Sqair Air Purifier
I like this one. This is a no frills model. There is no sensor. No automation. Not even any indicator light. The power knob is at the top which means you cannot even tell if it’s on unless the sound from the fan is audible. I like the design of this device as it does not look like a typical air purifier. It is a no-nonsense product with a fan and a HEPA filter. You can also add a carbon filter as an option. The one thing I don’t like about this model is the predefined speeds. Speed 1 is fine wrt noise levels. Speed 2 is quite loud. Speed 3 is of course loudest and only recommended for worst air quality periods for a short period of time. If they had added another mode between Speed 1 and Speed 2, it would have been great as you could still run the fan at a slightly faster speed without increasing the noise levels a lot.
Lasko A504IN
Lasko A504IN is perfect if you want more control over the noise levels. It has a rotating dialer where you get a lot of flexibility with speed and noise levels. The problem here is that there is no HEPA filter. It uses a washable filter with an ioniser. Ioniser based air purifiers are generally not recommended. Lasko has an ozone filter which is supposed to resolve the core problem with ioniser. It’s a personal choice. I got it because I wanted to have one model at home with washable filters. It is currently being used in the living room where it runs 24x7 at mid-speeds. Like the Sqair, it is a pretty basic model with no sensor or automation. There is an indicator light to suggest washing the filter. There is one other issue with this model. It does not auto-start after a power cut. So you would need to run it on power backup if you do not want to turn it on after every power cut.
Update: Got rid of this. Just get a HEPA based purifier.
Mi Air Purifier 2C (Discontinued)
This is the non-smart Air Purifier model from Xiaomi. There is a basic infrared based sensor that is supposedly not very accurate. It has indicator lights. Four modes (Auto with three manual speeds). Fan makes significant noise at level 2. Level 3 is insanely loud. Best to run it in Auto mode during bad days and lowest speed mode on other days. I like this model because it lacks the RFID reader for filters. So you do not have to worry about machine labelling a filter expired. This is a problem with the other two current models from the company (2S and 3).
Mi Air Purifier 2S (Discontinued)
This is an old model from Mi. Has a display with a physical button. Has RFID for tracking filters. Has good automation with Mi Home app. Noise levels are fine at low speeds. Auto mode is generally fine but since Mi considers 75 AQI to be healthy, it might be a better idea to use automation to control fan speeds based on AQI levels. RFID tracking of filters is annoying because it would show a warning that the filter is expired even if it is in pretty good shape. One good thing about 2S compared to 3 is that it supports all three filters on sale from Mi. Mi 3 only supports the higher end filter model.
Coway AirMega 150
This is a pretty good model as well. Has a sensor but no automation or smart features. Noise levels are quite decent at peak speeds. It uses three different filters. Pre-filter is washable. And then there is a carbon filter and HEPA filter. One nice thing about this model is that the filters are rated for 12 months. But they cost more than Mi and Sqair models. It has four speed options: Auto, Sleep along with 2 manual speed modes.
Update: Kind of replaced this with SA600 because filters were not in stock with the company for a while and I really wanted to get the SA600 model at home lol.
Mi Air Purifier 3
So, I ended up getting this unit to replace the 2C because I wanted iot connectivity. Mi had an offer which was hard to pass on. I am not really a fan of RFID based tracking of filters, but it is what it is. I also hate not having a physical button at the top. Starting this device is easy as it requires a gentle tap. But turning it off requires you to press the non-existing button for a couple of seconds which gets annoying. So, it’s best to just use app to control this device. It seems to be performing well in a closed room during the worst days of November. Noise levels are not great, but you get a lot of control with multiple speed options (Auto, Sleep, Favorite, Level 1/2/3). Level 2 is pretty nice wrt noise otherwise you can always set a more customized speed through Favorite option in the app. Do remember that this model only works with the most expensive filter MI offers (Mi Air Purifier Filter HEPA). And if the device decides that the filter is expired, you will have to deal with constant warning about it on display till you get a new filter.
QT3 Portable Air Purifier
I already wrote about it in another thread but here is the gist. Build quality is not great but it does offer you a pretty compact solution that you can carry around with you. I would not rely on it for purification in a café or hotel room but it does provide you with something in case there is no better option. I personally bought it for my car and it works wonderfully for that purpose. It is basically just a device with a PC fan with a HEPA filter in front. Fan gets noisy at the top speed which is the only decent option to run it on. But you would not notice it while driving in a car while listening to music.
Smart Air Blast Mini
This one is not suitable for individual rooms unless you have a big one. Get this if you live in a flat with a central lobby type area where this can be installed. It might just do the job for the entire flat. If not, get the bigger model which is a much more value for money product compared to this one. Just like Sqair, this one is essentially a fan with a filter. The size of the filter makes the whole difference here. It’s huge. And a bigger fan means it is also quieter than smaller devices. But it’s not quiet enough for bedroom while sleeping. Just amazing model.
Smart Air SA600
So, I finally got this few days ago and I like it so far. It is bigger than Coway and since air inlet is on both sides, it does require a lot more space than popular models from Mi and others. There are three speed options. One (3w) is very quiet. Two (9w) is the best option. There is some noise but it is manageable. Third one (60w!) is loud as expected. Comes with six filters including pre-filter and carbon making it a solid product out of the box. Total filter costing comes to around 5500 but carbon filters are optional so you are looking at a yearly expense of around 3K. There is no Auto mode as like all other Smart Air models, this one also does not come with any sensor so you just run it at speeds you prefer at any given time.
I like this one. This is a no frills model. There is no sensor. No automation. Not even any indicator light. The power knob is at the top which means you cannot even tell if it’s on unless the sound from the fan is audible. I like the design of this device as it does not look like a typical air purifier. It is a no-nonsense product with a fan and a HEPA filter. You can also add a carbon filter as an option. The one thing I don’t like about this model is the predefined speeds. Speed 1 is fine wrt noise levels. Speed 2 is quite loud. Speed 3 is of course loudest and only recommended for worst air quality periods for a short period of time. If they had added another mode between Speed 1 and Speed 2, it would have been great as you could still run the fan at a slightly faster speed without increasing the noise levels a lot.
Lasko A504IN
Lasko A504IN is perfect if you want more control over the noise levels. It has a rotating dialer where you get a lot of flexibility with speed and noise levels. The problem here is that there is no HEPA filter. It uses a washable filter with an ioniser. Ioniser based air purifiers are generally not recommended. Lasko has an ozone filter which is supposed to resolve the core problem with ioniser. It’s a personal choice. I got it because I wanted to have one model at home with washable filters. It is currently being used in the living room where it runs 24x7 at mid-speeds. Like the Sqair, it is a pretty basic model with no sensor or automation. There is an indicator light to suggest washing the filter. There is one other issue with this model. It does not auto-start after a power cut. So you would need to run it on power backup if you do not want to turn it on after every power cut.
Update: Got rid of this. Just get a HEPA based purifier.
Mi Air Purifier 2C (Discontinued)
This is the non-smart Air Purifier model from Xiaomi. There is a basic infrared based sensor that is supposedly not very accurate. It has indicator lights. Four modes (Auto with three manual speeds). Fan makes significant noise at level 2. Level 3 is insanely loud. Best to run it in Auto mode during bad days and lowest speed mode on other days. I like this model because it lacks the RFID reader for filters. So you do not have to worry about machine labelling a filter expired. This is a problem with the other two current models from the company (2S and 3).
Mi Air Purifier 2S (Discontinued)
This is an old model from Mi. Has a display with a physical button. Has RFID for tracking filters. Has good automation with Mi Home app. Noise levels are fine at low speeds. Auto mode is generally fine but since Mi considers 75 AQI to be healthy, it might be a better idea to use automation to control fan speeds based on AQI levels. RFID tracking of filters is annoying because it would show a warning that the filter is expired even if it is in pretty good shape. One good thing about 2S compared to 3 is that it supports all three filters on sale from Mi. Mi 3 only supports the higher end filter model.
Coway AirMega 150
This is a pretty good model as well. Has a sensor but no automation or smart features. Noise levels are quite decent at peak speeds. It uses three different filters. Pre-filter is washable. And then there is a carbon filter and HEPA filter. One nice thing about this model is that the filters are rated for 12 months. But they cost more than Mi and Sqair models. It has four speed options: Auto, Sleep along with 2 manual speed modes.
Update: Kind of replaced this with SA600 because filters were not in stock with the company for a while and I really wanted to get the SA600 model at home lol.
Mi Air Purifier 3
So, I ended up getting this unit to replace the 2C because I wanted iot connectivity. Mi had an offer which was hard to pass on. I am not really a fan of RFID based tracking of filters, but it is what it is. I also hate not having a physical button at the top. Starting this device is easy as it requires a gentle tap. But turning it off requires you to press the non-existing button for a couple of seconds which gets annoying. So, it’s best to just use app to control this device. It seems to be performing well in a closed room during the worst days of November. Noise levels are not great, but you get a lot of control with multiple speed options (Auto, Sleep, Favorite, Level 1/2/3). Level 2 is pretty nice wrt noise otherwise you can always set a more customized speed through Favorite option in the app. Do remember that this model only works with the most expensive filter MI offers (Mi Air Purifier Filter HEPA). And if the device decides that the filter is expired, you will have to deal with constant warning about it on display till you get a new filter.
QT3 Portable Air Purifier
I already wrote about it in another thread but here is the gist. Build quality is not great but it does offer you a pretty compact solution that you can carry around with you. I would not rely on it for purification in a café or hotel room but it does provide you with something in case there is no better option. I personally bought it for my car and it works wonderfully for that purpose. It is basically just a device with a PC fan with a HEPA filter in front. Fan gets noisy at the top speed which is the only decent option to run it on. But you would not notice it while driving in a car while listening to music.
Smart Air Blast Mini
This one is not suitable for individual rooms unless you have a big one. Get this if you live in a flat with a central lobby type area where this can be installed. It might just do the job for the entire flat. If not, get the bigger model which is a much more value for money product compared to this one. Just like Sqair, this one is essentially a fan with a filter. The size of the filter makes the whole difference here. It’s huge. And a bigger fan means it is also quieter than smaller devices. But it’s not quiet enough for bedroom while sleeping. Just amazing model.
Smart Air SA600
So, I finally got this few days ago and I like it so far. It is bigger than Coway and since air inlet is on both sides, it does require a lot more space than popular models from Mi and others. There are three speed options. One (3w) is very quiet. Two (9w) is the best option. There is some noise but it is manageable. Third one (60w!) is loud as expected. Comes with six filters including pre-filter and carbon making it a solid product out of the box. Total filter costing comes to around 5500 but carbon filters are optional so you are looking at a yearly expense of around 3K. There is no Auto mode as like all other Smart Air models, this one also does not come with any sensor so you just run it at speeds you prefer at any given time.
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