There is nothing quite like the Smartmi Rainforest humidifier. Ostensibly, this is a humidifier like any other, designed to make your home feel comfortable and fresh. But beyond that, this product is all about the ambiance. It creates a soothing, rainforest-inspired show in your very own home: the magic of rainfall indoors. Let’s take a look.
Smartmi Rainforest features
This humidifier is marketed differently from most of what you’ll see available. Instead of being a warm mist or a cool mist humidifier, Smartmi says that the Rainforest is mist-free. The company claims that the product humidifies by simulating rainfall. You can both see and hear the rainfall through the clear component of this humidifier.
The Smartmi Rainforest is designed to be very functional for home use. It has an LED screen, real-time water level display, smart home integration, optional voice control, and a top-fill design. (Top-fill design is one of my personal “musts” for a humidifier—they’re so much easier to use!) It uses a washable, replaceable, and recyclable polymer filter and its extra-large water tank lasts for about 15 hours.
Is this a good humidifier for large spaces?
The Smartmi Rainforest has a 3-litre water tank that can run for up to 15 hours. It has a 200mL/h humidifying capacity.
I can’t find anywhere where Smartmi recommends its Rainforest humidifier for small, medium, or large rooms. However, the brand advertises the Rainforest as being able to filter the air of a 320 square foot room in under 20 minutes. Additionally, humidifier coverage is typically calculated using a formula of 1L per 100 square foot of coverage. So, as a humidifier with a 3L water tank, we can assume that the Smartmi Rainforest is a humidifier made for a medium-sized 300 sq. ft. room.
How can a humidifer be mist-free?
The technology used in the Rainforest is designed to simulate “the natural process of rain evaporating” using centrifugal force. According to Smartmi, the Rainforest essentially flings water droplets toward the clear product shell in tiny, continuous layers. This impact forms tiny water droplets and the room is humidified through airflow.
Other sources I found during my product research suggest that Smartmi is essentially using large-scale ultrasonic humidification for this process. This is what you’d expect to see in a tabletop vaporizer that’s meant to be used with essential oils as a home fragrance tool. The concept for this is, as I understand it, pretty much the same. By both processes, water is agitated in the product quickly enough that it exists in the cool air generated in the humidifier by a fan.
Cool mist vs. warm mist vs. water enhanced evaporation
Every type of humidifier operates differently and there are pros and cons to each.
Warm mist humidifiers are the “traditional” type of humidifier. They heat water until it reaches its natural evaporation point of roughly 100ºC, then release the water as steam. They’re a great way to add humidity to the air but need a fair amount of electricity to run. The mist that exists then is hot, which can be comforting in the winter and is great for melting products like minty decongestants (I’m thinking Vicks VapoRub) into the air when you’re sick. However, warm mist humidifiers can pose a danger to small children due to the hot mist they produce and their heating elements become caked in calcium deposits in locations with hard water. As a result, warm mist humidifiers are becoming less popular as they have a high maintenance requirement.
Cool mist humidifiers are a generally safer and lower-powered choice for humidification. They’re popular for families with children, but they’re noisier to run and pose a higher health risk when it comes to bacterial growth and mold spores (which isn’t an issue for warm mist humidifiers as their water reaches a boil). In locations with hard water, the calcium in the water that isn’t latching on to a heating element gets dispersed into the air instead. This means that cool mist humidifiers can leave a gritty film of calcium on nearby furniture and surfaces. (In my experience, this can reach over 400 sq. ft. from the humidifier.)
Because of the issues with both of these methods of humidification, Smartmi’s water enhanced evaporation technology sounds pretty alluring. I believe it has the same pros and cons as a cool mist humidifier, but because Smartmi does not make it clear on exactly how this process works, I can’t confirm that.
Setting up the Rainforest humidifier
To set up this humidifier, simply remove the foam ring (from shipping), stack its components, and plug in. Download the Smartmi Link app, then fill the water reservoir by pouring filtered water directly onto the top of the product. You pour the water directly on top of the LED dome for this product. It feels a little weird to do so, but weird in a cool way—my brain keeps going “wait, you’re going to short-circuit the product!” Followed by, “whoa, I can’t believe that part is waterproof.”
Because Smartmi is a Chinese company, the language used in its app can be a little clunky. However, the Rainforest performs and connects well, with stable 2.4GHz Wi-Fi connectivity and a super quick setup. If you need to move or adjust the Rainforest after setup, remember to lift it from the bottom as its different parts don’t securely lock into one another.
What’s it like to use the Smartmi Rainforest humidifier?
At its core, the Smartmi Rainforest humidifier is a simple, minimalistic product. Smartmi’s design team put a lot of work into creating a very unique way to humidify a room, but aside from the Rainforest’s “rain” feature, its functionality is limited. It can’t diffuse essential oils, function as just a fan, humidify large rooms, or even provide HEPA filtration—but for the one thing it was designed to do, it does a fantastic job. And, while I usually want a product that does it all, I really respect that this one focuses on its one real aim.
Out of the box, the Rainforest is a beautiful product. Once you fill it with water and turn it on, however, it’s really something. It looks so cool; serene, beautiful, and like nothing else I’ve seen on the market. I love that it features a top-fill design but that you’d never even guess where you fill it—every time I fill it, I feel almost like I’m doing something wrong!
The Rainforest isn’t designed for large spaces, but it comfortably raised the humidity level in my living room to 50% after about an hour and a half. It turns on automatically to “auto” and you can use voice or app control to fine-tune its settings. If you’re not a big fan of the Smartmi app, they’ve designed this product to work with Alexa, Hey Google, and Apple HomeKit, too.
Long-term Rainforest care and maintenance
I’ve had the Rainforest for a limited amount of time, but so far, I’m very pleased with it. For long-term use, I recommend cleaning the device frequently and, if possible, using soft or distilled water to run it. Smartmi has included a self-cleaning mode that’s designed to be used with water and citric acid, so if you’re worried about calcium buildup, there are definitely ways to tackle it when it comes.
Would I recommend the Rainforest humidifier to a friend?
Absolutely. As a humidifier, the Rainforest is a middle-of-the road product. You can find a humidifier that works just as well for a lot less money. But as a luxury product that really becomes a statement piece in your home, the Smartmi Rainforest is unbeatable. It’s uniquely beautiful and soothing. I can, and have, stared at the Rainforest for long stretches of time just to zone out during the day. There is nothing else on the market like it, which makes it very special.
Shop the Smartmi Rainforest humidifier at Best Buy today.
living room to better relax with guests over
I would definitely place this humidifier in our bedroom because I find that when the air in our bedroom gets to a certain level of being too dry, even now in the summertime, it causes me to snore and then I disturb my spouse’s sleep at night, and he works 10 hour shifts.
I would put the rainforest humidifier in the bedroom
I would use this in our bedroom as the air gets so dry during the colder weather
Family Room – since it’s the most used room in the house.
I would use it in the bedroom to reduce the dryness of the room while I sleep.
I would definitely put this in my bedroom!
I would put the humidifier in my bedroom. It would help me sleep more comfortably to the sounds of the rainforest
I would place this in my bedroom to help with the dry air in our province.
I would put it in the living room because we spend a lot of time there.
Beautiful humidifier. I’d place it in my bedroom my husband sleeps with his eyes open so it’s important we keep the air in the bedroom humidified.
I would keep this in my bedroom, having nice humid air helps so much in the winter. Our apartment gets so dry in the winter.
I would place the Smartmi Rainforest Humidifier in my bedroom to ensure a good night’s sleep.
I would put this humidifier in my bedroom so I could sleep comfortably and fall asleep to the sounds of the rainforest
I would put it in my daughter’s room as I think it would help when she’s sick.
I would use the Rainforest humidifier in our bedroom because it’s always dry in the colder months.
I would place in my family room where we spend the most time.
my living room because we spend a lot time there
I’d put this in my kid’s room. They get nosebleeds and our current humidifier mist makes things really damp, and our cat likes to knock off the top and drink the water.
My bedroom because i spend most of my life in there.
My bedroom
I’d use this in a bedroom for filtering air during 8 hours of sleep!
I’d use it in my Living/dining room to help protect my beautiful dark walnut floors.
Kids’ bedroom; they sometimes get nosebleeds from the dry furnace air.
I would use the Rainforest humidifier in my bedroom because it’s always dry and I have to wake up multiple times during the night to drink water as a result.
In the family room; the most used room.
I would be placing it in my bedroom to deal with the dry air in the winter
would be great to place this in my bedroom to make it easier to breathe when i sleep at night
Would put this humidifier in my living room as it can not only make the room feel more comfortable, but also acts as a fun centre piece.
I would place it in my living room because it`s the largest area in my home and I think the rainforest show and the soothing ambience it creates would be ideal this area.
I would place the humidifier in my bedroom since it creates a soothing and calming ambiance which would help me sleep.
This is so cute! I would love it in my bedroom. It is dry and dusty from old plaster walls.
in my bedroom to hopefully prevent snoring
I would put it in the living room as a functional center piece because It creates a soothing, rainforest-inspired show in your very own home
Bedroom as it would work well with both my husband and I during the fall months 🙂
Bedroom so that I have a more comfortable sleep during the winter.
I’d place it in my bedroom to help combat the dryness!
I’d love to humify my bedroom as it’s so dry there!
I would place this in my bedroom
I would it in my bedroom and it would help me breathe better, especially in the colder weather.
I love the Top Fill design, makes adding water so easy! This is just perfecto for the boudoir…
I’d place this in my bedroom because none of the other rooms in the house are mine
I would place the Rainforest humidifier in my bedroom so I can sleep better at night.
i’d probably put it in the bedroom.
bedroom so I could breathe better at night
In the family room because it’s where we spend the most time in.
I would place it in the bedroom in the winter months due to it getting drier and stuffier in there with the windows always close.
I would put it in the living room as a functional center piece because It creates a soothing, rainforest-inspired show in your very own home.
This would go in my bedroom so I could breathe better at night
bedroom to combat dry Canadian winter air.
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