The Mitsubishi Jet Towel Slim is now in its 9th generation and each generation has produced improvements. Originally launched in 1993 in Japan, it was bulky and loud but each generation has got faster, quieter, sleeker, less fussy, and more energy efficient. The product is available in heated and unheated airflow versions. The heated version is available in black, white, and silver, the unheated version, only in white. Lets see how it compares.

If you have your heart set on a blade ‘hands-in’ hand dryer then we believe this to be the best-in-class. The energy efficiency, reliability, performance, and low noise make it a clear winner. If you have a low traffic washroom the price may be a bit too high, and if appearance is your main consideration there are more attractive-looking dryers available. We urge you to consider whether a ‘hands in’ dryer is necessary at all, they have the advantage of collecting the water (except the Dyson), however, they are very large bits of kit which have a larger carbon footprint than more compact, high-speed dryers. There are now accessories to add to the ‘hands-under’ dryer that absorb and trap the water at a relatively low cost so maybe the reasons to buy a blade style dryer have now gone?

From £539 + VAT

The Mitsubishi Jet Towel Wave i01 Slim - Value

At £600-650 + VAT the Mitsubishi Jet Towel Slim is one of the more expensive dryers on the market. When compared with other premium models like Toto, Ffuuss, Dolphin and Dyson, the price looks really attractive. However, when you consider that you can buy top-class hands under dryers for as little as £250 + VAT, the comparison is not quite so favourable.

The Mitsubishi Jet Towel Wave i01 Slim - Dry speed

The Mitsubishi Jet Towel Slim produced a consistent 11 second dry time during our in-house tests. 11 seconds is only 1 second less than the Dyson Airblade AB14 , so not much in it at all.

The Mitsubishi Jet Towel Wave i01 Slim - Energy efficiency

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

The Mitsubishi Jet Towel can use an unheated airflow or a heated airflow and has 2 speed settings, this means the rated power varies between 0.55 kW – 1.24 kW and therefore 2.14 – 3.79 W/h per dry. 2272 dries possible per £1 spent on electricity compared to 143 dries per £1 spent on paper towels . This is best in class for this style of dryer.

The Mitsubishi Jet Towel Wave i01 Slim - Quiet operation

The quietest ‘hands in’ hand dryer available . A lot of thought has gone into the acoustic design around the air apertures, ensuring not only low noise but good sound quality, meaning it’s smooth and won’t startle people affected by noise. The dryer is engineered to absorb vibrations and the noise is contained and doesn’t travel like it can with many dryers.

The Mitsubishi Jet Towel Wave i01 Slim - Vandal resistance

When it comes to putting up with the rigors of UK washrooms the Mitsubishi Jet Towel Slim is a big improvement from earlier versions. In Japan, vandalism and misuse simply isn’t a thing, as such earlier versions had easily removable parts to allow access for cleaning leaving it prone to being vandalised. The drip tray and access to the inside of the dryer are now properly secured and work has been done to make the machine more impact resistant. ‘Hands in’ dryers are a bigger target for vandalism generally so we don’t tend to recommend them for washrooms frequented by the general public. Great for offices, buildings where people are respectful, not great for an unmanned public toilet, pub, or nightclub.

The Mitsubishi Jet Towel Wave i01 Slim - Life expectancy

The Mitsubishi Jet Towel Slim has an incredibly reliable, digital, long-life brushless motor. It is tested to at least 3500 hours or 1,145,000 cycles and as such, we provide an enhanced 7-year warranty with the product. Dyson only guarantees the Airblade ab14 for 5 years or 240,000 cycles, so Mitsubishi has a clear edge here. The reliability is exceptional.

The Mitsubishi Jet Towel Wave i01 Slim and the environment

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. The downside and this is significant is that this is a big bit of kit containing lots of material transported from Japan. Mitsubishi have their own official figures (soon to be published) but we would estimate the embedded co2/kg emissions to be around 70kg/co2 for a Jet Towel Slim, the smaller, compact Mitsubishi SMART (hands under) which performs much the same and is half the price, has embedded emissions that are only 23.5kg/co2.

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