Midea Cube 50 Pint Review: compact basement workhorse with some annoying quirks

I’ve been using the Midea Cube 50 Pint with pump in a damp basement that’s a bit under 1,000 sq ft, plus a nearby laundry room. Humidity here easily hits 70–80% in summer, so any weak dehumidifier shows its limits in a few days. I bought this one mainly for the big tank, the built-in pump, and because I was tired of emptying buckets twice a day on cheaper models.

Out of the box, setup is straightforward: pop on the casters, set the cube into the bucket, plug it in, choose your humidity target, done. No tools, no weird assembly. It’s heavier than it looks, but still something a reasonably fit adult can move around without swearing too much. I had it running within 10 minutes, including a quick skim of the manual.

In the first 24 hours, it pulled several gallons of water out of the air, which honestly just confirmed how wet my basement actually was. The air felt less sticky, and the musty smell dropped noticeably after two or three days. So from a basic "does it dry the room" standpoint, it gets the job done. It’s not magic, but it clearly works better than the smaller 20–30 pint units I’ve used before.

It’s not perfect, though. The drain/pump options are a bit finicky, and the design, while clever, introduces some small annoyances. It’s also not whisper quiet, even if it’s better than a lot of other dehumidifiers. Overall, I’d call it a pretty solid basement unit if you’re willing to live with a few design quirks and you really want less bucket babysitting.

Price-wise, the Midea Cube 50 Pint with pump usually sits a bit above the basic 50-pint units that only have a small bucket and a simple gravity drain. You’re paying extra for the big tank, the built-in pump, and the smart features. Whether that’s worth it depends on how you plan to use it. If you just want a basic dehumidifier next to a floor drain, you might find cheaper models that get the same core job done.

Where the value starts to make sense is if you:

• Don’t want to empty the bucket constantly.
• Need to pump water up into a sink or out a window.
• Like the idea of monitoring humidity and turning the unit on/off from your phone.

On the downside, the whole water management system could be simpler. Some users report issues with the bucket overflowing or small leaks depending on how the cube is configured and whether you’re in bucket, continuous drain, or bucketless mode. In other words, you’re paying more for flexibility, but that flexibility adds complexity and more chances for user error or small design flaws to show up.

Overall, I’d say the value is pretty solid if you actually use the pump or big tank and you’re okay with taking a few minutes to set it up right. If all you need is a basic unit that dumps into a floor drain and you never touch it again, you might save money with a simpler model. But for a typical homeowner with a basement and no floor drain, this hits a good balance between price, features, and performance.

The main design twist (literally) is the lift-and-twist cube setup. The dehumidifier sits inside the bucket for storage, then you pull it up and rotate it to sit on top when you’re using it. In extended mode, the bucket capacity jumps compared to a standard unit, so you can go much longer between dumps. In my case, running in a fairly wet basement, I was emptying it about once every 2–3 days instead of daily like with my previous 30-pint unit.

The footprint is roughly 14.5" x 14.7", so it’s pretty compact for a 50-pint machine. Height is around 14.6" nested and roughly double that when extended on the bucket. It fits fine in corners or next to a washer/dryer. The casters roll decently on smooth floors, but on rough concrete you’ll end up dragging it more than rolling it. The top controls are clear and easy to use, but there’s one small annoyance: because the buttons are on top, if you have pets that like to jump or sit on things (like the cat mentioned in one of the reviews), they can accidentally change your settings.

On the practical side, the design has some trade-offs. Lifting the cube off the bucket when it’s full is not light. The unit itself is over 40 pounds, and a full bucket of water is no joke either. Midea did add a feature to limit how full the bucket gets (different max water level settings), which helps if you don’t want to haul a heavy tank, but that also means more frequent trips to the sink. If you’re older, have back issues, or just hate lifting heavy water buckets, you’ll want to plan on using the hose or pump instead of relying on manual emptying.

Overall, the design is smart on paper and mostly practical in real life, but it’s not flawless. The lift-and-twist system is nice for storage and capacity, but it adds some complexity when you start playing with the different drain and pump modes. I’d say the design is good, just slightly overengineered in places, especially around how water routing behaves in different configurations.

In terms of build quality, the Midea Cube feels like typical modern appliance plastic: not premium, not total junk. The outer shell is solid enough, no obvious flexing or creaking, and the bucket feels sturdy when full. The casters haven’t snapped off or done anything weird so far, even after rolling it around a few times on rough-ish basement flooring. The overall impression is "decent for the price", not something you baby, but also not something you want to drop down the stairs.

Looking at other owners’ experiences, this type of dehumidifier generally doesn’t last forever. One user mentioned their Cube 20 lasted about three years running almost constantly before the cooling side stopped working. That lines up with what I’ve seen across brands: a lot of dehumidifiers die somewhere in the 2–5 year range, especially if they’re in heavy use in hot, humid climates. So I wouldn’t buy this expecting a decade of service, but that’s more of an industry issue than a Midea-only problem.

There are a couple of weak points worth mentioning. First, the filters are a bit annoying to remove and clean. It’s not impossible, just more fiddly than it should be, and if you skip cleaning them, dust buildup will probably shorten the unit’s life. Second, the whole bucket and cube connection system can feel like a potential long-term failure point if you’re constantly lifting, reseating, and reconfiguring it. I’d personally pick a setup (bucket, continuous drain, or pump) and leave it that way most of the time instead of constantly changing it.

So far, with seasonal use, it’s holding up fine. The compressor still kicks in properly, the fan hasn’t developed any weird rattles, and the plastic surfaces clean up easily with a damp cloth. I’d rate durability as acceptable: not tank-like, but good enough if you maintain it a bit, clean the filters, and don’t abuse the bucket and fittings.

On raw performance, the Midea Cube 50 Pint does what you want a dehumidifier to do: it pulls moisture fast and keeps humidity stable. In my basement, starting at around 75–80% humidity, it took roughly a day to bring things down into the 50–55% range on a medium fan setting. After that, it mostly cycles on and off to maintain the target. The built-in humidistat seems accurate enough; a separate hygrometer I use usually reads only 1–3% different from the cube’s display.

The unit is rated at 50 pints per day, and based on how often I was emptying the tank at full tilt, that feels realistic. On very humid days, it easily fills most of the bucket in 24 hours. With the bucket’s large capacity, it can run for a long time without intervention if you’re not using a drain. That’s one of the biggest advantages: less babysitting compared to the smaller 20–30 pint models that need constant attention in a wet space.

Noise-wise, it’s on the quieter side for this category, but it’s not silent. On low fan, you get a steady airflow noise and a mild hum from the compressor, which is fine in a basement or utility room. On high fan, you definitely hear it, but it’s still less obnoxious than some cheap, rattly units I’ve owned. If you’re planning to put this in a bedroom, you’ll probably notice it, but for a basement or large living area, it’s acceptable. I’d call it "relatively quiet" for a 50-pint machine, which matches what a lot of other owners report.

One thing to note: it can run almost constantly in very humid climates, especially if you set it to something like 45–50%. That’s normal for dehumidifiers, but it does mean it will be on a lot in places like Florida. Power draw is around 425W, which is standard for this kind of unit. So performance-wise, no miracles, but very solid: it dries the air well, keeps things steady, and doesn’t sound like a jet engine doing it.

The Midea Cube 50 Pint is basically a two-part setup: a square dehumidifier that sits on top of a deep bucket. The whole idea is that this "lift-and-twist" design gives you a much larger water tank than standard units without taking up a huge amount of floor space. On paper, it’s rated for up to 4,500 sq ft and 50 pints per day, which is more than enough for most basements, large rooms, or smaller whole-floor setups in a house.

In the box, you get the main unit, the bucket, casters, a drain hose, and the long pump hose (about 16 feet). There’s no complicated assembly beyond snapping the wheels in and seating the cube properly into the bucket. Controls are on the top of the unit: you can set the desired humidity (35–85%), choose fan speeds, timers, and switch between normal bucket mode, continuous drain, or pump usage. It also has Wi‑Fi and works with the Midea app and Alexa/Google Assistant, if you’re into that.

In practice, the main selling points are pretty clear:

• Big tank (about 4.2 gallons) so you empty it less often.
• Built-in pump to send water up into a sink or out a window.
• Continuous drain option if you have a floor drain nearby.
• Smart control to monitor humidity and water level remotely.

Overall, the presentation is clear and honest enough: it’s a fairly powerful residential dehumidifier with some clever design choices and a couple of overcomplicated ones. If you go in expecting a solid workhorse with a few rough edges instead of a perfect smart gadget, you’ll be closer to reality.

Effectiveness is where this thing earns its keep. After a few days of running it in my basement, the classic damp smell was noticeably weaker, and stored cardboard boxes and fabrics didn’t feel clammy anymore. I also noticed the concrete floor wasn’t as cold and sticky under bare feet, which is a good sign that the moisture level in the air actually dropped, not just the temperature.

Compared to my previous 30-pint unit, the Midea Cube clearly handles the space better. The older unit would run non-stop, still struggle to get below 60%, and the room always felt a bit muggy. With the Cube set to 50–55%, it reaches that level and actually cycles off sometimes, especially on less humid days. It also seems to spread the effect decently across multiple small rooms if doors are open, though you still get the driest air closest to the unit, as expected.

The multi-speed fan helps a bit with this. On higher fan speed, the air circulation is better and the humidity equalizes across the room faster, but you pay for it with more noise. I ended up leaving it mostly on low or medium fan and just accepting that the far corners of the basement will be a few percent higher in humidity. That’s normal, and for storage and general comfort, it’s more than fine.

One thing that’s worth pointing out: the humidity reading is accurate for the area around the machine, not necessarily for the entire room, especially if it’s large or chopped into smaller sections. So if you set it to 40%, don’t expect your entire basement to magically sit at 40%—you’ll mostly get that right around the unit. I personally run it around 50–55%, which seems like a good balance between comfort, mold prevention, and not running the compressor 24/7.