There are many significant differences between an infrared heater and a traditional fan heater. For instance, instead of blowing, infrared heaters radiate heat. Infrared radiation heats materials, not air. To learn more about infrared radiation, visit, for example, Wikipedia.
You can feel the heating effect of an infrared heater even outdoors in windy weather because the heat will get through instead of being whisked away with the wind. The warm air blown from the fan heater will disappear in the wind right out of the heater.
Airrex infrared heaters are an excellent choice for, for example, service tasks that have to be performed outdoors, e.g. changing a tyre of a car or repairing machinery (forest harvester, tractor, etc.) in field conditions.