DREO Smart Whole-Room Heater and Circulator 714S review: lightweight, versatile air treatment for all year round

Due to the cost of living crisis and inflated prices, many people have been avoiding turning their heating on for as long as possible – myself included. A loophole within this is that portable heaters have become more popular over the years, due to their versatility and lower running costs.

This year, many brands have been combining fans and heaters to offer one device that works all year round, like DREO. Launched earlier this year, the DREO Smart Whole-Room Heater and Circulator 714S is a fan-heater hybrid, and as someone who’s cold all the time, I was excited to try it – here’s how I got on.

DREO Heater and Circulator 714S review: price and availability

The DREO Smart Whole-Room Heater and Circulator 714S is available to buy for £99.99 / $99.99 - £109.99 / $109.99 at DREO and select retailers like Amazon. The white version is at the lower price, while the black model is at the higher price. It comes with a remote.

DREO Heater and Circulator 714S review: design and features

Powered by 2000W, the DREO Heater and Circulator 714S offers 3D whole room heating and cooling. It has three modes to choose from – power heat, eco or fan only – and each mode comes with three speed or temperature levels for versatility. The eco mode automatically selects the optimal temperature for the room you’re in and helps to keep the running and energy costs down.

The DREO Heater and Circulator 714S looks more like a fan than a traditional heater that you see on the market. Made from ceramic, it has a round, fan-like design and measures 28cm x 18cm x 31.5cm and weighs just 2.93kg. It also has room at the back of the device that acts like a handle so you can easily carry it to different rooms – it’s corded but the cable has a good length.

The LED display at the bottom of the DREO Heater and Circulator 714S allows users to manually change the settings. On the left side is controlling vertical and horizontal oscillations, a child lock and Wi-Fi connection settings. The right side has the on/off button, modes and setting adjustments, like turning the heating or fan up or down, or changing the time on the timer.

The centre of the display shows the heater, fan or eco settings, including oscillation levels, timers and more. It does this via numbers and letters, as well as icons, like a fan for when it’s in fan mode. While all settings can be adjusted manually, the DREO Heater and Circulator 714S also comes with a remote.

The DREO Heater and Circulator 714S is powered by Hyperamics which allows it to release heat quickly and widely. It can pump hot or cold air around the room up to 12-feet and oscillates up and down by 30, 60 or 90 degrees. When in action, the DREO Heater and Circulator 714S operates at 34dB to keep things quiet, and users can set timers for up to 12 hours at a time.

DREO Heater and Circulator 714S review: performance

Despite it being autumn, I was surprised to find I could comfortably test both the heating and cooling elements of the DREO Heater and Circulator 714S, as the weather in the UK has been unseasonably warm this year. But as I mentioned, I’m always cold regardless of the time of year, so the heater part of the DREO Heater and Circulator 714S was my most commonly used setting.

I enjoyed how easy the DREO Heater and Circulator 714S was to set up. It only required me plugging it in and it was ready to go. It can also be connected to the DREO app if you want to control it from another room, for example, if you want it to pre-heat a room for you before you enter it.

The design of the DREO Heater and Circulator 714S is simple, and its compact size means it takes up hardly any room wherever you set it up. I liked the handle at the back as it meant I could easily move it around my home, and it weighs very little so it’s comfortable to do so.

While I liked the look of the display, I did find it to be quite overcomplicated. It took me quite a while to get used to it, and even after weeks of testing, I still found myself relying on the Quick Start Guide to figure out what I was selecting and adjusting.

Speaking of adjusting, the DREO Heater and Circulator 714S has three modes, all of which have three speeds or temperatures, and can be customised by three different oscillation degrees, both horizontally and vertically. All that being said, it has a great amount of settings to play with, all of which perform extremely well.

As mentioned, I loved the heating part of the DREO Heater and Circulator 714S. The air it releases gets very warm, and due to its wide oscillation, it can fill up a good amount of space and room sizes. I tried it in my small office which turned into a bit of a sauna, and it created a warm bubble in my downstairs living and dining room area.

Despite being in the colder months of the year, I tried the fan mode, and was surprised by how powerful the airflow and cooling technology was. I’d say it was definitely a good fan to use in the hotter months of the year, and it wasn’t too loud when in action.

One thing I was impressed with was the safety features of the DREO Heater and Circulator 714S. It has a child lock on it, and the grates are fully protected. But even after it being in use for a while, the DREO Heater and Circulator 714S didn’t get too hot on the grates and it cooled down very quickly. Even better, it didn’t heat up the surface that it was sitting on either.

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I’ve already said I found the display to be a little difficult, so I made sure to test the manual and remote controls. While I liked the look, feel and size of the remote, I did think it could be more responsive when interacting with the DREO Heater and Circulator 714S.

It could take a while to change the settings when I was using the remote whereas the display controls were instantaneous. I definitely had to be very close to the DREO Heater and Circulator 714S for the remote to work properly – which seemed a bit pointless to me as if I was close to it, I’d rather use the manual control panel!

DREO Heater and Circulator 714S review: verdict

For all year round heating and cooling, the DREO Heater and Circulator 714S is a really great option – and one that won’t break the bank. The design of the DREO Heater and Circulator 714S is pretty faultless, and its lightweight and compact size means it’s easy to store or blend into the background of whatever room you have it in.

The DREO Heater and Circulator 714S has an impressive amount of temperatures, modes and oscillations to choose from. The remote and display could work together a bit better, and I think the display could be a bit more straightforward, but the DREO Heater and Circulator 714S is an admirable fan and heater that definitely kept me nice and cosy during the colder months.

DREO Heater and Circulator 714S review: alternatives to consider

If you want a different fan-heater hybrid, we loved trying the new Shark TurboBlade Cool + Heat. Like the DREO Heater and Circulator 714S, the Shark TurboBlade Cool + Heat has year-round functionality, a premium design and great cooling and heating features. It’s quite big and it’s almost triple the price of the DREO model though.