Meaco Arete Two 20l review: The best dehumidifier, now even better

Meaco wasn’t under a whole lot of pressure to follow up its Arete One dehumidifier. Since it launched in 2021, it’s remained the best dehumidifier that I’ve tested; as effective as any rival, but quieter and more energy-efficient

Yet, despite this market dominance, Meaco has now launched a successor, dubbed the Meaco Arete Two. It’s more of an evolution than a complete reworking, but as I’ve found out in a week of testing, the differences add up to make it even stronger.

Meaco Arete Two 20l review: What do you get for the money?

I tested the 20l version of the Arete 2, which costs £300 at full price. It’s designed to extract 20l of moisture per day at an ambient temperature of 30°C and 80% relative humidity, or 12l per day at 27°C and 60% relative humidity. Given the average climate in the UK, the latter set of figures will be more realistic. It uses a compressor to cool and remove moisture from the air, draining either into a 3.4l removable water tank or an external drain if you have a hose attached.

In terms of the design, it’s very similar to the Arete One, with the same 618 x 366 x 272mm dimensions and slightly heavier at 15kg. Much of the materials and profile are also the same. The big external differences are the addition of a larger vent at the top with an adjustable flap to alter the angle of the outgoing airflow and a new display and control panel, giving you more information and more control over the Arete Two’s modes.

It’s the internal changes that are more interesting. Meaco has switched out the AC motor of the Arete One for a DC motor lifted from its cooling fans. This should be quieter and more energy efficient. What’s more, the new motor has an extra-fast fan speed that kicks in during laundry mode, to help your clothes dry faster. Finally, new On and Off timers allow you to schedule the dehumidifier to switch on or off, while built-in Wi-Fi and an app enables remote control and scheduling through your smartphone. The Arete One didn’t have any such smart functionality.

Meace Arete Two 20l review: What features does it have?

The Arete Two has four basic modes. The default Smart Humidity mode adjusts the compressor and fan automatically to meet a target relative humidity of 55%, turning on the compressor and speeding up the fan to drop the level quickly, then ramping down as it falls close to the target. The variable mode allows you to set the target to between 40 and 70%, with a continuous option that will just run the dehumidifier at full tilt until the water tank is full.

The Smart Laundry mode is designed specifically for drying clothes, running the dehumidifier with the aforementioned faster fan speed until the relative humidity hits 32% or the six hour timer runs out. You can press the timer button if six hours isn’t going to be enough. Finally, the Night mode reduces the fan speed to low to keep noise to a minimum, while disabling any beeps and turning off all lights and indicators.

The timer works on an hourly basis for up to 24 hours, and can be set to turn the dehumidifier on (if you engage it while in standby) or off (if set while the dehumidifier is on).

Meace Arete Two 20l review: How well does it work?

The new display and control panel looks more complicated than it actually is, with a humidity gauge at the top rather than the standard two digit display, and the buttons for the Smart Humidity mode and Smart Laundry mode on the left and right sides. The gauge slowly fills as the humidity level falls, and you can toggle through the different targets by tapping on the Smart Humidity button.

Connect to the dehumidifier through Meaco’s smartphone app and you can also control it through your phone. Not only can you monitor and control the humidifier remotely – handy if you’re leaving it to work while you sit in peace elsewhere – but you can use routines to control when the humidifier comes on and set the desired mode and target temperature. You can even set the Arete Two to kick in if the temperature or humidity level in your location reaches a certain level. Plus, you get voice controls, both through Alexa and the Google Assistant.

Yet the most important thing about the Arete Two is that it works even more effectively than the original. Left to run for an hour in my living room with the internal temperature at 21.5°C, it dragged the humidity down from 76% to 67%. Given another sixty minutes, the humidity reached 61%. Of the other 20 to 25l dehumidifiers I’ve tested, only the Meaco DD8L Zambezi and ProBreeze PB08 have worked as fast in similar conditions and neither could match the Arete Two on noise or energy efficiency. According to my tests, the Arete Two puts out between 34.2 and 38.7dBA in normal operations and uses a maximum 224W. With the Zambezi and the PB08, you’re talking 44.7dBA and 47dBA, with 669W and 284W respectively.

It’s also a big step up from the Arete One when it comes to laundry drying. Because you can angle the airflow from the main exhaust vent, you can dry the clothes on your rack at the same time as you dehumidify them, speeding up the drying time. In practice, I found that the standard six hour cycle was perfect for drying lighter garments and it was only heavier sweatshirts, jeans and a hand-towel that needed a little more time. I just left them to air-dry.

Meace Arete Two 20l review: What could be improved?

Not much, but I have a few niggles. Clicking through all the different available values can be annoying when you’re setting target levels or timers. The Arete Two might also be too noisy to leave on overnight in Laundry mode, as it can put out up to 46dBA. I also found the scheduling features hard to find in Meaco’s app. You need to head to the appliance’s settings then tap Tap-to-Run and Automation before you can enable and configure the Arete Two’s auto dehumidify tasks. Even then it’s not that intuitive unless you’re used to IFTTT routines.

Meace Arete Two 20l review: Should you buy it?

In a word, yes. It’s an excellent dehumidifier that dries both rooms and clothes efficiently, without making too much in the way of noise. The new modes and app-supported features make it more versatile than its predecessor and it’s easy to control. It doesn’t even use a lot of power, either. It’s ready and able to take over from the Meaco Arete One as our best all-round dehumidifier.