Best Air Purifiers (August - 2021) | Buyer Guide + Reviews - Gadget Review
Purifying the air in your home leads to a cleaner environment and a healthier lifestyle for heating and cooling. So naturally, we purchased 14 of the best air purifiers and tested them extensively to see what they were made of. Our independent study to determine the top air purifiers found that mechanical air filtering was the most efficient, and within that, air purifiers that achieved a Clean Air Delivery Rate (CADR) of 200 or higher.
After purchasing 14 of the best air purifiers on the market today, we've determined that the #1 Pick is the Honeywell True HEPA Allergen Remover HPA300. This model is a purely mechanical filtering system which is preferred to hybrid and electronic units, has a CADR rating of 300, can filter a space of up to 465 square feet, self monitors filter performance, weighs less than 25 lbs, comes with a 5-year limited warranty, and costs less than $200.
Top Air Purifiers Compared
#1 Pick Honeywell True Allergen Remover HPA300 Air Purifier
CADR: 300 | Area: 465 sq ft | Warranty: 5 Years
WHY IT'S A TOP PICK: Doesn't ionize air, lightweight, and low cost.
Pros
- Affordable
- Effective at removing dust
- 4 Speeds
Cons
- Not many setting or control options
- Only fit for one average room
No bull, no fuss, just straight air purification.
The purifier uses a two-stage, mechanical filtration process, first pulling air through an activated carbon pre-filter, then through a HEPA filter. It's powerful enough to handle rooms up to 465 sq ft without a problem, and it also features an auto-off setting that's convenient if you intend on using this unit passively as a multi-room appliance.
Honeywell claims that this unit can handle approximately 280 cubic feet of air per minute in a 465 sq ft room, or rather that the unit "Circulates room air up to 5 times an hour based on AHAM smoke CADR [of 300] in [a 465 sq ft room]." A self-monitoring function alerts the owner when it's time to change filters, and the front panel is removable allowing for simple filter replacements. The unit itself is also super lightweight (only 21 lbs), which is very refreshing considering many purifiers at this same level are significantly heavier. The sleek design is great for conserving space in your room, and though it's most effective in small rooms, it still performs well with multiple speed settings. Anywhere from the low to the high setting, this purifier will distribute clean, fresh air into any sized space and help reduce asthma symptoms. Though it lessens the amount of pollutants in the air, keep in mind that this is not specifically designed to be a medical device. If you want a budget model, read our best air purifier under $100 list.
Note: Honeywell makes the claim that its the #1 Allergist recommended brand, but we couldn't find an endorsement by the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America (even though we were able to find a few independent allergists that recommended Honeywell purifiers).
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#2 Pick Austin Air HealthMate Standard HM-400 Air Purifier
CADR: 220 | Area: 341 sq ft | Warranty: 5 Years
WHY IT'S A TOP PICK: Doesn't ionize air, and has a MASSIVE 15 pound carbon filter. This is the best for smoke.
Pros
- Filters dont need to be replaced often
- Has decent area coverage
- 4 stage filter
Cons
- Not cheap
- Little bit noisy on high-speed
- No filter change indicator
We would marry the HealthMate if it was legal. It's the best rated air purifier with respect to performance.
The HealthMate's filtration process is top-notch, nearly industrial-grade. It's a four-stage, mechanical purification system that first stops large particles like those from pet dander and dust, then medium-sized particles like pollen before passing air through the fifteen-pound, activated carbon and zeolite filter (it's a beast), and then finally removing the the smallest contaminants with its HEPA filter. Through the mechanical filters and stage filtration, you can finally rid your living space of dust particles and pollen with this appliance. This purifier's powerful air filtration will catch particles of all sizes before they get the chance to contaminate either a smaller room or large space and trigger health issues such as asthma or allergy symptoms.
While Austin Air claims this unit is capable of handling interior spaces as large as 1500 sq ft, we recommend spaces no larger than 341 sq ft based on the smoke CADR rating of 220.
From a controls perspective, this is about as simple as it gets. Much like the best air conditioners, it is easy to use. The unit features a four position, three speed control switch on its front cover, and the filter can be replaced by removing the bottom plate with four screws, and then simply pulling the pre-filter and primary filter assembly out of the HealthMate. Also, the purifier sits on a set of swivel caster wheels which helps a lot when moving the not so light 45 pound air cleaner.
Note: This unit is all about the quality of the filtration process – it doesn't play around. Keep that in mind when it's time to replace that filter assembly, they're not cheap.
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#3 Pick Coway AP-1512HH Air Purifier
CADR: 233 | Area: 361 sq ft | Warranty: 3 Years
WHY IT'S A TOP PICK: Quality performance, modern design, and price.
Pros
- High tech
- Very quiet
- Plenty of operation options
Cons
- May struggle with thick dust
- Doesn't cover a lot of space
The Coway AP-1512HH doesn't disappoint. It is the best HEPA air purifier on our list. Despite employing an ionization step in its filtration process, it performs exceptionally well. It uses a four-stage process to filter air, beginning with a simple pre-filter that captures larger particulate matter, then an activated carbon filter for gases and odors, followed by HEPA filtration, and finally passing air through Coways' proprietary Vital Ionizer. This product may have difficulties dealing with thick dust particles, but overall its performance and features are still top notch.
If you've read our "How We Choose" section then you'll know how we feel about air purifiers that use ionization techniques, but even so the Coway outperformed other purifiers through our extensive weighted testing. We recommend using this unit in well-ventilated areas larger than 200 sq ft, and away from walls and furniture due to the ozone byproduct created.
The AP-1512HH can handle spaces up to 361 sq ft, and has a plethora of control features including self-monitoring, air quality indication, an Eco mode which automatically turns the fan off if pollutants fall below a predefined level, and conventional speed settings to name a few. If you have to remove smoke from a room, check out the best air purifier for smoke.
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#4 Pick Alen BreatheSmart Air Purifier
CADR: 300 | Area: 465 sq ft | Warranty: Lifetime
WHY IT'S A TOP PICK: Lots of customization options, modern design, and very positive consumer rating. It is rated as the best home air purifier.
Pros
- Customizable color options
- Very quiet
- Large room coverage
Cons
- No True HEPA for the price
- High air filter replacement cost
Unlike most other portable air cleaners on the market, the Alen BreatheSmart offers a ton of customization options. If you're not thrilled about putting a bulky box in your bedroom, or living room, this unit may be the answer you've been looking for. Alen offers interchangeable front face plates in fourteen color options, allowing buyers to match their home's decor (they even have a cover that can be painted).
On the technical side, the BreatheSmart uses a three-stage process to filter pollutants. Air is pulled into the unit through the back, passes over a pre-filter that encases the primary HEPA filter, and then exits the unit after passing through an optional ionization field activated at the control panel on the top of the system. Alen also lets customers pick from four different HEPA/carbon combination filters including the "HEPA-PURE, HEPA-SILVER, HEPA-FreshPlus,and HEPA-OdorCell" filters. While specifications aren't readily available on the Alen website, the main distinction between its "PURE" and "SILVER" options are the particulate size capabilities, where the "PURE" is meant for larger particles, the "SILVER" filters smaller matter like pollen more effectively. Alen's "FreshPlus" and "OdorCell" filters use activated carbon as a means to filter gases and odors – our assumption is that the "OdorCell" has a higher concentration of carbon. Also, even on the highest setting, we found this purifier did well at remaining fairly quiet.
We advise that you use the ionization feature in a well-ventilated room that's at least 200 sq ft. As with the Coway, try to place this unit away from furniture and walls to avoid soiling from the ozone that's created. Contrary to its name, this product doesn't have the commonly known "smart features" that can interact with smart phones or a virtual assistant. Also, it doesn't have a permanent filter nor reusable filters, and the filter has to be replaced at the end of its filter life for a high price. Alen advertises this unit as being capable of treating areas up to 1100 sq ft in size, but using the smoke CADR rating of 300 we don't recommend areas larger than 465 sq ft. Those with breathing problems should look at the best air purifier for asthma.
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#5 Pick Dyson Pure Cool Link Air Purifier
Read Full Review: Dyson Pure Cool Link Review | CADR: N/A | Area: 200 sq ft | Warranty: 2 Years
WHY IT'S A TOP PICK: Design, smart features, and weight. It is our "best for dust" top pick.
Pros
- Dyson good looks
- Three products in one
- Easy to use and intuitive app
Cons
- Connecting to your home's WiFi can be a laborious process
- Fairly tall making it difficult to hide
Our favorite when it comes to smart features and connectivity, the Dyson Pure Cool Link is part air purifier, and part fan. It comes with a remote, but it can also be controlled via a Google Play app and iOS app. From the smart device application users can also schedule operation times, and review indoor air quality reports. With the convenience of a remote control and mobile device functionality, you won't have to move an inch while using this appliance and switching from the lowest to the highest speed.
While operational specifics aren't published on Dyson's site, from what we've found about 1/15th of the airflow through the device is actually filtered through the HEPA and activated carbon filter at the base of the unit. The Pure Cool Link uses Dyson's two-stage filter, passing air through its glass HEPA filter, and then through an activated carbon layer for odor control. There are ten speed settings on the Link, and it even has a self-monitoring mode that will variate the speed of the unit based on air quality it detects.
We recommend using the Cool Link in areas no larger than 200 sq ft to maximize its filtration potential. Two flow pattern options can be selected from the physical remote, or smart phone app, and for efficient cleaning our research indicates that the "diffused" mode performs better compared to the "personal" mode. Remember to always buy a best HEPA air purifier.
Note: This machine was the loudest out of all of the top five reviewed (max setting was 81 dB). Having said that, it wasn't so loud that it interfered with much of anything with headphones or light music on in the background.
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How We Choose
We began our research with the top fifteen most highly consumer-rated, portable air purifiers available in 2016. Chase Williams, an electrical engineer and staff contributor, helped review technical features and overall performance data. He's worked as a project manager for some of the world's largest specialty chemical manufacturers and specializes in electrical room air quality, pressurization, and control systems. His unique experience in the field of air quality analysis helps to set our study apart from others.
Industry standards set forth by the EPA and the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers helped us narrow our focus by defining the most important performance and safety features.
The most significant performance metric we used in rating was the physical filtering process itself. There are a lot of purifiers on the market that use ionization as part of the decontamination process to neutralize particulate matter too small for carbon and HEPA filters. Manufacturers will argue that ionization is a quality feature, adding value to the purification process, but the EPA (as well as multiple independent researchers) advise against the use of ionization within portable air purifiers due to the creation of ozone byproduct. It's true, there are also studies that show how well micro-contaminants can be filtered with ionization technology – but for single-room, portable air purifiers we don't believe the introduction of a containment justifies the reduction of another.
Ozone is toxic, and above a specific volumetric level can be a significant health risk. All that said, some purifiers in our top five list feature ionization as part of the purification cycle, and while they may have ranked lower due to that, they moved past other purifiers due to an overall high score based on all of the metrics we measured.
One of the other more significant variables we used to judge performance was the Clean Air Delivery Rate (CADR) – a measure of how effective an air purifier is at removing particulates of a specific size from a volume of air at a defined rate of flow. The Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers (AHAM) developed the CADR as a means of measurement and certification so that consumers weren't mislead by poorly performing purifiers marketing high-efficiency filter ratings, or high CFM ratings.
All air pollutants aren't created equal. Larger particles are heavier and typically more difficult for purifiers to process before they settle on the floor. Smaller contaminants often require specific filter types in order to containment. Because of this, the CADR is measured in three distinct performance tiers: smoke, pollen, and dust.
For our examination, we only ranked purifiers with a smoke CADR of 200, or higher (excluding the Dyson).We gave bonus points to machines using activated carbon filters as part of a staged filtering process. Even more points were awarded for purifiers with carbon filters of five pounds, or more.
An activated carbon filter is nothing more than a charcoal screen that has been treated to expand surface area in order to adsorb more vapors and solvents from the air. Maximum noise, unit weight, self-monitoring features, manufacturer warranty, consumer ratings, and price were all also considered during our review.
Who Should Buy An Air Purifier
Thousands of consumers have stated that continued use of indoor air purification systems has improved their quality of life.
In addition to more commonly known air pollutants like pet dander, dust, mold, and smoke, other contaminants and airborne pollutants may be lingering that you're unaware of. Anytime you cook, use cleaning products, paint, treat for insects, print documents, or use any kind of chemical process to do pretty much anything, Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) are released into your home's air. As you might expect, levels of VOCs vary greatly from household to household, but the EPA estimates that most homes contain anywhere from two to a thousand times higher levels than outdoors.
VOCs are harmful to humans, and at certain concentrations can cause headaches, dizziness, nausea, and eye, nose, and throat irritation. Prolonged exposure to some VOCs can cause chronic health problems, including cancer and even death.
If you live in an area that has outdoor air pollution, have indoor pets, suffer from allergies, have constant headaches, or find that your eyes or sinuses are constantly irritated you should consider investing in a purifier to clean the air and why our air purifier reviews are important considerations for you to follow. The best air conditioners can also help for some of these issues.
Key Factors and Features Considered – Air Purifier Reviews
- Filtering Process: We make a major distinction between purifiers that use purely mechanical methods to filter air versus those that incorporate electronic methods such as ionization. While ionization may work well in larger areas, the creation of ozone as a byproduct of the process is concerning in small, poorly ventilated rooms. Ozone particulate is also difficult for them to recover, and often causes deposit buildup on nearby walls, or furniture. Not all air purifiers are the same and use various molecular processes for particle filtration, such as electrochemical oxidation, photocatalytic oxidation, and more for particle reduction. There are also different types of purifier labels, from pleated filter range air purifiers and ultraviolet light purifiers to ionic purifiers. There's even purifier and space heater combination products. Overall, they're designed to reduce particulate pollutants in the interior of your home. From fine particles in the air to smaller particles at the molecular level on contaminated surfaces, too strong of a particle concentration of these pollutants can trigger respiratory issues in the inhabitants of a room, so it's crucial for a filter to catch the toxic particles at the pollutant sources. A good purifier can filter various particle levels of pollutants, like virus particles, ozone generators, or hydroxyl radicals that oxidize toxic volatile organic compounds into the air in any size room. Though the High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filter is a standard that even the average air purifier should meet to prove its efficiency. Filters usually have to be replaced/cleaned every so often, and some purifiers use filter sleeves as well which usually need to be replaced after time as well.
- CADR: The Clean Air Delivery Rate is the measure of 100% removal of a specific sized particle from a defined cubic feet per minute of air. Our testing threshold set a minimum acceptable CADR of 200 rated for smoke. We also calculated the maximum recommended square feet from the CADR. Note: There are variations reported by some of our top picks. For instance, the Austin Air unit claims acceptable use up to 1500 sq ft, but using the CADR we found 341 sq ft to be the threshold.
- HEPA and Activated Carbon Filters: You'll be hard pressed to find an air purifier that doesn't use a HEPA-rated filter, but finding one that uses an activated carbon filter with more than five pounds of medium is a bit more difficult. We gave extra points to filtration systems with five pounds of activated carbon, or more.
- Self-Monitoring: A pretty standard feature, self-monitoring helps the user keep track of filter efficiency and uses an alerting system to indicate when the filter needs replacing. A purifier including high-end features like a filter indicator light is helpful in automatically reminding you when to change your filter without having to track it yourself. There's also laser particle counter technology that scans the air of a large or small space for the amount of large and small particles, which indicates when some stage filtration needs to occur. Some portable air cleaners also function as a programmable timer, sleep timer, and nightlight as well, with a carrying handle for on the go. You may wish that the air purifiers that include these extra features would be listed under a lower price, but for the convenience and high-end technology of these features, their cost may seem more of a reasonable price for the convenience.
- Coverage: We hardly ever review products without checking manufacturer warranties. We used a limited warranty baseline of five years, and gave units with better coverage extra points. You can get a decent warranty even with the best cheap air purifier.
Mistakes to Avoid
- Ozone Producing: Stay away from air "cleaners" that purposefully create ozone. Not all of these devices are suitable for indoor use. Ozone is a toxic gas that can cause respiratory problems at high levels. (Air cleaners that use ionization methods to remove pollutants are typically okay for indoor air purification.)
- Noise: If you're planning on putting an air purifier in your bedroom you may want to consider the noise it generates on its maximum setting. Typically, a 300-400 sq ft unit will make around 55 dB at full blast. If you plan to set up a room air purifier in a small room, definitely make note of the noise generated by the purifier before you purchase it.
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