I needed a fan to sit on my desk at work (no AC here). Main requirement was that it was quiet and moved air. I got this on sale, so it was actually cheaper than most of the junky small fans next to it. On high speed, it was louder than I expected, but not so loud I can't use it. On low speed, extremely quiet. My only complaint is that it takes two hands to turn on or off or change speeds. It isn't heavy enough to keep from moving the whole fan when trying to move the switch.