For rooms that need heavy-duty cleaning, the UV-C light technology sanitizes air by working with Titanium Dioxide to kill airborne bacteria, viruses, germs, and mold spores. When our family was looking for an air purifier a couple of years ago, we did a ton of research to find one that wasn’t all hype. Based on Consumer Reports testing and recommendations, the size of our home, and our budget, we ultimately settled on the Blueair 211+ Auto Air Purifier Large Room(opens in a new tab) and love it.
Using a True HEPA filter, this Dyson air purifier claims to clear up to 99.97% of airborne pollutants, including smoke from wildfires, as well as various odors and toxins. Our ease-of-use tests also found a bunch of family-friendly extras on the unit. Unlike other fans, it has no accessible blades, so it’s safer for small hands. There’s also a nighttime mode and a sleep timer as part of its 10-speed settings.
To qualify as great, however, an air purifier doesn’t just need to work well; it also needs to be robustly engineered and thoughtfully designed. But if you’ve noticed your electric bill going up, it could help there as well. The air filter helps your system run smoother and more efficiently and being sure to replace it can ultimately put a small dent in your bill. The GermGaurdian isn’t the quietest thing in the world on its highest setting, but if you’re anything like us, that white noise could actually be great for drowning out city noise, neighborhood lawnmowers, and more.
Check out our full review for a list of steps you should take before you resort to an air purifier. Most reviews are positive, with users praising the purifier as convenient and highly efficient at reducing the symptoms of allergies. Customers particularly like how quiet the purifier runs, even at the highest setting.
The three fan stages are quiet, although you’ll get a subtle fan noise at higher speeds. The Levoit air purifier isn’t completely silent, but it was quieter than some of the other models I tested. On High, the Levoit generated 42.5 decibels, which I recorded levoit filter with a decibel tester from 3 feet away. This is comparable to relatively soft home noise, such as a running refrigerator. Compared to some of the other purifiers I tested that generated nearly 60 decibels of noise, the Levoit was pleasantly quiet.
All that said, unless you need to clean an especially large space, the even quieter, smaller, and much more affordable Coway Airmega AP-1512HH Mighty is a better choice. In our 2019 tests, in just 30 minutes the Blue Pure 211+ reduced a heavy load of 0.3-micron smoke particles by 99.3% and 98.4% on high and quiet/medium, respectively, with filters that had seen eight months of 24/7 use. With new filters, it reduced particles by 99.3% and 99.2%, respectively. A year later, with those same filters—far past their recommended six-month replacement schedule—the numbers barely dropped, reaching 99.1% and 98.0%, respectively. Those results make the Blue Pure 211+ one of the most efficient air purifiers we’ve tested, as well as one of the most consistent on different settings. And the fact that it maintained its high performance even on significantly overused filters gives us confidence in its long-term performance.