160
people found this helpful, as of 2023
ranked #205,050 most helpful
out of 571,544,897 reviews
★★☆☆☆
Easy on the eyes, hard on the ears...
I picked up this beauty at a local Bed Bath (discounted floor model) for $240 and was really excited to bring it home to replace my vintage aluminum fan that is so painfully hard to clean.
Once I set it up and ran it in my bedroom, I was really disappointed in the noise it made. I didn't notice the high-pitch "whirrrr" in the store, most likely because of all the surrounding ambient noise, but when focused in my bedroom, this high-pitched "hair dryer" tone was very off-putting. When stepping out of my bedroom, that high-pitch carries into the rest of my apartment, and becomes quite grating.
This is a deal-breaker for me. It's not so much the volume of sound, but the pitch/tone of the sound. Even on it's lowest setting, this high-pitched tone does NOT promote relaxation and calm, it is irritating and very difficult for me to sleep to. When the output dial is turned up, the pitch becomes higher and the overall volume becomes really loud, so loud it becomes almost impossible to tune out unless I crank the stereo or t.v. up. The sound is like a mini jet engine. Cute, but not practical for sonic well-being.
It's a shame, because the design is amazing, the materials are really nice, the build quality is very solid. I love the ease of use, the buttons are simple, functional, fun to interact with.
In form it's fabulous, in function, it's a fiasco. Dyson seriously needs to consider the aural effects of the high-pitched tone this product emits. Hopefully future models will address this issue, until then, I'm giving my ears a break and returning this noisy lovely thing.
September 2010 · Home and Kitchen