Review – Mitsubishi Jet Towel SMART Hand Dryer (now Wave u02)

By Andy Cameron / September 5th, 2021 / There are currently 0 comments

The Mitsubishi SMART has been in the UK for some years and has recently been renamed as the Mitsubishi Wave u02. It is one of our most popular dryers, particularly in big projects like Oxford, Cambridge, Bath and Newcastle University. Check out our independent performance review below to consider whether its right for your facilities.

One of our favourite dryers, they really do everything you want. Fast, low running costs, not too noisy and just so reliable. They are compact and modern. If you have the budget to buy quality, the Mitsubishi SMART won’t disappoint.

From £345.00 + VAT

At £330-£399 + VAT the Mitsubishi SMART/Wave u02 falls into the upper-mid range price bracket. When you consider that only Dyson and Mitsubishi can claim to be world-class brands with the highest standards of production and quality control, this really seems like a pretty good price. Dyson’s equivalent, the Dyson V HU02 is £200 more expensive and it’s hard to see why this is justified. If you operate large facilities with mid to high levels of footfall, this dryer represents excellent value. If you just want a few dryers for a low-traffic location the value may not be so good.

The Mitsubishi SMART hand dryer produced a consistent 11 second dry time during our in-house tests. 11 seconds is the best we have seen for a hands-under hand dryer, only 2-3 dryers were in this range.

Calculating the energy efficiency of a dryer depends on 2 things, rated power and the dry speed.

This dryer is adjustable so has a rated power of between 0.41 kW – 0.98 kW and dry times of 11 to 14 secs. Meaning consumption range is 2.05 – 2.99 Wh per dry. This is exceptionally low, consider traditional dryers would use up to 30 watt/hours per dry. This means it is 2739 dries possible per £1 spent on electricity compared to 143 dries per £1 spent on paper towels.

It many ways a score of 4 doesn’t do the Mitsubishi SMART justice. It may not sound super quiet when you are right next to the machine but we do find that it is rarely audible when you are outside the toilet. This is generally the priority for customers and has been one of the reasons it has been so popular in university settings near lecture halls, concert halls and libraries.

Impact tested to 15 newtons which is more than twice the average impact, it’s sturdy if not bombproof. Fine for all but the most vandal-prone locations.

Mitsubishi only state a 1500 hour life or 490,000 cycles but whereas you tend to find most manufacturers overstate, Mitsubishi tend to understate how long their machines last to ensure that 100% of their machines 100% of the time reach that milestone. In 6 years we have had 1 warranty claim for motor or electronics out of 6000 plus units sold.

We visited the Mitsubishi Jet Towel factory in central Japan and we were impressed to see a factory roof completely covered in solar panels. 25% of the energy used to produce the Jet Towel comes from Mitsubishis own sustainable energy. They are also producing very in-depth analysis of the impact of their products and how they can reduce consumption. We feel they are a partner taking their responsibility seriously. The fact their equipment lasts so long without component failure gives it an obvious advantage too.