We are in the middle of summer, and some of you may be looking to buy an air conditioner. It could be your first purchase or an upgrade. Either way, you want a good deal. Well, I have been using the Hisense Intelli Cool Pro AC for a month now. It is a 1.5-ton, 3-star inverter AC with 5-in-1 convertible modes, 4-in-1 healthy filter setup, and a respectable warranty structure. It is officially listed at Rs 36,990, but with cashback and bank offers, its price comes down to around Rs 32,490, which puts it in a more interesting spot.
If you are looking for an AC in this range, read on to find out about its design, interface, how the installation went, how it actually performs day-to-day, and by the end, you can decide if the Hisense Intelli Cool Pro deserves your money or not.
The Hisense Intelli Cool Pro has a minimal look. The indoor unit is a clean white panel, 1022 mm wide and a slender 231 mm tall, which makes it one of the slimmest units in its price range. It practically disappears on our wall. The finish is fine, and I haven’t come across any rattles, creaks, or loose parts so far.
The display is a hidden LED type, visible only when the AC is running. It shows the set temperature. Nothing fancy, but easy to read from across the room. The louvres are ABS plastic and move smoothly in a four-way swing.
Matching the indoor unit, the remote also has a white-ish complexion on the front side. The back side is grey in colour, and on the bottom, there is a battery cavity with a slide-in cover. The remote is slim, lightweight and due to its curvy back, it is comfortable to hold. It works wirelessly up to 21 feet. Since it is infrared-based, you’ll have to point it at the AC to register various commands. The buttons are clicky and have text and icon-based marking. So, you can easily know which button does what and perhaps not long before learn to use them without looking, thanks to a sensible layout. Using the remote in a dark room is also no problem, as the buttons are backlit. The rectangular screen above the button array is big enough for indicators.
The outdoor unit is also plain white in colour. There are vents through which you can see the fins with hairpin anti-corrosion coating. The compressor inside is made by GMCC, a leading manufacturer in this space. Both the compressor coil and the tube are made of copper. Overall, the outdoor unit has a metallic build and weighs around 30 Kg. While lifting it for installation, the technician did ask for a helping hand. So, that’s a two-man job. And with that, let’s get to the setup experience.
A solo technician came with the tools for the installation. He unboxed the AC and got on with the installation. In our case, there was some ducting and drilling involved. The vacuuming of the dust from this process is the customer’s responsibility. Of course, you’ll have to plaster the hammered area around the pipe. Another thing to note is that the unit also does not come with a plug pre-fitted. You will have to call an electrician separately, or yourself arrange a 16A 3-pin plug for the bare cable from the AC. This is a common practice, nothing out of the ordinary.
Also, if your outdoor unit needs to be wall-mounted, the bracket would cost separately. From Hisense, this costs Rs 1,000. The technician was professional, and he charged Rs 1,593 for his service. So, the total cost of installation was Rs 2,593 in my case (reimbursed by the brand since it is a review unit), and it took under 2 hours for the whole thing.
Once slotted into a socket and switched on, it worked fine. You can control the AC using the bundled remote and/or the ConnectLife app. The AAA batteries for the remote come in the box. Put them in, point the remote at the AC and start using.
Pairing and using the ConnectLife app to control the AC is even easier, as it works over Wi-Fi. During the app’s setup, only a 2.4GHz Wi-Fi connection was accepted, but now it also works over 5GHz Wi-Fi. Regardless, the app takes a 2-second delay to trigger the commands like raising or lowering the cooling. The remote is quicker in that respect.
The app is not just about the basic commands, though.
Hisense Intelli Cool Pro sports a cooling capacity of 5,100 W, which is the same as some 1.5-ton 5-star ACs from its leading competitors. Yes, the Hisense model is 3-star rated, but it costs about 30% cheaper than its rivals. Also, on the other hand, the minimum cooling capacity of the Hisense AC is 1,785 W, which is higher than the competition’s 1,500 W. This means that at its most relaxed setting, the Hisense is working a little harder than competitors.
Its air throw is rated at up to 12 metres, though I agree that matters less in a 130 sq ft bedroom. In my testing, a temperature gun reading on the wall showed a 3-degree drop in about 15 minutes. Granted, wall temperature varies with material, insulation, and airflow. So, take this as only a rough indicator.
If you want faster cooling, the Super mode puts the compressor into overdrive and brings a comfortable temperature noticeably quicker than normal mode.
You can manually change fan speeds in 4 steps, depending on your need: one auto mode and three different speed levels.
Then, there is the I-Feel mode, which reads the ambient temperature at the remote’s location and adjusts cooling accordingly. If you are someone who keeps the remote on your bedside table, this is genuinely useful. The unit directs cooling to where you specifically are.
The Hisense AC is also a 5-in-1 convertible, meaning you can choose from usage-based preset modes that adjust cooling behaviour and power use:
However, the brand does not specify the exact cooling capacity levels for each mode.
What the brand has explicitly displayed on the AC is the 3-star BEE rating sticker. This sticker shows the rating is valid between 1 January 2026 and 31 December 2027. The AC has an ISEER of 4.4, which denotes a sensible efficiency for the price.
Cooling aside, you also get health benefits from a 4-in-1 filter setup: a Catechin filter with antibacterial properties, an activated carbon layer for odour absorption, and a HEPA layer for PM2.5 particles. This is a big plus if you don’t have an air purifier or don’t want to run one. You can access the filters by lifting the front panel.
Hisense has also included a self-frost clean function that helps prevent mould and associated odour buildup over time. Again, a thoughtful addition.
In everyday use, the AC stays fairly quiet. My mother even asked if it was running properly, as our older AC is noticeably louder. Turn on Sleep Mode for an even hushed experience. Hisense rates the Intelli Cool Pro between 31 dB and 44 dB. In my testing with a sound level meter, noise levels ranged between 40 dB and 60 dB. This difference is expected, as brand ratings are usually measured in controlled conditions, while real-world usage includes ambient noise and higher fan speeds.
On the smart side, as already mentioned, the AC can be controlled through the ConnectLife app. Besides remote controls, you also get useful functions like timer, scheduling, and self-diagnosis of the AC’s condition. These work reliably. There are If-Then-based automation routines, but some of the triggers were greyed out. There is no Apple HomeKit or Matter support. You can enable tariff settings in the app, which calculates your AC electricity cost based on your per-unit electricity rate. For example, you can set Rs 8 per kWh as the fixed per-unit electricity price. But I don’t understand what it does afterwards. The app does not offer detailed energy analytics.
While voice assistant support via Alexa and Google Assistant is available, Sign in with Google wasn’t working.
Before we get to my closing thoughts, let’s talk about the warranty policy. The Hisense Intelli Cool Pro comes with a 5-year comprehensive warranty and a 10-year compressor warranty. The PCB and condenser are also covered for 5 years. That is very good to have.
The Hisense Intelli Cool Pro cools fast, stays quiet enough that my mother thought it was not even running, and has different modes and features to enrich the experience. The design is minimal, the remote is functional, the 5-in-1 convertible modes give you some flexibility depending on who is in the room and what you are doing, the Super mode pulls the room temperature down quickly when you need it, and the 4-in-1 filter with HEPA is a genuine bonus at this price.
A few things could be better. The ConnectLife app works, and I used it more often than the remote, but some aspects like the tariff setting, the voice assistant and the automation triggers need some polishing. But these aren’t in any way a dealbreaker in everyday use. And unless you are building a connected home, the absence of standards like Matter wouldn’t bother you.
So, if you want an inverter cum convertible AC that is reasonably smart in looks and performance, you can consider the Hisense Intelli Cool Pro. It offers reliable cooling, promising filtration, and a reassuring warranty.