The Best Portable Tire Inflators of 2024

Ease of use, respectable performance, and good price point earn the AstroAI Handheld Cordless Air Compressor ($89) our pick for the best budget inflator. When it comes to getting the job done with a cordless unit, the AstroAI Portable Car Air Compressor came in second place overall in its ability to perform light and heavy vehicle tire tests. 

Although very similar to the Avid Power 20V Cordless Inflator, the AstroAI Portable Car Air Compressor boasts a slightly larger 20V 36Wh Li-ion battery that has a USB port that can be used to charge small electronics in an emergency. 

A brass chuck attaches directly to a Schrader valve or an included quick disconnect valve. We liked the option to use a screw-on style chuck vs. only a quick disconnect as we feel it is more secure and less likely to bleed out air while inflating.  

The user’s manual states the Compressor is appropriate for SUVs, cars, motorcycles, and other small inflatables, though it advises that it is not intended for RVs, trucks, or other large-volume items. Knowing this, we decided to put it through the wringer anyway and see how it performed on an E-rated ¾-ton truck tire in the heavy vehicle tire test.

We are pleased to report that this unit is capable of inflating a large truck tire from 20 psi to 60 psi on a single battery discharge, although it took an average of 18 minutes and 53 seconds. While airing up truck tires is outside of the intended scope of the product, it would most likely work in an emergent situation just fine. In the light vehicle tire test, the AstroAI Portable Car Air Compressor worked wonderfully, inflating the 215/70 R16 tire from 10 PSI to 45 PSI in an average of 7:53.

As with most other inflators in this guide, the AstroAI has an auto-shutoff feature that makes inflating to a desired level simple and easy and also includes a Schrader to Presta adaptor, needle valve for inflating balls, and 0.2-0.36” smooth bore nozzle. 

The unit’s display was only somewhat accurate (within 3 psi) and erred (pun intended) on the side of inflating to a slightly higher PSI than shown on the display. A 12V DC adaptor is included to plug into your car’s accessory outlet. The cable is 9’6” long giving the unit a total reach of 12” while plugged in.

The manual advises a duty cycle of 20 minutes before needing a 10-minute rest. We found this to be a conservative guideline as the compressor did not reach excessive temps while running for 20 continuous minutes under load on a warm day (ambient temperature of 85 degrees).

Our complaints are minor overall, but of course, there were some things we would have liked to have seen. This compressor cannot be recharged from a vehicle’s 12V accessory outlet (without a separate power inverter). Also, the storage bag, while functional, uses a bothersome Velcro strap system to secure the compressor and its other components.  

The AstroAI Portable Car Air Compressor is a great choice for those needing a quick and easy way to inflate bicycle, motorcycle, light car, and SUV tires around the shop or out on the road in emergencies. If routine airing down and up of tires is anticipated or you’re rolling big balloon tires or a full-sized truck, you’d probably be better off with another unit such as the Viair 88P. 

Viair is a well-known name in the portable air compressor world, so it was no surprise that the Viair 88P ($90) crushed the competition in the full-sized truck tire test and inflated the smaller 215/70 R16 tire from 10 to 45 psi in about half the time of the next fastest model in our test. A simple, no-frills compressor, the Viair 88P gets straight to the business of inflating tires. 

The Viair attaches to a vehicle’s 12V battery via two alligator clips and has a simple one-button operation. Since it draws directly from the vehicle’s battery, you will want to keep your car running during inflation to ensure you don’t get stuck with a dead battery. Realistically, it’s the only model in this guide that works fast enough for us to consider using it for airing down for regular off-road use. 

The 10-foot power cord has an in-line 20 amp flat fuse and robust alligator clips for attachment to a vehicle battery. The 16-foot hose is made of heavy-duty rubber with a high-quality brass chuck for attaching to Schrader valves (with adaptors for needle valve, Presta valve, and two small smooth bore nozzles included). The long power cord and hose give the unit just over 26’ of reach, plenty for most applications.

The Viair 88P inflated the 215/70 R16 tire from 10 to 45 psi in an average time of 3:09 and the larger truck tire in an average of 15:07, nearly half the time of the next best-performing unit. A small spotlight is built into the unit and turns on when it’s attached to a battery. 

One thing we would have loved to see is an automatic shut-off. Without an automatic shut-off, take care you do not over-inflate your tires. The analog gauge isn’t the most accurate (up to 3 psi higher than actual), although with the gauge being small and somewhat difficult to accurately read, there is a little wiggle room for interpreting the readings. 

Another thing we noticed was that the compressor can get quite hot (up to 160 degrees Fahrenheit) after running for 12 minutes under load, requiring the user to exercise some caution as the heat exchanger is close to the carrying handle.

The Viair 88P is easily the best choice for those regularly changing tire pressures for offroad use, running heavy-duty tires at higher psi values, folks with motorhomes, RVs, or just those who are impatient and want something that will do the job quickly. For these reasons, our tester personally chose Viair for his onboard air compressor needs on his full-sized pickup with a cabover camper.  

The Fanttik X8 APEX ($119) is a compact, portable, cordless tire inflator that excels as an emergency backup for small to mid-sized vehicles. We’re impressed by its size and sleek design, which incorporates an emergency inflator, battery bank, and flashlight/emergency light, as well as its satisfactory performance on smaller vehicle tires. 

While not as small as the Air Moto Smart Air Pump, the performance is significantly better. This is a much better choice for anyone who intends to use it for car tires and does not care about the slightly larger size (it’s still pretty darn small). The unit’s dimensions are 6” x 1.5 ”x 2” and it comes with a 17.5” hose with Schrader valve. Also included are a Presta valve adaptor and needle valve.

In testing, the Fanttik X8 APEX could inflate our 215/70 R16 tire from 10 to 45 psi in an average of 11:52, with almost enough power left to bring a second tire from 10 to 45 psi, usually only falling short by a few psi. With smaller tires, one could expect at least two inflations from nearly completely flat to a normal operating pressure on a single charge. 

Although not intended (or advertised) to inflate larger truck tires, the Fanttik APEX 8 is able to bring the larger truck tire from 20 psi to 51 psi in an average of 20:10, usually shutting off due to excessive heat before draining the battery completely. 

Long story short, you could use it as an emergency inflator for a full-sized truck, but that would be pushing it. A powerful LED spotlight works well as a flashlight in a pinch, and the blinking SOS mode is great for roadside emergencies (it automatically turns off after 30 minutes).

This unit is ideal for those with a small to mid-sized vehicle who want to keep an inflator (and emergency accessory charging battery) in their kit and is even small enough to consider taking with you on a bicycle or motorcycle. However, if that is your intended use, you might prefer going with something like the Air Moto Smart Air Pump due to its smaller size and adequate power for those applications.

Compact, lightweight, easy to use, surprisingly powerful, and very reasonably priced, the Kohree Portable Tire Inflator ($70) is a great little tool for use at home or on the road. Like similar-size models on this list, it can run off its internal battery or a 12V DC cord, but it beats most of them with its inflation performance, and it does so at a lower price.

With dimensions of 4.75” wide, 2.5” thick, and 6.5” tall and a measured weight of 2 lbs., 4 oz., the Kohree is compact and lightweight. It’s a bit larger than the Fanattik X8 APEX or Airmoto Smart Air Pump, but it’s more powerful than either of those. Still, it’s impressively easy to carry around and store when not in use. The thread-on chuck conveniently doubles as a carry handle, plus it comes with a storage bag to keep it tidy.

The Kohree is super easy to use, with an intuitive button interface and a digital display. It shows current psi, has an adjustable preset psi, and an auto-shutoff to prevent over-inflation. There are five inflation modes — car, motorcycle, bike, ball, and custom — each with different presets and max psi levels, and it’s super easy to adjust using the + and – buttons. 

It comes with a thread-on Schrader chuck with a 9” hose and a Schrader flip-chuck with a 19” hose. We preferred the thread-on version for vehicle tires for the most secure connection, and while it’s short at 9”, we could just hang the whole unit from the valve when needed. The flip-chuck also worked well and was more convenient for bike tires. It also comes with a needle valve for inflating balls, a Presta valve adapter, and two sizes of smooth nozzles for larger inflatables.

With its dual compressor design, the Kohree is a surprisingly powerful inflator. In our light-duty vehicle test, it inflated a 235/60 R16 tire from 10 to 45 psi in 6 minutes and 45 seconds. It burned through approximately half of its 12000 mAh battery in the process but was able to repeat that inflation once more before need to be charged. Should you run out of battery, it comes with a 10-foot long cord to plug it directly into the 12V outlet of a running vehicle to power it that way instead. 

It also works very quickly on bikes, taking a 700 x 42c gravel bike tire from 8 to 35 psi in just a few seconds — much quicker and easier than using a standard bike pump. Its pressure readings were also quite accurate, falling about 1 psi low compared to our trusted pressure gauge. 

While the Kohree handled inflating larger tires on an ‘09 Tacoma, for true heavy-duty applications, we’d still recommend going with something more powerful like the Viair 88P.

Charging the Kohree is easy at home or in your vehicle using USB-C input and an included cord. It also functions as a power bank and can charge your devices using the USB-A output. When powered on, it has a flashlight that lights up your tire valve in the dark and two flashing red SOS modes if you need to make yourself visible on the roadside.

Given its portability, inflation performance, and affordable price, we feel the Kohree Portable Tire Inflator is a great option to stash in the vehicle for emergencies, regular top-offs at home, or use in the garage workshop. 

The Airmoto Smart Air Pump ($89) is a sleek, lightweight tire inflator that is small enough to fit in a car’s glove compartment or a bicycle frame bag. While impressive for its size, it is lacking in performance. Let’s start with the positives.

The Airmoto is undeniably compact and portable. Its design and user-friendly interface are certainly appealing. The automatic shut-off feature works well and the integrated spotlight is plenty bright enough and works as an emergency flashlight.

The Airmoto is the only inflator in this guide that has a deflate button to let air out (not a vacuum, just passive deflation) and gives a real-time pressure readout on the display. The device comes with a standard Schrader valve chuck and additional adaptors for Presta, a needle valve, and a small smooth nozzle.

While the Airmoto performed satisfactorily for use in bike and motorcycle tires, it lacked the work capacity to fill the 215/70 R16 tire from 10 to 45 psi, turning off due to the battery running out of charge at 35 psi. It took the device an average of 21 minutes to do this. 

While performance would certainly be better on a smaller volume tire (it inflated a 26” bike tire to 45 psi in just a few minutes), this device is only suitable for small volume items, topping off tires that already have a decent amount of air in them, or in an emergency to get you to the nearest gas station.  

Improved battery life and the ability to serve as a backup charger would have been appreciated additions. Nevertheless, its compact size makes it a viable option for on-the-go use, particularly for bike or motorcycle rides. If you prioritize portability and have light-duty inflation needs, the Airmoto Smart Air Pump is a suitable choice.

The Avid Power 20v Automatic Cordless Inflator ($89) has many of the same attributes of other inflators in this review; automatic shutoff, cordless or 12V corded power capabilities, a small integrated light (only turns on while running the compressor), and performed well in testing on smaller tires. 

This inflator was able to inflate our 215/70 R16 tire from 10 to 45 psi in an average time of 8:08 and was able to inflate the larger truck tire from 20 to 51 psi before draining the battery at around 16:38. We were able to get two inflations with our smaller tire before completely discharging the battery.  

Since this tire inflator comes with the option of 12V DC power from a vehicle’s accessory power outlet, you could theoretically inflate an infinite number of tires (the manufacturer states that 3 minutes of cool-down time is required for every 10 minutes of continuous use),

but it is worth noting that the unit is somewhat slower on 12V DC power when compared to running on the 20V battery. Also, the 12V cable is 9’, giving the unit a total reach of 11’4”. This is plenty long enough for the RAV4 used in testing but barely long enough to reach the back tires of the F250 extended cab, long bed truck used for the heavier duty tests if the wheel was rotated so the valve was as close as possible. 

The unit has a quick-release air chuck for Schrader valves with attachments for needle valves, Presta, and a small smooth bore nozzle. While the quick-release valve is convenient, we prefer a screw-on style chuck for a more secure fit. The digital display gauge is accurate (within 1.7 psi, erring on the side of being low) and within the manufacturer’s advertised ±2 psi accuracy. 

Its battery cannot be used to charge accessories (one reason the AstroAI scored higher). Also worth noting is that the unit did get pretty hot (158 degrees Fahrenheit) after just a single inflation of a 215/70 R16 tire. This did not seem to be a significant problem as the handle is insulated well enough to comfortably hold even when the top of the inflator is hot.

The Avid Power 20v Automatic Cordless Inflator offers a suitable choice for those seeking a cordless inflator for light to medium-duty tasks around the house or as an essential component of an emergency vehicle kit. However, for heavy-duty applications, we suggest the Viair 88P. Alternatively, if portability and lighter use (bikes and motorcycles) are your priorities, the Airmoto Smart Air Pump could be a more suitable option.