A few years ago I thought it might be a good idea to get a home air compressor. I had two problems to solve:
- Inflate my car tyres while they are cold (the target pressure in the manual assumes cold tyres)
- Maintain my bike tyres at their recommended high pressures (65 PSI on the mountain bike, and 75 PSI on the hybrid bike) without the elbow grease!
I did my usual trick when dipping my toe into a new technology and started with a cheap unbranded model from Amazon. The compressor I bought was definitely not fancy, but it let me set a target pressure, and it could be powered by the cigarette lighter socket in cars as well as a mains power socket.
It worked fine for a few years, until one recent afternoon when it literally sprung a leak and let all the air out of my tyre in seconds!
I’m now sure I have a real need for a compressor, so rather than replace it with another unbranded generic model, I decided to invest in a quality compressor from a quality brand.
After some research, I chose the ETENWOLF Zephyr S3.
The key differences from my cheap model:
- Rechargeable rather than directly powered — charging over USB-C
- Much nicer screen & UI
- Different inflating modes for different vehicles — pushes air at different rates for bigger and smaller tyres
- USB-A port for charging/powering smartphones or camping equipment
- Includes a robust carry case to hold all the parts together
I’ve been using my new compressor for a few weeks, and I’m so happy I upgraded to a branded product that has actually been thoughtfully designed and is really well engineered!
I felt the difference the moment I opened the box — someone designed this thing with real care! The compressor shipped inside its carry case inside the box, and the moment I grabbed the handle to slide it out I felt the build quality. The case looks and feels lovely (if you like bright orange anyway)!
Opening the case my pleasant surprise continued, all the parts have logical and sensible homes, and the case clearly holds everything, because it’s literally holding everything!
The compressor was very easy to lift out of the case because it has been designed with a perfectly placed handle! The build quality could not me more different than the cheap plastic on my previous unbranded model. The design is practical, robust-feeling, and even beautiful and elegant!
The hose coils around the back of the compressor, and there are clips right there for the different adaptors.
Using the compressor is a breeze — I have yet to open the manual!
The buttons are nicely arranged on either side of the screen at the top of the case, and since the power button is very obvious, I just pushed that, and hey presto, the screen came to life!
The display is very intuitive — you see two pressures, the current and target, an obvious unit next to one, an icon showing the current mode, and a very obvious battery level indicator.
When I powered it on, it was not showing PSI as the unit, but there is a really obvious button labeled “unit”, so I pushed that a few times and was soon working in my familiar (old-fashioned) Pounds per Square Inch 🙂
Next I noticed a car icon above the numbers — clearly the mode. There’s an obvious “Mode” button, so I pushed that, and it soon cycled to an obvious bicycle icon!
I connected my tyre; one number went from zero to a new number, so that must be the current pressure. As expected, tapping or pressing-and-holding the obvious plus and minus buttons moved the other number. Tapping the power button again, the compressor started pumping, and the current pressure started rising 🎉
As the measured pressure approached the target, the compressor did something my previous one never did: it slowed down and approached it gently, so it didn’t overshoot by even 0.1 of a PSI!
I’ve now done my weekly top-ups for about 3 months, and my battery is still showing 3 of 4 bars.
I don’t like to have entirely positive reviews, but I have literally no complaints!