Zafro Coozi Tower Fan for $90: This is an interesting tower fan with a hidden digital display and a cheery little electronic tune when you turn it on and off, reminiscent of a Samsung washing machine. It’s a little bit quieter than Dreo’s Nomad One, but it is taller and therefore easier to knock over, despite the airflow grate dimensions being roughly the same. Still, if it ever goes on sale for less than the Nomad One, it would be worth a grab.
SwitchBot Standing Circulator Fan for $130: This is the first fan from a company known primarily for robot vacuums, with a brushless motor, adjustable height, and USB-C rechargeable battery. It’s lightweight and quiet, registering around 30 dB on my decibel meter, and has rare Matter compatibility with the optional SwitchBot Hub 3 bridge ($120). The Dreo TurboPoly 508S is priced the same and offers better build quality, but if Matter compatibility is important to you, the SwitchBot is a great pick.
Dreame MF10 (Bladeless) for $300: When I tested the T-shaped Shark TurboBlade fan last year, I thought it was weird. (“Are we sure this is a fan? Is it not a windmill? A speaker? Some kind of high-tech ionizer device?” I wrote at the time.) The Dreame MF10 is a similar out-there blade-less design, but with curved blades that move independently or together up and down and side to side like a gyroscope. It even has the same sturdy, tip-proof base as the Shark, which locks into place but for some reason will never unlock again, despite the presence of lock and unlock icons. The MF10 is not a very strong fan, but if you’re looking specifically for a blade-less model, this is a reasonably priced option that’s quiet and offers plenty of features, including a cool curved remote that magnetically sticks to the top.
Antarctic Star T36 Tower Fan for $70: This 36-inch-tall (it also comes in a 42-inch model) tower fan’s claim to fame is a temperature sensor that automatically adjusts wind speed and volume, which is an unusual feature at this price point. It’s also got six speeds and a remote. The automatic adjustments reminded me of the slightly distracting “Nature” setting some fans have (this one has it as well), which will randomly raise and lower wind speed to mimic a breeze. If I need an increase in wind speed, I’d rather just use the remote to turn it up. The fan itself looks a lot like a Minion with its black “cap” and goggle-like circular screen, but it does come in white, gray, black, or pink, if that’s your thing. If I were in the market for a sub-$100 tower fan, however, I’d stick with Dreo’s Nomad One, which runs around the same price and has a noticeably better build quality.
Vornado Box Fan Model 80X for $100: While most people who need a box fan are, frankly, going to run out to Walmart or Home Depot and grab one for 20 bucks, you should be aware that there exists a Rolls-Royce of box fans. “It has 99 speeds,” the brand’s rep told me when it came out. “Yeah, right,” I thought. But, sure enough, this thing actually has 99 speeds, accessible via up and down buttons. I have no idea under what circumstances one might need this many speeds, but there they are. It’s also got a kickstand to reduce wobbling, a digital display, and a 1-to-12-hour timer. Plus, the silver-and-black casing looks good—like you meant to have it in your house, not a remnant from that one summer your AC broke during a heat wave.
Photograph: Kat Merck
Shark TurboBlade (Bladeless) for $250: Though this 2025 blade-less model is billed as a tower fan, it doesn’t look or act like any tower fan I’ve ever seen. It evokes a windmill more than it does a fan, with a horizontal bar that sits on a telescoping base, like a big “T.” The ends of the bar, which are articulated, feature the vents, and each end can be bent straight up, straight down, or at any point in between for fully customizable air direction. The whole bar can also be turned vertically to look more like an “I,” if you’d rather have a tall, thin breeze as opposed to a long, thin breeze. It has all the usual features you’d expect of a fan at this price point, including 10 speeds, oscillation, a magnetic remote, and three settings, including “Sleep,” which makes sense as the TurboBlade, in its “T” configuration, is about the right height for a bed. It’s a great choice if you need airflow in different directions at once, but be forewarned that it makes a fairly loud, jet engine-like whine, which is noticeable even on lower settings. There’s also now a TurboBlade Heat + Cool ($400), which adds a 1,400-watt heater to the middle, but WIRED reviewer Matthew Korfhage tested it and didn’t find the heat feature to be worth the extra $150.
Dreo Tower Fan 519 for $99: With a round display at the top that lends a somewhat retro speedometer vibe, this was Dreo’s first brushless fan. This means it uses an electronic system instead of physical brushes in its DC motor, extending its life and ostensibly requiring less maintenance. It’s no slouch at 1,100 feet per minute and features nine speed settings, as well as all the goodies you’d expect from a midrange smart fan, including a timer, sleep mode, remote, and operability through the Dreo app, Siri, Alexa, and Google Home. It’s still a solid fan, but it’s slightly less powerful and more expensive than Dreo’s Nomad One.