Best Fan 2024: Cooling and purifying fans to beat the heat

A fan isn’t just about direct cooling, it’s about shifting stuffy, stale air around and refreshing a room. That’s where the MeacoFan Sefte 10 Pedestal Air Circulator comes in. A completely new design from the company’s previous air circulators, the new model has a new motor, and a refreshed design.

Cleverly, the fan comes with two columns that lock into place. You can use none of these columns for desktop mode, or one or two to adjust the height of the fan. It’s a little slow moving between different heights and modes, but the flexibility is appreciated.

The main fan has an on/off button and fan speed selector, but you need the remote for the main features, which include three modes each of vertical and horizontal oscillation, fan speed, a night mode and eco mode (the fan speed is adjusted based on the ambient temperature).

With 12 fan speeds on offer, the MeacoFan Sefte 10 Pedestal Air Circulator can deliver everything from a gentle breeze (2m/sec at 1m) to a full-on intense stream of air (4.2m/s at 1m). Impressively this fan is quiet, moving between 36.9dB on its quietest setting (effectively background noise) and 53.8dB on its highest setting.

If you want the widest range of fan speeds and the best air circulation, this is the fan to buy.

Reviewer: David Ludlow
Full review: MeacoFan Sefte 10 Pedestal Air Circulator review

If you’re looking for a versatile cooling fan that can be used in a variety of different ways and boasts genuinely useful extras then the Shark FlexBreeze Portable Fan (FA220UK) is one for you. 

The FA220UK can be set up as both a pedestal or desktop fan, providing either a whole-room or a personal cooling. To enable desktop mode, simply lift out the fan head and place it wherever you need.

This adjustable fan head is also useful as it allows you to angle and direct the airflow, regardless of what mode it’s in.

Not only that but the fan has been designed for both indoor and outdoor use, and even includes a misting attachment which gently sprays you with a cooling mist of air when you’re outdoors. 

For even more convenience, the FA220UK works either when connected to mains, or solely on battery power, with an LCD battery indicator showing you when it’s time to recharge. We found that, perhaps unsurprisingly, battery life varies depending on how you use the fan, surviving up to 24-hours on the lowest fan speed and just two hours when set to the maximum. 

Controlling the fan is simple and, naturally, there are a couple of ways to do this. Either use the buttons on top of the device or the included remote control which usefully sticks magnetically to the back of the fan itself.

There are five fan speeds to choose from, ranging from a gentle breeze to what our reviewer described as a “full-on wind tunnel”. On its lowest setting, we measured airflow at 1.1 metres per second when 15cm away and found the fan reached just 32.1dB of noise. 

With the maximum setting enabled, we measured the airflow at 4.6 metres per second with sound peaking to 50dB which, although noticeable, is certainly not loud enough to distract or disturb.

If you’re looking for a truly versatile fan that can be used in numerous ways, has multiple speed levels and boasts extra features then we’d seriously recommend the Shark FlexBreeze Portable Fan FA220UK.

Reviewer: David Ludlow

Full review: Shark FlexBreeze Portable Fan FA220UK review

Instead of splurging on three separate devices for summer, winter and for air purification, you can get all the necessary features packed into just one appliance: the Dyson Purifier Hot and Cool Formaldehyde.

Not only does the Dyson Purifier work as a powerful fan that keeps rooms pleasantly cool but it also works as a clever heater. Both heating and cooling modes offer a constant stream of air to regulate the room temperature, marking a welcome change from more traditional appliances. 

This isn’t all the Dyson Purifier can do. As the name suggests, it also works as a powerful air purifying system that can even detect formaldehyde. This is particularly impressive as formaldehyde is notoriously difficult to detect, as sensors degrade over time. Dyson has solved this problem by using a solid-state sensor which promises it will last the lifetime of the fan. 

Despite seeming like a complicated device, the Dyson Purifier is incredibly easy and intuitive to both set-up and use. Set-up especially takes minimal effort and simply requires clipping the two-part filter into place. 

With the included remote control that magnetically attaches to the top of the device, you can easily operate the appliance by selecting fan speeds, increasing or decreasing the temperature, setting a timer and choosing other modes, including Nighttime and Auto. 

The Dyson Purifier can also be controlled with the Dyson Link app, which acts as an extra remote control but also includes additional features. Via the app, you can adjust the fan’s start position and even turn on Continuous Monitoring mode, which allows your Dyson Purifier to constantly monitor the environment and give you insights into how air quality changes over time. 

On the device itself is an LCD screen, which clearly displays information about the fan’s temperature, speed and air quality. 

For a fan that you can use all-year round and not just during the summer months, the Dyson Purifier Hot+Cool Formaldehyde is worth the investment.

Reviewer: David Ludlow
Full review: Dyson Purifier Hot+Cool Formaldehyde

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The Dr. Prepare 13-inch Dual Oscillating Tower Fan is a relatively small tower fan that’s as at home on a desk as it is on the floor. Rather than having one set of fan blades, this model has two that work together. The result is more powerful airflow than you might expect from such a model.

Measured on its highest setting, we detected air flor at 1.7m/s at 1m away. At this kind of power, this fan can cool more than one person. Impressively, the fan is also quiet: just 48.5dB from 1m away, and 40.8dB on its minimum speed: that’s barely a whisper. Our only complaint is that the fan makes a slightly waspy noise in operation.

Controls are simple on this device: three power settings and three timers (two, four or eight hours). There’s no remote control or oscillation; if you want those features, look elsewhere on the list. If you want a cheap, small, tower fan, this is a great choice.

Full review: Dr. Prepare 13-inch Dual Oscillating Tower Fan review

Reviewer: Rene Millman

The other products on this list are fans (or evaporative coolers), but the compact Ecoflow Wave 2 is a full-on air conditioning unit and heater. What sets this model apart from other portable air-con units, is that this one can be picked up and carried around and it has an optional battery.

Its small body means that it’s very versatile. For use indoors, two pipes are run outside: one for taking in fresh air, one for outputting hot air; cool air is blown out the front. You can also place the unit outside, pumping cold (or hot) air in through a window. Or, stick the Ecoflow Wave 2 outside of a tent, and keep the environment perfect while camping.

Rated 5100BTU, the EcoFlow Wave 2 is enough for around a 10m², so smaller rooms, camper vans and tents. On maximum power, we found that it could keep our office room at sensible temperatures, although we did have to shield our south-facing room from the sun for it to cope.

Fully smart, the Wave 2 can be controlled via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, which makes it exceptionally easy to set up and control; there are onboard controls if you prefer.

Add the battery, and the Wave 2 runs without needing a plug. I got over two ours on maximum mode; on Eco mode, it can run for up to eight hours. You can charge it via a solar panel, making this a complete off-grid solution.

The EcoFlow Wave 2 is not cheap, but if you want a highly versatile air conditioning unit, there’s nothing quite like this.

Full Review: EcoFlow Wave 2

Reviewer: David Ludlow

The Princess Smart Heating and Cooling Tower is a powerful fan and heater that can be used year-round, has an accompanying smartphone app and is compatible with Alexa and Google Assistant.

Although the Tower itself is tall, it doesn’t take up as much floor space as the Dyson Purifier Hot+Cool Formaldehyde, making it much better suited for small and mid-sized rooms. 

Controlling the Tower is easy with either the included remote control or the Climate smartphone app. While both allow you to adjust the fan speed, switch between cooling and heating modes and set timers in one-hour increments, the app also lets you to set schedules and routines with Alexa and Google Assistant. 

Overall we found the Tower to be impressively powerful across both heating and cooling abilities, although it does have the edge when in Heat mode. In fact when Heat mode was enabled we found that airflow from 15cm away was 40°C in both the highest and even the lowest setting.

With cooling (fan) mode, we measured air speed at 3.08m/s at its maximum setting which then fell to 1.31m/s at 1m which, although are decent scores, are trumped by more powerful fans such as the VonHaus 35″ Tower Fan.
For a device that can be used all year round, the Princess Smart Heating and Cooling Tower is a versatile choice. Although the Dyson Purifier Hot+Cool Formaldehyde can heat, cool and even act as an air purifier, the Princess Smart Heating and Cooling Tower is a much more budget-friendly option.

Full review: Princess Smart Heating and Cooling Tower review

Reviewer: David Ludlow

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With the Dyson Pure Humidify+Cool you get a fan that’s designed to be used all-year-round, keeping your home environment at the healthiest of levels. First, this fan is a proper air purifier, sucking in allergens and other noxious elements to keep your home air clean. It works brilliantly, and was one of the quickest fans to clean our test environment. Thanks to the onboard sensors, the fan can do this job automatically for you.

Next, this model is also a humidifier, adding moisture to the air when needed. Again, it’s a fully automated system that will only add moisture when it’s needed. This helps improve the home environment and can help with dry skin and make it easier to breathe.

Working around both technologies is a very powerful fan, capable of pushing air at 4.4m/s from 15cm on maximum speed, down to a gentle trickle on the lowest speed. As this is a Dyson fan, it’s also extremely quiet: on the lowest speed you really can’t hear it at all. Air comes out of the two rotating barrels on the side, which give this fan a unique Breeze mode that accurately simulates real wind.

In winter or when you don’t want cold air, you can redirect air out the back of the fan, with the air barrels rotating all the way around. There’s a remote control that connects magnetically to the top that lets you control every feature, but you can also use the Dyson Link app for remote control. Alexa integration is supported, including using Routines to automatically control the fan. If you want a fan that can keep your home air clean and improve the environment, this is the model to buy.

Reviewer: David Ludlow
Full review: Dyson Pure Humidify+Cool review

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Dyson fans all look so distinctive with their bladeless heads that you can put a hand through that the Dyson Pure Cool Me immediately looks different thanks to its ball head. The reason for the design change is that the fan uses Dyson’s Core Flow technology, which lets the convex surface direct a fine stream of air exactly where you want it, making it perfect for personal cooling.

Sliding the plastic disc up and down lets you point the air flow where you want it. There’s also a 90-degree oscillation mode, so you can sweep the air around. The benefits of the new system are three-fold. First, you can sit in a bubble of cooling air; secondly, on oscillation mode, the fan doesn’t blow bits of paper on your desk everywhere; third, the fan is far smaller than Dyson’s previous desktop models.

Performance is excellent, managing a blast of air at 6.2m/s from 15cm away on maximum speed, while minimum speed just delivers a gentle blast that wouldn’t measure on our test equipment. Noise levels are as low as you’d expect from Dyson, measuring just 37dB on the lowest setting, which is effectively background noise levels; on maximum, which is powerful, the fan comes in at 63.5dB.

Even better, the fan has a filter inside it, so as it cools you, it purifies the air. There’s no auto mode on this model, but as long as the fan is one it will clean the air it blows at you. As with previous models, all control is via the remote which clips onto the front of the fan. The only thing missing from this model is app control, which is a minor shame.

If you want powerful personal cooling and air purification, this clever fan is the model to buy.

Reviewer: David Ludlow
Full review: Dyson Pure Cool Me review

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If you need a fan where cables won’t reach, say to a garden on a hot day or in a tent when you go camping, the MeacoFan 260C Cordless Air Circulator is the model for you. Thanks to its integrated battery, charged via USB, you can run this model for up to 14 hours without having to go anywhere near a power socket.

We’ve seen small, portable models before, and they’ve usually been a bit rubbish. Not so with the MeacoFan 260C Cordless Air Circulator, which has a lot of power, reaching a maximum air speed of 2.3m/s from 15cm away. That’s enough air to give you a cooling dose of air. There are four fan speeds in total, with the lowest running at 49.7dB, or quiet enough to sleep through.

As this is a portable model, you lose out on some features that bigger models have: you don’t get a remote, there are only four fan speeds and there’s no oscillation. If you need any of these options, look elsewhere, but if you want a flexible fan you can take everywhere this is the best model that we’ve reviewed.

Reviewer: David Ludlow
Full review: MeacoFan 260C Cordless Air Circulator review

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Tower fans are a great space saver but they often sacrifice power to get a slimmer body. Not so with the VonHaus 35″ Tower Fan, which manages to deliver some of the best fan performance that we’ve seen, both up close and across a room.

At full power, the fan delivered air speed at 4.8m/s, which only dropped at 2.8m/s at one metre and an effective 1.6m/s at two metres. That’s enough air speed to keep you cool at a distance, making the VonHaus 35″ Tower Fan a suitable fan to cool an entire room. Our one minor complaint about fan speed is that the lowest setting is still a relatively powerful 4m/s at 1m – we’d have liked a slightly lower minimum speed.

High fan speeds often come with noise, but that’s a trap that the VonHaus 35″ Tower Fan avoids. At 53.9dB on maximum, this fan is pretty quiet for the fan speed; however, at minimum, the fan is still 53.1dB, which is a little loud for sleeping with.

There is a remote control and a display that shows you what the current temperature and fan setting is. This display is a little hard to read, but we can forgive this minor issue, given how good the fan is. Even better, the VonHaus 35″ Tower Fan is one of the cheapest fans that we’ve tested, too. If you’re after a powerful tower fan at a great price, look no further.

Reviewer: Simon Handby

Full review: Vonnhas 35″ Tower Fan

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At just under £40, the Netta 32-inch Tower Fan is a little cheaper than many other products on this list, yet it’s packed with features. As well as three regular speed settings, there are two types of airflow: natural wind mode varies fan speed to make it feel more natural; wind mode uses one fan speed.

Alongside these controls, there’s a timer (one, two or four hours) and oscillation mode (65° angle). If you don’t want to walk to the fan, then there’s also a remote control that attaches magnetically when not in use.

We found this a good fan for small- to medium-sized rooms. On its high setting, the fan reached an airspeed of 3.2m/s at a distance of 15cm. That’s good but there are more powerful fans that are better suited to larger rooms. At this speed, we found that the fan wobbled slightly, too. At 1m distance, the fan speed was still a decent 2.2m/s, providing a noticeable cool airflow. We were impressed with how quiet this fan was: at 15cm, we measured it at 66.2dB, and at 1m, it was just 50.3dB.

If you want a well-priced fan for a medium-sized room, then this one is a good choice.

Full review: Netta 32-inch Tower Fan

Reviewer: Rene Millman

We’ve been impressed with Evapolar’s previous personal evaporative coolers, and the Evapolar evaSMART is the best yet. It’s a little expensive compared to other evaporative coolers, but its smart features and envelope of cold air make it well worth the cash.

This model uses a water tank, which lasts for between four and nine hours, depending on the temperature and humidity level. In either case, it’s enough water to get you through most of a hot night.

Unlike a fan, which can’t affect the actual temperature, the evaSMART can reduce the temperature of the air it blows at you: we measured a 3C drop. This is a small amount, but the cooling envelope of air around us made us feel much cooler than if we’d just used a fan.

Air flow isn’t particularly fast. At full speed, just 15cm from the grille, we measured air at 1.9m/s, but the wind speed was unmeasurable by 1m. As this is a personal fan that physically cools the air, the evaSMART doesn’t need to blow air any faster. In fact, at times it felt too cold sitting in front of this cooler.

Although you can control the fan from its on-body controls, there’s also a smart app for remote control (including changing the colour of the light), plus Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant Skills.

It’s a touch on the expensive side, but if you want a small cooler that can keep you comfortable while you work or sleep, this one is very effective.

Reviewer: Simon Handby

Full Review: Evapolar evaSMART review

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Sitting somewhere between an air conditioning unit and a fan, the Princess Smart Air Cooler uses a tank of water to cool the air through evaporation. This makes it more effective than just a fan on a hot summer’s day, although this model is also a powerful fan in its own right.

Externally, this looks like a regular fan, although there’s a difference when you look at the base: this holds a 3.5-litre water tank, which can also hold the two provided ice packs (these go in your freezer and cool the water in the fan).

A small pump sucks up water and trickles it down a membrane inside. As the fan blows air over the water, it evaporates, cooling the air. We measured a drop in air temperature blown of 2°C, which isn’t as powerful an effect as with an air conditioner, but is an improvement over a fan.

Plus, the Princess Smart Air Cooler costs a lot less to run than an air conditioner. We measured power and this air conditioner will cost around 2p per hour to run at current costs.

The Princess Smart Air Cooler is a powerful fan, too. At 1m away, the fan is capable of blowing air at between 2.5m/s and 4.1m/s, so you can feel its full effect even in a larger room. We didn’t find this fan noisy, but it does have a slightly annoying whine to it.

We found the Princess Smart Air Cooler easy to control, with all of the options you need on the front panel and the remote. Plus, this is a smart fan, so you can control it via the decent app, which also provides voice control via Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant.

If you’re looking for a powerful fan that will blow colder-than-room-temperature air and doesn’t cost a fortune to run, this is a great choice.

Full review: Princess Smart Air Cooler

Reviewer: Simon Handby

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This ball-shaped desktop fan may not be very big but the Duux Globe can put out a lot of air. Cranked to the max, it outputs air at a speed of 4.6m/s at 15cm and 3.6m/s at 1m – that shows that this fan can cool at a distance even if it is predominantly a personal desktop model. This level of power is handy in an office: you can keep cool on a lower setting while you work, and then whack up the power if you move away from your desk and want to keep cool.

There are controls at the base of the fan although these are a little confusing: you have to tap, rather than hold, the power button to change modes. Fortunately, there’s a remote control in the box, which makes it easier to use the Duux Globe.

You can turn on horizontal and vertical oscillation, so the fan can be used to refresh air over a wider range, which is useful for refreshing an entire room. Our one minor complaint is that this fan could do with a more gentle speed; all speed options are quite intense.

Reviewer: Simon Handby

Full review: Duux Globe review

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