We’ve tested out the desk-size version of the Dyson Cool, which is the simplest Dyson fan you can buy, with no smart features, air purification, or heating: it’s just a fan. That might not sound great, but it also means this is the cheapest Dyson on the market, while still being one of the best fans you can buy. And with how pricey Dyson products can get, that’s no bad thing in our books.
Dyson Cool price and models
If you’re looking for something a little more sophisticated, the Dyson Hot + Cool throws in a heater option (surprise surprise), while there’s also a whole range of fans with air purifiers built in – read our review of the Dyson Pure Cool to find out more about them.
Dyson Cool design and build
If you’ve seen any of Dyson’s bladeless fans, then the current Cool models will look familiar – the company really hasn’t played around with its basic design very much over the last nine years. The ‘bladeless’ claim is really a bit of a fib. There are in fact fan blades, but they’re hidden inside the body, leaving empty space free where you’d normally expect to see the fan bit. That means it looks totally rad, but also makes it safer and much easier to clean. The circular fan sits on a cylindrical base, which is broken only by a couple of thin lines and a metallic grille. The curved line at the bottom is actually a point where the fan can pivot forwards or backwards, altering the angle it blows the air at. The base also has a small power button, with a built-in LED count which displays the current fan speed, from 1 to 10. The fan also comes with a small, curved remote control that is rather handily designed to sit right on top of the fan, with a magnet to hold it in place, so you shouldn’t have to worry too much about losing it.
If you’re in the UK, you can only get the fan in white right now, though the US also gets a choice of blue or nickel – which is what our review unit is. Finally, a note on size. While this is billed as a desk fan, at 55cm/20in tall, it would be best suited for quite a large desk – this thing isn’t small. We actually found it well suited to a bedside table, where the height seems less jarring, and it’s still powerful enough to cool a typical-size bedroom. Obviously if you’re looking to cool a bigger room than that, the Cool is also available in a bigger, more powerful tower model – which at 1m tall is definitely too big for your desk (and if it’s not, then we’d really love to see what your desk looks like).
Dyson Cool specs and features
As we said above, this is the most stripped-back, basic Dyson fan model, so in a sense there’s not too much to discuss. It blows air out, keeps you cool, and is mostly quiet while it does it. There are ten fan speed settings which you can switch through with the included remote (there’s no app support, so it’s the basic remote control only here) and at top speed it’s apparently pumping out 37 litres of air per second, which at the very least sounds like a lot.
Dyson has been making its fans quieter and quieter as it goes, and so the Cool doesn’t run quite as quietly as the more recent Pure Cool models, but it doesn’t exactly make a racket. I’ve had it next to my bed running on the fourth setting and have slept comfortably through the noise, and while it’s definitely audible at max speed, it’s hardly deafening. You can also use the remote control to turn oscillation on or off, but that’s as much control as you get. It will only turn by 90 degrees, no more, no less, so you’ll probably want to manually move it about a bit to face the right direction to make the most of that arc. Finally, there’s also a sleep timer, again controlled through the remote. You can set the timer to the time of your choice, and the fan will continue to run for that long before entering standby mode to conserve energy. Tech Advisor’s Deputy Editor, Dom covers everything that runs on electricity, from phones and laptops to wearables, audio, gaming, smart home, and streaming - plus he’s a regular fixture on the Tech Advisor YouTube channel.
