Portable air conditioners are easy to install and can be moved to any room in the house without much effort, but most models need to be drained of water occasionally. Not so with the Dreo Portable Air Conditioner AC516S, a 14,000 BTU portable AC that uses a unique condenser evaporation method to eliminate the need for drainage in all but the most humid environments. Mounted on four hard rubber wheels, the AC516S glides effortlessly over any flooring type, and its sliding window exhaust panel installs in minutes. It also has Wi-Fi connectivity, so you can control it by app or voice, create custom cooling schedules, and monitor usage stats. Most importantly, it did a superb job of cooling in our tests and was relatively quiet. At $499.99, it’s more affordable than the $599.99 Midea Duo Smart Inverter Portable Air Conditioner and just as efficient, making it our new Editors’ Choice winner for portable air conditioners.
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Design and Features: Drain-Free for Less StressDesigned for rooms of up to 450 square feet, the 14,000 BTU Dreo AC516S is available in a Snow White or Space Black finish. At 65 pounds and 28.1 by 17.3 by 14.3 inches (HWD), it is slightly lighter and more compact than the Midea Duo Smart Inverter Portable Air Conditioner, which weighs 72 pounds and measures 32.4 by 19.5 by 16.7 inches.The top of the cabinet has a pair of mechanical louvers that provide 60 degrees of swing with an air projection range of up to 16 feet. The front holds eight function buttons and a round color LED display. The buttons are used to power up the air conditioner, select an operation mode (cool, fan, or dehumidify), set an off timer (zero to 12 hours), increase and decrease the target temperature, select a fan speed (low, mid, high, or auto), enable and disable the louver oscillation, and enable and disable the sleep feature which increases the target temperature by 2 degrees every hour to compensate for body temperature lost while asleep.In the center of the LED display is the current set temperature reading, and below that is a fan speed status indicator. Other indicators include Wi-Fi, mode, temperature unit (F, C), humidity level, sleep function, timer, vertical swing (louver), and eco function (which automatically runs the AC in power-saving mode when the temperature setting is between 76 and 86 degrees).
The rear of the unit is home to two air inlet grills, a drain outlet and drain plug (for dehumidification), a power cord, and housing for attaching the air exhaust hose. Both of the air inlet grills can be removed to access the removable hand-washable air filters. Carry handles are embedded in both side panels and the bottom of the AC holds four hard rubber casters. The AC516S is unique in that it uses a pump to move excess water from a drain pan to a condenser which accelerates the evaporation process. When used in environments with less than 85% humidity levels, the AC will not require any drainage.In addition to using its onboard controls, you can control the AC516S using an included 10-button remote control, or via the same Dreo mobile app (available for Android and iOS) used to control the CLF521S Smart Ceiling Fan and the CF714S Air Circulator Fan. The AC dashboard screen displays a picture of the device, along with its name and its current status (on, off). A water tank indicator near the top of the screen tells you if the tank is low, high, or full, and in the middle there’s an on/off slider and a timer button. Near the bottom of the screen is a panel that shows the current room temperature. Tap the panel to see a temperature graph for the past 24 hours or 30 days.
(Credit: Dreo)
Tap the Schedule panel to create on and off schedules with individual settings for different days of the week. The Cleaning Reminder panel tells you how many hours the AC has been used and how long before you need to clean the filters (every 150 hours), and the Maintenance panel opens a screen with installation instructions. When you tap the Usage panel you’ll open a screen where you can see daily and weekly usage charts (by hour), and the Settings panel is where you go to update the firmware, configure Alexa and Google voice settings, view Wi-Fi information, and enable or disable data recording for usage reports.Back at the dashboard screen, tap the picture of the AC516S to open a control screen where you can use the big dial to set the target temperature, enable eco and sleep modes, select an operation mode, turn the display and systems sounds (beeps) on and off, select a temperature unit (Fahrenheit or Celsius), and enable the child lock (which disables the onboard buttons).The AC516S is equipped with built-in 2.4GHz Wi-Fi and Bluetooth radios and supports Alexa and Google voice commands, but it does not support Apple HomeKit or IFTTT applets that would allow it to integrate with third-party devices such as thermostats and fans. It comes with the aforementioned remote control, a 59-inch exhaust hose and fittings, a drain hose, four window panels, adhesive and non-adhesive weatherproof strips, and a user guide.Installation and Performance: A Breeze As with most portable air conditioners, the AC516S is easy to install. I started by fitting the exhaust kit in my window and using the included weather stripping to seal off any openings. Once the window panels were secure I attached one end of the exhaust hose to the AC and the other to the window panel and proceeded to add the AC to the Dreo app.
(Credit: John R. Delaney)
I already had the app installed, but if this is your first Dreo device you’ll have to download the app and create an account. I opened the app, tapped the plus icon in the upper right corner of the home screen, and the app instantly recognized the device via Bluetooth. I pressed and held the timer button on the device for five seconds to enable Wi-Fi as instructed, then entered my Wi-Fi credentials in the app when prompted, and gave the device a name to complete the pairing.The Dreo AC516S did an excellent job of cooling down my 360-square-foot room in testing. It took 20 minutes to bring the temperature down from 78 degrees to 68 degrees Fahrenheit, which is identical to what we saw with the Midea Duo Smart Inverter Portable Air Conditioner. By way of comparison, the GE Profile Clearview PHNT10 Smart Air Conditioner ($529), a 10,000 BTU window unit, needed close to 24 minutes.The AC516S is relatively quiet. Using the NIOSH Sound Level Meter app, I measured 47dB with the fan at low speed and 55dB at high speed, so it operates well below the 70dB safe sound threshold. Those readings are pretty much in line with Dreo’s noise level claims.The AC responded instantly to all of my commands made using the onboard controls, the remote control, and the mobile app. It also responded quickly to Alexa voice commands to turn the AC on and off and to change fan speeds and adjust target temperature settings. I created an Alexa routine to have the AC turn on with a fan speed set to 3 when a Ring Floodlight Cam detected a person and it worked perfectly.The Verdict: A Top Choice for Convenient Cooling If installing and uninstalling your window air conditioner every year is doing a number on your back, it’s time to consider a portable unit like the Dreo AC516S. At $499.99, it’s actually a bit more affordable than our Editors Choice winner for window ACs, the $529 GE ClearView PHNT10, and it’s more powerful. We also appreciate its smart features, which let you remotely monitor and control the AC from your phone, connect it with the Alexa and Google voice assistants, and set up cooling schedules for automated operation. Its excellent cooling performance, drainage-free design, and ease of use earn the Dreo AC516S our Editors’ Choice award for portable air conditioners.
Dreo Portable Smart Air Conditioner AC516S
Pros
Excellent cooling performance
Does not require draining
Fast installation
Highly portable
Supports app and voice control
Oscillating airflow
Offers usage reports
View
More
The Bottom Line
The Dreo AC516S is a smart air conditioner that offers the convenience of app and voice control, is easy to move from room to room, doesn’t require drainage, and makes speedy work of cooling rooms up to 450 square feet.
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