Though you can’t see it, the air quality in your home varies during different seasons, weather, and even the time of day. There is dust, pollen, pet hair, dander, and other allergens floating around that can make it unhealthy to breathe. Having an air purifier can get rid of all these contaminants, cleaning the air and reducing your allergy symptoms. The best smart air purifier is even more convenient because it allows you to track the air quality in your home from anywhere you are, using a handy app on your smartphone.
When looking for a new smart air purifier, how easy the app is to use is pretty significant, but you also need to check out the features the purifier itself has to offer. The type of filter tells you what allergens are being removed from the air. You’ll also want to know how many of them there are in there. The CADR level shows the volume of air being purified in a given room size telling you about the unit’s overall efficiency. An air purifier’s coverage area shows the maximum size for the room it’s used in. The dimensions tell you how much space it will take up in that room.
In order to find the best smart air purifier models on the market, we spent tens of hours checking manufacturers’ information and product features, plus read hundreds of customer reviews. Then we made a comparison table, rated each product, and wrote in-depth reviews of their best and worst features. The Blueair Classic 605 was chosen as our Editor’s Choice. We also added a buying guide at the bottom, so you know what features to look for in a decent model.
More features: Alexa compatible; Energy Star rated
If you are in need of the best smart home air purifier, the Blueair Classic 605 is a great model that is easy to use right out of the box. It includes a true HEPA filter, which removes up to 99.97% of the airborne pollutants in your home, including dust, pollen, mold, and much more. For extra protection, you can also add a SmokeStop activated carbon filter to get rid of odors, smoke, and VOCs, though this extra filter is sold separately.
This Blueair air purifier has a coverage area of 775 square feet, with a CADR rating of 500 cubic feet per minute. This means it can circulate and clean the air up to five times every hour, keeping it as clean as possible.
There are three fan speeds, a whisper-quiet low speed, a quiet medium speed, and a louder high speed. This gives you whatever type of cleaning speed you need in any given situation, day or night.
What makes this a smart air purifier is the addition of the Blueair Friend app and Amazon Alexa compatibility. These allow you to turn the machine on or off and change the fan speed from anywhere, even when you’re away from home, or have Alexa do it for you when you’re in another room. You can also set the child lock, adjust the LED light level, set a timer, and put it in Night Mode for a dark, quiet-running machine.
More features: air quality and odor sensors
The Medify MA-25 has everything the technically savvy user could want. To clean the air, this model uses a four-stage filtration system to get rid of those unwanted particles floating around in the air of your home. There is a HEPA filter which captures the majority of those airborne allergens. An activated carbon filter gets rid of the nasty odors from pets, cooking, or smoke. There are also a sterilization layer and a high molecular sieve to trap all the rest of those particles clogging up your healthy air.
A timer lets you set the air purifier to run for 1, 2, 4, or 8 hours continuously. There are also three fan speeds, low, medium, and high, plus a sleep mode for lower noise and dimmer lights while you sleep.
An LED indicator displays the air quality in the room, glowing blue for high-quality air, yellow for good quality, and red for low quality. A child lock keeps your little ones from altering the settings, no matter how many buttons they push.
More features: air quality indicator; timer and scheduler
Despite its large size, the attractive look of the Airmega 400S will still fit in with your home décor and lifestyle. It has great smart features that are usable with the downloadable app for both iOS and Android. These include an air quality monitor for both indoor and outdoor air and a lifetime filter monitor. You can also change the speed and set the scheduler right from your phone.
Also, there is a Smart Mode for those who wish to pair it with Amazon Alexa for you to control the fan speed, set auto-speed, and the Eco mode to help save energy.
The smart technology is handy, but only if the air purifier works well, as this one does. It uses Max2 filters, which combine activated carbon to take care of those VOCs, gases, and odors with a true HEPA filter to reduce 99.97% of airborne particles 0.3 microns or larger. These include pollen, dust, mold, and other allergens.
As well as the Max2 filter, there is a separate pre-filter, which traps the larger particles in the air, like dust, hair, and fur, keeping them away from the Max2 for a longer lifespan. The pre-filter is also washable, saving you a bit on replacement filter costs.
There are three fan speeds to choose from, plus it has an air quality LED indicator that tells you your home air quality at all times.
More features: filter replacement indicator; Child Lock; energy-efficient
If you’re looking for the best smart air purifier in the USA, the Crane USA Smart Wifi Air Purifier is a great model. For those on a budget, this model is even more appealing, thanks to its excellent low price.
This model uses a four-step air purification system to keep the air in your home as clean as possible. There is a true HEPA filter to get rid of airborne contaminants of 0.3 microns or larger. This filter also has a replacement indicator, so you won’t have to guess when it needs to be changed.
There is also an integrated active carbon filter to trap those unwanted odors and other pollutants. A foam filter captures the larger airborne particles, like hair and pet fur, keeping them away from the HEPA filter in order to prolong its life.
Finally, an ionizer function releases negatively charged ions into the air, which then attach to the unwanted airborne particles. This traps those particles, keeping them out of your lungs. This function is optional, so you can turn it on or off as needed.
Another handy feature is the air quality indicator, which glows green, orange, and red depending on the pollution level. A child lock keeps little fingers from changing your settings. A timer allows you to make the purifier run for a set number of hours. All of these features can be controlled and monitored through the free Crane app.
More features: UL listed and certified;
compatible with the Winix smart app
The Winix HR1000 is an air purifier with a washable filter that uses multiple levels to keep the air in your home healthy and free of allergens. First is the pre-filter, which captures larger particles and it’s the very one that has the added benefit of being washable. Next is the coated deodorization carbon filter, which takes care of those household odors, VOCs, and gases.
These two work together to help prolong the life of the next filter in the line, the true HEPA filter, which captures up to 99.97% of the airborne allergens, including mold, dust, pollen, and much more.
Finally, this air purifier uses PlasmaWave technology that breaks down odors, chemical vapors, allergens, and other airborne pollutants in a safe and healthy way.
This handy air purifier from Winix is also Wi-Fi enabled, using a free smart app that allows you to control all the speeds and settings. There are four fan speeds, low, medium, high, and turbo for fast air cleaning.
Auto mode uses sensors to check the air quality in the room and adjusts the fan speed accordingly. Sleep mode lowers the lights and fan speed for a dark, quiet machine. There is also an auto dimmer, though this comes on at all hours of the day unless auto mode is set. Manual mode lets you adjust the air purifier settings as you see fit. There is also a timer for one, four, or eight hours, plus a child lock.
Though you may not be able to see them, there are all kinds of allergens and pollutants floating around in the air you’re breathing. You may not be able to clean them out of the air outside, but you can take care of your home air. The smart technology incorporated into an air adds to the convenience, allowing you to monitor the air quality and change the settings on it from another room, a nearby store, or the office. In this guide, we’ll describe each of the essential features in detail so that you know what to look for.
Having an air purifier in your home gives you clean air to breathe. Adding in smart technology enhances its use, giving you more options. An app allows you to monitor the air quality in your home at all times, even when you’re away. Then you can adjust the settings as needed from anywhere. Some of the best smart home air purifier models are also able to link to an external device, like Amazon Alexa, which adds voice control to the functions. If you’re cooking, cleaning, or anything else, you can still manage your air purifier’s settings and speeds, even from another room.
When in the market for a new smart air purifier, there are a few features you may want to check out before you buy one. Many of these are similar to regular non-smart models, with a few technological extras that add to their convenience.
Though you may see some dust particles floating around in the sun streaming in your window, most airborne particles are far too small to be seen by the naked eye. In fact, most of them are 0.3 microns or smaller, so a good air purifier must have a cleaning level to trap these unwanted nasties. All of the products we’ve reviewed above do trap those particles that are 0.3 microns or larger, so the dust, pet dander, and other allergens will be removed from the air.
When it comes to filters, there are three main types to choose from. High Efficiency Particulate Air, or HEPA, filters are the most sought after since they work the best. They are capable of removing 99.97% of the airborne particles that are 0.3 microns or larger. This includes particles like dust mites, pet dander, mold, or pollen.
The best air purifier for smoke removal should definitely contain a carbon filter. Activated carbon filters trap those unwanted odors and chemicals, such as smoke, cooking odors, volatile organic compounds (VOC) like paint fumes, or even pet odors. When the odors are removed, the air smells much fresher.
Many air purifiers also add in a pre-filter, which are the first filter the air passes through when pulled into the machine. They trap larger particles, keeping them off the other filters, prolonging their life and reducing replacement times. Many pre-filters are washable as well, so they also save you even more money in the long run.
Some air purifier models have one or two of these filters, but on smart models, you’ll usually find all three or even more. The Winix HR1000, for instance, boasts a pre-filter, a Coated Deodorization carbon filter, and a true HEPA filter for ultimate purification performance.
Most of the air purifiers on the market come with at least three fan speeds. This helps you choose the speed at which the air is cleaned in your home. The higher speeds circulate the air faster, cleaning it at a much higher rate. This also raises the noise level, though, so high speeds are best used when you aren’t at home or in a different area of the house.
Low speeds are much quieter but don’t clean the air as quickly, so should be used to maintain air quality once the higher speeds have done all the work, or when you’re sleeping.
Clean Air Delivery Rate, or CADR, refers to the amount of air that can be filtered by an air purifier. There are three measurements that show the CADR. Tobacco smoke has a range of 10 to 450 CADR, dust has a range of 10 to 400 CADR, and pollen ranges from 25 to 450 CADR. If an air purifier has a rating of 100 CADR for dust, this means that the machine cleans the dust out of the air at a rate of 100 cubic feet per minute. The higher the CADR, the faster and more efficiently the air purifier can clean the air in that room.
The higher the coverage area, the larger the room you can use the air purifier in. For instance, the AIRMEGA 400S has a coverage area of 1560 square feet, so it will clean the air as it’s supposed to in a room of this size or smaller. If you tried to use it in a room that is 1800 square feet, though, it wouldn’t be able to perform as well since it would be forced to clean the air in a room that exceeds its capacity. Be sure to check out the size of the room you intend to use an air purifier in before choosing one.
What makes a smart air purifier so smart is the technology used to run it. Most of the models above include an app you can use to link the machine to your phone, allowing you to track the air quality levels, change the fan speeds, choose a mode, or set a timer. Some of them also include compatibility to external devices, like Amazon Alexa. This gives you the ability to use voice control, telling Alexa to change the settings for hands-free use.
The dimensions of any smart air purifier don`t affect its usage, but it does affect where you can put it in your room. The larger it is, the more space it takes up, so a big unit won’t fit well in a small room full of furniture.
Be sure to measure the space you have available, then find an air purifier that will fit in there. It will need to be a few feet away from a wall, too, so be sure to take this into account.
If your machine has defective parts or isn’t working the way it’s supposed to, repairs or a replacement will be a necessity. In order not to have to pay the costs for these issues, you should make sure your smart air purifier has a decent warranty covering any of these repairs. Most models do have warranties that cover any type of manufacturer or product defects, giving you free repairs or a replacement model if repairs aren’t possible.
Though the main purpose of the air purifier is to clean the air, there are a few features that make them even better. A timer, like that seen in the Blueair Classic 605, lets you set it for a certain time period, so it will turn on even when you aren’t around. Remote controllers allow you to change the settings from across the room. Energy efficient certification ensures the machine won’t add too much to your energy bill each month. Sleep mode turns down the fan and dims the lights for a better night’s sleep. A filter indicator light tells you when it’s time to change them out. Child locks (like the one the Crane USA Smart Wifi Air Purifier features) hold the settings, even if little fingers start pushing random buttons.
A smart air purifier cleans the air in your home quickly, plus adds in those smart features that make them even more convenient to use. Though the models above are all high-quality products, there are a few that rise above the rest.
The Blueair Classic 605 is our top model, with a durable steel body, true HEPA filter, and extensive coverage area. It also has excellent features, like the Blueair friend app, Alexa compatibility, adjustable LED lights, a timer, and a Night Mode for bedtime.
The Medify MA-25 has everything the technically savvy user could want. To clean the air, this model uses a four-stage filtration system to get rid of those unwanted particles floating around in the air of your home.
Despite its large size, the attractive look of the Airmega 400S will still fit in with your home décor and lifestyle. It has great smart features that are usable with the downloadable app for both iOS and Android.
But don’t forget that also other manufacturers make smart models, as for example, you can see by Levoit air purifiers or Dyson models.
