The best portable tire inflators

Photo credit: NATALLIA B / Shutterstock.com

For many car owners, tire inflation isn’t a concern until their tire pressure monitoring system (TPMS) triggers a warning light. While TPMS has become a very useful feature in modern vehicles, you don’t want to solely rely on it to know when your tires are underinflated or overinflated. Reason being, your TPMS is configured to only warn you if your tire pressure drops below a certain threshold. This is typically 25 percent below the recommended tire pressure, which won’t account for slightly underinflated tires. You should really depend on your TPMS to let you know when you have a fast leak or a flat tire, while using a tire pressure gauge and a portable tire inflator to keep your tires properly inflated.

In the past, we’ve covered the importance of tire pressure and how it can affect your Porsche’s performance, as underinflated or overinflated tires can negatively impact your driving experience. Owning a portable tire inflator ensures you’re always able to keep your tires properly inflated from the comforts of your own driveway or garage. These are relatively affordable products and we’d argue in the long run, you’d make your money back by not driving on underinflated or overinflated tires.

Below are our top picks of the best portable tire inflators or air compressors, followed by more information about tire inflation and why we recommend tire inflators.

1. Top pick: NOCO AIR10 tire inflator

Photo credit: Jason Siu / FlatSixes

When it comes to a balance of price, performance, and reliability, my top pick for the best portable tire inflator goes to the NOCO AIR10. There are more powerful versions available with the AIR15 and AIR20, but they’re more expensive. If, however, you need a more powerful pump for larger tires and faster inflation, you can consider those as well.

The reason why I favor the NOCO AIR10 over other competitors is how high quality everything is. The unit is extremely sturdy, is the quietest I’ve used, and has clever onboard storage for everything. NOCO is also a brand that I’ve had good experiences with in the past, including its portable jump starters. The AIR10 is extremely easy to use, but it’s not a cordless option—we have a pick for that below. You’ll have to power it through your car’s 12V outlet, which means dealing with a cable when you’re working all four corners.

If you’re OK with that, the only issue I have with this pump is the longevity of the soft-touch buttons up top. It’s also a bit heavier and larger than other options on the market, but that’s a price you have to pay for a powerful and reliable inflator.

2. Best cordless: GooLoo GT160 portable tire inflator

Photo credit: Jason Siu / FlatSixes

If you want the convenience of a cordless tire inflator, GooLoo GT160 is my pick. The company has a more powerful Dual version that I am looking forward to testing, but it’s more expensive and might be overkill for the general consumer. The GooLoo GT160 is a cost-effective option for a portable tire inflator, a unit that I put through its paces last month in a review. For the average car owner, I think it’s the perfect option, assuming you keep it charged.

Since it is a cordless tire inflator, it relies on its built-in 7500mAh battery to power the pump. In my testing, I was able to comfortably inflate all four of my tires on a single charge, but charging the unit does take a bit of time. Still, there hasn’t been noticeable battery drain while it sits idle in my glovebox, but I do check on it once a month.

This is a very convenient option since you don’t have to deal with running a power cable from inside your car’s cabin or clamps from your car’s battery. I do wish the inflator hose was longer, though, as I ran into a situation where my valve stem was at the 12 o’clock position and the hose wasn’t long enough for me to set the unit down on the ground. Other than that, I have no real complaints.

3. Best multipurpose inflator: BLACK+DECKER cordless inflator

If you want a multipurpose inflator that can be used at home, in your vehicle, or completely cordless, take a look at this recommendation from reputable brand BLACK+DECKER. With this option, you can use BLACK+DECKER lithium-ion batteries if you’ve already invested into the company’s tools, your car’s 12-volt outlet, or a standard 120-volt household outlet. It’s a versatile option with an automatic shutoff feature and a digital pressure gauge.

BLACK+DECKER also includes a variety of accessories so you can inflate all types of household items: a ball needle, a Presta valve adapter, small inflator adapter, and a large volume hose. Use it on your inflatable mattress when you go camping, or keeping your bicycle’s tire properly inflated on your trail ride.

4. Honorable mention: AstroAI portable air compressor

Our final recommendation is a good budget pick, as it’s often on sale. Although it is your typical portable tire inflator that’s manufactured overseas (like EPAuto’s tire inflator), it does come from a brand that has good customer support and tends to be more reliable than other brands. Weighing 2.2 lbs, it’s a lightweight option that will inflate a 15-inch tire from zero-to-26 psi in about two minutes. A standard car tire can go from zero-to-36 psi in four-to-six minutes, making it about average when it comes to speed (35L/min).

A built in emergency LED light, digital LCD gauge that displays multiple units, and automatic shutoff makes it an easy-to-use tire inflator, much like our top pick. AstroAI includes an extra fuse and nozzles, so you can also use this to inflate household items, although you shouldn’t for high pressure or large volume items like an inflatable pool or canoe. Choose from red, yellow, orange, or blue accent colors.

Why do I need a portable tire inflator?

As we mentioned earlier in the article, driving on underinflated or overinflated tires can negatively impact your car’s performance. Even worse, low tire pressure can even cause your tire to have a blowout. For day to day driving, underinflated tires can result in lower fuel economy, which means ultimately costing you money at the pump. Low tire pressure can also affect your car’s handling since your tire’s sidewalls are flexing more. That means less traction and grip, and you might not even notice it until it’s too late. Finally, underinflation increases tire wear, shortening a tire’s life. That’s another hit on your wallet, since you’ll be replacing tires sooner than you should.

Overinflated tires can also increase the risk of a blowout, in addition to making your car’s ride a bit rougher. Excess pressure in your tires means feeling all the bumps in the road and your tires are more susceptible to damage that can be caused by potholes. And like underinflated tires, overinflated tires will wear out quicker, which means losing money.

Owning a portable tire inflator allows you to keep your tires properly inflated without having to hunt down a public air compressor at a local gas station. Keeping one in your car also means you’re prepared for an emergency, if you start getting a slow leak from a nail in your tire while on the road.

Where do I find my recommended tire pressure?

The easiest way to find your recommended tire pressure is to look for a label on your driver’s side door jamb or fuel door. Although it’s rare, it may also be in your car’s glove box. If you aren’t able to locate the label, refer to your owner’s manual.

How do I use a portable tire inflator?

If you purchased one of our recommendations with an automatic shutoff feature, using a portable tire inflator is pretty straightforward. Determine the recommended tire pressure for your car — pay attention to the front and the rear, as they are often different — set it on the gauge, connect the valve to your valve stem, and turn on the tire inflator. Although it should automatically shutoff once it reaches the preset tire pressure, we still recommend keeping an eye on the inflator to make sure it does. If your inflator doesn’t have an automatic shutoff feature, you’ll need to monitor the gauge and shut off the pump once your tires are properly inflated.

How does a portable tire inflator work?

A portable tire inflator is essentially a small air compressor but lacks a tank to store the compressed air. Unlike the proper air compressor you’ve seen at your mechanic’s shop, a portable tire inflator isn’t able to power pneumatic tools and its only purpose is to inflate objects, such as your vehicle’s tires.

How long can I run my portable tire inflator?

Each manufacturer will advertise different run times for their portable tire inflator, and from our experience, many of those estimations are generous. Depending on the design, the motor inside the portable tire inflator could heat up fairly quickly and will stop functioning until it can properly cool down. Generally, we wouldn’t recommend inflating more than 4 tires at once, which should take you anywhere from 5 to 10 minutes depending on how much air pressure is needed for each tire. But refer to your specific tire inflator’s manual and follow those guidelines so you don’t permanently damage the unit.

Do I have to perform any maintenance on my portable tire inflator?

You generally do not have to perform any maintenance on a portable tire inflator. The products we recommended should not require any maintenance, so long as you don’t overuse the unit and cause the motor to overheat.

Recent updates:

Updated (6:42 p.m. EST, 11/19/2025): Added two new top recommendations to our list after evaluating and testing new products.

Updated (12:33 p.m. EST, 1/19/2023): Added eBay shopping options to our recommendations. Added a few more FAQs. Our recommendations remain the same.