The Dreo Smart Air Conditioner 318S is a single-hose portable A/C with a fixed-speed compressor. It's meant for cooling small rooms, with an advertised coverage of 150 ft² (14 m²). It features three operating modes: cooling, fan-only, and a dedicated dehumidification mode. There's also Wi-Fi connectivity, so you can change settings or monitor your room's temperature via a smartphone app, and it integrates with Google Home, Apple Home, and Amazon Alexa, allowing you to operate the unit using voice commands. You can also use the provided remote control to change settings if you'd prefer not to connect your A/C to your Wi-Fi network.
Our Verdict
The Dreo Smart Air Conditioner 318S is a mediocre choice for large rooms. It lacks the requisite capacity to cool large spaces effectively. Its single-hose design and fixed-speed compressor also result in poor overall efficiency; it consumes as much energy as a dual-hose model with an inverter-controlled compressor that delivers far higher performance. On the upside, it runs quietly enough not to be a nuisance while you're watching TV or listening to music, and it performs very well at maintaining your desired temperature.
Impressively quiet across its fan speeds.
Performs remarkably well in maintaining ambient humidity level.
Does a great job of maintaining your desired temperature.
Single-hose design results in poor efficiency when cooling a space.
Fixed-speed compressor compromises efficiency when maintaining temperature.
Cooling capacity is only suited for small spaces.
The Dreo Smart Air Conditioner 318S is a good choice for bedrooms and other small rooms. It runs very quietly and won't cause a major disturbance, even if you run it overnight at higher fan speeds. Beyond that, it also has a relatively compact footprint and a single-hose design that's pretty unobtrusive. As far as performance goes, its cooling capacity is just about sufficient for smaller spaces, but it consumes a lot of energy relative to its modest output. On the upside, it does an excellent job of keeping the air in smaller rooms consistently cool and dry rather than clammy and damp.
Compact single-hose design.
Impressively quiet across its fan speeds.
Performs remarkably well in maintaining ambient humidity level.
Does a great job of maintaining your desired temperature.
Single-hose design results in poor efficiency when cooling a space.
Fixed-speed compressor compromises efficiency when maintaining temperature.
The Dreo Smart Air Conditioner 318S has poor cooling capacity. It can handle bedrooms and home offices, but will struggle in larger spaces. Consider a higher-capacity unit if you want to cool a living room, dining area, or any sort of open-concept space.
Cooling capacity is only suited for small spaces.
The Dreo Smart Air Conditioner 318S isn't an efficient A/C. This is a single-hose model, meaning it draws in indoor air to cool its compressor while running. This draws in more warm outdoor air and forces the unit to work harder to compensate while cooling a room. Furthermore, once your desired temperature is reached, its fixed-speed compressor cycles on and off to maintain that setpoint. This on-off cycling incurs a very high energy demand relative to the A/C's modest cooling capacity.
Single-hose design results in poor efficiency when cooling a space.
Fixed-speed compressor compromises efficiency when maintaining temperature.
The Dreo Smart Air Conditioner 318S does an excellent job of maintaining stable ambient conditions. Its fixed-speed compressor cycles quite fast once the desired temperature is reached. This relatively brief cycling doesn't give enough time for temperature or humidity levels to rise again, keeping conditions in your room consistently cool and dry.
Performs remarkably well in maintaining ambient humidity level.
Does a great job of maintaining your desired temperature.
The Dreo Smart Air Conditioner 318S is impressively quiet. Operating noise is quite low for an A/C with a fixed-speed compressor that needs to cycle on and off to maintain your desired temperature, and the fan noise is low enough not to be a major distraction if you have the unit set up in a home office or bedroom.
Impressively quiet across its fan speeds.
The Dreo Smart Air Conditioner 318S is a pretty compact A/C. The A/C unit itself is small enough to tuck into a nook between a dresser and a nightstand. While its single-hose design impedes overall efficiency, it also makes setting up the unit for the summer and putting it away for the winter pretty simple.
Compact single-hose design.
Performance Usages
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Differences Between Sizes And Variants
The Dreo Smart Air Conditioner 318S is only available in a single color variant: 'White'. For those interested, here's the product label for the unit we bought and tested.
Let us know in the comments if you come across another variant of this A/C so that we can update our review.
Popular Air Conditioner Comparisons
The Dreo Smart Air Conditioner 318S is a mid-range portable A/C with a single-hose design. It sits below the pricier Dreo Portable Air Conditioner 740S in the brand's lineup; despite its similar appearance, the 318S has a much lower cooling capacity and a far less efficient single-hose design with a fixed-speed compressor. As far as direct alternatives go, the 318S delivers similar cooling capacity and efficiency to the SereneLife SLPAC8, but it does a far better job of maintaining your desired temperature and humidity levels. It's also a standout for its low operating noise, as it's much quieter than the higher-capacity LG LP0721WSR.
If you're looking for other A/Cs with a similar form factor, take a look at our recommendations for the best portable air conditioners. However, if you're still undecided between a window and portable unit, see our picks for the best window air conditioners and the best air conditioners overall.
The Dreo Smart Air Conditioner 318S is better than the SereneLife SLPAC8. The two units are evenly matched in terms of performance and efficiency, with both being inefficient single-hose models best suited for small rooms. That said, the Dreo does a much better job of maintaining your desired temperature and the ambient humidity level. It also runs a lot quieter.
The Dreo Smart Air Conditioner 318S is better than the Black+Decker BPACT12HWT. The Dreo is slightly smaller, runs quieter, and can be operated from your smartphone or with voice commands. While the Black+Decker's higher cooling capacity does technically allow it to cool rooms faster, it does an awful job of maintaining your desired temperature and humidity level, with the Dreo providing a far more consistent experience.
The Dreo Portable Air Conditioner 740S is a much better portable A/C than the Dreo Smart Air Conditioner 318S. The 740S is a dual-hose unit with an inverter-controlled compressor, giving it a huge leg up in efficiency compared to the single-hose 318S with its fixed-speed compressor. It also provides more than twice the real-world capacity, effectively allowing it to cool an equivalently sized space twice as fast. Not only that, it's only slightly bulkier than the 318S and runs marginally quieter.
Test Results
This A/C's real-world cooling capacity is poor. It takes quite a while to cool the air, even in smaller bedrooms, and it won't reduce the temperature to your desired level in larger spaces within a reasonable time frame.
This isn't an efficient A/C. As with any other single-hose A/C, it draws in indoor air to cool its compressor as it runs, creating negative air pressure and drawing warm outdoor air into the room it's cooling, which forces the unit to work harder.
The Dreo Smart Air Conditioner 318S delivers bad energy efficiency when maintaining your desired temperature. It uses a fixed-speed compressor with a relatively high upfront energy demand, which must cycle periodically to maintain your desired temperature. These repeated on-off cycles incur a much higher energy demand than an A/C with an inverter-controlled compressor, like the Hisense HAP0825TWD, which can run steadily at a lower speed to maintain your setpoint.
This unit does a great job of maintaining your desired temperature. While its compressor on-off cycles have high energy demand, they're also brief enough not to cause a significant drop in a room's temperature once the setpoint is reached. As a result, your room will feel consistently cool when the unit is running, instead of varying noticeably in temperature.
The Dreo Smart Air Conditioner 318S performs remarkably well at maintaining a consistent humidity level. The on-off cycling of its compressor is fast enough that little moisture re-evaporates into the air, so your room should feel comfortably dry.
This is an impressively quiet air conditioner, particularly for a portable unit with a fixed-speed compressor, which is generally louder than its inverter-controlled peers. You should be able to use this A/C in a bedroom or home office without it being a massive distraction.
This A/C is somewhat feature-rich. It has a similar interface to the larger, more powerful Dreo Portable Air Conditioner 740S, with an LED display that shows your current desired temperature and settings. There's also Wi-Fi connectivity, so you can operate the unit with its smartphone app. The app also supports Google Home, Apple Home, and Amazon Alexa, so you can operate the unit with voice commands. If you'd rather not connect your A/C to the internet, you can also just use the provided remote control.