4 Mini Split Brands With Better Ratings Than Daikin

There are many different kinds of HVAC systems out there to cool and heat your home. However, not every solution is universal. Some homes can't accommodate a central air system, and not everyone wants to deal with or likes the aesthetic of a window unit or portable air conditioner. What you can then turn to is a ductless mini split air conditioner. This is a design that has one outdoor unit and one indoor unit, which can be mounted on the wall, ceiling, or elsewhere depending on the design. The two are connected by refrigerant tubing an electrical wiring through a hole in the wall. There are models designed for both single rooms and multiple rooms, and one of the top brands for these is Daikin, the Japanese company that also owns Goodman and Amana.

Daikin mini split air conditioners get solid ratings from both customers and experts alike. According to Consumer Reports, the Daikin Oterra mini split has the second-highest owner satisfaction score of all the mini split models tested by the publication, and it also receives good marks from CR's in-house testing for comfort, efficiency, room heating, and low noise, as well as an excellent brownout rating. AC Direct, one of the big names in A/C retailing, ranks Daikin among the best mini splits for those who live in a four-season climate or needs them for a large, commercial space. Daikin ratings are quite good, but there are several other mini split manufacturers out there that are much more universally liked. Here, we're going to look at four different brands that generally receive better overall ratings from customer and experts for their mini splits.

If there's one mini split brand that basically everyone can agree on being one of the best — if not the best — on the market, it's Mitsubishi. The company introduced its very first mini split air conditioning system all the way back in 1968, and nearly 60 years later, it's the one getting the best ratings almost everywhere you look.

The Mitsubishi HM Series mini split easily lands at the top in rankings by Consumer Reports. This is thanks to excellent ratings for both owner satisfaction and brand reliability, the only model from any brand to receive excellent scores for both of those categories. CR's in-house testing also showed this earned top marks for comfort, efficiency, brownout, and indoor noise when on low. Then noise production was also very good when running on high as well. It's only sticking point in the tests was with ease of use.

AC Direct has Mitsubishi as the brand to go to if you live in a place with cold winters, whether that be for a single room or a multi-zone family home, and had it alongside Daikin as the most efficient brand on the market. Mitsubishi is such a high quality brand that Zone Air, another mini split producer, posted its own ranking, presumably to show how well-rated itself was, and it even had to put Mitsubishi in first place and itself in second. The New York Thimes' Wirecutter praises its vast installer netowrk and product variety. We here at SlashGear have even determined that Mitsubishi greatly outpaces Daikin for small homes too. For mini split A/Cs, there's almost no bad word about Mitsubishi out there.

When the in-house experts at Consumer Reports determine that a product wholeheartedly earns its praise with its testing and survey results, the publication gives it a "CR Recommended" designation. There are only two mini split models tested by CR that have been given that badge of honor. The first is a Mitsubishi model, and the other belongs to Fujitsu. Known for its Airstage brand of mini split air conditioners, Fujitsu has received a good amount of praise for its A/C options.

In terms of just the in-house CR testing, Fujitsu actually has a better overall spread of ratings across every testing area compared to both Mitsubishi and Daikin. Its brownout rating was average, but everything else received a very good score at the very least. Its comfort, room heating, and noise level while running on low scores were actually all excellent. The owner satisfaction score is nearly identical to Daikin's, but the testing puts it over the edge.

Wirecutter is also a massive fan of Fujitsu mini splits. It even goes one step further to say that it's the best brand on the market, specifically highlighting its Airstage Altair 500 Series. Along with liking the brand's offerings for both single room and multi-zone uses, the thing Wirecutter really appreciates is that it uses R32 refrigerant for cooling. This refrigerant is widely available compared to the R454B used by Mitsubishi models, which may be more expensive due to a recent shortage of it. Plus, R32 refrigerant has a relatively low Global Warming Potential. All in all, Fujitsu Airstage mini split air conditioners are a very good alternative to what Daikin can provide.

Senville has been producing mini split air conditioners since 2005, and in the two decades since, it's established itself as a significant player in the market, having sold over one million units in that time in North America and Europe. That success is seemingly with good reason, as Senville mini splits have earned some of the best notices from a variety of different publications.

Popular Mechanics rates the Senville LETO Series as the very best overall mini split on the market today. With a variety of sizes ranging from 9,000 BTUs to 30,000 BTUs, Senville is able to deliver the right amount of power for just about any size space you require. PM also appreciates that the unit can operate very quietly at just 34 db. It also likes that the unit comes with its own installation kit, so you don't have to hire a professional installer to put it in for you. However, it does not that if you install it yourself that it voids the warranty.

The publication is also very high on the Senville Quad Zone mini split. PM deems this to be the best smart mini split that you can buy. Not only can you use your smartphone to control the units through Wi-Fi, but there are multiple remotes for the units as well to avoid taking out your phone. With all four units, you can get an output of 36,000 BTUs to cover 1,800 sq. ft. Popular Mechanics crafted its whole list with an eye for modern technology and energy efficiency. Senville mini split air conditioners were the clear winner, and Daikin didn't even make the list.

Cooper & Hunter is celebrating 30 years in the HVAC business, having been started in 1996, and it's grown in that time to the point that its products are now seen in over 50 countries around the world. What helps with that kind of reach is that its air conditioners come with a lot of good word behind them as well.

If you're looking for power, Cooper & Hunter can certainly deliver on that. Popular Mechanics gives it the Cooper & Hunter Single Zone ductless mini split the designation of being the most powerful on the market. This is a mini split designed for just one room that can deliver 36,000 BTUs. That's the kind of power you can get with four-unit air conditioners from other companies. So, if you need a large room cooled or heated, this one certainly delivers on that front. One big negative is that if you want to connect the unit to Wi-Fi for smartphone controls, you have to purchase a Wi-Fi adapter separately.

PM also has praise for another Cooper & Hunter mini split, the Ceiling Cassette Ductless Air Conditioner. Most of the mini split designs you'll see out there are mounted on the wall, but for some people, this fairly large rectangle on their wall is not exactly the home décor they were hoping for. Instead, they may want the indoor unit mounted to the ceiling, similar to many central air vents. PM lists this Cooper & Hunter model as the very best for ceiling installation. Notably, it does require professional installation, but that's the price you pay for one of the best mini splits of its kind.

While Daikin has earned its fair share of praise for its mini split air conditioners, there is far from a consensus of the brand having the best on the market. In order to determine whether a mini split brand could appear on this list, there needed to be either be a consensus from a number of different sources that it was better rated, or a particular brand needed to have overwhelming support from particular experts at the expense of Daikin to make this list.

These ratings were taken from a variety of different sources, all of which have a lot of experience covering air conditioners and other home appliances. These included The New York Times' Wirecutter, Popular Mechanics, and Consumer Reports. That final publication was also important in determining the opinions of actual customers of these mini split units. If a brand had a low owner satisfaction score, it couldn't be included.

We also used sources from those in the actual air conditioning industry. This included the opinions of mini split retailers, such as AC Direct, and mini split producers themselves, like Zone Air. While the latter of those could so easily be self-serving advertising — and there's some of that — Zone Air was surprisingly honest in its assessment of the mini split market. Once all of these factors were taken under consideration, the list was narrowed to down to four, as they showed to have the strongest case for the claim of having better overall ratings than Daikin.