Dreo CLF521S Smart Ceiling Fan Review (2024)

The $159.99 Dreo CLF521S has the distinction of being the most affordable smart ceiling fan we've tested. Despite its reasonable price, the CLF521S doesn’t skimp on features: It offers built-in Wi-Fi, convenient Alexa and Google voice control, twelve fan speed settings, and an LED lamp with adjustable white color temperature. Moreover, it’s quiet and delivers powerful airflow. All of this earns it our Editors’ Choice award for smart ceiling fans.

Design and Features: A Breath of Fresh Air

Dreo makes some of our favorite smart fans, including the Pilot Max Tower Fan ($149.99) and the CF714S desktop fan ($99.99), but this is the first time we have reviewed one of the company'sceiling fans. Priced at $159.99, the CLF521S costs around $200 less than the Hunter Romulus ($349.99) and around $340 less than the Modern Forms Renegade ($499.95).

Available in black, silver, or white, the CLF521S is a 52-inch ceiling fan that features a 12-inch wide round LED lamp and a built-in 2.4GHz Wi-Fi radio. The lamp is dimmable, has a maximum brightness of 2,400 lumens, and offers white color temperature adjustments from 2700K (warm and yellow) to 6500K (cool and blue). It uses five blades and a reversible DC fan motor to provide a maximum airflow rate of just over 5,600 CFM (cubic feet per minute). The blades can be installed with the color facing down or reversed to display a wood grain pattern. With a sound rating of less than 35dB, the CLF521S is very quiet.

The fan has 12 speed settings when being controlled using the mobile app and six settings when using the included 5.5-inch remote. In addition to the six fan speed options, the remote has buttons for changing the lamp’s color temperature, reversing the fan motor for upward or downward flow, turning the lamp on and off, dimming the brightness level, and turning the fan on and off. There are also three timer buttons that will shut the fan off after one hour, four hours, or eight hours.

As with the Dreo CF714S desktop fan, the CLF521S ceiling fan does not support Apple HomeKit or IFTTT, but it does work with Alexa and Google voice commands that let you turn the fan and lamp on and off, adjust fan speed and lamp brightness, change the fan mode, adjust color temperature, and reverse the airflow direction. It uses the same Dreo mobile app (available for Android and iOS) as other devices from the brand and gets its own dashboard on the home screen.

(Credit: Dreo/PCMag)

The dashboard screen displays a picture of the fan and its name, along with buttons for turning the fan and the lamp on and off, and for setting an off timer. Toward the bottom of the screen are tabs labeled Bedtime Light, Schedules, and Settings. Tap the Bedtime Light panel to have the lamp gradually fade out over a set period of time (between 10 and 60 minutes), and visit the Schedules tab to create one-time or recurring on/off schedules for both the fan and the light. To access Wi-Fi settings, update the firmware, and connect the fan to your Alexa and Google accounts, tap the Settings panel.

When you tap the picture of the fan in the app, it opens a screen where you can adjust the fan speed and choose one of three fan modes. Normal mode runs at a fixed speed, Natural changes speeds to simulate a breeze, and Sleep gradually slows down over time (30 minutes). Here, you can also change the direction of the airflow, adjust the lamp brightness, and change the white color temperature.

Installation and Performance: Easy Breezy

Installation is straightforward and should take no more than 30 minutes, but it requires working with electrical wiring. If you’re not familiar or comfortable with this you should hire a pro to do the job.

I started by installing the five fan blades and placed the yoke and canopy over the mounting rod before attaching the rod to the fan motor. I turned off power to my existing fixture at the breaker box, removed the old fixture and its mounting bracket, and attached the Dreo bracket to the junction box in the ceiling. I placed the ball and rod mount in the mounting bracket, turned it until it was properly seated, and attached the wires (white to white, black to black, ground to ground) using the included wire nuts. I screwed the canopy to the fan base, restored power to the circuit, and moved on to the app setup.

I already had the app installed on my phone, but if this is your first Dreo device, you’ll have to download it and create an account. I opened the app and it immediately recognized the fan, so I entered my Wi-Fi credentials. After 20 seconds or so, the fan successfully connected to my network and the installation was complete.

The CLF521S worked well in testing. It instantly responded to remote control and app commands and did an excellent job of circulating the air in my 360-square-foot bedroom. The various modes all worked as intended, as did the timers, and the fan had no trouble following my on/off schedule. Alexa voice commands to turn the fan and the light on and off, adjust the color temperature, and adjust the fan speed all worked perfectly. I created an Alexa routine to have the fan turn on when a Ring Floodlight Cam detected motion and it too worked without issue.

Verdict: A Fan-Tastic Buy

If you’ve been searching for a smart ceiling fan that won’t break the bank, look no further than the Dreo CLF521S. At $159.99, it’s the most affordable ceiling fan we’ve tested and it offers most of the functionality that you get with more expensive models, including voice control, timers, scheduling, and adjustable LED lighting. Although it doesn’t support Apple HomeKit or IFTTT, you can have it interact with other devices using Alexa and Google Home routines. Its reasonable price and solid performance earn Dreo CLF521S our Editors’ Choice award.