Dyson AM06 Desk Fan 10 Review: Artwork Or Appliance?

Dyson has a new line of its ‘Cool’ bladeless fans out, and as you might expect from the UK-based appliance maker, they’re basically the best-looking fans you can buy. I got to take the AM06 Desk Fan 10 out for a test spin, just to see if the brains and beauty combined in the sleek package amounted to more than just a very expensive way to move some air around.

Basics

  • 15-minute to 9-hour sleep timer
  • 10 speed settings
  • 10-degree tilt up or down
  • 26 watts energy usage
  • Remote control and simple LED display
  • MSRP: $299.99
  • Product info page

Pros

  • Attractive design
  • Quiet and powerful

Cons

  • Expensive
  • Remote required for advanced operation

Design

This is where the Dyson first stands out from the competition: There’s no way to mistake this device for any of the other fans out there on the market, since it seems to be missing several very crucial parts, including blades. Instead, the AM06 Desk Fan 10 has a circular halo with an empty center, and all the wind-driving magic takes place in the base and within that round frame.

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The model I tested came in a black and nickel color finish, which is sure to fit most decors, and the modern lines of the fan itself worked well with my own apartment setup, which is a mix of retro and modern looks. It has a slightly rubberized finish, but doesn’t seem to collect or retain dust all that much, and it takes up relatively little space on the desk. The shallowly embedded LED display is easy on the eyes even in a dark room, yet legible always.

Dyson’s industrial design has a common language, even among these fans and the vacuums it builds which don’t really resemble them in most respects, and that’s a very good thing since everything they make looks great. The materials used in the fan are mostly plastic, however, which leaves me partly wishing for more premium finishes in a $300 appliance.

Performance

If there’s a decent reason to spend around $200 more than you would on some of the better affordable desk fans out there, it’s the Dyson’s ability to move air around even across a fairly large distance, while remaining incredibly quiet. Ordinary fans are either powerful or quiet, but seldom both – the AM06 Desk Fan 10 purrs pretty hard when it’s cranked to max speed, but it still never exceeds a purr.

Side-to-side rotation coverage is adequate for covering an entire room if you put the fan in a corner, and you can easily lock in the angle with a button on the remote. You can also set various timers on the remote, so that you can go to sleep with the fan on but also ensure it won’t stay on through the night.

My only issue with how the fan works, in fact, is that it requires a remote to operate it beyond just turning it off or on, or changing the speed. The remote itself is convenient, and has an embedded magnet that lets you stick it to the top of the fan unit so it won’t get lost, but that doesn’t mean it might not still get lost, or be out of reach when you’re right next to the fan and would like to just reach over and change the rotation (you can change the speed by holding down the single power button). It’s an admittedly minor infraction – especially given that my biggest worry around it is a theoretical situation where I lose something which hasn’t happened during my weeks of testing.

Bottom Line

Dyson’s fan line requires a lot of faith in the company to prompt a purchase – the top-reviewed fan on the Sweethome costs just $90, and is said to outperform Dyson’s previous generation air circulators. But this new line is more powerful and more quiet than before, so that’s something. In the end, though, to invest in a Dyson you have to place a heavy premium on design and fetching good looks, because ultimately it’s tough to justify that steep increase in price based on a straightforward comparison of performance alone.