LG
LG Art Cool Mirror 12,000 BTU
The Art Cool Mirror is the black-glass flat panel that made mini-splits acceptable in design-conscious living rooms years before Daikin's Emura reached the US, and this current R-32 generation is a legitimately competitive machine — 22.5 SEER2, 10.5 HSPF2, built-in WiFi with LG's ThinQ app, and heating operation down to -4°F. That last number is the honest dividing line: it handles mixed climates fine but it's not a Mitsubishi hyper-heat, and r/hvacadvice will tell you exactly that — LG is a tier below the Japanese trinity, mainly on parts turnaround and installer familiarity rather than build quality. In LG's favor: at ~$2,000 it undercuts the Daikin Emura by hundreds while beating it on every efficiency spec, WiFi is standard rather than an adapter upsell, and the mirror-black panel is genuinely striking. Common failure reports center on indoor blower motors and the occasional EEV board, and LG parts distribution runs through fewer channels than Mitsubishi's, so repairs can wait on shipping. Expect $4,500-$6,500 installed.
Specifications
Highlights
Pros
- ✓22.5 SEER2 / 10.5 HSPF2 comfortably beats the Daikin Emura's 17/8.0
- ✓Built-in WiFi with ThinQ app control — no adapter surcharge
- ✓Striking mirror-black flat panel unlike anything else at this price
- ✓Current R-32 refrigerant platform
- ✓10-year registered parts and compressor warranty
- ✓~$2,000 street price undercuts every Japanese design-line alternative
Cons
- ✗Heating stops at -4°F — not a cold-climate primary heat source
- ✗LG parts turnaround is slower than Mitsubishi's distributor network
- ✗Fewer installers know the platform, so quotes and workmanship vary
- ✗Glossy black panel shows dust and fingerprints more than white units
- ✗Resale/contractor perception still ranks LG below the Japanese big three
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This unit is here as the stand-in for Panasonic, honestly: Panasonic's US mini-split business runs through a single national distributor with a thin dealer network, and its Exterios line has no widely-stocked current 12k — so LG's standard wall mount is the realistic 'major-brand budget pick' an installer will actually quote. At ~$930 for the R-32 KUSAE121A pair, it's the cheapest legitimate-brand system in this catalog by a wide margin. Specs are honest mid-pack: 18 SEER2, 8.5 HSPF2, heating rated to 5°F, so like the Daikin Entra it's a cooling-first unit for moderate climates. What separates it from the Amazon-tier units at similar prices is the 10-year registered warranty and a parts pipeline that actually exists — LG boards and motors are orderable, if slower-moving than Mitsubishi's. r/hvacadvice's usual framing applies: LG is the floor of the 'brands worth installing' list, and at $3,000-$4,500 installed it's the cheapest way to get a pro-backed system on your wall.
The Sapphire is Gree's flagship answer to Mitsubishi Hyper-Heat, and Gree — the world's largest AC manufacturer, building hardware for half the industry — meant it as a statement: rated heating operation down to -22°F, a G10 inverter compressor, built-in WiFi, and Energy Star certification. Under the old metrics it advertised a famous 30.5 SEER / 14 HSPF; under today's tougher SEER2/HSPF2 tests the published numbers land lower and vary confusingly by pairing and refrigerant generation (R410A vs the newer R32 versions), which is worth knowing before you compare spec sheets across retailers. r/hvacadvice generally rates the Sapphire as the budget-conscious cold-climate pick that actually delivers in northern winters, with the standing Gree caveats: distributor-dependent warranty service, parts that move slower than Mitsubishi's Diamond network, and street prices that have crept close enough to entry Mitsubishi to make you think. If the quote gap is real, it's a strong buy.
The AURA 24k is the budget path to heating a genuinely large space in a genuinely cold place: 24,000 BTU of cooling, 29,000 BTU of heating, rated operation to -22°F, and Energy Star certification, for well under half what a premium-brand equivalent costs installed. Like every Senville it's Midea hardware underneath, which is mostly reassuring — the AURA line is their cold-climate flagship trim with the low-ambient compressor package. Owners and the r/hvacadvice crowd give the AURA line credit for punching above its price in real winters, with the standing caveats: the -22°F number is 'keeps operating,' not 'keeps full capacity,' so it wants a backup heat plan in true design-cold snaps; warranty claims mean emailing Senville and photographing your install; and a 1,250 sq ft load deserves a Manual J check before you trust one head to carry it. At $1,700 it's the value play of the whole cold-climate class.