Compare Our Picks
WIRED TIRED Smart App Remote Ideal Room Size Weight Noise on high Filter Warranty IQAir Atem X 10-year warranty; quiet; has app control No carbon filter to remove gases Yes Yes 1,650 sq. ft. 7.3 lbs Not specified HyperHEPA filter 10 years Coway Airmega 450 Quiet; has a control-panel lock; wheels and handle make it easy to move around No app control or remote; air quality indicator lights are confusing; warranty is short for the price No No 300–400 sq. feet at lower setting for recommended 5 air exchanges per hour, or can exchange air in a 821 sq. foot room every 15 minutes at the highest setting 24.9 lbs 57.7 decibels 3-in-1 filter with vacuumable prefilter, True Green HEPA, and activated carbon 1 year for air purifier; 3 years for motor and electrical parts Coway Airmega Mighty Very effective for its price and size; back handle makes it easy to move around; three filters Air quality indicator light is confusing; needs to be 8 inches from a wall or furniture; glossy finish attracts pet hair No No 361 sq. ft. in 12.5 minutes, up to 874 sq. ft. in 30 minutes, or 1,748 sq. ft. in 60 mins 12.3 lbs 24 dB to 53.8 dB Combination of a prefilter, deodorization filter, and True HEPA Filter 3 years Coway Airmega ProX Quiet for its size; has a control panel lock; handle and wheels make it easy to move around; five-year warranty Air quality indicator light is confusing; PM 2.5 number isn't easy to read; no app No No 1,000 sq ft *4 air exchanges per hour 50 lbs 50dB Prefilter, activated carbon, HEPA 5 years Coway Airmega 400S Quiet; intuitive to use; has filter and prefilter change indicators; five-year warranty No remote Yes, works with Alexa and Dash No 625 sq ft *5 air exchanges per hour 24.7 lbs 22 dB Prefilter, activated carbon, and HEPA 5 years AirDoctor Smart 5500i Quiet for a tower model; casters make it easy to move around; connects to the AirDoctor app One-year warranty is scant for the price; shipping box is unwieldy Yes No Up to 4,172 sq. ft. Unspecified Unspecified 3-stage, dual-sided filtration uses UltraHEPA filters and dual-action carbon VOC filters 1 year limited Rabbit Air BioGS 2.0 Sleek looks; five-year warranty; has a remote; charcoal filter removes odors and VOCs Doesn't work with the Rabbit Air app; doesn't work with smart-home platform No Yes 550 sq. ft. 16.8 lbs 25 dB BioGS HEPA and charcoal-based activated carbon filters 5 years Blueair ComfortPure 3-in-1 Air Purifier Has a fan and a heater; easy-to-use app; indicator lights match the US air quality index Panel doesn't consistently illuminate when pressed; louder than expected Yes Yes 200 sq ft *4 air exchanges per hour 13.5 lbs 53 dB Activated carbon, HEPA 1 year, but you can register to extend to 3 year IQAir GC MultiGas XE 10-year warranty; intuitive and easy to use; also captures toxic vapors and gases; effective for large square footage Needs to be 1 foot away from a wall; loud on high settings Yes Yes Up to 1,125 sq. ft. 29 lbs. Not specified MultiGas filtration; HyperHEPA air filter, activated carbon, gas cartridges, and post-filter sleeves 10 years limited Airdog Pet Air Filter Uses a washable filter; CARB-certified; add-on plate available for cats to sit on Warranty isn't great for the price Yes Yes 400 sq. ft.; 4 air exchanges per hour 23.6 lbs 63 dB Washable 1 year Rabbit Air A3 Ultra Quiet Air Purifier Quiet; fun customizable panels; easy to use Pricier than similar purifiers; mood lighting is confusing; control panel turns off when not in use, creating an extra step Yes No 1,070 square feet 20.3 lbs. Not specified; 20.3 dB on lowest BioGS HEPA filter 5 years IQAir Atem Earth Handle for easier moving; environmentally friendly; indicator light rings on the control panel that show both indoor and outdoor air Indicator lights can be seen on the flat top surface; steep price Yes No 225 sq. feet to achieve the recommended five airexchanges per hour. 17 lbs. 80 dB (on my consumer decibel meter) hyperHEPA and activated charcoal 10 years and 25 years replacement and repairability guarantee Dyson HushJet Purifier Compact Electrostatic filter for extended filter life up to five years; connects to the MyDyson App; auto setting For a purifier called hushjet, it’s loud at highest setting; not CARB certified; not HEPA Yes No 200 sq. feet or less to achieve the recommended five air exchanges per hour 7 lbs. 80 dB (on my consumer decibel meter) Electrostatic filter and activated charcoal 2 years Blueair Mini Restful Air Purifier Sunrise Clock Sunrise Alarm; modern design Too loud at highest setting for sleep Yes No 200 sq. feet or less to achieve the recommended five air exchanges per hour 2.5 lbs. 60 dB (on my consumer decibel meter) HEPA and activated charcoal 1 year, can be extended to 2 years if registered SwitchBot Air Purifier Table Multifunctional table with charger Cannot be placed as a side table between a wall and bed Yes No 200 sq. feet or less to achieve the recommended five air exchanges per hour 10.5 lbs 70 dB (on my consumer decibel meter) Prefilter, HEPA, and activated carbon 1 year
Others We Tested
Photograph: Lisa Wood Shapiro
Airthings Renew for $300: I wasn’t expecting to like the unassuming minimalist Renew from Airthings as much as I did. Its gray box design is so understated, quiet, and powerful that it was easy to plug it in and forget about it. The Renew is also the first purifier I’ve tested that gives the user three placement options: it can stand up with the air output facing up and sideways, and the entire box can lie on the floor. The Airthings app not only shows data graph style, but it also is a remote to adjust the purifier settings, including setting the panel lock, handy for cat owners. The control panel and the indicator light are barely there, and it’s not easy to see the tiny light letting me know my indoor air quality. At first, I thought the main drawback was size. The Renew is made for a bedroom, home office, or nursery. If you place it in a larger room, it’s going to have to run at its highest setting. The main drawback that I noticed after several months of use was the exterior prefilter. It did its job capturing pollutants, but I wasn't able to clean it. Unlike Blueair’s fabric exterior prefilters, which are machine washable, I was unable to effectively clean the Renew fabric cover, even with my vacuum.
Air Doctor AD4000 Air Purifier for $519: As I went to pair Air Doctor’s newest air purifier, the AD4000, I realized that there was no WiFi button on the control panel. At 15 pounds and over $500, the AD4000 should be Wi-Fi compatible, especially since it has an internal air quality sensor. Users should have the option to view indoor air quality on the Air Doctor app dashboard. And while the AD4000 is made for larger rooms, if one wanted to achieve the four air exchanges per hour the AD4000 supposedly can do, then it would have its fan at the highest setting. My consumer sound level meter registered 100 dB at full blast. It sounded to me like a hair dryer on a low setting. For context, the CDC’s recommendation for noise levels for workers is that they are not exposed to 100 dB for over 15 minutes. It’s for that reason that all air purifiers need to be in a space where they can run the fan at the lowest setting. The AD4000 would do well in a 200- to 300-square-foot room. Lastly, when I unboxed the AD4000, the sticker with instructions to take the filters out of their plastic bags pulled off the control panel when I went to remove it.
Photograph: Lisa Wood Shapiro
Briiv 2 Pro Air Filter for $374: There are big claims in Briiv’s 2 Pro Air Filter’s small package. At 2.5 pounds, the Briiv 2 Pro Air Filter is the smallest air purifier I’ve tested, though it’s far from the cheapest. The company claims that one Briiv equals the oddly specific 3,043 houseplants, and that it uses AI-powered air quality sensors. I don’t usually review units that are not CARB-certified (California Air Resources Board), but I was intrigued by the Briiv. That said, the actual space the Briiv 2 Pro can clean is extremely small. I entered the dimensions of my dining room into the Briiv’s website room calculator, and at 20 feet long by 11 feet wide with 9-foot ceilings, the room calculator summed up that I would need two Briivs to effectively clean my dining room. The calculator seems to contradict Briiv’s claim that the Briiv 2 will effectively improve the air quality in a 794-square-foot living space in just 11 minutes. I currently have the Briiv 2 in my kitchen, and the first time its indicator light went red due to my cooking, I couldn’t get the fan to activate. I ended up turning it to full blast through Briiv’s somewhat clunky app. I played around with the app, and since then, my Briiv’s fan auto-adjusts to bad air without needing my help. It also looks very cool.
Mila Air 3 Critter Cuddler for $399: Mila makes seven bespoke filters that are designed specifically for moms-to-be, allergies, pet owners, etc. Add Mila’s built-in sensor and easy-to-use app dashboard, along with its wooden-legged modern box design, and the Mila is an immediate favorite. The more I cover air purifiers, the more go big to go quiet comes to mind. Smaller models tend to run loud on their highest settings. The Mila was not as quiet as I hoped. At full blast, the Mila hit 70 decibels on my consumer decibel reader. And at 447 CADR m3/hr, the Mila would do nicely in the average American 200-square-foot bedroom. You could run the Mila at its highest setting for CDC’s recommended five air exchanges an hour in a 400-square-foot room, but that is quite noisy. I ran the Mila in my sons’ 200-square-foot bedroom, and its auto setting adjusted correctly to the room’s air quality. And while Mila gets its outdoor AQI (air quality index) from PurpleAir, it couldn’t seem to find my PurpleAir outdoor monitor.
Photograph: Kat Merck
... continue reading