Dreo Pilot Max S
MSRP $130.00
“The Pilot Max S lets users control their smart fan with their voice, together with as much as 12 different speed settings — but that level of granularity just doesn’t appear to be enough to warrant the value.”
Pros
- Easy setup and installation
- Smooth, responsive control
Cons
- Lacks functionality beyond the fundamentals
- Unattractive design
With summer in full swing in lots of parts of the country (and bringing heat waves with it), it is advisable to stay cool — especially if you may have second floors of your house that aren’t quite as optimized. That’s the struggle I face; my upstairs loft is a game room, perfect for whiling away the hours on muggy July days, but it surely stays easily five degrees warmer than the remaining of the home.
So long as I take advantage of a fan, it’s perfectly comfortable — but the problem comes at night after I’m dragging myself to bed and listen to the fan on upstairs. The last item I would like is to climb back up there to shut all the pieces off. That’s where the Dreo Pilot Max S is available in. It is a connected smart fan that will be controlled via my phone, Amazon Alexa, or Google Assistant, and does an amazing job of hammering me with cooler air. It’s only a shame it will probably’t do anything about keeping my palms dry during among the tougher moments of Tunic.
Setup and installation
There’s not much to installing a wise fan. Probably the most finicky a part of the complete process got here in the shape of attaching the bottom, and even that took lower than 30 seconds. Your complete Pilot Max S is assembled out of the box; even the stand only needed to be snapped together and secured at the underside. The toughest part was finding the included distant, which didn’t have its own packaging and ended up at the underside of the box amongst a pile of packing supplies.
Establishing the Dreo Pilot Max S was so simple as pressing the Wi-Fi button atop the fan for 3 seconds until it became discoverable inside the app. After that, I just needed to tap a couple of buttons to hold through the remaining of the method. Straightforward and easy, just as smart home device setup ought to be.
Day-to-day use
You possibly can control the fan through onboard touch capacitive buttons, through the usage of an included distant, through your phone, or with voice controls. That’s good enough options for the typical person; generally, I didn’t even trouble with my phone. I just sat down at my desk and reached for the distant. Alexa got here in handy for turning off the fan at night after I didn’t wish to dig through a smartphone app.
The remaining of the time? Truthfully, once I set the fan speed I liked, I rarely touched the settings. I don’t use oscillation since I sit in a single spot, and since the fan is upstairs, the sleep setting wasn’t crucial.
One among the most important selling points of the Dreo Pilot Max S is that it’s quiet. In response to among the branding and marketing material, it’s “undetectable.” That’s not quite true. At lower speeds, it’s so quiet you won’t notice it — in any respect. You won’t even feel the air in your skin. Of the 12 different fan speed options, I discovered 9 to be the perfect level. At level 12, you’ll definitely notice it. The fan appears like a jet preparing to taxi down the runway.
App functionality
The app forgoes any aesthetic appeal in favor of function. In most circumstances, I’d agree with that design alternative — but when there are so few functions, it won’t be a foul idea to make it a bit of more appealing to have a look at.
The app displays the name of the fan, the indoor temperature where the fan is positioned, after which gives you access to 4 different control settings.
- Normal is what you expect: a gentle, straightforward stream of air.
- Natural adjusts the fan to look more like an outside breeze, however the effect falls a bit of flat. Once I first used it, I assumed the fan was malfunctioning.
- Sleep quiets the fan down so it doesn’t keep you awake at night.
- Auto adjusts the speed of the fan based on the temperature of the room. If you must keep an area inside a set range, Auto is the most effective option for that.
On the appropriate of the app is an adjustable slider for changing fan speed. Below that, you’ll discover a quick-tap button for turning oscillation on or off, in addition to for setting a timer.
Swiping up from the underside of the app provides access to a user manual, a FAQ page, and options to mute the chimes of the fan and manipulate auto-brightness settings. This can be where you connect your voice assistants if desired.
Like I said: not rather a lot there, but it surely’s enough to manage the fan.
Design
It looks more like where you’d place a well-aimed shot to destroy a Death Star’s core reactor.
Though the Dreo Pilot Max S does a variety of things right, its design isn’t one among them. It’s not exactly an unpleasant device, but it surely does look very industrial. Just like the app, it seems little thought was put into the looks of the device in lieu of functionality. While that’s a greater decision than focusing an excessive amount of on looks and never enough on functionality, that is something individuals are going to have a look at each day of their homes. It should hold some aesthetic appeal, but it surely looks more like where you’d place a well-aimed shot to destroy a Death Star’s core reactor.
Our take
There’s not much to say concerning the Dreo Pilot Max S. It’s a fan with smart functionality, and that’s pretty cool. It does what it’s meant to do and keeps an area cool, though I can’t say I noticed much of an overall decrease within the room temperature while it ran. Is it well worth the $130 to purchase the fan versus investing in a traditional fan and hooking it as much as a $25 smart plug? I’m unsure — but I can say I don’t think I might have spent that much on it had it not sent to me for review. This looks like a wise device that should be about half that cost. At $75, I can see it being a solid purchase.
Is there a greater alternative?
Dreo has several other alternative models at cheaper price points that do nearly the identical thing. The element that prices this one higher is the Sleep mode, and that doesn’t strike me as enough to warrant the increased cost. In any case, who minds a bit of white noise while they sleep? If you happen to’re searching for a high-end smart fan that doubles as an air purifier, consider testing the LG PuriCare AeroTower. Though it costs a whopping $600, it’s filled with functionality. Plus, it looks nice.
How long will it last?
The fan is well-built. I think it’ll last quite some time, even with the moving parts. If something does go improper, Dreo offers a 12-month warranty, in addition to a 100-day money-back guarantee.
Must you buy it?
Not this particular model. A wise fan is an amazing investment but look into one among Dreo’s other models moderately than spending $130 on this. Once the Pilot Max S comes down in price a bit, it’ll be an amazing purchase — till then, the value point just feels a bit of steep.
Editors’ Recommendations
