review – Tower fans are all about noise — or no noise. Our house has three tower fans in separate rooms. What we were missing was a fan for the spare bedroom. We want something that works but is quiet. Tower fans fit the bill very well. They are tall and skinny, so they can be tucked into corners or against a wall. They are generally more attractive than box fans and are quieter. We also wanted something less complicated – no ALEXA, no wifi, nothing that would require a PHD to operate. When the Dreo Pilot Max tower fan was offered for review, I thought, why not? “
What is it?
The Dreo Pilot Max Tower Fan with Remote (it’s a mouthful) is an attractive bladeless indoor fan with a small remote that can perform basic functions and a few extras.
Glasses
- Power adapter: 120V, 60Hz
- Power: 36W
- Noise level: 25dB-48dB
- Swing angle: 30°/60°/90°/120°
- Weight: 10 lbs.
- Dimensions: 42.5 x 12.7 x 12.7 inches (HxWxD)
in the box
- Pilot Max Tower Fan
- fan base
- remote control
- power cable
- User Manual
Design and Features
The Dreo Pilot Max tower fan is a little over 2 inches tall High. Its sleek black design looks good in any room without needing to look like a Dyson fan Will. It’s a little invisible, which is probably a good thing.
Before this, my tower fan required some assembly – attaching the front and rear grilles, then the base – requiring screws and a screwdriver. Not a fan of Pilot Max. That’s right, you still need to attach the base (it splits in half) to the tower. However, no tools are required. You just snap the parts together and screw the base to the tower with a large red removable knob. I didn’t even need to read the instructions – it’s that simple.
When you turn on the fan for the first time, what you notice is what you see do not Attention – noise. No mechanical sounds. All you hear is the movement of air, even a whisper of silence. It’s a fan that you can leave all summer long and don’t think about it until it gets cooler. Again – kind of invisible.
Like any tower fan, the Pilot Max (I don’t know why it’s called Pilot or Max) draws air from the back and blows it out the front. Very basic technology. The fan has a brushless DC motor and is as low as 25 decibels – barely audible. Without digging into the nasty details, know that brushless motors last longer than older brush designs.
Of course, the 25dB noise level is the lowest. As airspeed increases, so does noise. Even so, with a setting of 9 out of 12, cooling drafts from a few feet away were still felt, and the room remained fairly quiet at 48dB (typical refrigerators are louder).
There is a small monochrome screen on top of the fan that displays all the information settings. These settings can be set using the buttons at the top (described below). The included remote has the same button functions, but there is no screen on the remote, so you’ll need to look at the fan screen to see which settings have been selected.
The top of the Pilot Max fan contains flush, soft-touch buttons. It looks elegant. The buttons are: Up and Down Airflow, Operating Mode, Rotation, On/Off and Timer.
air flow: Airspeeds are graded from 1 to 12. Setting 1 is a breeze, while 12 can be felt throughout the room. It’s a great place to unwind quickly after a hot day of exercising or yard work.
turn around: Pressing it just turns the rotation on or off.urgent and hold Rotation allows setting the rotation angle in 4 different rotation arcs; 30, 60, 90 or 120 degrees. While I’m not a fan of rotation (get it?), some people always keep it.
switch: This is self-explanatory.
Timer: The fan can be set to run from 1 to 12 hours in hourly increments, which means setting 1 equals 1 hour, 3 equals 3 hours, and so on. It’s all basic and easy to master.
Operating mode: This is where things get more complicated. Screen icons show each setting:
normal: This simply means that the fan runs at a constant preset speed.
nature: The fans will run at alternate speeds
sleep: The fan can be set to drop every 30 minutes in up to three gears. For example, if the fan speed is set to level 10, it will drop to level 7 after 90 minutes and remain there throughout the night.
car: This one is cool (pun too easy). The fan adapts to the ambient temperature of the room and adjusts the wind speed accordingly. As innovative as the automatic mode, but I don’t use this setting because I prefer the set speed I control.
Note that the work mode icons are very small. It’s hard for my eyes to see them without putting my face close to the fan screen. Plus, the brightness of the screen numbers and icons is automatic, with no user control—not good if there’s any light in the room.
what do I like
- very quiet
- simple setup
- No wifi or Alexa (if you want privacy)
what would i change
- Auto Brightness
- No wifi or Alexa (if you like Alexa)
final thoughts
If you want a “breezy” feel rather than the direct air jet that a box fan will provide, the Dreo Pilot Max tower fan can be a useful addition to the room. I like to use a tower fan while sleeping because of the softer airflow. The low volume white noise from the gently flowing air helped me fall asleep. This is always a good thing.
price: $129.99
Where to buy: Amazon
source: Samples of this product are provided by Deleo.
