One minute it is hot and sunny, the next it's cold and you're putting the heating on again. That's the British weather these days, but one gadget is trying at least give you a solution to your weather annoyances, offering you a cooling fan when you need it in the summer (like now - at time of writing) and a heating element when it gets colder.

Our quick take

Dyson AM05 Hot + Cool meets all the requirements of a good product when it comes to the Pocket-lint review criteria. It will make your life better, it does work, and it has got the wow factor. It's the coolest looking heater/fan on the market, the only question you'll have is can you justify it over a more traditional, more boring-looking fan and heater combo? We recommend that given the chance, you spoil yourself for once.

Dyson AM05 Hot + Cool - 4.0 / 5

FORAGAINST
  • Cools and heats your room
  • stylish
  • easy to control
  • included remote control
  • Expensive
  • still fairly noisy

So can the Dyson AM05 Hot + Cool bladeless fan-come-heater deliver? We've been living with one to find out.

Design

Refined, but hardly changed over previous versions, the Dyson Hot + Cold follows earlier design hallmarks of the range first introduced in 2011 and features the now iconic circular design that sees jets of air pumped from around its circumference.

This might be a fan heater and traditional cooling fan, but you aren't going to see any blades. They are hidden in the base of the unit firing upwards and then projected with speed - there are 10 velocity levels - out at a 90 degree angle to the unit.

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An easy to use control panel at the base of the unit controls temperature and speed, and this can also be done via a remote control that magnetically attaches to the top of the fan when you aren't using it.

The fan itself can oscillate to spread the hot or cold air around a bit and you can manually opt to tilt the fan backwards or forwards by simply holding the base and pushing the main tower with your other hand.

It's easy and stable regardless of what angle you have it at.

Cool

When it comes to using the fan as a cooling fan there is one pre-set option and this blasts cool air out as best as it can. Air is pumped out at 0C, and there is no thermostat setting to set otherwise. This isn't an air conditioning unit that will regulate the room to a desired temperature if it is too hot, merely make it cooler to be in.

Hot

The hot fan element is much more comprehensive with the fan able to heat a room from 1C up to 33C.

The heater does have a thermostat on board which automatically cuts in when it senses that a room has reached a certain temperature. This works, but with all these things the sensor is in the fan so if you've got a big room you might not get to all the cold spots with a single device.

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The other benefit with the heating element, of course, is that because the heating element is hidden within the device, you don't get that burnt dust smell associated with regular fan heaters (you don't get it with oil-filled heaters either).

The heater automatically turns off if the fan is knocked over. Everything can be controlled via the included remote control.

Luke warm

Nothing's perfect of course and there is still a fan present so that also means the associated noise that goes with it. It goes without saying that the more powerful the fan setting the louder it becomes, but it is still fairly noisy, not more so compared to a standard cheap fan heater, but certainly against an oil filled radiator, probably the closest competitor in terms of performance.

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It's also worth pointing out that while many will see this as a talking point in the room, it's still expensive for what it is and you are paying a premium for the Dyson brand here.

To recap

Dyson AM05 Hot + Cool meets all the requirements of a good product when it comes to the Pocket-lint review criteria. It will make your life better, it does work, and it has got the wow factor.