Which Tire Inflator Brand Wins?
In our test we compared 18 tire inflator options head to head. NOCO Air 15 came out on top. See the measured results, the runner-up, the budget pick, and a link to the full test video. Shoppers cross-shopping hand held tire inflator, air pump for car tires, car tire air pump and car tire pump land here for the head to head that settles it.
NOCO Air 15
Price shown in test: $143 without a coupon, around $100 with a coupon
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The quick take
The short version of why each pick lands where it does, built straight from the measured results.
“the Noco came in on top with the best average finish in the graded categories of 2.6”
Placed top three in 1 of 8 measurements.
The measured results
Every number below is read straight from the test. Products are listed in the order they finished.
Weight
- 1NOCO Air 155.75 lb
- 2GSPSCN5.32 lb
- 3DeWalt5.55 lb
- 4Viair4.23 lb
- 5Asani5.84 lb
heaviest of all 18 pumps
- 6UUP5.26 lb
- 7AstroAI dual cylinder, 2nd unit tested4.67 lb
- 8Avid Power5.12 lb
- 9Craftsman4.93 lb
- 10AstroAI single cylinder, 1st unit tested1.88 lb
- 11EPAuto3.09 lb
heaviest yet at that point in the video
- 12Yungtee5.14 lb
heaviest yet at that point in the video
- 13R81.81 lb
- 14FADAK WALT1.54 lb
- 15FBK1.69 lb
- 16Powools1.45 lb
- 17Carsun1.625 lb
- 18Slime1.14 lb
lightest of all 18 pumps
Noise
- 1NOCO Air 1591.4 dB
- 2GSPSCN82.6 dB
- 3DeWalt81 dB
relatively quiet
- 4Viair93.2 dB
loud
- 5Asani76.8 dB
quietest of all 18 pumps
- 6UUP82.5 dB
- 7AstroAI dual cylinder, 2nd unit tested92.6 dB
loud
- 8Avid Power84.7 dB
- 9Craftsmanabout90 dB
- 10AstroAI single cylinder, 1st unit tested88.9 dB
- 11EPAuto84.3 dB
- 12Yungtee84.7 dB
- 13R887.6 dB
- 14FADAK WALTover90 dB
loudest yet at that point in the video
- 15FBK85.7 dB
- 16Powools88.4 dB
- 17Carsun87.2 dB
- 18Slime85.7 dB
Power draw at approximately 35 PSI
- 1NOCO Air 15
rated at 15 A but actually drew 20.6 A / about 247 W, well over its rating; a 200 W power supply could not keep up and a 600 W supply was needed
- 2GSPSCN192 W
or 16 A; narrator notes 25 A could be a problem for some vehicles
- 3DeWaltabout118 W
or 9.8 A
- 4Viairabout210 W
or 17.5 A, same as the second AstroAI
- 5Asanijust over204
peak W or about 17 A, near the fuse limit for some vehicles
- 6UUP217 W
or just over 18 A, thirstiest of all 18 pumps
- 7AstroAI dual cylinder, 2nd unit testedclose to210 W
or 17.5 A
- 8Avid Power124 W
or 10.3 A
- 9Craftsmanaround126 W
about the same as Avid Power
- 10AstroAI single cylinder, 1st unit tested110 W
or 9.2 A
- 11EPAutoclose to142 W
or 11.6 A
- 12Yungtee183 W
or about 15.3 A, right at the 12V accessory fuse limit for some vehicles
- 13R8close to103 W
or 8.6 A
- 14FADAK WALTclose to111 W
or very close to 9.3 A
- 15FBKclose to94 W
or 7.8 A
- 16Powools101 W
or 8.4 A
- 17Carsunclose to137
peak W or 11.4 A
- 18Slime84 W
or 7 A
Gauge accuracy
- 1NOCO Air 15
off by 0.4 PSI; auto shutoff engaged at 35.5 PSI
- 2GSPSCN
small analog gauge, hard to read, but appeared accurate
- 3DeWalt
in 100 percent agreement with the test equipment gauge, the most accurate of all 18 pumps
- 4Viair
off by around 3 PSI, the least accurate of all 18 pumps
- 5Asani
off by 1.5 PSI
- 6UUP
off by around 2.5 PSI
- 7AstroAI dual cylinder, 2nd unit tested
off by 1.2 PSI
- 8Avid Power
off by 0.8 PSI
- 9Craftsman
off by 0.3 PSI; powered itself down just past the 35 PSI target
- 10AstroAI single cylinder, 1st unit tested
off by 0.3 PSI
- 11EPAuto
off by 0.7 PSI
- 12Yungtee
off by about 1 PSI
- 13R8
off by only 0.1 PSI, most accurate of all 18 pumps
- 14FADAK WALT
off by 0.3 PSI
- 15FBK
off by 0.2 PSI
- 16Powools
off by 0.4 PSI
- 17Carsun
off by 1.4 PSI
- 18Slime
off by around 1 PSI
Car tire, flat to 35 PSI (test 1, 200 W supply)
- 1NOCO Air 152 minutes 53 seconds
fastest of all 18 pumps
- 2GSPSCN3.5 minutes
tied for 3rd with Asani
- 3DeWaltclose to7 minutes
- 4Viair3 minutes 15 seconds2nd
- 5Asani3.5 minutes
tied for 3rd with GSPSCN
- 6UUPclose to3 minutes 33 seconds
- 7AstroAI dual cylinder, 2nd unit tested4.5 minutes
about a minute slower than Asani and GSPSCN
- 8Avid Powerclose to7 minutes
- 9Craftsman7 minutes 50 seconds
- 10AstroAI single cylinder, 1st unit tested7 minutes 35 seconds
- 11EPAuto
very close to 6.5 minutes, fastest so far at that point in test 1
- 12Yungteeclose to5 minutes 8 seconds
moved into the lead at that point in test 1
- 13R88 minutes 43 seconds
- 14FADAK WALT8 minutes 24 seconds
slower than FBK
- 15FBK8 minutes 8 seconds
about 30 seconds slower than Carsun
- 16Powoolsclose to8.5 minutes
- 17Carsun7.5 minutes
about 4 minutes faster than Slime
- 18Slimeabout11.5 minutes
slowest of all 18 pumps
Car tire, second high-pressure-section measurement (test 2)
- 1NOCO Air 15close to1.5 minutes
fastest of all 18 pumps in this section too
- 2GSPSCN2 minutes 15 seconds
described as finishing in the top three and moving into the lead at that point in the video; this figure conflicts with the 3.5-minute figure from test 1 for the same brand and is preserved verbatim rather than reconciled
- 3DeWaltjust under4 minutes
a few seconds faster than the Craftsman
- 4Viairjust under2 minutes2nd
2nd fastest for speed in that section
- 5Asanijust over3.5 minutes
- 6UUP
trailed Asani by just a few seconds
- 7AstroAI dual cylinder, 2nd unit tested
about a minute slower than GSPSCN, but performed very well under pressure, described as just as fast as GSPSCN that time
- 8Avid Power3 minutes 42 seconds
trailed the leader by over a minute
- 9Craftsmanclose to4 minutes
trailed the leaders by several minutes
- 10AstroAI single cylinder, 1st unit tested
about a minute slower than EPAuto
- 11EPAutoaround2 minutes
faster than the previous five brands
- 12Yungteejust over5 minutes
- 13R8
a little slower than FBK and FADAK WALT
- 14FADAK WALT
performed almost the same as FBK
- 15FBK
a little slower than Carsun
- 16Powools
performed about the same as FADAK WALT
- 17Carsun
outpaced Slime by 4 minutes
- 18Slime11.5 minutes
same as test 1
Truck tire, 50 to 60 PSI
- 1NOCO Air 15
not separately stated for this narrower range; see the 0 to 60 PSI truck tire test
- 2GSPSCN
not isolated as a separate figure in this section
- 3DeWalt
not isolated as a separate figure
- 5Asani2 minutes 26 seconds
moved into the lead at that point in the high-pressure test
- 6UUP2 minutes 35 seconds
trailed Asani by just a little
- 10AstroAI single cylinder, 1st unit tested4 minutes 5 seconds
best performance yet at that point in the high-pressure test
- 11EPAuto
really struggled with high pressure, around a minute slower than the previous five brands
- 12Yungtee
does not like high pressure, performed the same as the roughly $20 price range pumps at 4 minutes 15 seconds
- 13R8close to4 minutes 15 seconds
same as FADAK WALT, handled high pressure nicely
- 14FADAK WALT4 minutes 15 seconds
tied with FBK
- 15FBK4 minutes 15 seconds
moved into the lead at that point in the high-pressure test for handling high pressure well
- 16Powools
a little slower than FADAK WALT at 4 minutes 22 seconds
- 17Carsunjust under4.5 minutes
- 4Viairnot tested
- 7AstroAI dual cylinder, 2nd unit testednot tested
- 8Avid Powernot tested
- 9Craftsmannot tested
- 18Slimenot tested
Truck tire, 0 to 60 PSI (fastest-four final test)
- 1NOCO Air 15about10 minutes 45 seconds
fastest of the four finalists
- 2GSPSCN13 minutes 30 seconds
- 4Viair12 minutes 14 seconds
- 7AstroAI dual cylinder, 2nd unit testedabout38 seconds
slower than GSPSCN's 13.5 minutes, roughly 14 minutes 8 seconds
- 3DeWaltnot tested
- 5Asaninot tested
- 6UUPnot tested
- 8Avid Powernot tested
- 9Craftsmannot tested
- 10AstroAI single cylinder, 1st unit testednot tested
- 11EPAutonot tested
- 12Yungteenot tested
- 13R8not tested
- 14FADAK WALTnot tested
- 15FBKnot tested
- 16Powoolsnot tested
- 17Carsunnot tested
- 18Slimenot tested
All measurements (2 more)+
Air hose temperature after the 35 PSI speed test
- 1NOCO Air 15about114 F2nd
2nd coolest behind DeWalt
- 3DeWaltabout84 F
coolest of all 18 pumps
- 18Slimeabout120 F3rd
- 2GSPSCNnot tested
- 4Viairnot tested
- 5Asaninot tested
- 6UUPnot tested
- 7AstroAI dual cylinder, 2nd unit testednot tested
- 8Avid Powernot tested
- 9Craftsmannot tested
- 10AstroAI single cylinder, 1st unit testednot tested
- 11EPAutonot tested
- 12Yungteenot tested
- 13R8not tested
- 14FADAK WALTnot tested
- 15FBKnot tested
- 16Powoolsnot tested
- 17Carsunnot tested
Truck tire, 50 to 60 PSI (adding 10 PSI to an already-inflated pickup tire)
- 18Slimeover8 minutes
- 1NOCO Air 15not tested
- 2GSPSCNnot tested
- 3DeWaltnot tested
- 4Viairnot tested
- 5Asaninot tested
- 6UUPnot tested
- 7AstroAI dual cylinder, 2nd unit testednot tested
- 8Avid Powernot tested
- 9Craftsmannot tested
- 10AstroAI single cylinder, 1st unit testednot tested
- 11EPAutonot tested
- 12Yungteenot tested
- 13R8not tested
- 14FADAK WALTnot tested
- 15FBKnot tested
- 16Powoolsnot tested
- 17Carsunnot tested
How it was tested
- no-load specs: weight, sound level at 24 in, and power draw (watts and amps) measured at approximately 35 PSI using a 200 W AC-to-12V-DC converter
- pressure gauge accuracy vs a pair of calibrated reference tire pressure gauges
- speed test 1: time to inflate a car tire from flat to 35 PSI on the 200 W converter rig, plus resulting air hose temperature
- speed/high-pressure test 2: a second car tire timing pass alongside a load range G truck/pickup tire inflated from 50 to 60 PSI
- fastest-four final test: the top 4 finishers (NOCO, Viair, GSPSCN, AstroAI dual cylinder) timed inflating a 17-in pickup truck tire from 0 to 60 PSI
“the Noco came in on top with the best average finish in the graded categories of 2.6”
