MeacoFan Sefte 10in Table Air Circulator review: A superpowered, near-silent desk fan

The Meaco Sefte 10in Table Air Circulator replaces Meaco’s 1056 desk fan; a fan that, while it was available, was easily one of the best fans around. Its successor, part of Meaco’s new Sefte range, promises more of the same, but with even more cooling power. If you want a similar fan in the taller, pedestal format, take a look at the Sefte 10in Pedestal Air Circulator.

In case you’re wondering, Sefte is an Old English word meaning ‘quiet, gentle and undisturbed.’ The Sefte 10in Table Air Circulator can definitely dish out quiet and gentle cooling, but it can also summon up a mighty blast of air if you need it to, thanks to new DC motors and new blade and case designs. I’ve spent the last week putting this new model through its paces, to find out if it holds up to the standards of the outgoing model, and whether it should be high on your shortlist if you’re looking for a bedside table, desk or coffee table cooler.

MeacoFan Sefte 10in Table Air Circulator review: What do you get for your money?

The Sefte 10in Table Air Circulator costs £120 and is a 10in desk fan, though it’s easily big and powerful enough to double as a floor fan. It’s primarily constructed from white plastic, with a black grill covering the blades at the front, and it stands just under 46cm high. It needs a decent amount of space, as the main fan section is 30.5cm wide and 20.8mm deep, and the whole thing moves in both the horizontal and vertical axis as it oscillates left and right and up and down.

Its touch-sensitive controls surround a small circular display on the base section, and there are more buttons than on the Sefte 10in Pedestal model, with buttons to turn it on and off, toggle through the modes, adjust the fan speed up and down and toggle through the up/down and left/right oscillation settings or pause oscillation for a moment. The same controls can be found on the bundled remote, along with controls to silence any beeps and dim the display and LED indicators.

MeacoFan Sefte 10in Table Circulator review: What settings does it have?

Like its Pedestal sibling, the Sefte 10in Table Air Circulator has 12 speeds plus dedicated Eco and Night modes. It also goes beyond the norm with its oscillation options. While it offers a maximum arc of 120-degrees on the horizontal and 65-degrees on the vertical, you can also narrow it down to 75- or 30-degrees on the horizontal and 30- or 20-degrees on the vertical. All you need to do is keep pressing the relevant button to toggle through the different options.

Otherwise, the Eco mode works as an automatic option, setting the fan speed according to the current temperature, while the Night mode turns off the display and any beeps on the controls, then steadily reduces the speed every thirty minutes until it reaches the lowest setting. As we’ll see in a minute, this is already a quiet fan, and with Night mode it’s ideal for bedroom duties.

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MeacoFan Sefte 10in Table Air Circulator review: How well does it perform?

I came to test the Sefte 10in Table Air Circulator having already tested the Sefte 10in Pedestal version, so I was expecting a pretty powerful gust machine. However, the Table version blew away that conception by posting higher air speed figures than its taller sibling. Even at its lowest setting, it can push air through at an effective 2.9m/s, tested dead centre from a distance of one metre. After pushing it up to half speed, I found that it had more power than most competitors at full, reaching 5.4m/s. At its top speed (12) I measured air speeds at a staggering 7.8m/s. At this point, you can’t call it quiet or gentle as it will cheerfully blast stray papers from your desk, ruffle hair and move small items across a table.

Still, it’s nice to have that kind of power if you want it, especially if you’re trying to cool a large area from a distance of two to three metres away. Even at that kind of range, the Sefte 10in Table Air Circulator can deliver a great cooling breeze, particularly if you’re clever with the oscillation settings. These help make this fan supremely versatile. It’s capable of focusing a blast straight at you as you’re working out on an exercise bike or rowing machine, but also handy if you have a conservatory full of people sat roasting who’re all in need of a little extra air.

Despite all this power, the Sefte can also do quiet. I measured noise levels on the lowest setting at 33.5dB, but in practice I found I could barely hear it running over ambient levels of noise in most rooms I tried it in, and my fridge was noticeably louder in the kitchen. In a soundproof chamber, Meaco says its noise levels fall as low as 25dB.

At medium settings, it still puts out just 36dB, and it’s only when you push the speeds up to max that you hit what you might call a noisy 43dB. Given many fans go over 50dB without delivering anywhere near the same airflow, that’s quite an achievement.

What’s more, your running costs should be nice and low. At its lowest speed, I measured power consumption at a mere 3.43W. At its highest, this only grew to 28.43W. That’s not quite as low as the smaller and cheaper Duux Globe (£80) or NSA Compact Cool (£45), but it’s lower than anything of comparable size and performance.

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MeacoFan Sefte 10in Table Air Circulator review: Is there anything we didn’t like?

Not much. The 12-hour switch-off timer is a little basic, especially if you’re used to the more advanced scheduling options that some smart fans offer. Having to cycle through the oscillation options to turn them off can make it hard to find the right point, but there’s a pause button to help if you need it.

MeacoFan Sefte 10in Table Air Circulator review: Should you buy it?

Yes. There are some great compact desk fans out there if you don’t have the space for this one – the NSA UK Compact Cool and Duux Globe spring instantly to mind. However, if you can cope with a larger desk fan, or you want something you can place on the floor and cool the whole room, then nothing beats the Sefte 10in Table Air Circulator. It’s extremely powerful yet surprisingly quiet and energy efficient while giving you more control than any rival over the power and spread of its airflow.