the pre-cut hole.
It’s adjustable in width, although it wasn’t quite wide enough fit my wide sash window in my bedroom without leaving a small gap (fixable with a bit of tape); the other sash windows in my house proved a better fit.
For hinged windows, there’s a flat nozzle, and the hose goes out through the window. There’s no fabric sealing kit for these kinds of windows, as you get with other AC units, such as the ProBreeze OmniCool 12,000BTU Portable Air Conditioner. This is available separately, and is a good upgrade to get a seal and avoid pulling hot air back into the room.
De’Longhi also provides a through-the-wall kit, with blanking caps, if you’re brave enough to drill a large enough hole for this kind of semi-permanent installation.
Otherwise, the De’Longhi Pinguino GentleJet Inverter just needs to be plugged in, and it’s ready to go.
Control is via the smart front panel, which blends into the smooth plastic front, or the simple remote control.
For convenience, the remote can be stored in the indent on top. It’s a shame that there are no smart controls. Being able to set the AC up and then turn it on an hour or so before going to bed would be very useful.
Regular operating mode is AC, which pumps hot air and moisture out of your room, cooling it down. For this mode, you can just set a target temperature, in 1°C increments between 16°C and 32°.
There are three fan modes to choose from, although the Auto mode makes more sense, as it adjusts fan speed on the fly based on how much cooling is required.
The big difference with the De’Longhi Pinguino GentleJet Inverter and rival portable air conditioners is that with the default mode, air doesn’t come out the front in a slim jet. Instead, air is pushed out across 180° through the top of the unit, making for a more gentle and wider breeze, rather than the freezing-cold blast from the front.
If you prefer directed air, there’s a traditional louvre on top, which can be opened at the touch of a button, and set to oscillate up and down if you prefer. I got used to the GentleJet mode and didn’t use the traditional louvre.
There’s also an Eco real feel mode, which is entirely automatic, balancing humidity and temperature automatically to get a comfortable environment. It can be a set-and-forget way to balance a room’s comfort levels, but as I tend to use the AC when my bedroom is too hot, I didn’t use it often.
As well as cooling, there’s a dehumidifying mode, which removes moisture from the air. Too much humidity can make for an uncomfortable environment, so being able to pump moisture out can be handy.
This mode runs constantly, and the De’Longhi Pinguino GentleJet Inverter can’t monitor relative humidity levels or be set to a target level. If you do use this mode, you might want a humidity sensor in the same room, so you can turn the unit off when it’s dry enough.
In both cooling and dehumidifying modes, moisture is pumped out through the hose, so you don’t need to manually drain a tank in this machine.
Finally, there’s a fan mode, with three fan levels. This mode can be used without the hose, but the size of the unit and relatively basic fan controls mean that this will be of limited use. If you want a fan, buy one of my best fans instead.
All modes can be put on a timer, with 30-minute intervals up to nine hours, and then hourly intervals to 24 hours.
Performance
- Cools rapidly
- Comparatively quiet
- Efficient
Most portable AC units are very loud, with the compressor often being particularly noisy. While the De’Longhi Pinguino GentleJet Inverter is far from silent, it’s much quieter than a lot of portable units.
Running on maximum fan speed in cooling mode, I found the unit ran at 54.4dB, measured from 1m away. That’s quite similar to many fans on their maximum setting, and the sound’s not particularly annoying, either.
Cooling performance is very good. Although the De’Longhi Pinguino GentleJet Inverter draws 1035W when running in full cooling mode, it has a cooling capacity of 3.3kW, making for an energy efficiency rating (EER) of 3.2.
That’s a little behind the 3.57 EER of the De’Longhi Pinguino 100, or the 2.6 EER rating of the ProBreeze OmniCool 12,000BTU Portable Air Conditioner.
Efficiency is good, but the ability to cool is arguably more important, and that’s where this AC unit is particularly good.
During a heat wave, my loft room hit 31.7°. Turning the De’Longhi Pinguino GentleJet Inverter on and setting it to 24°C, it hit that temperature 2.5 hours later. As the AC reaches temperature, it can modulate its power use, first dropping down to around 465W, and then dropping down to a monitoring mode with a low fan speed, drawing just 10W. Running at full pelt, you’re looking at around 26p an hour to run, but once near temperature there are some cost savings from the machine using the inverter.
When it’s not hot, the De’Longhi Pinguino GentleJet Inverter can work faster. My bedroom went from 27° to 24° in just 30 minutes.
I really like the GentleJet technology. With a wider dispersal of cool air, the room feels more comfortable faster, and there’s not a solid jet of cold air, so the cooling feels more natural.
Dehumidifying uses almost as much power, drawing 953W in my tests, running at a similar 57dB.
In fan mode at maximum, the De’Longhi Pinguino GentleJet Inverter uses 30W of power, but it’s not actually cooling the room.
Should you buy it?
You want something powerful and more natural feeling
With GentleJet dispersing cold air more naturally and plenty of cooling power, this unit is ideal for larger rooms or those that get very hot.
If you want a smart AC unit that you can control from your phone, you’ll need to choose an alternative.
Final Thoughts
It’s a little more expensive than the competition, but the De’Longhi Pinguino GentleJet Inverter is small and efficient for a 13,000BTU cooler. It works fast, even dealing well with my loft room in the middle of a heat wave. I’d like smart controls and a window kit as standard, but for larger (or very hot) rooms where you want powerful, natural cooling, this is a premium choice.
How We Test
We test every air conditioning unit we review thoroughly over an extended period of time. We use industry standard tests to compare features properly. We’ll always tell you what we find. We never, ever, accept money to review a product.
Find out more about how we test in our ethics policy.
- Used as our main aircon for the review period
- We measure the fan speed (if available) using an anemometer so that we can accurately compare performance between models
- We measure how well the aircon can cool our test room
FAQs
Rather than cold air coming straight out of a louvre, air is pushed out across a 180° plane, so it’s more evenly distributed and feels more gentle.
No, this AC unit can be controlled via the remote and the front panel only.
Test Data
| De’Longhi Pinguino GentleJet Inverter | |
|---|---|
| Sound (high) | 54.4 dB |
Full Specs
| De’Longhi Pinguino GentleJet Inverter Review | |
|---|---|
| UK RRP | £999.99 |
| Manufacturer | DeLonghi |
| Size (Dimensions) | 457 x 363 x 814 MM |
| Weight | 30.88 KG |
| Release Date | 2026 |
| First Reviewed Date | 24/06/2026 |
| Model Number | PACAP130IGENTLEJET |
| Remote Control | Yes |
| Number of speeds | 3 |
| Fan Type | Portable air conditioner |
| Timer | Yes (30-minute intervals to nine hours; one-hour intervals to 24 hours) |
| Night Mode | Yes |
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