According to most studies, indoor air quality is far worse than outdoor air, which is surprising, considering the levels of air pollution found in outdoor air. Why is this so? Well, indoor air is trapped, and as are the pollutants present within it. With outdoor air, you get more circulation and, consequently, breathe more cleanly. Worried? There is no need to if you own the best room air purifier.
Since we spend most of our time indoors, it’s best to find a solution to this problem. Luckily, there are many great air purifiers in the market. However, whether you’re looking for an air allergen remover or a pet hair cleaner, finding the best room air purifier is a tricky job because there are countless options out there.
For your convenience, we’ve compiled the top-rated air purifiers in 2020 and listed them here in our comprehensive reviews. Additionally, for those unfamiliar with judging air purifiers, we’ve even put together a buying guide and answered FAQs.
Top 19 Best Room Air Purifier Reviews in 2021
Instead of scrolling through various options on Amazon or eBay, look at the following reviews. To cater to everyone, we’ve included well-rounded and versatile products on our list. Consequently, whether you’re looking for a whole-house air purifier or a portable one, we’ve got you covered. Without further ado, here are our reviews of the best room air purifiers in 2020:
1. Blueair Pure 411 Air Purifier
First up, we have the Blueair Pure 411 Air Purifier, a top-of-the-line air cleaner. Blueair has been part of Unilever, a transnational food, beverage, and cleaning agent brand, since 2016. It’s a global leader in filtration technology, designing high-performance, and environmentally sustainable products.
The Blueair Blue Pure 411 Air Purifier is a great air cleaner for all types of bacteria, mold, dust, smoke, and pollen found within indoor air. It has a three-part filtration system, which captures even the tiniest of air pollutants.
Moreover, the air purifier also has activated carbon filters, which help with bad smells inside the room. Whether the odor comes from smoke, cooking, pets, or VOCs, the activated carbon filters clean out the air, leaving the room smelling fresh rather than dank.
2. Coway Airmega 400 Smart Air Purifier
Making high-quality products since 1989, Coway is a South Korean cleaning and sanitation brand. Apart from air purifiers, the company also sells water purifiers, bidets, and smart plumbing equipment.
The Coway Airmega 400 Smart Air Purifier is their best room air purifier for areas as big as 1560 square feet. It’s a highly powerful device, capable of cleaning 99.7% of micro-pollutants in the air in just one hour. For particularly dusty rooms, you can even run it twice in one hour.
Moreover, the Coway Airmega 400 has a bright, LED ring that indicates how clean your indoor air is. With the LED ring, you can tell whether your indoor air is too dusty or two clean at any time. This makes cleaning far easier than before. Additionally, the Coway Airmega has five separate fan filter settings.
3. Honeywell HPA250B Smart Allergen Remover
Based in Minneapolis, Honeywell is an aerospace technology and service provider to customers worldwide. It’s been in operation since 1889, having started as a furnace regulator and alarm company.
The Honeywell HPA250B Smart Allergen Remover is unique because it employs Bluetooth technology. Simply download the app from Google Play or the Apple Store, and you can instantly connect the purifier to your phone. In this way, you can turn it on from any location in the house.
Moreover, you can use the Bluetooth function to set cleaning reminders, schedule automatic filters, and set alerts for specific allergens. For example, if you’re allergic to pollen, you can adjust the settings to alert you when pollen is in the air.
4. Wynd Plus – Smart Portable Personal Air Purifier
Wynd is a US-based air purifier brand, popular for its smart portable personal air purifiers. While the brand specializes in air purifiers and cleaners, it also provides top quality wearable trackers and car purifiers.
The Wynd Plus Air Purifier is a lightweight air cleaner, perfect for taking around the house or keeping in the car. It weighs about 15.5 ounces, allowing you to easily fit it in small crevices to keep away dust particles. You can even take it on trips as it’s easy to pack with the included cloth cover.
Additionally, the Wynd Plus is a smart air purifier, meaning it comes with WiFi connectivity and an in-built air tracking system. You can access data about the air you’re breathing any time using the free app (the link for which is provided in the user manual). Moreover, the air-tracker is useful for monitoring pet dander, mold, or industrial toxin levels in the air.
5. Blueair Classic 480i Air Purifier
Another best room air purifier and a great Blueair product, the Blueair Classic 480i Air Purifier, is a perfect option for medium to large-sized rooms (about 430 to 480 square feet). It comes with silent HEPA technology, which limits fan noise between 32 and 52 dB(A). You can set the sound levels according to your preference.
Secondly, the Blueair Classic 480i comes with a dual protection filtration system, combining activated carbon filters with coconut (a natural cleanser of air). Therefore, you get double the cleaning effort within one device. If you want, you can buy additional carbon filters for another layer of protection.
Moreover, the filters also eliminate odors. For example, if you have pets, the smell of fur or dander can linger, which is why an air purifier like the Blueair Classic is necessary. The Blueair Classic 480i removes 99% of all smoke and odors.
6. Alen BreatheSmart Classic Large Room Air Purifier
Based in Austin, Texas, Alen Corp is a home comfort brand, dedicated to bringing you smart products for a cleaner and healthier home environment. Coming in a sleek, minimalist design, the Alen BreatheSmart Classic is a large room air purifier.
This air purifier uses Alen’s patented WhisperMax technology to provide you with effective air cleaning without the Turbo Fan noise. Particularly designed for large areas, the purifier can clean rooms bigger than 1100 square feet.
Secondly, the Alen BreatheSmart has HEPA filters, ideal for allergens, dust, and pollen removal. You can choose to get the BreatheSmart for allergies and dust, or you can get one for other airborne toxins like mold and bacteria and smoke and chemical odors.
7. LEVOIT LV-H132 Air Purifier
From salt lamps to humidifiers, Levoit is one of the best providers of home aerospace products. Founded in Orange County, California, Levoit is a relatively young brand, having been in operation since 2017. However, it sells undoubtedly some of the most popular air purifiers in the market.
The Levoit Air Purifier has a robust UVC light that removes ozone pollution in indoor air. Ozone pollutants strongly affect young children and people with respiratory illnesses such as asthma. Some air purifiers add ozone pollutants to indoor air rather than remove them. With the Levoit Air Purifier, you don’t have this problem.
If you’re interested in something more high-performance than usual, the Levoit Air Purifier is ideal for you. For best results, the product comes with a multi-level air filtration system, comprising of the Pre-filter, HEPA filter, and Activated Carbon Filter. This removes almost all air-based toxins.
8. Blueair Pure 211+ Air Purifier
The last Blueair product in this list, the Blueair Pure 211+, is a slightly advanced version of the Blueair Pure 411. While the Blueair Pure 411 is ideal for small to medium-sized rooms, the Blueair Pure 211+ can cover rooms approximately 540 square feet big.
The Blueair Pure 211+ has a sleek, Swedish design, which focuses on energy-efficiency and ease of functionality. You don’t have to worry about the electricity bill with this device. The Blueair 211+ uses between 30 and 61 Watts, which meets the Energy Star requirements for low energy consumption.
Additionally, with the advanced activated carbon filter system, you can minimize odors, toxic gases, VOCs, mold, bacteria, and much more. Each filter is machine washable, so you can simply toss them in with the rest of your laundry.
9. PHILIPS True HEPA Air Purifier 1000
Philips N.V., more commonly known as Philips, is a Dutch company, based in Eindhoven, Amsterdam. It’s been providing customers all over the world with health technology such as home lighting, audio and visual, and air care products since 1891.
The Philips True HEPA Air Purifier 1000 uses True HEPA filters to remove up to 99.99% of all air contaminants. If you’re looking for an industrial quality product for domestic use, the Philips Air Purifier 1000 is a good option.
Apart from HEPA, the air purifier also has an active carbon filter, which absorbs VOCs and bad gases. For your convenience, the manufacturers have added three automated settings, including the general mode, the extra sensitive mode, and the night time mode.
Each mode helps clean air at a steady, quiet pace. The Philips Air Purifier 1000 doesn’t disrupt night-time peace. You can easily dim the light on the sensor and adjust the fan speed to low.
10. Honeywell HPA300 True HEPA Air Purifier
Our second Honeywell recommendation is the Honeywell True HEPA Allergen Air Purifier. This is an ultra-powerful allergen air purifier because it removes toxins as small as 0.1 microns. Even the tiniest of bacteria or pet dander won’t escape this air purifier.
Moreover, the Honeywell True HEPA caters to extra-large spaces, ideal for rooms between 465 and 500 square feet. If you’re looking for an air purifier for an open space such as your living room or kitchen, this device will work effectively.
Like all Honeywell purifiers, this one has three air cleaning levels, including an additional Turbo Clean setting for extra dusty rooms. Also, the HEPA filter has extra padding to trap more air particles. Consequently, the filter system is very powerful.
The pre-filters (which need changing more frequently) are cheap and easy to replace. All you need to do is pop out the old one and insert the new one. Additionally, the HEPA filters (which are more expensive) rarely need replacement.
11. PARTU Room Air Purifier Best for Home Allergies
Based in Sacramento, California, Partu is an FDA- and FCC-approved home convenience brand. The Partu Air Purifier is a completely safe-to-use and environmentally-friendly device with a zero Ozone-emission rating.
From HEPA filters to CADR filters, the Partu Air Purifier uses highly effective filters to remove harmful toxins and airborne contaminants. This is ideal for people who need an air filtration system throughout the night.
Not only does it have an ultra-quiet fan (with a maximum volume of 25 dB), but it also has seven different night light settings. From very dim to soothing to ultra-bright, you can change the light settings to your preference. Moreover, it has a smart color-change feature, meaning the light changes colors according to your mood. Simply hold your finger up to the light for three seconds, and you’ll see the change.
12. Dyson Pure Cool Link Desk Air Purifier
From automotive accessories to dryers to HVAC products, Dyson sells all types of home convenience products. With branches in the UK and the US, Dyson is a world leader in filtration systems, having been in business since 1978.
With the Dyson Pure Cool Link, you can clean air manually and automatically. At night, you can adjust the settings to auto mode so the fans will change speed according to the air quality sensors.
The Dyson Pure Cool Link is the perfect accessory to your study desk, having a stylish, silver appearance. The product combines both aesthetic and efficiency. Moreover, the package comes with a set of replacement filters, which is a big perk. Overall, the air purifier is very easy to clean and maintain. Since there’s a self-cleaning feature, you don’t need to do much, aside from replacing the filters.
13. Coway AP-1512HH Mighty Air Purifier
Next, we have the Coway AP-1512HH Mighty Air Purifier, another popular Coway product. It comes highly recommended by users because of its comprehensive four-stage filtration system.
Starting from pre-filters, the air purifier passes air through deodorization filters, HEPA filters, and finally, vital ion filters. This reduces allergens, organic, and inorganic compounds as well as odors by 99.97%. You can use the Coway AP1512HH Mighty for relatively large places (up to 361 square feet big).
Like the Coway Airmega, the Coway Mighty has three manual fan speeds and an LED air quality indicator light. However, if you’re looking for something with high energy efficiency, the Coway AP1512HH won’t disappoint. You can optimize energy usage by using the auto timer. The auto timer runs the device at different intervals from every hour to four hours to eight hours (depending on your preference.)
14. LEVOIT LV-H126 Air Purifier for Home
Now, let’s look at the Levoit LV-H126 Air Purifier, which caters specifically to California air and ozone levels. Like all Levoit air purifiers, the Levoit LV-H126 has a three-in-one air filtration system, which removes all harmful air toxins using high-quality HEPA and carbon filters.
Additionally, this Levoit air purifier is ideal for small rooms (around 161 square feet.) For college students, in particular, this air purifier may be helpful as it’s compact shape and size can easily fit in a confined space. Moreover, the air purifier has three fan settings with a maximum noise level of 32 dB.
This creates almost no sound, which increases its value in confined spaces where even small sounds echo.
15. LEVOIT Vista 200 Air Purifier
Our last Levoit pick, the Levoit Vista 200 Air Purifier, is a stylish, cylinder-shaped air purifier. It’s one of the most top-rated air purifiers from Levoit’s line of brushless air cleaners. The Levoit Vista 200 comes with wide intake and outlet grills for easy transference of air.
It’s highly effective with Levoit’s patented three-stage filtration technology. The third stage involves a CTC100 formula carbon filter, which removes even the strongest smells. Also, since the purifier is about 7.5 inches in diameter, it can suck about 95% of all air contaminants in under an hour. This makes it very efficient and powerful.
In terms of energy efficiency, it’s probably the best Levoit product. It has a brushless fan, which helps cut down on energy consumption as well as white noise. Moreover, the purifier doesn’t consume more than 0.9 W per minute.
16. Fellowes AeraMax 100 Air Purifier
Located in Itasca, Illinois, Fellowes is a multinational company that sells workplace appliances, including shredders, binders, laminators, air filters, computer accessories, and air purifiers.
The Fellowes AeraMax 100 Air Purifier is the best home air purifier for rooms ranging from 100 to 200 square feet in size. It has many unique features, the best of which is the antimicrobial carbon filter.
Consequently, if you’re in the market for an odor eliminator, the Fellowes AeraMax 100 is particularly designed to remove stubborn smells, smoke, and mold. Additionally, the AeroMax 100 is the best air cleaner for asthma patients. It’s been certified by the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of American to be completely safe and effective.
17. Dyson Pure Cool Me Personal Purifying Fan
As the name implies, this Dyson product is more for personal rather than communal use. How so? Well, the Dyson Pure Cool Me Personal Purifying Fan delivers a more focused and streamlined air cleanse.
While it doesn’t have a large range, it’s ideal for trips, particularly those via airplanes and trains. You can simply place the air purifier in front of you and have a relaxing and dust-free trip.
Moreover, the Dyson Pure Cool Me Fan comes with core flow technology, which is how you adjust the airflow towards yourself. The air cleaner is shaped in a dome, which can be moved to change the angle of airflow.
Additionally, the Dyson Pure Cool Me has an LCD screen that indicates air quality level and direction at all times. Consequently, you can easily keep track of things like airflow angle, fan settings, and filter life. Speaking of the filter, the filter life is very long, lasting up to one year, even with daily use.
18. IQAir Atem Desk Personal Air Purifier
Founded in 1963, IQAir is a Swiss and US-based company, specializing in aerospace technology. While its headquarters are located in Goldach, Switzerland, it has a customer-base and retail stores in over 70 countries.
The IQAir Atem Desk Personal Air Purifier is a highly versatile product, usable in small spaces such as cars, airplanes, trains, bathrooms, and cabins. Unlike other products in this list, the IQAir Atem has a HyperHEPA filter, which removes allergens up to 0.003 microns small.
These allergens classify as ultrafine air particles and aren’t easy to remove with regular air filters. Consequently, for those who suffer from hyper air-sensitivity, the IQAir Atem is a good, reliable solution. Moreover, the IQAir Atem also has a PureJet diffuser, which allows the device to work promptly and efficiently.
19. Alen BreatheSmart 45i HEPA Air Purifier
Lastly, we have the Alen BreatheSmart 45i HEPA Air Purifier. This is a fast-performance air filtering system, capable of cleaning the air in an entire home. Its range is up to 800 square feet, which is ideal for medium-sized houses.
With this air purifier, you can circulate air up to five times in an hour. While it’s relatively large at 21.4 pounds, it has a sleek and functional design, meaning it can fit in any narrow space.
Also, the Alen BreatheSmart 45i has a very low energy consumption rate. It only goes up to 36 Watts at the maximum fan speed. According to the manufacturer, if you use it only at the low setting, it’ll only cost 50 cents per month, even for daily 12-hour usage.
Best Room Air Purifier 2021 Buying Guide
If you’ve gone through all the options in our air purifier reviews, you may be wondering how to find the best room air purifier perfect for your needs. Luckily, we’ve also come up with this buying guide to help you judge. Firstly, when you’re buying air cleaners, you need to determine why you need one:
Reasons to Get an Air Purifier
There are different types of air cleaners for different purposes. Some are only for allergies, while others are for bacteria and mold removal. In any case, here are some reasons why you may need an air purifier:
- Top air purifiers make your house air clean and healthy. It keeps you and your family from inhaling airborne toxins that accumulate in our homes.
- They remove smells. For example, if you’re living with pets, your home is subject to bad odors. Air purifiers help solve this more efficiently than deodorants and air fresheners.
- Air purifiers help allergies and respiratory conditions like asthma. For children and teenagers, in particular, air purifiers have proven effective in easing symptoms of such conditions.
- Also, air purifiers help prevent sickness. Aside from easing symptoms, air purifiers stop you from getting sick in the first place. This is because they remove bacteria from the air.
These are the most common reasons. You need to keep these in mind because they’ll determine the best air purifiers for you.
What Are the Best Room Air Purifier Features?
When you’re buying a room air purifier, like with all purchases, you need to look at certain things. As mentioned, people buy air purifiers for different reasons. Consequently, different people need to prioritize different features. If you’re a complete beginner, don’t worry. Here are the things you should be looking at when buying the best room air purifier:
Size
Are you looking for a personal purifying fan or something for the entire family? Keep in mind that one is easy to carry around while the other isn’t. At the same time, the latter is usually larger and more powerful, while the former isn’t as effective. Usually, air purifier sizes are classified as:
- Small (around 100 square feet)
- Medium (between 200 and 300 square feet)
- Large (between 300 and 500 square feet)
- Extra Large (above 500 square feet)
Specific Features for Allergies
Secondly, you need to see what type of features the purifier has. For example, if you have pollen allergies, can the purifier detect and filter out pollen specifically? Pollen is very small, so get one with a HEPA filter (as HEPA filters collect fine particles). Similarly, other specific features include:
- Multi-stage filtration (more than one filter)
- Smoke and odor removal
- Air quality checker
- Chemical filtration
- Pet dander filtration
Energy Efficiency
Most people need air purifiers for overnight use. Consequently, energy efficiency is a very important feature or else, air purifiers become a very expensive purchase. To make sure your air purifier is energy-efficient, look at those approved by Energy Star. Almost all the air purifiers in this list have Energy Star certification.
Amount of Maintenance Needed
The thing with air filtration systems is that they need to be cleaned regularly. For example, pre-filters collect large dust particles, pet dander, fur, mold, and hair. These can collect over time and block the air purifier in-vent if not cleaned out frequently.
Luckily, HEPA filters and activated carbon filters don’t require regular cleaning. However, they do need washing and replacement (respectively) after certain intervals.
FAQs
What Are HEPA Filters?
HEPA stands for High-Efficiency Particulate Air. As the name implies, these are highly strong and powerful filters capable of trapping air particles, even 0.3 microns thick. While 0.3 is the average count, some HEPA filters can trap even smaller particles.
How Should I Place My Room Air Purifier?
Simply place your air purifier where the air is easily circulated. It’s best to place air purifiers in the middle of the room. Moreover, placing them on the floor is usually more effective than placing them on a shelf. In essence, you need to stay away from:
- Corners
- Walls
- Furniture
- Doorways
What Time of Day is Best to Run My Home Air Purifier?
Generally, the best time to run your air purifier is at night. Running it at night improves your sleep quality, eliminates snoring, and removes air contaminants that have accumulated in your room throughout the day.
Moreover, the room is usually still at night, allowing the air purifier to do its job more effectively. During the day time, you’re moving about, disturbing air particles, and preventing them from getting filtered.
Conclusion
To sum it up, the best air cleaner is both energy-efficient and high-performance. Our list of recommendations contains air purifiers best for various needs. From portable air purifiers to extra large ones, it’s a good idea to invest in these devices.
They allow us to live a cleaner and healthier lifestyle. If you suffer from seasonal allergies or respiratory disorders, we highly urge you to invest in a good quality air purifier. From our list, you’ll find air purifiers suitable for all types of users and budgets.
