We wouldn’t go as far as to call these the “dog days of summer” quite yet, but we’re surely approaching the territory. With the heat finally starting to make a somewhat prolonged appearance on the East Coast, changes have to be made. For me, the biggest one is swapping my air purifier for a portable AC. But that change happened later than it typically would, all thanks to one device: Dreame’s new Bladeless Fan.

Dreame makes some of our best-tested robot vacuums (its extra-slender new X60 device was a hit at this year’s CES), but I didn’t know what to expect with a fan. But I needed a new tower fan, and Dreame promised whole-room cooling and circulation in its new MF10 bladeless fan. A lot of fans promise this, but having some familiarity with the brand’s other tech, I thought it would be a worthwhile investment. $299 is objectively steep for a fan; you can get a window AC for less. But that’s not what I needed.

I don’t have the luxury of central air. I have a 14,000 BTU window unit in my living room that does the job. My bedroom, not so much. I have a 14,000 BTU portable AC that I’ve had to McGyver through the old casement windows in my apartment bedroom. It works, technically, but I need an extra fan for the other side of the bedroom. I like to fall asleep to the sound of a fan, anyway, so it kills two birds with one stone.

Nonetheless, between the unorthodox setup and the energy costs, I always wait until the very last minute to set up the portable AC. I figured with the right fan, I’d have a little more wiggle room. Could this be a “Dreame” come true?

First Impressions

Dreame’s new fan came unassembled, but it only took about 10 minutes to attach the upper part to the base, add the fan’s two “wings,” and insert the air filter—more of that later.

At first glance, the finished product looks like your standard blade fan. Until you realize there are, in fact, no blades. Checks out. It’s shaped like a traditional fan, only the circular wings feature vents. Most tower fans are built to resemble, well, a tower, but this takes the shape of a $20 standing fan you’d find at Shop Rite back in the day. But this design is very much intentional.

Dreame calls them “GyroWings” (yes, like the Greek wrap). They can be controlled and rotated up to 90 degrees individually (a little insight as to why they also require separate installations). This helps deliver up to 270 degrees of coverage; the fan is designed to mix air evenly and reduce hot and cold layers for the perfect airflow.

Even, um, cooler? The MF10 features a proprietary TempSync technology. Dreame’s fan has a built-in temperature sensor and a corresponding algorithm that automatically adjusts the fan’s wings as conditions change, resulting in more natural cooling. The fan sits higher than your average tower fan, and it’s the perfect height at the foot of my bed. It almost feels like I’m sleeping outside—in a good way, of course.

A few days later, I was working from home on what was then the hottest day of the year. As a precaution, I moved the device to the center of my room and closer to my workspace. I run hot. This proved to be somewhat unnecessary; I quickly found the fan cooled the entire room, either way. I didn’t have the air directly hitting me, of course, but my room stayed at a very palatable temperature in both spots.

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Powerful, Quiet Cooling

For a fan to deliver even cooling across an entire room—and mine’s pretty big—it has to be fairly powerful. This was certainly the case here. The fan has 10 speed settings and uses another one of Dreame’s fancy technologies. In this case, it’s “AirBoost.” The high-speed air draws in surrounding hot air, operating almost as an air conditioner. This is also evident by the filter at the bottom, which is both washable and reusable. I’ll take the tradeoff; it helps boost the overall airflow for roughly 16x more coverage. I couldn’t scientifically prove this during my testing, but I’ll have to take Dreame’s word for it. It sounds about right.

Typically, a fan with this kind of juice is loud and obnoxious. This isn’t the case with the Dreame. It’s not totally silent, but it doesn’t sound like a truck engine, either. I’ve had some other pretty expensive fans (I won’t name names), and they were either quiet and provided little airflow or had to sound like a shop vac to cool me down. This was genuinely the best of both worlds. I prefer a little fan noise to sleep, and the Dreame provided the perfect amount, even at its highest setting.

Easy Remote Controls

Dreame’s remote control options might be the most unheralded component of the entire operation. You can sync the fan to your phone via the Dreame app to control oscillation, temperature levels, and advanced timer settings—the latter of which enables an auto-start function that activates when it reaches a certain temperature. You can also set it for a certain time, day of the week, or both.

I’m a little old school, so I prefer the regular remote. But the smart features are objectively cool (in more ways than one) and represent another cost-saving feature. You don’t have to leave the fan on all day to cool the room; you can start it up a few minutes before you get home, and it should have done the job by then. But I love the standard remote for one simple reason: it’s almost impossible to lose. I lose basically every remote I’ve ever owned, albeit temporarily, but the MF10’s remote is magnetic, and you can attach it right to the top of the hub, and you’ll never lose it. The proof is in the pudding: I haven’t misplaced it once since I got it.

Final Thoughts

I’m not one to oversell, especially over a household fan, nonetheless, but I genuinely could not recommend shelling out the extra cash for this device. It’s much more than “just a fan,” though; it’s a legitimate energy and money-saving mechanism that almost feels like a cheat code. I sleep hot, and I typically cave and turn on my AC in mid-May. It’s taken a little while for the oppressive heat to rear its ugly head, but in multiple weeks of high 80s, low 90s heat, I’ve only used my AC once, and it wasn’t until mid-June.

In the real sweltering heat, I need my air conditioner, and I run at least two—and sometimes three—fans near my bed. I haven’t had to break out a second fan yet, and I don’t plan on it this summer. $300 might be a little steep for a fan (although it’s over $100 off for Prime Day), but it can save you hundreds, if not thousands, down the line.

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