I swear by air coolers as a refreshing alternative to air con - this new model is powerful, reliable, and actually in stock

I've lost count of the heatwaves now. We've made it through so many that I consider myself a bit of an expert. I keep the blinds down, get bottles in the freezer, and have the perfect placement for my fan sorted within minutes of the forecast turning red. All of these well-practised routines are like muscle memory at this point, but there's one part of my cooling toolkit that still feels like a novelty, like a secret nobody else has clocked yet: the Dreo Misting Fan.

Also known as air coolers or swamp coolers, misting fans, are the closest you'll get to air conditioning in a heatwave without actually installing air conditioning. They work by diffusing a light mist of moisture into the air, which then meets the fan's breeze and evaporates against your skin, cooling you down far faster than airflow alone. I've been talking to anyone and everyone about air coolers ever since I first tried one, and none has impressed me more than the Dreo.

Known for making some of the best cooling fans, Dreo does design, power, and quality like the best brands. Their new launch, the TurboCool Misting Fan 765S, brings all that to the table in a tower design with misting function, a clever app, and - importantly - wide availability. It's exactly the kind of thing you want on hand for whatever this summer throws at us next.

Dreo TurboCool Misting Fan 765S

The headline feature is Dreo's TurboWind cooling system. It sounds fancy, but essentially, it delivers up to 10m/s of breeze with an 18-metre throw, which strong enough to suit even large rooms. To put that wind speed in perspective, it's the equivalent of a breeze that would make loose hair whip around constantly, loose clothing flap loudly, and an umbrella difficult to open. Obviously, you don't need to have it at full blast all of the time, but it's nice to know you have umbrella-changing speed at the tap of a button.

The Dreo comes with 12 speed settings which is a decent amount of power control. For context, most fans offer between 5 and 10 speed settings. The different airflows on the Dreo sit alongside four levels of misting (I found the highest setting the most effective on seriously hot days).

Lots of people ask me about the misting, whether it's actually cooling and whether it gets you too wet for it to be practical on any given day. Having lived with the Dreo, I can confirm that mist itself is so fine you'd barely notice it landing on your skin. Dreo's TurboCool Ultra Mist technology is extra special though: it spreads cool mist through the room to bring the temperature down without the damp build-up that's usually the one complaint people have about misting fans. Inside the unit are two mist boosters that push water through a channel, which acts almost like a natural filter — the water comes out finer and circulates faster, so you get expert-level cooling with multi-stage airflow and micron-sized droplets, rather than a puddle forming underneath.

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Control-wise, you get both a physical remote and an app, and I have to admit I prefer the remote. There's something freeing about not being tethered to your phone just to change the setting. It's also remarkably quiet: at 20 decibels, you might genuinely wonder if it's switched on, right up until you feel the airflow hit you. The 6-litre water tank is enough for around 24 hours of use, and you can watch the mist coming through it as it works, with the tower lighting up in different colours if you want a bit of ambience alongside the cooling. It also oscillates across almost 180°, so it's covering the room rather than just blasting whoever's sat directly in front of it.

Who would the Dreo TurboCool Misting Fan 765S suit?

• Anyone whose bedroom turns into a furnace overnight: the combination of strong airflow and fine mist makes it far more effective than a standard fan for actually falling and staying asleep in the heat
• Households without air con who are tired of "just moving hot air around": this is for anyone who's tried a normal fan mid-heatwave and found it does very little once the room itself is warm
• People who hate the clammy, damp feeling of older misting fans: if you've tried a mister before and been put off by puddles or sticky floors, this is built to solve exactly that problem

Realistically, this fan suits anyone who's spent a heatwave sitting directly in front of a regular fan and still felt like they were being blown around with warm air. I put air conditioning and cooling fans head to head recently, but this sits in the perfect middle ground, bringing the benefits of both together. It's particularly good for larger rooms or open-plan spaces, since the throw and power are strong enough to actually cool a space rather than just the person sitting nearest to it, and for anyone sharing a home with people who run hot at night, since it can be dialled right down to something gentle and near-silent, or turned up to stir the air in a big room.

If you like the look of the Dreo TurboCool Misting Fan 765S

The Dreo TurboCool Misting Fan 765S has quickly become one of the most popular launches I've tested this year, and it's easy to see why. I've recommended it as the best misting fan on the market. It solves the two things that usually put people off both regular fans and older misters: it actually cools the air rather than just moving it around, and it does that without leaving you or your floor damp. If you're heading into another heatwave without air con, this is the closest you'll get to it.