Related Sections: Art & Design Household Reviews
Air Multiplier: Dyson attacks the table fan, kills the blades
Putting it kindly, the Dyson brand has made a name for itself by taking tired product categories and reinventing them, making things like vacuums and hand dryers more effective, high-tech and sexier. Putting it unkindly, it's a company based on trying to find the most expensive ways to move air.
Whatever Dyson really does, it's now doing it to the table fan. The Dyson Air Multiplier is the company's take on this all-too-common product. The AM's main upgrade: It does away with fan blades, instead using "unique technology" to blow air away from a large plastic ring, attached to a motorized base.
Dyson sent us over an Air Multiplier so we could personally check out. Our hands-on impressions after the Continue jump, along with price and availability information.
 |  |
|
The Dyson Air Multiplier is a very simple product. We unpacked it, hooked it up and got it working in less than a minute without even touching the instructions. As it should be: This is a table fan, after all. When you turn it on for the first time and feel the breeze, you're left staring at the sparse ring in front of you, wondering where the air's coming from.
It doesn't take you long to notice to small (1.3 millimeter) seam on the inside of the ring. Air is taken in from the base, then pushed out from the ring (called a "loop amplifier"), which pulls air from behind the fan into the airflow. Air in the front and the sides is pulled into the stream as well. In the end, the air is said to be amplified 15 times.
Does it work? Sure, absolutely — about as well as a regular table fan. For all of Dyson's promise that the Air Multiplier provides smoother, less choppy air than a regular fan, I couldn't really tell that the breeze produced was any different from you average Honeywell.
The sleek design has a lot going for it, however. The "silver & iron" design on the 12-inch model (I seriously doubt it contains either of those elements) will look perfect next to plasma TVs and other modern electronics, and there's a smaller (10-inch) one that comes in either blue & iron or silver & white. Touch a single button and the fan turns back and forth in a 90° arc, and the base can tilt a few degrees, too. An intensity knob lets you adjust from quiet breeze all the way to floor at a jet-engine factory.
But by far the best thing about the design is the lack of blades. Not only does their absence make the Air Multiplier inherently safer than other fans, but it's easy to clean, too. After all, there's no grille, and theoretically no place for dust to build up. We'll let you know in a few months, though.
Are those advantages enough to justify the $330 cost ($300 for the 10-inch model). In this case, I'd say no — the effectiveness here isn't really on par with the upgrades that Dyson found with, say, its DC-22 vacuum or AirBlade dryer.
Then again, I've never had an accident with a fan blade. Any blade-victim survivors out there excited by the Air Multiplier? To the tune of 300 bucks?
By RalphWSiegler at 7:49 PM ON 10/12/09
no grill for dust to accumulate, eh? what's that on the base then??!!
By msc at 7:56 PM ON 10/12/09
Sounds/looks like a venturi device. If some air is pulled through the base and out through the 1.3mm seam, then the base and innards will accummulate dust. So there probably IS a fan, it's just small, in the base, blows air out the seam, which draws air from behind as a venturi...any aero folks out there confirm?
By mathews at 7:58 PM ON 10/12/09
Lol. dumb review. There is a fan and a grill. IT IS IN THAT CYLINDRICAL BASE.
And if dust collects there, it is gonna be more difficult to clean than a regular fan.
By k-zed at 8:00 PM ON 10/12/09
A fan with no blades?? IT'S SATAN!!!!!
By Garrek at 8:00 PM ON 10/12/09
Great article. But, must we bring this product down by pointing out its high price? It's innovative and cool so let's just leave at that. A hundred years we've had fans with blades and here comes a fellow who changes all that. And, since this is not a necessity item let the man cash in his premiums.
By stentor at 8:03 PM ON 10/12/09
Add gasoline, a dog who knows how to hold his junk up, and voila an old circus trick.
By tbone at 8:06 PM ON 10/12/09
It's the martians I tell you!! This is how they will get a hold of our minds and take over the world.
By Anonymoose at 8:15 PM ON 10/12/09
You know what would be awesome? A fan with fanless fans for fanblades!
By Anubis 10545 at 9:01 PM ON 10/12/09
I've never been more happy :). Ha, although it is pretty impressive.
By lyokowarirtitan (|:|) at 10:08 PM ON 10/12/09
likely enough it operates on the principle that charged air moves to a region with opposite charge. the "intake" edge of the ring has a positive charge(probably) and the "output" is negatively charged(probably). then again I could be totally wrong. in any cases it is definitely form above function.
By dexter at 10:11 PM ON 10/12/09
amazing stuff . this design drops the usual low frequnecy noise associated with regular , large diameter fan blades - no more headache after a few hours of fan usage .
By Azgoroth at 10:59 PM ON 10/12/09
Don't believe Dyson when they say their stuff is better. I fix their vacuum's at work, trust me, the tech is no different than your normal vacuum. It just looks fancier, and in some cases is easier to work with, but in most cases its maddeningly time consuming to take apart.
By John at 12:31 AM ON 10/13/09
Just think how much fun it would be to fly paper airplanes through the center...
By Coyotecom at 1:55 AM ON 10/13/09
Well, it's better than your idiot kid sticking things (pencils, sticks, fingers, tongues) into the blades of a fan until it's a chopped up wreck with a hockey smile grill.
But can you do Vader impressions thru it?
By tezza123 at 3:26 AM ON 10/13/09
Can,t believe people think it has no fan, it's in the base. this device uses std air mover technology and the filter holes around the outside will get clogged with envionmental dust and will have to be cleaned with a brush like any other regular bladed fan. It is far too expensive, so i'll wait till someone rips off his simple design and sells it for under 50 quid....
By Veevog at 8:11 AM ON 10/13/09
If I fire a ping-pong ball through this will it amplify the speed 15 times ?
By saris at 8:34 AM ON 10/13/09
Take it apart and tell us what is inside!!!
By lyokowarirtitan (|:|) at 9:37 AM ON 10/13/09
I retract my earlier statement. But they could make a very expensive fan in the way I mentioned.
By Anonymous at 9:51 AM ON 10/13/09
Where are the symbols to dial out?
By Kilborne at 10:56 AM ON 10/13/09
@ RalphWSiegler. Those Open vents are for air circulation for the fans motor only.
This seems like a decent design... we have all seen worse.. or more exotic here... hopefully the price wont be so "unique". i would personally like to have one of these at my desk.
By thyphear at 2:03 PM ON 10/13/09
I agree... where is the DHD for this thing?
By Col Carter at 3:34 PM ON 10/13/09
I set this up in my office in Mt. Cheyenne. At certain angles, sand or leaves or fog blow through it, even though there's none on the other side. The other side I can see, anyway!`
By D'OHmeister at 4:01 PM ON 10/13/09
@Veevog
No it will not, your pingpong ball is much denser than air D'OH!
By Fraser at 4:16 PM ON 10/13/09
OMG... it's actually a mini stargate sucking air from another planet!!! ;)
By SG at 4:25 PM ON 10/13/09
No mater how the air is moved, I know several parents of small children who will be thrilled with the bladeless design.
By Xenovic at 4:35 PM ON 10/13/09
I would love to see this taken apart. If there really is no "fan" inside the grating, this could revolutionize HVAC. Imagine not needing an air handler, that would improve the energy efficiency of your AC system immensely.
On the other hand, if there is simply a fan inside the fan, then this really isn't so cool, and I will be terribly disappointed with Dyson...
By Blargh at 6:16 PM ON 10/13/09
Y'know, I had one of these once.
It was all fine and dandy until the fan began acting strange, creating this weird, vertical wall of watery substance in its center from which a bunch of armed miniature people jumped out of, demanding to know what planet this was.
It's safe to say I returned it shortly after.
By Nick at 7:50 PM ON 10/13/09
Obviously it does have fan blades, hidden in the base. So it's just a ducted fan. Squeezing air through a 1mm slot is going to cost you in power consumption. Stylish, yes. Substantive breakthrough in engineering? Hardly. But you didn't buy his vacuum cleaner because it was lightweight or quiet did you? Oh, and as for being easy to clean, where do you think all the dust will end up? Yes, on the blades inside (I guess you could suck it out with your Dyson cleaner).
By mememe at 10:03 PM ON 10/13/09
The people who thinks that there are fan blades and that air enters through the base. You guys are very very wrong. There are no blades and the holes are to ventilate the amplifier.
By LemonNade at 2:10 AM ON 10/14/09
It has a turbine type fan inside its base. It sprays air out along a seam in the ring and that air stream pulls ambient air into the flow. It's nothing revolutionary, but it is a nice looking fan and should have a place among individuals and businesses that value appearances over sensibility.
By fuglybear at 11:33 AM ON 10/14/09
Ok , hope I get my terminology correct . I think that what they have done is placed a thin impeller in the outer ring , it is closed in , not sure how they get the air in , but it was stated there is a seam . If the sealed impeller draws air in and then ejects it through the seam at the back of the fan , the the fans inner surface would act like a wing creating focused turbulance in front of the fan , thus involving more air than what the fan is actually drawing in . If the air for the impeller is drawn in through a small hole , then only that hole needs to be filtered and could easily be cleaned . Basically , I think it operates on the same principles as most modern jet engines ( as fair as air acceleration goes that is ).
By . at 12:05 PM ON 10/14/09
sweet!
By thisisonlyatest at 3:14 PM ON 10/14/09
I always thought a fan without blades was an air compressor.
By Thuses at 4:50 AM ON 10/15/09
Oh, is that were I left my %&@*-ring???
If I had the money to spare I'd buy 1, it does look pretty cool.
By ChronoLegion at 8:28 AM ON 10/15/09
DHD sold separately.
Warning: Dyson Air Multiplier is not a toy. Watch your fingers when turning it on, as they may be disintegrated by the kawoosh.
By JRFrogman at 1:35 PM ON 10/15/09
The really cool fans that I have seen in the past were the Piezo Fans.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOv55uANRcI
I saw these a few years ago and thought they were the most awesome thing I had seen in a long time.
By Azure Trayl at 11:42 AM ON 10/16/09
They could use this same technology and it would warrant the high price if they marketed it as a Ceiling Fan.
By Nerd at 7:36 PM ON 10/16/09
It looks like a miniature Stargate for home use....lol.
By Fireman at 8:15 PM ON 10/16/09
We have had these things for years, running on compressed air. Nothing new, just a new package and a fancy name.
By Brendan at 4:19 AM ON 10/18/09
How cool to all you people mocking it ,bit jealous are we?
By Why? at 1:51 PM ON 10/20/09
It's (sort of) explained here:
By borddog at 6:11 PM ON 10/21/09
Wait if it uses no blades... hence nothing is rotating, or moving (except to make it osculate, which could just be accomplished by shifting the charge right?) then why is it a circle? if it works by positive and negative charges then it would have almost no restrictions on shape then right? it could be square or rectangular or triangular. With this in mind as well as dyson trying to be unique it isnt illogical to think there is an impeller. i dont have one, so I don't know, but you get what Im saying. Also wouldn't it be virtually silent no matter what intensity?
By Anonymouse at 9:39 PM ON 10/21/09
Oh noes! What will the Koreans do now that there is nothing to blame fan death on?
By strong at 9:42 PM ON 10/22/09
strange shape for an ionic breeze. must be strange trap set by Baal.
By liteWgt at 5:58 PM ON 10/29/09
Waste of money........
By gatelady at 9:03 AM ON 11/02/09
@Anonymous - lol, just what I was thinking!
SGA forever!
By Evilgoblin2.0 at 11:11 PM ON 11/15/09
cool an Ionic Breeze that looks like a stargate.
By Kieran Mullen at 1:26 AM ON 11/17/09
I was told that the Dyson did not sell well until it was brought stateside.
By TheOwl at 4:49 AM ON 11/17/09
Curse those wizards and their Dark Magic!
By Porcy at 9:25 PM ON 11/23/09
I'm a daycare worker. Using conventional fan had always scared me a bit since some kid's long hair could get caught in the blade.
I think this fan could help for that.
By Ellen22 at 7:51 AM ON 12/31/09
It's not so simple to do a very good already written essays, preferably if you are engaged. I recommend you to set buy essay and to be devoid from scruple that your work will be done by paper writing service
By ralphwsiegler at 12:18 AM ON 01/14/10
mememe and kilbone, if you look at Dyson's web site, it clearly explains that the air is indeed sucked in through the base, and blown out seam in the ring. that wastes energy compressing air. style and hoopla unlike some of their other products which are better engineered though pricey
on your cellphone!
Text DVICE to 72434
editor@dvice.com
ralphwsiegler:
mememe and kilbone, if you look at Dyson's web site, it clearly explains that the air is indeed sucked in through t...More »