BONECO - Travel Ultrasonic Humidifier U7146

This review is for the Air-O-Swiss Portable Travel Humdifier (7146). I bought this unit to help when I travel as I often have troubles with overly dry air. The unit comes with a nice felt carry bag, the nebulizer, the power supply, cleaning brush, and bottle adapter, all of which easily fit in the bag. I have tried this unit out a few times, and it works well, but, you have to remember that it is a very small unit, and will not turn a large room into a steamy sauna. It is however enough to make a regular sized (300-400 sq foot) hotel room or office comfortable and "take the edge off." It will do about 500 mls in roughly 4-5 hours of time on full output. It is very quiet, with more noise being made by the occasionaly "burp" of air into the bottle (kind of like a mini water dispenser) than anything else. The mist output is very fine, and evaporates rapidly into the air without leaving a soggy mess beneath it, (though I still wouldn't place it on any important papers). Assembly is easy, plug the wall wart in to your power source, and then into the back of the unit and flip the legs out on the bottom. Get a small 500ml (17-20oz) water bottle, fill it with water, firmly push/twist the adapter into the open top, and then gently invert onto the unit, flip open the mist output, and turn it on. The output control knob is on the same side as the power cord, which is opposite the mist output. There's no latches or anything to hold the bottle in place so make sure the unit is on something flat and stable. The adapter has a steel ball valve in it to keep the water from rushing out uncontrolled, but still allow it to "burp" as the unit needs more water. The only thing I did not like about the unit was that while on it has a *very* bright blue LED on it that lights up the mist output to show you it's working. Unfortunately it lights up the room as well. If you're sensitive to such things, it may make it difficult to sleep as it is really bright, however some black electrical tape or a sharpie could easily fix that issue. The LED will turn red when the unit is out of water, and of course the output will cease. Pros: Small, relatively lightweight, quiet, very fine mist output. Cons: Bright LED lighting. Edit: May 2011 Just came back from a long weekend in Las Vegas where it was very windy and dry. I had set up the unit to run while I was out of the hotel room, and when I came back I could easily notice the humidity in the room when walked in a few hours later. Again, not a steamy sauna, but definitely a noticeable difference from the dry desert air and the air-conditioned casino air. It's currently in my office at work in SD where we are having a very dry and windy few days, and the small hygrometer I have in my office shows about a 10% increase (from ~35% to ~45%) from when I turned it on a couple of hours ago. Edit: January 2016 - This little guy is still going strong for me. It has survived many trips in my suitcase all over the world and it's still going strong.

I chose this for my bedroom and for when I do any overnight traveling. I get nosebleeds and a dry throat in the winter time and really needed something to alleviate my dry air distress. I have a largish room, and I did not notice much of a difference after running this device for several hours. In fact now it has been several weeks and I still don't feel any difference during the day, but it has definitely had an impact. I have not suffered from ANY nose bleeds or severe dryness in the mornings like I used to. There are several things to consider heavily before buying this device: ---The Bad--- It has a VERY bright blue LED and its so bright it disturbed my sleep. I took one reviewers idea of putting nail polish over the light, but the light is in the bottom of the devices water pan and it was difficult to do (it took several coats of BLACK polish to get to my desired brightness) It has a very small reservoir (you supply a water bottle) that on highest setting needs to be refilled every several hours, maybe three or four times a day. It will run out of water even on the lowest output settings before morning if you fill it before bed, which is a huge negative point for me. ***I have since started using a SMARTWATER bottle that is taller than a regular water bottle, and although the directions warn against using anything over 16.9 fl oz because the device may leak, I have experienced no seepage, leaking, or altered performance using this bottle. Now it lasts all night and I LOVE IT!!!*** You have to use distilled or filtered water to prevent the device from quickly building up hard water deposits and needing often cleaning (I use a Brita water filter on my tap water and it dramatically reduces this hassle) Does not put out enough moisture to work as a "home solution" I'd hoped I could use it in my home to stop the dry skin and desert feel of my central air, but it only works in my bedroom, with the door cracked or closed. ---The Good--- Doesn't require a filter or special mineral storage that is sold separately! So many of these humidifiers require filters that get expensive and yet you still have to clean the thing out constantly, this device is not like that. It comes with a brush to simply sweep out any mineral build up once the device is dried out. I do this once every two weeks. The mechanism for using everyday water bottles is simple and effective (if has never leaked tipped over or failed on me). Perfect for travelers who are never far away from a vending machine It is so small I can fit it in my pocket (not comfortably of course) but still produces enough to prevent most people from suffering winter time maladies like excess snoring, nosebleeds, and even does help break up a head cold.

I have a lot of issues with my sinuses that are always aggravated during the cold months when the heat is on and my sinuses dry out quickly. At home, I have a humidifier by my bed and another in my home office where I spend much of my day. Without these units, my sinuses get rough and raw within a day or two, and I get congested and am miserable. I stumbled on this humidifier in a travel magazine and thought I would try it, as I always encounter sinus issues while traveling (even in cooler months when the heat isn't on). I tested this unit last week when I traveled to Cleveland. It was cold and the heat was full blast in my hotel. I was there an entire week. This unit helped keep my sinuses moisturized and clear - I am officially a fan! This unit comes with a cloth bag for travel, and all pieces fit nicely. I did have to buy a bottle of water once I got to Cleveland, which was fine. Set up was very easy. The screw-on top that fits onto the water bottle didn't actually screw in for me, I had to just jam it into the top of bottle. Also, you have to flip the filled water bottle into the unit quickly, as the tiny reservoir fills up really fast. I spilled some water on the nightstand the first time I tested it, but mastered it by the second attempt the next night. There is an adjustable dial to crank up the amount of vapor/steam coming out (cold air humidifier) and it worked perfectly for me. I put it on the edge of the nightstand and I didn't have any sinus trouble the entire week. I am a side-sleeper, so I positioned the unit so I could breathe in the vapor more freely. By morning, the water bottle was almost empty, so I had to refill for the next night. One drawback was that it also spills very easily when removing the water bottle if there is any water left. I had to take the entire unit, with the water bottle still attached, to the sink to drain it before I removed the bottle to refill, or else it would leak everywhere. Again, after the first attempt it was easy, but it was a negative. Overall, I am very pleased with this humidifier and give it 4-stars (minus 1 star because of the the leakage issues). I haven't found any other travel humidifier that works this well! I have only used it on one trip, so I cannot speak to its durability, but I did check it when I returned home and everything was still functional.

UPDATE: I will be replacing this humidifier. It makes a loud buzzing noise. Randomly the water will seep out of the unit during the night so it sits in a plastic lid to catch water. And on the same setting, one day it will run out of water and the next day hardly use any at all. The first unit I had like this was a Walgreens product that was discontinued. This unit doesn't come close to the quality and dependability of that product. At this point I would not recommend this product even for travel. This is my second humidifier of this model, previously called Swiss-o-Air. I use it because of the convenience of using a plastic bottle of purified water. Heavy minerals and chlorine foul the unit so distilled or purified water is a must. There is one huge drawback to this unit - it does not have an auto shut off for low/no water. The unit will tend to grow a pink film is not dried out daily. It also has some other features that are unfortunate. It has a blue light that is on when it it in operation that is too bright. I have to carefully cover it with a cloth to be able to sleep. When it runs out of water the blue light flashes off and on several times and then turns red. If you are a light sensitive sleeper, this is like an alarm clock! So, use bigger bottle if you can find one. But this unit wins for portability. It drys out easily for packing, the leg supports fold in, it has an international adapter, and the water container is disposable after each use if necessary. UPDATE: We have been using this now for a few months. I would not recommend buying this for anything but travel. The mist is inconsistent no matter how you set it. The motor is already making a buzzing noise. The light is toooo bright, it literally can keep you awake. And, not the fault of the product, but the plastic in most brands of water bottles has become so thin that they can collapse under the minimal vaccum created with the connection so you can be awakened by the popping sound of collapsing plastic.

We bought this item to travel with our newborn about 2 years ago. It's great and I can't recommend Air-O-Swiss' customer support enough. They really stand by their products (We had a 7144 that was 3 years old that stopped working; completely out of warranty and they replaced it with a new one with purchase of a $50 warranty plan - this is a $200 humidifier). Pros: Completely silent Very light and easy to travel with Comes with it's own nightlight (this was perfect in the hotel room for my newborn and now 2 yr old) Does the job Price Customer Service Cons: None - maybe placement requirements? After two years of using this, it still works fine with the periodic de-scaling maintenance. It's a little noisier - I suspect the bearings in the fan are going, but we've used it everyday for two years, 10 hours a day. So think about that when you are purchasing a $50 humidifier. It's really pretty awesome. The only thing I would suggest is to raise it from the surface - use a small book or a box. If there isn't enough air circulation in the room, there is a chance that water will pool around the unit, and this sits less than a millimeter above whatever surface you place it on. In a hotel, this isn't a problem because there is a lot of air movement. Some people say the light is too bright. Well, if you're staring at it in a dark room, your eyes adjust, but I agree it's a bright light (just not that it's too bright). I am just not bothered by it. If you are, you can always use some black electrical tape and place it over the plastic popup dispenser that dispenses the mist.

Compact Travel Humidifier That’s Handy but Flawed I bought this BONECO U7146 travel humidifier hoping for a reliable way to fight off dry hotel air during trips. It does a few things well—it’s light, compact, and the included travel bag makes it easy to pack. Setup is straightforward: screw in a standard water bottle, plug it in, and you’re good to go. When it’s working properly, the mist output is fine for a small hotel room or bedside table, and the unit shuts off automatically once the water runs out, which is a nice safety feature. That said, my experience hasn’t been consistently smooth. The mist output feels weak compared to other compact units I’ve used, and if you don’t position it correctly on a table edge, condensation can build up and leave a small puddle underneath. The bright blue LED is another annoyance—it doubles as a nightlight whether you want one or not, which isn’t great if you’re sensitive to light while sleeping. Build quality also seems hit-or-miss. Mine held up okay for a few trips, but I’ve seen others fail within months, and the bottle adapter feels like it could wear out quickly with repeated use. For portability, ease of cleaning, and quick setup, it’s decent. But the inconsistent mist production, durability concerns, and that over-bright LED make it hard to recommend strongly when there are other portable humidifiers out there that solve these issues better. Bottom line: A handy little humidifier for short trips if you just need something compact and easy, but don’t expect strong mist output or long-term reliability.

Love this little thing. I reviewed several small humidifiers before deciding on this one. I have purchased distilled water to use in it to prevent mineral deposits. Distilled water is easily found at drug stores like CVS or Walgreens. It has an adapter to put in the top of a bottle of water, you remove the cap, insert the adapter and you just turn the bottle upside down and place on the dispenser. The adapter you put on the bottle has a metal ball that blocks the water from pouring out when you turn it upside down to place on the unit. I use a Dasani water bottle because it's a thicker bottle than some of the thinner cheaper store brand water bottles. I have it by my desk for work and the bottle of water will last about 6 hours on a low setting. It has a turn dial from off to full blast so it's very easy to adjust the amount of mist. The mist starts immediate upon turning it on. I did find that if I turn it up as high as it will go that it will make the papers a bit damp that are very close to it. I just turned down the dial a bit to lessen the mist and problem solved. Nothing gets damp now. When the water runs out it will have a red glow to let you know, but you would know looking it at as the mist stops. When working it has a lovely blue light. I've not tried it in the dark, but I imagine it would be a small glow, nothing bothersome for sleeping, no more than a digital clock. It came with a nice little bag to store it in and I really like the fact that it's not some big unit with a big bowl of water. It will be easy to store when summer gets here and the air is no longer so dry. The other type I considered was the one that sat on the top of a bottle and had a wick that went in the bottle. That just seemed to me like an extra step to deal with and there would be replacement wicks to buy. I've been using for a week, every day and no problems at all, love it, works great and my nose is no longer suffering from the dry air in the house due to gas heat and cold temperatures outside.

This is an absolutely fantastic little device. My office is quite dry and no matter how many times I have facilities fix the humidity issues they invariably switch to a different heating unit that doesn't have the correct steam settings. So time after time I wind up with a sinus infection from breathing in overly dry hot air. We're not allowed to have appliances in our cubicles so I figured they couldn't complain too much about a portable humidifier that was easily tucked out of sight every day. After being knocked out of work for a second time this month I decided to punch the button on this little device. Today is actually the first day that I've owned this humidifier but I'm already impressed. The construction quality is excellent and it feels very solid. In the box there is the humidifier, power adapter with US and European plugs, an adapter to fit into the mouth of a water bottle, a cleaning brush/tool, and a nice quality travel bag to store everything in. The humidifier itself is just a small block with little wing legs that swivel out for stability, and a vent that tips up for operation. There is a dial on the back that controls the amount of vapor this device will spew out. The adapter for the water bottle will fit into two different size bottle mouths, it does so by having a two tiered design much like a wedding cake. There is a little valve in the adapter to keep water from spilling out as you tip it over, and the valve opens automatically when the water bottle is placed into the humidifier. And, much like a water cooler the water will just gurgle down into the humidifier as the water level in the humidifier drops over time. I set the humidifier up on my kitchen counter and put a 500 ml bottle of Market Pantry water on it. The adapter fit very easily into the mouth of the bottle and it didn't spill a drop as I put it in place. I briefly wondered if it was broken as it didn't start up, until I remembered the dial on the back. I turned it on and a little blue light inside the reservoir came on and a constant stream of mist suddenly started flowing forth. After about two hours of use on max the humidifier went through roughly 250 ml of water. Note it is a rather cold/dry day here in Minnesota so dumping a cup of moisture into the air makes a big difference. I'm already so pleased with this humidifier I'm contemplating purchasing another for traveling and leaving this one permanently at work.