Review: Dyson AM02 Tower Fan


Features:

  • 39-inches tall
  • Remote ctonrol
  • Quiet, buffet-less air
  • MSRP: $449.99
  • Product Page

Pros:

  • Beautiful design
  • Great airflow
  • Safe for kids

Cons:

  • Expensive

 

Short Version
It’s been a long, hot summer here on the homestead. John-John gets the whoopus when the dust kicks up and the house, such as it is, is about as hot as an oven most days. Most of August, when one of the neighbors rides into to town to check the bank thermometer and we find out that it’s well into the nineties, we usually just headed out to the old horse trough and poured water on our shirts. But this year we got a fancy, city-slicking Dyson AM02 and I’m here to tell you that whatever man made this fan is a friend to our simple, country family.

The Dyson AM02 is a tower fan that uses Dyson’s wild Air Multiplier technology. A small motor in the base shoots air up and through a set of foils that, in turn, blows air out along the entire edge surface of the fan. There are no blades and the fan blows air steadily and without “buffeting.”

We have a few fans around the house. One is a tower that sits in my office and when I have it running, as it is now, it’s considerably louder than the AM02 at its highest setting. Generally any other fan will sound like a truck backing up in your bathtub compared to the AM02.

Design-wise you’re also talking sexytime. The thing looks like it should be attached to an X-Wing Fighter instead of taking up space in your living room. The remote is simplicity itself – three buttons (power, speed, and oscillation) allow you to control the entire fan from afar.

If you have kids this is also the fan for you, although all the fun of sticking pencils into the rotary fan is destroyed by Dyson’s technology. There are literally no moving parts so if you’re a nervous parent, this may be for you.

How much does such a fan cost? Well, $449.99 on a bad day, which is about $400 more than the average person probably wants to spend on a fan. It’s cold comfort, but you can also get the 10-inch model for $239.99 and you get most of the benefits without the price or size.

Generally, Dyson makes great stuff. We have a Ball vacuum that we love and the little handheld vacuum, the DC31, that is a lifesaver. While the benefits of this new type of fan are clear, the value proposition to the average consumer is dubious at best. I can say that that the fan is impressive and the value to a new parent afraid for their children’s digits and/or folks who just want a sexy-looking fan is quite high.

The question, in the end, is are you buying a fan for a reason. If you’re not, then go get a $29.99 drugstore special. If you’re planning on keeping this thing for a while – the lack of moving parts means its a tank – then do yourself a favor and at least consider the option.