Levoit OasisMist Smart Mist Humidifier

This is a review of the following product on Amazon:LEVOIT OasisMist Smart Cool and Warm Mist Humidifiers for Bedroom Large Room Home, Auto Customized Humidity, Ultrasonic Top Fill Oil Diffuser for Baby and Plants, Quiet, 4.5L, WhiteProduct Information states:Floor Area 430 Square Feet• Fast Relief: Using VortexMist Technology, the OasisMist can increase room humidity by 10% within 15 minutes with up to 430 ft² room coverage. Perfect for bedrooms and large rooms• Healthier & Reliable Mist: Run your warm and cool humidifier for up to 45 hours with low cool mist. The mist output can be up to 550mL/hr and the 4.5-L tank capacity also makes it perfect for bedrooms and large rooms.Under Specifications:Effective Range: 215–430 ft²--------------------------------------------------------My review is based on the effectiveness of the OasisMist in a 286 sq ft room with an average height of 8.5 feet which equals 2431 cubic feet of volume space. Volume is what has to be used to determine maximum effective capacity of a humidifier, NOT square feet of a room. For the purpose of comparison and evaluation of effectiveness, let’s assume the advertised 430 square feet Levoit states is for the shortest room height of 8 feet. Thus, the volume of maximum capacity it can service is 430 x 8 = 3440 cubic feet. Under specification Levoit states an effective range of Effective Range: 215–430 ft². The lower end obviously accounts for heights higher than 8 feet and possibly other features of a room, such as windows to the outside, that would affect the effectiveness and maybe the introduction of heat on and off during the night. We turn out heat down do 64 degrees F before retiring and the heat may go on about 1 hour before we get up. But, two of the sampled nights were when the outside temperature during the day heated the house where at bedtime it was still at 70-71. Also, most of the observations below were made before any heat was introduced. In summary, the base is a 286 square foot room with a volume of 2431 cubic of air and no heat was introduced.For 4 nights using this OasisMist I found that no matter how it was used, i.e., manually or automatically, I could not get the humidity, as indicated by the display (another matter to discuss) above 61. If you read the User Manual re Automatic mode, you will see it has a default of 60% before it turns off Automatic mode and returns to a lower setting (not explained what it is). If you install the VeSync application (another discussion below) you can change the default (if you set up Voice controls), which I did last night to 65%. I have a medical condition that recommends a minimum of 60% humidity during the night when sleeping, thus, this is my expected requirement for any humidifier. The OasisMist FAILS to meet my requirement reaching on 57-58% after 7 hours of running in Automatic mode, and just reaching 60-61 for 15 minutes once in manual mode on high mist setting.Conclusion: The OasisMist cannot even effectively service a 286 square foot room (2431 cubic feet). My room is about 70% LESS THAN LeVoit’s marketing statements.Humidity Display: I was attracted to the large numbered display that reports humidity. Other reviews mentioned that what is displayed is no where close to actual humidity in the room. How can a sensor in the unit measure humidity in a large room, say, 10 feet away? It can’t without creating an approximation with some algorithm. What you see can only be the actual measurement of the space in close proximity. But, this isn’t the issue that concerned me the most. Despite the humidity display, you CANNOT CONTROL the OasisMist by manually setting the desired humidity and can only change the default point when Automatic Mode with shut off when in Automatic Mode. The OasisMist operation is only manageable by the MIST output, i.e., settings Low, Medium, High. If you need quick introduction of humidity turn on Manual mode and set the MIST level to high. Both output vents will shoot out cool mist. Can you realize 10% increases every 15 minutes as stated in the product information above? NO! It took my unit about 4 hours to increase 15% on High mist level. Now, note that Automatic Mode controls the levels automatically, NOT the actual humidity. It will start out at High mist level and based on the table in the User Manual, drop down to Medium and then Low based on the reading it senses. Just to be clear: You get to manage humidity ONLY by changing mist levels!VeSync Application: You really want to set this up with Voice control. The instructions are not close to being close to do so though and some ingenuity and experience with mobile phone and either Alexa or Google applications are required. VeSync does excellently connects to your router (be ready with your password) and connects to Bluetooth (prompts nicely to get the job done). Now you need to define your device, I called my humidifier Bob, to VeSync and it connects via Bluetooth. If you follow the instructions, you might think you ready to use voice after following the instructions. However, you have just established in my case that Bob can be controlled by VeSync. Left out is that if you are using Goggle “Hey Goggle” commands, Google must be set up too to link to your VeSync application. So, you need to ensure you have Google assistant from Google Store, go into assistant and establish voice for VeSync by linking to it. Once BOTH Google and VeSync are set up, the “Hey Google” command for Bob (my humidifier name) with flow from Google to VeSync which will pass it on to the unit itself. It really is spiffy. Now the rub. You ask why do I have to use voice. The only specific reason is if you want to change the 60% in Automatic Mode to a different default, like 65% that I used -- no other way to do so.Other Features:• I love the size and design of the OasisMist. The use of the removable basin that has a handle is priceless. The tank hold 1.1 gallons of distilled water which is not that heavy to insert into the unit onto the base. Slick.• The controls are well designed on the front panel and so easy to use. The access to the filters (water and mineral absorption) is simple and convenient.• The use of VeSync application to set up a time schedule for operation allows the obvious on/off at a time, but also lets you set up modes and mist levels. A separate Timer is provided that allows you to turn the OasisMist off after a set period of time. Once again, VeSync is a must have to simplify controls even more than the physical panel controls.• I didn’t use the Warm mist, so I can’t comment on it other that two vents are on the unit. One is used for the warm and one for the cool mist. However, the Warm mist vent is preempted if Cool Mist is set High in which case cool mist comes out of both vents.• It is completely silent – to me who has a hearing deficiency that is. My wife who was closest to the unit heard only a drip every 10-15 seconds.• Filling and cleaning is a breeze.My Rating for this review unfortunately must heavily depend on whether the OasisMist met my expectations of effectiveness given the marketing information stating it will. Since it didn’t come close, I have to basically ignore all the other great features. Maybe it should be rated a 1 because it did not meet expectations as defined, but in a smaller room it would probably be a 5 after the VeSync is operatable. So, I’ll choose a 3 to denote a caution to users who are looking at this for a Large room and to get their attention to point out the very positive features listed above.