Princess Glass Smart Panel Heater Review
An attractive and smart way to heat a room
Verdict
A regular convection heater inside, the Princess Glass Smart Panel Heater stands out through its smart design and neat touch-screen controls on the front. It’s also a smart product, letting you control the heating via the app, Alexa or Google Assistant. For a smart product, it’s well priced and able to warm smaller rooms without the need for additional heating. If you don’t want smart features, there are cheaper products available.
Pros
- Smart features
- Neat looks
- Warms well
Cons
- Fiddly to attach legs
Availability
- UKRRP: £105
Key Features
- HeatA convection heater, this model is silent in operation and turns off when the set temperature is hit.
- Smart featuresConnecting via Wi-Fi, you can control this heater with the app, Amazon Alexa or the Google Assistant.
Introduction
If you’ve got a cold room that needs a bit of a boost, the Princess Glass Smart Panel Heater is a smart way of adding comfort. Wall-mountable or freestanding, this plug-in heater has smart controls so that you can remote control it from your phone or use your voice.
It’s silent in operation, warms up quickly and is easy to use. For smaller rooms and occasional use, it’s a well-priced heater.
Design
- Smart, modern look
- Freestanding or wall mounted
The product name tells you everything you need to know about this convection heater. It has a thoroughly modern finish to it, with a glossy glass front, and is available in both black and white. There are two power versions available, too: the 1500W version I have here (suitable for up to 20m2 rooms) and the 2000W version (up to 25m2).
Out of the box, the panel heater can either be wall-mounted or it can have feet screwed into place so that it can be free-standing. With the latter, the feet are fiddly to screw into place and the instruction manual doesn’t tell you which way round they should go; it just says that if the heater is tilting, you’ve got them on incorrectly.
There’s a physical switch to turn the Princess Glass Smart Panel Heater on and off.
Features
- Full controls on device
- Smart app control
- Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant support
With the power on, you have to use the standby button on the front to toggle the heat on and off. There are then controls to switch between the two heat modes, a timer and controls to set the thermostat, with the target temperature clearly displayed on the front LCD.
Once the temperature has been reached, the panel heater shuts down until the temperature falls, then the heat kicks back in.
Overheat protection stops the heater from getting too hot, and tip-over protection cuts power if kids or a pet knock over the radiator.
If you want more control, then you need the HomeWizard Climate app, which you use to connect the Princess Glass Smart Panel Heater to your Wi-Fi network; it’s the same app as is used for the Princess Princess Smart Heating and Cooling Tower.
From the app, you can set the heat mode (high or low), temperature target and toggle standby mode. The app also gives you schedules, so you can set the Princess Glass Smart Panel Heater up to work much like a smart thermostat.
With the app connected to Wi-Fi, you can use the Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant skills to turn the heater on and off with your voice. You can set a target temperature with your voice, but you can’t toggle the power mode between Low and High.
Performance
- Heats up quickly
- Front doesn’t get too hot
Turning the Princess Glass Smart Panel Heater on, I measured it at 1517W when using the higher heat mode, and 764W on the low mode. It’s useful having two heat modes, as the lower one saves money and is more useful when you want to take the edge off a cold room. The higher setting is for when it’s really cold.
With the Princess Glass Smart Panel Heater on maximum setting, I measured the middle of the panel at 58C and the top at 78C, with the controls sub 25C. That’s good, as you won’t burn yourself if you need to adjust the temperature and don’t want to use the app.
The real heat is at the back, with the top of the grill measuring 125C. That’s hot enough to burn you, so avoid touching this area.
There’s no fan in this model, but warm air rising causes air movement, which I measured at 0.52m/s. It’s enough of a breeze to gently warm a room through, even if it’s not immediately felt in the way that a fan heater’s directional blast is.
My room was at 18C before I turned the heater on, rising to 21.3C afterwards, which certainly adds to comfort in a room heated by radiators. In small to mid-size rooms, there’s enough power for this to be the only heater you need.
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Should you buy it?
If you want a silent and smart heater for a small room or office, then this flexible convection heater is well priced.
Dumb convection heaters are a lot cheaper, while a fan heater with a cooling mode for summer may prove a better investment.
Final Thoughts
Designed for well-insulated rooms or occasional use, the Princess Glass Smart Panel Heater is a stylish way to add a bit of extra heat to room, or for adding comfort to an office room. It’s stylish warms up well and has a useful app for smart control. If you want something a bit more immediate that you can use during the warm months, the Princess Smart Heating and Cooling Tower may be better option, or you can check out alternatives in my guide to the best electric heaters.
How we test
Unlike other sites, we test every heater we review thoroughly over an extended period of time. We use industry standard tests to compare features properly. We’ll always tell you what we find. We never, ever, accept money to review a product.
Find out more about how we test in our ethics policy.
Used as our main heater for the review period
We measure the fan speed (if available) using an anemometer so that we can accurately compare performance between models
We measure the heat output of the fan and its effect on our test lab.
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FAQs
Yes, you can set the target temperature from the control panel on the front of the heater.
It connects to Wi-Fi and can be controlled via the app, Amazon Alexa or the Google Assistant.
Full specs
Jargon buster
Google Assistant
A voice assistant which is Google’s take on Amazon’s Alexa.Alexa
Amazon's smart voice assistant
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
