Lasko Wind Curve T42905 Oscillating Tower Fan
I liked the sleek silhouette and wood grain accents of this Lasko tower fan. It was also the third quietest fan I tested, only a few decibels louder than the Honeywell. Additionally, it has Bluetooth that allows you to control the oscillating fan via an app on your phone.
The problem is that the app is all you get for remote controls. This isn’t ideal for a shared room as the fan can only connect to one device at a time. In other words, if someone else pairs with the fan, your connection will be interrupted.
This might be forgivable if the app offered advanced features like voice control or the ability to set a custom schedule, but that’s not the case. You can turn it on and off, turn the oscillation function on and off, choose between three speed settings or start the sleep timer; The same controls as on the fan itself. Apart from Bluetooth access, no permissions are required, the app doesn’t seem to offer any privacy policy at all. All of that makes it easy to pass up this $80 Lasko fan.
Vornado V-Flow air circulation tower fan
The Vornado V-Flow Tower Fan features an attractive design with the fan grille rotated around the cylindrical base. It’s one of the nicest tower fans I’ve tested, but it doesn’t oscillate like a traditional tower fan. Instead, it relies on this tortuous design to move a larger field of air through space.
In my testing, it worked quite well when I pointed it at me, but the cover wobbled at side angles where the airflow is positioned lower or higher due to the diagonal grille. The bigger problem was that the Vornado V-Flow was the loudest fan I tested, ringing at 50 decibels from 30 inches away at the highest of its three speeds. Additionally, my remote didn’t work, reflecting the frustration I’ve seen in user reviews at retailers that sell the V-Flow. That and the lack of features beyond the usual sleep timer make me say no, since Vornado is $70 here (and I’d probably pass it up even on a sale). That’s a shame, because Vornado’s five-year warranty was the best of all the fans I looked at for this roundup, and more than twice as long as the $550 Dyson TP04.
AmazonBasics 3-Speed Oscillating Tower Fan
Amazon continues to sell a growing variety of products under its AmazonBasics brand, including today a tower fan. As the name suggests, it’s nothing special. The remote batteries aren’t included, but you get at least a few natural wind settings in addition to the typical low, medium, and high speed settings.
Unfortunately, I had a disappointing experience with this fan. Shortly after I started testing, the remote stopped working and the fan came loose from its thin base after a few moves between rooms. Although the power consumption of 35 watts was the lowest of all the fans I tested, airflow was weak even at the highest setting. At $60, this tower fan is not worth the price.
Unfortunately, most tower fans with smart plugs don’t work particularly well.
