Meaco is a British company that has built an enviable reputation for creating nearly peerless air purification products. Next month, it will be making available a new and highly innovative air circulator/cooler named the MeacoFan Sefte 8″ Portable. We eagerly accepted the offer to try it before it is brought to market, and below, we detail what we have discovered.
Sitting here in my office, I’m pleased that today is breezy and cloudy. Like many others, I enjoy the sunshine, but when the heat becomes what my wife describes as ‘relentless’, it can be very uncomfortable, particularly at night. Fortunately, Meaco has kindly sent us some of their fans to test and review over the years, and these have proven invaluable during the recent warmer, windless days, enabling us to steer clear of ‘foggy’ minds and shiny faces.
Sitting on my desk while I write this review is the MeacoFan 260c Mini Rechargeable, which we reviewed five years ago. What we find incredible is that, to this day, there has never been a hint of a problem with this or any other Meaco products in our possession. Even after five years of regular use, the MeacoFan 260c Mini Rechargeable’s battery seems as strong as ever. This has caused us to wonder why the company hadn’t included more battery-powered cordless products in its range over the past five years.
Meaco may have picked up on our thoughts. The introduction of the 12-speed MeacoFan Sefte 8″ Portable has taken all the promise shown by its smaller sibling and added some well-thought-out design magic, and you can rest assured that it was worth the wait.
About the MeacoFan Sefte 8″ Portable
The MeacoFan Sefte 8″ Portable shares the same stylish look as the highly regarded MeacoFan Sefte® 10″, voted Which? Best Buy 2025. However, this new and marginally smaller air circulator has a significant advantage that will make it an industry benchmark-setter.
Helping the MeacoFan Sefte 8″ Portable rise above other high-quality table and desktop air circulators is its innovative cordless functionality. The latest air circulator from Meaco houses a rechargeable battery that is said to offer an impressive seventeen hours of battery life and something that will please those who are frustrated with manufacturers producing limited-life ‘throwaways’ that end up in landfills after a few years; it uses an interchangeable battery system, which significantly extends the life of the product.
The battery is housed at the top of the base unit and can be accessed by pressing a discreet white button on the side that lifts a cover—think of a car bonnet. The battery sits inside a recess, and there is no fuss or hassle when it comes to lifting a battery out or putting one in.
Each 2500mAh 18V Li-ion battery produces very impressive power, and charging one from 0 to 100% takes around three hours. As mentioned previously, the cooler can run for up to seventeen hours and boasts twelve air flow levels in total.
Setting number one feels like a cool breeze, and it is supremely quiet thanks to the brushless motor. I expect that setting six, which is also very quiet, will produce more than enough airflow for most people; however, some will undoubtedly like to try their hand at the maximum power setting of twelve, which I can best describe as what you would feel when the wind rushes over your face when riding a bicycle at high speed.
As I expected, the airflow coupled with the oscillation is excellent. Although I don’t have the benefit of a wind meter to take readings, the Sefte 8″ Portable was easily powerful enough to keep a reasonably-sized room in a home cool, and the airflow seems very much on par with larger fans in the Meaco range, such as the 1056P.
With its stylish looks, low running costs, long run-time, cordless functionality and eco-friendly credentials, I am sure that I’ll also be seeing see more than a few MeacoFan Sefte 8″ air circulators in larger, modern open-plan offices to help workers focus on their roles.
Operating the cooler is simple. There are four touch buttons on the base: an on/off button, one for airflow power, a button for horizontal oscillation (vertical oscillation is operated manually), and a button denoted by three dots that switches between normal and night mode, which turns off the beeps and lights, and the intuitive ECO mode, where the fan speed automatically changes depending on the room’s temperature.
In addition to the touch buttons, the MeacoFan Sefte 8″ Portable sports a glow-in-the-dark remote control that allows you to do everything you can on the base, along with turning off the audio beeps and providing the option of setting the timer. The remote control is magnetic and, like other recent Meaco air circulator products, can be attached to the front of the blade guard.
Given that energy costs are still high, it is important to consider running costs. The good news is that Meaco’s latest air circulator can be operated solely with mains or battery power.
Choosing to run it via mains power will undoubtedly align it with the brand’s other energy-saving MeacoFans, which cost less than 0.1p / hour to run based on 27.03p/kWh.
To further boost peace of mind, the MeacoFans come with a three-year parts and labour warranty from the date of purchase.
Final Thoughts
The MeacoFan Sefte 8″ Portable more than lived up to the lofty expectations I assign to everything that comes out of a Meaco factory. As one would expect from the company, the air cooler is supremely quiet, and given my previous experiences writing about their products over the past ten years, I have no concerns about its reliability.
The company’s introduction of a replaceable rechargeable battery will put significant pressure on others who ply their trade in the air cooling/circulation industry. Like other manufacturing sectors, the air cooling industry has seemingly been more in favour of producing limited-life products as it promotes more sales, which is a positive for the manufacturer but less so for the planet.
Meaco’s view on the way things should be done is clearly different. Given the renowned reliability of the mechanics inside their products, being able to swap out the battery will vastly increase product life. It is a brave move by Meaco and one that must be applauded.
My thoughts on the new MeacoFan Sefte 8 Portable can be summarised as follows: “Meaco’s latest air circulator boasts a great design, is cheap to run, performs brilliantly, will be a godsend on those hot, sticky days, and is an authentic planet-friendly product.”
MeacoFan Sefte 8″ Portable – Where and How?
Upon arrival, the MeacoFan Sefte 8″ Portable requires no assembly. In addition to the air circulator, it comes with a mains adaptor, remote control, recyclable storage bag/cover, battery pack, and instruction manual. As we tested a pre-launch model, we do not have pricing details; however, we will update this review feature when it becomes available.
You can keep up to date with availability and view the current range of MeacoFans at www.meaco.com.
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