My search for a quiet fan led me, finally, to this fan. It was the only one that really claimed to be very quiet. Mission accomplished. On the lowest setting, I can watch something while others are sleeping. The fan sound, at 35 dB, is not an issue. I have it near my head, and don't hear anything. My hearing is quite excellent, thank you very much. It does get louder as air movement increases; but it is not a roaring, rattling sound. It is the sound that is made by moving air, not the sound of poorly designed machinery. Air movement is beyond criticism. The fan looks much better than I thought it would. I could easily write ten pages on the virtues of this fan; but others have written many long reviews. You have to like something a lot or to hate it to write a long review. Negative reviews for this fan fall into several categories for me. Unrealistic expectations is my first choice. If you want something that you can knock around, use in the garage, and abuse; or if you like to ignore instructions, this is not the fan for you. Maybe Harbor Freight has something cheap, heavy, and old-tech with a large dose of unreliability that can work for you. If you are not good at reading instructions, or are in a hurry, or are under the influence, or assemble things by slapping them together, you will do yourself a favor by letting someone else assemble the fan for you. It really is easy; but you will do best if you have the touch. Yes, it is easy to break the small parts if you are not careful. Frankly, the weakest point of the fan is the instructions, both for assembly and operation; but if you slow down and read them carefully, and think it through, they are adequate. If you insist on moving the fan around without regard to its construction, do not be surprised if it does not hold up. I am talking to the folks who buy fine glassware and end up with most of it broken after a few years. This fan is a technical achievement. You take care of it like you do anything of value. Some people have a vinyl or CD collection that looks like new after many years. This is the fan for those people. Some folks use their music collection as frisbees, coasters, Salvador Dali models, and random floor decorations. This is not the fan for them. someone criticized the fan because the mount broke. If you move it around, hold the handle and also hold the base upright rod that the fan mounts to. The base is very heavy for a reason. The second weak point of the fan is that it should not be moved around a lot by simply picking it up by the handle. This applies only to the floor model. I can't speak for the desktop model. Just support it carefully like you would anything else of value that you own. The concept should not be revolutionary; but some folks think that a fan can be hauled around like a toolbox. Some can; but you can usually hear them running in the other room. The control panel on the fan deserves special mention. It is intuitive, effective, beautiful, and easy to see and manipulate. The unusual angle is actually easy to fall in love with for its looks and functionality. I, as a person who embraces the technological achievements of recent years, do not have a problem with LED lights. The very well-designed set on this control panel seems quite appropriate to me. If you can't stand light, you have options; but don't expect the rest of the world to miss out on the benefits of great design because you haven't figured out how to get to sleep. If you are going to have a pillow fight or a wild party, put the fan in a safe place. It is not designed to the standards of a soccer net. As an industrial engineer and an electronics hobbyist, I appreciate this fan for many other reasons; but I don't want this review to become a tome. I will say that I purchased it as much out of curiosity as out of hope that it might actually meet expectations. The German design gave me confidence. A few hours after a flawless assembly process, thorough testing, and evaluation, I ordered another one. When I saw that the price had dropped significantly, I changed my order quantity to two. Somebody actually complained about a price decrease in one of the reviews. This fan, according to the instructions is not for extremely humid locations. They also say to use a dry cloth to clean it. Based on some complaints about a rusty protective grid, that seems like sound advice. Final note: disassembly for cleaning. I see no reason why disassembly should result in damage to the cage or the plastic ring that holds it together, or to the rather delicate plastic attachment hardware. When you clean your stemware, it requires more careful handling than your coffee mug. This fan will not weather the process like one of the other cheap fans that are available everywhere. On the other hand, it is not as difficult and delicate as tying fishing flies or handling rare stamps.
