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This summer, if you weren’t thinking about using some fans along with your air conditioning, well, I just don’t know how you made it through the heat. Most fans are fairly “dumb” – you just set the angle, set the speed, and maybe tell it to oscillate. That’s it – it’s set it, and it keeps doing what you tell it to do. And sure, that can work, but what if you could have more control, and some automation? That’s what the Dreo PolyFan 513S Smart Fan offers.
What is it?
To start with, the Dreo PolyFan 513S is a pedestal fan, something we’re familiar with. Unlike a tower fan, a pedestal fan takes the sort of smaller circular fan you might have sitting on the floor, and puts it up on, well, a pedestal. This gets it further up so you can have air flow where you feel it, as well as it get it moving air where furniture won’t be in the way. And if if that’s all you want out of a fan, that will do just that for you. Set it up, plug it in, and you can use the included remote (or the touch controls on the top of the fan) to control the fan. There’s more that you can do, however.
Enabling the smarts
If you use the Dreo app on your phone, that’s where you can start doing some more interesting things with the Dreo PolyFan 513S. With the basic controls, you can do those without the app, but using your phone? Well, that makes things a good deal simpler. You can set things like the side-to-side oscillation, vertical oscillation (which is something you don’t see on most fans), or even the speed things are running at.
Where it really shines is when you get into some of the customization. You can set the fan to run on a timer that fits how you use the room it’s in, or you can do things like have it automatically adjust it’s speed higher when the room warms up, and then drop back down when things have cooled off a bit. Yes, there will be a little bit of upfront effort to get it going, but then you’ll be set and ready to go, day after day. The other thing you can do is set the Dreo PolyFan 513S up to work with either your Amazon Alexa or your Google Home devices. In other words, yes, you can use your voice to control the fan.
What’s it like using the fan?
To put it simply, it’s a breeze. Yes, the phone app gives you a lot of control, but the fact that you can also control the fan directly on it, or use the remote, that makes life a lot easier when it comes to adjusting things on the fan. It just quietly whirs away moving the air like you want it to, and it quickly becomes a lower background noise. Sure, if you turn it all the way up, or put it on turbo mode, that’s a noise you’ll notice. But in normal day-to-day usage (particularly if you have it adjusting with the room temperature) it’s a relatively quiet levels of noise, for a fan.
We should also note the styling on the Dreo PolyFan 513S. While it is fairly monochromatic with a black-and-grey look, there’s a surprising pop of orange. The display panel on the front of the pedestal, as well as the LEDs on the control panel on top, illuminate in orange. Then, for the yoke that attaches the fan to the pedestal, you’ve got an orangey brown that’s on the faux leather used there. So, while the fan feels modern, there’s still that warmer organic touch to it as well.
How can I get one?
As with our prior Dreo review, picking up a new Dreo product is as simple as heading over to Amazon and ordering one. The one that we reviewed is currently going for $139.99, and then the product page lists out various other combos that they’ve got with other fans in their lineup. Time will tell how long-lasting the Dreo 513S is, but so far, it’s been a great addition to our house in this summer heat. product page
