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- Strong airflow for a tower fan
- Mist adds some extra cooling
- Super-quiet on lower speed settings
- Turbo mode is too noisy
- Needs more maintenance than your average fan
The Dreo TurboCool Misting Fan 765S makes quite an impression. Standing just over 1.1m tall, it’s one of the biggest tower fans I’ve tested, while the large, glowing humidity light on the front makes sure that you’re going to notice it. It dishes out more airflow than your average tower fan as well, while its TurboCool Ultra Mist technology pumps out four jets of ultra-fine mist into the room, increasing humidity and enhancing the fan’s cooling capabilities.
Throw in smartphone app controls and an automatic mode, and you’ve got one of the most feature-packed tower fans on the market. But does its cooling power match its size, and is there a price to be paid in terms of noise and power consumption? I tested the TurboCool Misting Fan 765S during a late spring heatwave and discovered how it measures up.
Dreo TurboCool Misting Fan 765S: What do you get for the money?
The 765S is a hulking tower fan: a mixture of gloss dark grey and semi-opaque plastics standing 1105mm high and measuring 280mm across at the circular base. It’s tall for a tower fan, but much of the first 36cm of that height is taken up by the 6L water tank, which stores enough cold water for roughly 24 hours of misting. It can oscillate through 90 degrees to spread both the mist and airflow around the room.
At the front of the water tank, there’s a large humidity indicator light that glows blue, green or orange to indicate the current humidity level. For more info, you can check the large digital display near the top. It keeps you informed of the current fan speed or humidity level, the mode and mist setting and the strength of the WiFi connection.
All the controls are on the top in a touch-sensitive panel, enabling you to switch modes, increase and decrease the fan speed, toggle through the four mist levels and activate the timer (up to 12 hours on or off). You can also control the left/right oscillation and set the target humidity for the auto-humidify mode. All these functions are replicated on the bundled remote control, or you can download and use Dreo’s iOS or Android app to manage the fan directly from your phone.
There’s a small amount of preparation involved in removing packing cardboard from the tank, reassembling it and filling it, then connecting the fan to the app, but it’s all reasonably straightforward.
What features and settings does it have?
The TurboCool Misting Fan 765S has 12 speed settings and four mist levels, plus a Turbo mode which takes both settings up another gear. Beyond that, you get a Sleep Mode, where all lighting is turned off and the fan coasts down in speed every 30 minutes, plus an Auto mode where the fan speed increases and decreases according to the current temperature. You can control the mist manually, but there’s an auto setting for that as well. This turns the mist on or off to reach or maintain your current target humidity level.
Dreo’s app should be considered as a feature, as it actually makes the fan easier to use. You can control all the functions remotely through intuitive touchscreen controls, and also create schedules to turn the fan on or off, either for specific days or on a weekend and weekday basis. The connectivity seems robust and there’s barely any lag involved.
How I tested the Dreo TurboCool Misting Fan 765S
I carry out the same tests across all of the fans I review, measuring air flow, noise levels and power consumption.
I use an anemometer to record air speeds (in m/s): positioned a metre away from the fan, I take readings for its lowest, medium and highest settings. I then use a smartphone meter app to record sound levels (in A-weighted decibels, dBA) at the fan’s lowest and highest settings, also from one metre away. Finally, I use a plug-in energy meter to measure power consumption.
These standardised tests allow me to better compare fan performance across different brands and models. However, I also make sure I test the fan anecdotally through day-to-day usage, taking note of how well it keeps me cool on hotter days, how easy it is to use and – where relevant – how useful its smart features are.
How well does it perform?
My usual complaint about tower fans is that they don’t deliver the kind of airflow you might expect for a fan that size. In fact, I’ve seen plenty of tower fans where the air speed never gets much above 2 to 2.5m/sec at a one metre distance, meaning you might not get much breeze if you’re sat any further away from the fan. The TurboCool Misting Fan 765S is an exception. I measured the maximum airflow on setting 12 at 4.2m/sec. Even on its medium setting (setting six), I recorded 2.9m/sec.
That’s enough to give you a very comfortable flow of air and to take the edge off a hot and stuffy room. It only gets better when you turn on the misting feature, which genuinely seems to knock down the temperature of the air coming through, if only by a degree or two. The small droplet size – 17 microns, according to Dreo – makes sure that neither you, the furniture or your flooring is going to feel wet, even after the fan has been on for an hour or more.
This isn’t the quietest tower fan we’ve tested, but it’s not too noisy either. On its lowest setting, I measured 25.5dBA, which was practically indiscernible from the ambient noise levels in my living room at night. On setting three that rose to a super-quiet 31.8dBA, and it was only at setting six that the 39.7dBA levels might disturb you if you were trying to sleep or watch TV. Even then, it’s pretty quiet. At higher levels, the noise grows a bit more obtrusive, reaching 45.1dBA on setting nine and 49.5dBA at setting 12, but that’s still less of a racket than you’d hear from the Levoit Classic Pro Smart Tower Fan (54.6dBA) or the Shark TurboBlade (51.5dBA), neither of which can match the 765S for airflow.
Power consumption is fairly modest, too. On the lowest setting you’re looking at just 3.5W, growing to just under 15W at setting six. It’s close to 40W at maximum power, which is comparatively high, but still not horrific.
Is there anything we didn’t like?
As with the smaller TurboCool Misting Fan 516S, the Turbo mode isn’t really worth using. It gives you a speed boost, pushing the airflow up to 4.4m/sec, but here the noise level rises to 55.2dBA, at which point it’s making quite a racket. I’d also say that the ambient humidity indicator light is a bit distracting, while not adding much to the usability or the aesthetic. However, this can be disabled with a tap in the app. And if you’re a fan of coloured glowing things, you might feel differently anyway.
I also ought to warn you that there’s some maintenance involved with this one. Dreo recommends removing and cleaning the water tank and misting atomizer regularly, while descaling the water tank monthly with a citric acid solution. You’ll also need to remove the rear grille and clean the dust blades and filters now and then. All fans need a little care and cleaning, but this one needs extra to avoid limescale and any nasty, mouldy smells building up.
Should you buy the TurboCool Misting Fan 765S?
Size is going to be a problem for some people, and there’s a chance this tower of cooling power might be too dominating in your living room. At 4.2kg without the water tank filled, it’s also not the most portable option, if you want a fan you can move from room to room.
Yet, between its impressive airflow and its misting jets, it delivers the kind of relief on hot days that you won’t get from an ordinary tower fan. It’s not quite up there with an evaporative air cooler, but it’s close enough while being quieter and easier to live with. If you’re looking for a fan that can help when the heat hits really extreme levels, it’s one of the best around.
