InnoGear Essential Oil Diffuser Ultrasonic Diffusers for Home, Basic White

Why it's worth it

A 100ml plastic diffuser that covers a small bedroom or a desk, runs 6 to 8 hours on the pulse setting, and shuts off on its own when dry. It's the right first diffuser and the right one to scatter through spare rooms.

Buy this if you're not sure you'll use a diffuser at all. It's the smallest commitment here, and it does the core job: fine mist, seven LED colors, two mist modes, auto shutoff when the water's gone. InnoGear rates coverage at 100 to 250 square feet, which is a real bedroom or a classroom corner, not marketing math.

The intermittent setting is what makes the small tank work. Continuous gives you 3 to 4 hours; pulsing 30 seconds on and off stretches it to 6 to 8. Owners who run it overnight almost all use the pulse mode, and they report it's still misting in the morning.

From our review of 12 essential oil diffusers, by David Sinclair, Managing Editor

What we like

• +Buy this if you're not sure you'll use a diffuser at all
• +The intermittent setting is what makes the small tank work
• +Light and mist are independently controlled, which is the feature we'd insist on for anything going in a bedroom
• +InnoGear has been making these for over a decade, and there's a one-year warranty plus ongoing technical support

What to know

• –The 100ml tank is genuinely small
• –It looks like exactly what it is — a white plastic cylinder
• –Reliability is the coin flip at this price