Summer hasn’t even arrived yet, but temperatures are already inching up to 40 degrees Celsius here in Sydney. Over winter, random junk had taken over my garage gym, but with beach days and short-sleeve weather fast approaching, I was itching to get back into my fitness routine.
When Shark sent me their FlexBreeze HydroGo Misting portable fan ($199.99) to review, it was all the motivation I needed to finally re-set my home gym and stop using the heat as an excuse to avoid physical activity. Plus, what better way to put a fan through its paces than during one of the hottest spring months on record?
What is the Shark FlexBreeze HydroGo portable misting fan?
The FlexBreeze HydroGo is Shark’s new portable misting fan. But aren’t all fans ‘portable’? I hear you ask. Not quite. This one has a battery, so once it’s charged, you can pick it up by the ergonomic handle and take it wherever you want. It’s also super lightweight. It comes in 6 colours, including quartz, lilac, honeydew, dove, glacier and charcoal.
Some ways I tested out the fan include: cooling my home gym (because it’s portable I can put it on the floor for mat work or sit it on a shelf when I’m using free weights or a walking pad), gardening and keeping my dog cool on hot days.
Shark’s FlexBreeze HydroGo portable misting fan review verdict
- My rating: (8 out of 10)
- Why I rated it an (8/10): This truly portable, battery-operated fan will be your best buddy whether you’re beating the heat in a small house, working out or soaking up the sunshine.
It’s built well, looks great and does everything it says it will do. It lost a couple of points mainly because its $200 price tag. For its size, it’s relatively exxy. If you’re looking for a fan that will cool a large space, I recommend checking out Shark’s TurboBlade instead.
That being said, it’s portable enough to carry to any room at any time, which kind of makes me feel like I own multiple fans. You could say it’s become my emotional support fan.
Pros
- Extremely lightweight
- Super quiet to use
- Cordless for portability
- Ergonomic design
- Six colours to choose from
- Three misting settings: on, off, intermittent
- Wide range of fan breeze settings
Cons
- Fan doesn’t oscillate
- Small water tank means mist runs out quickly
- Max battery life is 12 hours but varies depending on the setting you use
- Water fill indicator tricky to read in low-light settings
- No remote control
What comes in the box?
Shout out to Shark for their attention to detail – right down to the packaging. The first thing I noticed is that they’ve made a conscious effort to avoid plastic packaging as much as possible. The fan itself and the charging cord were both wrapped in fibre-based, recyclable bags. The only plastic was a thin layer of film protecting the face of the fan and some instructional stickers with tips on how to use the appliance.
WATCH: Unboxing the HydroGo
Does the HydroGo feel as good as it looks?
Let’s just state the obvious, this is a seriously cute fan. On the other hand, it is $199.99, so what’s the build quality like? As I’ve mentioned, this is an incredibly light appliance (it weighs 1.76kg, similar to a 15-inch laptop or a small, half-filled kettle, for reference). Despite the lightness and size, however, it feels very well built.
Tilting the fan up and down is very smooth, for example, and the buttons are effortless yet satisfying to press. I’m somewhat concerned about how the misting cap hinge will hold up over time, but so far so good. The handle makes the machine comfortable to hold and carry wherever I need it.
How I tested the Shark FlexBreeze HydroGo Misting portable fan
I tested the Shark FlexBreeze HydroGo Misting portable fan over a two week period at my home in Sydney, Australia, which has a humid, sub-tropical climate. The period I tested the fan coincided with a spring heatwave (temperatures ranging from 25 degrees celsius to 38 degrees celsius).
Test 1: In the garage while exercising
A couple of months ago, the extremely noisy, steel pedestal fan I had in my garage died. Funnily enough, my motivation to exercise died with it. And although that fan was okay, it was only really good for standing exercises. Any time I’d find myself on the mat wondering how a thirty second plank could feel like an eternity, the breeze would blow right over me.
That’s where the portability of the HydroGo shines. I can place it on a shelf directly in front of my face if I’m doing a standing workout, or I can pop it on the floor next to my yoga mat when I’m in the zone going from snake pose to downward dog. You can pinpoint it exactly where you need it.
During the first test, I kept the fan plugged in and the speed at a medium setting. I didn’t use the misting function as I was a bit nervous about the floor becoming slippery.
Test 2: Indoors while using a walking pad
If you have young kids, you’ll know it’s difficult to find time to watch TV in peace. At the moment, my before-work routine is to wake up at 5am and take a stroll on my walking pad while catching up on my favourite shows. I feel really fit and smug until I hit about the 15-minute mark, which is when I break out in a sweat.
The HydroGo has made this ritual so much more enjoyable. It’s small enough that I can perch it on my TV unit and point it directly towards my walking pad. I don’t know about you, but 5am is a little too early for me to begin connecting a bunch of cords, so I carried it from the garage to the living room and used it at full speed with the fan’s battery. It was a pretty humid morning, so I kept the mist setting off.
I didn’t notice any reduction in power in battery mode and I was also very impressed by how quiet the fan was. I was able to hear the TV and the fan noise didn’t wake up anyone else in the house!
Test 3: In the garage, relaxing
This is the part where I began to lose custody of the HydroGo … you see my husband began to cotton on to the fan’s powers after I left it running in the garage (i.e. his man cave / gaming zone) to cool down our dog and to test its battery life. Our dog loved it, and moved to sit closer to the cool mist and the battery lasted on medium for about 5 hours.
While I was a bit hesitant to use the misting function, thinking I’d slip or that mould would somehow develop, my husband thought the whole thing was pure genius. He filled the tank with water from the fridge (for extra cooling) and said, “How does this little fan make the whole area feel so cool?” The area he’s referring to was a sofa, and surprisingly, the misting function did not leave the furniture feeling damp at all.
One downside, he observed, was that the water-fill indicator was a bit difficult to read in low light. He also wished that the onboard tank was larger so he didn’t have to get up and re-fill it so often. (I then explained that you can select the ‘intermittent’ mist function but he’s an all-or-nothing kind of guy).
Watch: The HydroGo misting function (with sound)
Overall, is the HydroGo worth it?
I honestly wasn’t expecting to enjoy the HydroGo this much! While it is on the expensive side for a small fan, I do think it fills a gap in the market really well. Based on my experience with it, here are the people I think will adore this fan:
Gardeners
Summer gardening – we all try to avoid it, but if you must be out in the sun pulling weeds, take the HydroGo with you!
If you have limited or zero air conditioning
You’ll love that you can take this little guy with you to every room without fumbling around with cords or a cumbersome pedestal. Instead of buying several cheaper fans, you can buy one (with a 2 year product warranty) and put it wherever you need it.
Hot sleepers who love quiet
On the lower settings, this fan is unbelievably quiet. It’s small enough to perch on your bedside table so you can feel the breeze on your face while you sleep.
Toddler parents
Nothing is more offensive to a toddler than a home cooked meal served hot. During one meal, where a tantrum over the temperature of mashed potato was bubbling up, I grabbed this fan and put it on the table in front of my toddler’s plate. My toddler thought it was the funniest thing ever and happily gobbled up her lukewarm food.
People who overheat while cooking
Having a targeted breeze in the kitchen or barbecue area is a must if you tend to run hot. Just be careful not to point it towards a flame.
Active lifestyle lovers
If you run hot while you exercise, you’ll fall in love with this fan. I really appreciate having it for home workouts, but there’s no reason why you couldn’t take this to a pilates class or the gym (it’s cordless and small enough to fit in a large gym bag!)
Where to buy the FlexBreeze HydroGo
- Shark, $199.99
- Amazon, $275.41
- The Good Guys, $199
- Harvey Norman, $199
