Toward the end of summer, we were still getting a fair bit of warm weather. Strangely, it was in between flash floods, storms and almost every other weather scenario you can think of besides snow. So, when we were offered a small cooling fan by the folks at Gearbest to put to the test, we eagerly accepted, because the way things are going, we could end up with a heatwave over Christmas.
And you know if that happens the stores will soon run out of stock on all varieties of fans. It also helps that I hate the heat and love the cold, so always have fans on in the house anyway, even in the winter. But will the Xiaomi Youpin 3-in-1 Mini Cooling Fan be as cool as it looks? We’ll find out now.
BUILD QUALITY & DESIGN- 3.5/5
I can’t say I was all that impressed with the build quality when it arrived. It was well packaged and arrived in one piece, but as soon I touched it, it instantly felt like the cheap kind of plastic you expect when you find kids toys in a pound shop. Now, in fairness, it has been dropped twice and did survive, but all you have to do is give the main body, which houses two buttons to operate the fan, a tight squeeze, and you can see gaps appearing between that and the top section of the fan.
Which is a shame because the design of the top section is actually well designed, with a bladeless system as you see from some more expensive fans on the market. And to add a little class to the design, there is also a warm light ring right at the back of the fan to activate as a lamp/night light for the user.
Below the main body is an air-tight water chamber at the base which feels a little better. There is a USB cable running from the back, with a rubber bottom underneath to stop the fan slipping around. There is also a humidifier round the back as well, which feels a little more solid. It comes in a metal casing and just slips on top of the chamber below to suck up the water ready to be sprayed into the air.
The only issue is, this doesn’t lock in place and so although the chamber itself holds the water in and the fan has survived two drops, the humidifier does come loose and so water flows out. Which really, shouldn’t happen, as it is so easy to install a twist-lock to hold the humidifier in place.
FUNCTIONALITY – 3.7/5
In terms of the functionality of the Xiaomi Youpin Cooling Fan, it does offer quite a fair bit, as you’d probably guess with us mentioning it is a 3-in-1 cooling fan. Not only do you get the fan, which is bladeless making it great for kids, it also has the built-in lamp/night light and a humidifier.
The fan itself has 3 adjustable speeds which you change by pressing the button with the picture of a fan blade on (ironic right?), however, although you can feel the difference between each speed, I don’t think it’s all that powerful. Especially when you’ve experienced the power you get with the expensive Dyson models you see. What you do notice is the sound increases significantly. Not to overly annoying levels, and probably quieter than most bladed fans, but it’s still noticeable.
The other button on the fan then switches the light on and off by a simple tap, but the magic happens when you hold it in. This is because it activates the humidifier. You’ll notice the mist shooting up out the back, and then the fan sucks in the mist from behind and pushes it through to the front toward the user. I’m not 100% sure that this makes it any cooler or whatnot, but it sure does feel nice on your face (that’s what she said).
The main characteristic that holds the fan back though is the fact it is powered by a wired USB connection. Not a removable one where you can charge the battery and take the fan with you, but one that has to be plugged in at all times for it to operate.
Whilst this isn’t an issue for someone using it at a desktop next to their PC, it does mean if you want to use it next to your kid’s bed or on your coffee table, you need to have a plug socket nearby that has built-in USB ports or a spare USB Plug available to use. If it was a rechargeable one it would be a lot more functional as you could take it more places and aren’t restricted to needing a power source close by.
VALUE FOR MONEY – 4.2/5
It may not sound like the world’s best fan so far, but at £24.66 it is the cheapest bladeless fan we can find that offers multiple features including the lamp/night light and the humidifier. So it does give you a lot of bang for your buck. But having said that, if you’re looking for something to cool the whole room down and not just you sat at the desk or during the night next to your bed, then you can get bigger mains powered fans around a similar price that would blow you away compared to this.
I think it would be nicer if there was a USB plug included or if the fan was rechargeable, in fact, if they rounded the price up to £29.99 to cover the cost of the upgrades, I think you’d be silly not to buy this because it would still be the cheapest and you wouldn’t have to splash out on a USB plug to use it.
OVERALL – 3.8/5
The Xiaomi Youpin 3-in-1 Cooling Fan is a really nice design packing some useful features that are ideal for kids because they can’t get their little fingers hurt by rotating blades. Unfortunately, there is still a fair bit of room for improvement in terms of build quality and functionality.
But even with the lack of the features that I’d like to see such as a lock for the humidifier and a rechargeable battery to make the fan more portable, it is still one of the cheapest bladeless fans on the market, and the cheapest we could find that have the combined fan/lamp/humidifier combo. If you’re only looking for a desktop fan, it’s pretty much ideal, but you get what you pay for so don’t be expecting it to blow you away like more expensive models.
The Xiaomi Youpin 3 in 1 Mini Cooling Fan TL;DR:
- One of the cheapest bladeless fans on the market;
- Ideal for small children because they can’t get their little fingers caught in any blades;
- Also has a built-in lamp/night and humidifier;
- Could be improved by being rechargeable to make it more portable, or at least have a USB plug included.
If you want to purchase the Xiaomi Youpin 3-in-1 Mini Cooling Fan yourself, or just find out more information about the product, you can do so by clicking HERE to go to the listing on the official Gearbest website. You can also find more of our reviews HERE.