No. The Evapolar is based on the principle of evaporative cooling. Water evaporates inside the Evapolar. The energy required for evaporation is extracted from the ambient air in the form of thermal energy. Incidentally, this is one of the oldest and most proven cooling methods we know. The humidity is thus increased - making it both an air conditioner and a humidifier, the former being the main task of the device, which it also masters excellently.

I own one of these dubious products from Mediash*p. Works perfectly. I can only recommend it. TOP!

I would say with a 25% speed setting it takes 5-6 hours or so for the cooling effect to stop. This include finishing the tank from full and drying fully the wet filter inside the gadget. I don't know if faster speed setting (which are too noisy for me and do not improve the comfort level) would drain the water much more quickly. I do not own The Smart version and I cannot comment on its cooling effectiveness. I remember I choose not to buy that version because I planned to keep it on my desk: no need for WiFi controls in this setup. Might make sense if you plan to keep it for example in bookshelves behind you, a little higher than your head, so that the cool air falls on you. But generally speaking you find your favourite setting and you don't touch it again.

We can't have it in white.

I have the evaSmart version and it is not a quality comparison to the cheap coolers on Ali or similar portals. It's just that with all the Arctic Cools and the like, you can't remove the water tank or that installing a filter is a real fiddly job. The prices for the filters are already steep, but I'm sticking with the product.

No, you have to sit directly in front of the device.