This mini but mighty Dreo Smart Fan is so powerful but perfect for small homes — and it's under $100

If you're done with waking several times every night in a sweat then hunni, it's time to invest in a fan. I know they're not the most aesthetic thing to lump in the middle of your bedroom but let's face it: they do the job of keeping you cool when it's ridiculously hot outside. As someone who lives in an apartment with not a lot of floor space to give an entire fan, I've been on a quest to find something that's small and powerful, as well as realistically priced. Because spending $500 on a fan is not my vibe, sorry!

The Dreo fan I've been reviewing for the past couple of weeks pretty much ticks every single box for me. It's small enough to place atop my dresser, it's definitely powerful enough and then there's the fact it's so easy to use that even when I am half asleep I know how to control it via its remote. I sleep with it on most nights ATM because I'm currently pregnant which means my body temperature is constantly up and down. It can also be controlled via your phone if that's your thing, while it's not as loud as you'd think it would be. 

As Amazon's Choice fan, I was actually quite shocked with this one as it's less than $100 and there's nothing I hate about it. Here's what else I've got to say...

What I thought of this Dreo Smart Fan

For such a small and lightweight piece of kit, this fan truly is powerful. It offers pretty much every feature that you'd need or want in a fan, including nine speeds and a timer setting up to 12 hours. It oscillates and is nice and quiet while in operation. Not only that, but it doesn't take up any extra floor space as it's designed to sit atop a table or piece of furniture. The thing I love the most about it (other than the fact that speed 9 (and Turbo mode) makes you feel like you could be on an airport runway if you close your eyes) is that it's simple. I've been using it with the remote for the last couple of weeks, but you can connect it to your phone and control it from there. It also links with Alexa and Google Assistant devices so that you can turn it on with your voice. All of that in a neat package and less than $100, this is a total steal.

I've been showing all of my friends and family this fan and they too couldn't believe how powerful it is. I tend to use it at a two or three in our bedroom, and if it's in our living room we might push it up to a four as this is a larger space. A couple of times we've used it to help speed along the process of drying washing indoors which has been a real help. And the fact it's lightweight means you can cart it around the house with no worries (even when pregnant!).

The only thing I could possibly moan about is that I couldn't manage to get it to connect to my phone via the app. I'm not sure if this was down to user error, though, or whether the fan was faulty. I am more than happy to use it the two other ways, however, so this really doesn't bother me.

Testing the Dreo Smart Fan

Reviewed by

Reviewed by

Annie Collyer

I'm Annie and I've been testing products for Real Homes since 2018. I've tested one other fan, the Dyson HP04, which I love and still use to this day. This is a freestanding fan that takes up quite a lot of floor space, however, since we now have a bedside cot in our room, you can bet that we're looking for all of the ways to treasure floor space. I've been using this fan throughout the summer to keep cool as I sleep, and I've also moved it around the house with me as I work from my living room most days.

Dreo Smart Fan info

• Model no: CF714S 
• Size (in): H16 x W13 x D11
• Reach: 110ft max
• Oscillation: 120° horizontal / 90° vertical
• Timer: 8 settings / 12 hours max
• Watts: 48
• Weight: 9.48lbs
• Price: $99.99

Unboxing the Dreo Smart Fan

This fan arrived in a pretty small box that was easy enough to carry. I opened it and inside found a handy quick start guide, while the fan itself was fully assembled and nestled inside a sleeve for protection. There was some polystyrene waste (eugh!) and some cardboard waste. The remote and plug came in a little box. There was a sticker on the fan to show you which buttons do what, which was handy but TBH they are so self-explanatory I peeled it right off.

How to use the Dreo Smart Fan

You can use this fan one of three ways, the first being by touching the buttons on the base of the fan. Then you can control it via its remote, and then there's the smart aspect which means you'll need to download the app to control it from your phone.

On board controls
First up is the power button that you want to hit first. This sits on the far right of the base of the fan. The fan will automatically turn on to the last setting it was used, remembering whether it was on silent mode, too. Then, from left to right, we have: timer, vertical oscillation, horizontal oscillation, mode, and fan speed. 

There are four lights above the main menu of buttons and some more symbols above that. These buttons sit above the buttons, you need to press and hold to activate them. So, to lock the fan you need to press and hold the vertical oscillation button. You'll see a countdown appear on the fan so keep holding this until it reaches zero if you want to activate this setting. The lights glow white to indicate that they are in use. These controls are lock (press for 3 seconds), WiFi (press for 5 seconds), mute (press for 3 seconds), and turbo (press for 3 seconds).

I find that I used the mute button a lot as the sound of changing mode, especially when scrolling through nine modes, was a bit jarring.

To know which mode the fan is on, you'll see a number light up on the fan, from one to nine. Then beside this number, you might see some signs to signify the mode it's on as well as any special settings such as whether it's on a timer, or Turbo mode or not. This is pretty easy to figure out.

Remote control
Having a remote control fan is a total game-changer and it means you'll never have to get out of bed to turn it down or up again. Again, the remote is pretty intuitive and offers the same buttons that are on board, just in a different order. The power button sits at the very top, then on the line of buttons below you'll see a plus and a minus — to control the fan's mode. Below that is the mode button and the oscillate vertical button. Then, there's the button to make the fan oscillate horizontally and the timer button.

You can't lock the fan with the remote, mute it, turn on its wifi, or activate Turbo mode.

App control
To connect this fan to your phone, you need to download the Dreo app. Open the app and click 'Add device'. Stand near your fan and make sure that it's plugged in. 

Unfortunately, I followed the advice that was given in the Quick Start Guide that came in the box but never managed to connect this fan to my phone to control it, which also meant that I couldn't connect it to any smart devices (not that I have any). This didn't really bother me as I'd prefer to use the on-board controls or remote anyway (because lack of phone storage IYKYK) but for others, this could be a game-changer if theirs doesn't work, too.

What I loved about the Dreo Smart Fan

It's very powerful
This is possibly one of the most powerful fans I've ever used that's not made for industrial purposes. On Turbo mode it really is strong, and it has a total reach of 110ft which I couldn't even measure as my apartment isn't even that long.

It has 9 different speed settings
There are a total of nine speeds that you can use this fan on. But, TBH, you'll probably only end up using settings one to four (or possibly five on a hotter day), because anything higher is seriously powerful. This also means that it boasts great reach — mode nine can seriously cool down a larger room. I have an open plan living and dining room and on mode nine this fan can blow loose papers around, trust me.

It has a timer setting for 8 hours max
Most fans have a timer setting, yes, but a lot of them go to maybe three hours maximum which isn't really that great TBH. Sometimes if it's really hot and I'm heading out without the dog, I like to leave my fan on for him but I know I'll be gone for longer than three hours so this max timer setting is great. It goes up in increments of one hour, BTW.

It's whisper-quiet
Yes, when this fan is on its highest mode it's obviously loud. But, when you're working with anything from one to three it's actually quite nice and quiet. I like to sleep in pretty much silence, bar white noise which lulls me to sleep, so I can easily sleep with this fan on low all night long.

You can detach its front for easy cleaning
Fans hold dust like there's no tomorrow, IYKYK. This is possibly one of the only things I hate about owning a fan, because much like the most intricate LEGO set you've ever seen, they tend to be so difficult to clean. Not this one, though! Its front grille detaches so that you can dust its blades and everywhere else it's wipeable. So handy! Essentially, this means you won't be blowing dust around your home after you've used it for a few months.

It can be moved horizontally or vertically
Yep, this fan oscillates as others do, but it also can be angled 90° vertically if it's placed on the floor but needs to target somewhere that's high up. Genius!

It has a child lock
You can set this fan on a locked mode to prevent tiny hands from fiddling with it. So, you needn't worry about placing it on the floor as they won't be able to change its settings at any point once locked unless they happen to press and hold the right button.

Its buttons dim based on how bright the room is
If it's nighttime, the buttons and the lights on the fan will dim or turn off in some cases, so as not to disturb you while you snooze. During the day, though, when the fan can detect light in the room, the touchscreen buttons will glow so that you can clearly see them.

You can stop its buttons from making noise
I love technology as much as the next person, but there's something jarring about that beeping noise that indicates a change that really does annoy me. Especially when flipping through nine different modes, fast. So, I liked that you could turn the volume of the buttons off and use the fan in peace and quiet, so as not to wake anyone in the night when fiddling with it.

What I didn't love about the Dreo Smart Fan

Honestly, there wasn't really anything that I didn't like about this fan. It's quite rare for me to review something and say that it ticked all my boxes, but this truly did. The only thing I could moan about is that it didn't connect via WiFi to my phone, but I think that was a case of this particular fan as the process sounds pretty seamless.

Good to know

This fan comes with a 12-month default warranty. This warranty is extendable up to 30 months if you register your fan.

Where to buy the Dreo Smart Fan

You can buy this fan from Amazon for $99.99 when not on sale.

How we reviewed this Dreo Smart fan

As with everything we review, we make sure to pair our reviewer and the product we need to review to ensure they work well together. I live in a small apartment which means that I was the perfect person to test this tiny fan. I also like to sleep with a fan most nights now that I am pregnant and hot AF all the time.

I was sent this fan by Dreo and I used it for a couple of weeks, most days and nights, testing all modes and all features before writing this review. I'll update this review as I continue to use it, noting anything new that I find out about it.