Marki Williams/NYT WirecutterTop pick
The best dehumidifierMidea 50 Pint CubeThe huge drainage bucket in this powerful, effective, and reliable dehumidifier means fewer trips to the sink for emptying—but can also mean hey lifting.
$246 from AmazonThe Midea 50 Pint Cube is a solid performer that’s quieter than any other dehumidifier we’ve tried, and we’ve seen fewer reports of problems with Midea dehumidifiers relative to those from other major brands. The Cube doesn’t look or work like any other dehumidifier we’ve tested, and that’s a good thing—mostly.
The Midea Cube’s nested design gives it double the water-collecting capacity of other dehumidifiers. Marki Williams/NYT Wirecutter
For storage, the condenser unit sits inside the bucket, reducing the machine’s footprint. Marki Williams/NYT Wirecutter
The Cube offers simple controls and a sturdy handle—which is good, because the condenser unit weighs 38 pounds. Marki Williams/NYT WirecutterThe Midea Cube’s nested design gives it double the water-collecting capacity of other dehumidifiers. Marki Williams/NYT WirecutterIt has greater capacity than other models. Whereas other dehumidifiers are single, self-contained machines, the Cube consists of two parts: a condenser unit and a separate bucket that it sits atop when in use and nestles inside for storage. That design gives the Cube more than twice the typical capacity of other 50-pint dehumidifiers. It can collect 4.25 gallons of condensed water vapor, so you can go several days without needing to empty it, whereas competitors’ buckets often require daily emptying. This is a major distinction of the Cube, and we believe that it adds a lot of convenience, but it can also make the Cube physically difficult to manage.
You can passively empty the Cube into a sink or a floor drain using an included clear hose (not pictured) or a length of garden hose. The included casters install easily, but at about an inch in diameter, they’re so small that they may be of little use when you’re moving the unit on the kind of uneven basement floor where dehumidifiers tend to live. Marki Williams/NYT WirecutterIt has a reputation for reliability. Every other dehumidifier we’ve looked at over the years—even those we’ve made our top recommendation—has had a worrisome number of complaints about short service life and catastrophic mechanical failures. On retailer comment boards, the majority of dehumidifier owners he reported themselves as happy with their machines, but a steady 8% to 12% he reported that their dehumidifier went kaput within a year or so. The Midea Cube lineup has been ailable for several years at this point, and reports of such failures for the Cube models are much less frequent.
Multiple models he been effective and durable in our long-term testing. Wirecutter writer Sabine Heinlein’s 50-pint Cube—our top pick—performed impressively in her flood-prone New York home for over a year, working “faster and better than our previous dehumidifier, which, I believe, was a Frigidaire.” Guide author Tim Heffernan has been running a 20-pint Midea Cube in his unfinished New Jersey cellar for over a year, and it has brought the humidity back to the targeted 55% repeatedly after hey rains led to minor flooding. (The humidity was confirmed by a separate hygrometer, which the Midea model’s built-in sensor closely mirrored.) Another staffer’s r 20-pint Cube kept a damp-prone basement space dry and prevented any recurrence of the mildew that had been a problem. She did not find very much use for the app but did appreciate the alerts it sent when the bucket was full.
It performs well. The Cube reduced humidity just as well as most other 50-pint machines we tested, lowering humidity by about 13% over the course of an hour when set on high and by about 11% on low. (The humidifier we used to create a damp atmosphere was running on the same settings simultaneously.) Thanks to its daily capacity of 50 pints of moisture removal, it’s capable of drying out large spaces, up to about 1,200 square feet.
It’s energy efficient. All of the Midea Cube dehumidifiers he an Energy Star Most Efficient rating, thanks in part to their use of the R-32 refrigerant (which also has a lower global warming potential than its predecessor, R-410A). That said, keep in mind that all dehumidifiers consume considerable power when their compressors are running, namely when they are removing moisture from the air. We measured the 50-pint Midea Cube at 460 watts when we set it on high.
It runs quietly. We measured the Cube at 51 decibels from 6 feet away with the machine’s fan on high and its compressor running. It’s the quietest 50-pint dehumidifier we’ve seen so far in our testing. When the compressor is not running, the fan emits an unobtrusive white noise, akin to that of a room fan or AC vent.
Flaws but not dealbreakersThat big bucket comes with a big “but.” Taking full advantage of the Cube’s capacity can require a lot of fairly hey lifting. To empty the bucket, you first he to lift the 38-pound compressor unit off. Then you he to maneuver the bucket—which also weighs nearly 40 pounds, when full of water—to wherever you can pour it out. The wide, comfortable handles help, but grity is unforgiving. Based on our own testing and many positive owner reviews, we believe the trade-off is worth making, but it’s not for everybody.
The casters don’t help much. The Cube comes with easy-to-install casters to help you roll it around, but they are cartoonishly small—about an inch in diameter, by our measurements—and they were of little use in our tests on uneven concrete floors, like what you might he in a basement.
If this model is too hey, you he some options. Midea’s 20 Pint Cube (see below) is somewhat lighter overall, as its condenser unit is about 30 pounds, and its full bucket weighs about the same. You can also set the 50 Pint Cube to turn off with its bucket less than full, reducing the weight that you he to lift. Or you can passively empty the Cube into a sink or a floor drain via the included hose. Alternatively, consider another of our picks: The 50-pint Frigidaire Gallery FGAC5045W1’s bucket weighs about 20 pounds when full. A pump-equipped version of the Midea 50 Pint Cube is also ailable, but if the pump fails—and they are prone to—you’re stuck with manual or passive draining.
The app may cause issues. The most common complaints from Midea Cube owners are that the app is buggy and hard to sync with a smartphone (all the models are Wi-Fi equipped), that the touted Alexa integration is unreliable, and that Midea customer service is of little help. We experienced the connectivity issue, even when using a known 2.4 GHz network, and we were never able to use the app. A Midea representative sent us an internal training video, and it showed that the app, when it’s working, displays your space’s current humidity level, lets you turn the machine on and off, and allows you to change settings such as the fan speed, target humidity, and timers. It also sends full-bucket alerts.
The owner manual is sparsely written, and its diagrams are vague to the point of uselessness. Midea’s how-to video, thankfully, is a model of clarity.