Unless the air purifier has been specifically designed to purify and cool the air – the Dyson Purifier Cool Autoreact, for example – the model will not cool the air. For bedrooms, hallways, front rooms, parlours and anywhere else you're not setting fire to stuff the Blue Pure 411 seems to do a perfectly good job. The maximum room size recommended by Blueair is 15 m sq which, understandably, is on the small size. A compact cylinder made of a choice of colourful plastics, the Blue Pure 411 is beautifully simple. It stands just 42.5cm tall and has a diameter of 20cm. It's among the simplest and most compact air purifiers you can get. Those who are used to compact air purifiers might be surprised at the size of the LG PuriCare AeroTower – but don't let that scare you off, since it actually takes up less space than you'd think, thanks to it svelte frame.

What I love about the Blue Pure 411 is that there are no app data read-outs to fuss over or make you feel (more) paranoid about your air quality. It just unobtrusively clears the air 5 times per hour.The size and appearance of the 411 Auto air purifier where, in my opinion, Blueair has hit the spot. First, as a floor-standing air purifier it’s quite compact, which will make it suitable for most spaces. It weighs just 3.8lbs / 1.68kg, too, so is lightweight and easy to move from room to room. We haven’t used the air filter in our kitchen, which is at the other end of the house, so I can’t say how this does for cooking odors. Other reviewers suggest the Blueair works really well though, as long as you move it to the kitchen while cooking. Similarly, it’s hard to tell how effective the Blueair is for VOCs, given that we’re pretty diligent about avoiding these in our home. My first impressions were excellent as this purifier is lightweight (under 4 lbs!), portable, and so easy to set up. The purifier was pretty much ready to go, right out of the box. With one of the two pre-filters already in place, all I had to do was slot the top (white) section of the unit on and turn it to secure the catches. After plugging it in (and reading the manual), I pressed the top center circle to start the purifier. Besides, it's the AeroTower's dimensions that allows it to cover rooms of up to 818sq ft in size. It's incredibly easy to set up and use, even boasting an LCD panel that clearly indicates the quality of the air in a given room, plus a remote that magnetically attaches to it. We're also a fan of the touch controls on top, despite the fact that they were prone to accidental presses. On top of ensuring that your room is free of harmful particles and allergens, this unit also has a fan function that offers 10 speeds and oscillation – a nice addition to keep the air flowing in the summer.

In our tests, we found that the air purifiers removed the lingering smells of candles, incense and dry shampoo. I’ve written quite a bit about how to choose an effective air purifier, so if you’re not familiar with CADR, AHAM and so forth, get a crash course here. Or consider buying the Blueair Blue Pure 411 (or 211+). These filters carry an AHAM Verifide seal and a CADR. The 411 has a CADR of 120 for dust and pollen. This means that at the top setting the filter produces 120 cubic feet of clean air every minute. For smoke, the CADR is 105. The purifier manages about 5 air exchanges per hour for a small bedroom or nursery, or one every 12.5 minutes. During testing, we found that an app can deliver greater insights to the air quality inside the home. There's only so much information that the display panel can show, and if you want to monitor the air quality over a time period, then this is only possible through app support.As for those wildfires, it will be interesting to see how this filter performs if we get a lot of smoke again like 2020. Subjectively, it performed well in 2021, keeping our indoor air clear on the smokiest days. I didn’t have an air quality monitor at the time, however, though I do plan on acquiring one this summer. If/when I get readings, I’ll update this post with results. The Shark 3-in-1 Air Purifier, Heater and Fan is a great alternative to the Dyson Purifier Hot+Cool Formaldehyde HP09, coming in at a fraction of the price. In addition, there's no accompanying app, which may just suit those looking for a more simple unit. Some air purifiers can also cool and / or heat the room. Both the Dyson air purifiers and the Shark 3-in-1 Air Purifier, Heater & Fan with NanoSeal HEPA in this guide offer such capabilities. Dust, and pollens, are some of the larger airborne particles present, so most air purifiers will be able to capture and filter these out from the air. Do air purifiers cool the air? It’s great to have four operating modes so it can be set depending on what’s going on inside your home or with your allergies. So, for example, if you're a hayfever sufferer you might choose a lower setting in winter when there's not much pollen. Or if you're spring cleaning and dust is flying around as you move furniture, a higher may be required. I would also certainly switch it to Boost if I noticed the air quality light was showing red and indicating that the air was quite polluted.

Because our filter is crib-side and is audible outside the room (on the top setting), I tested the decibel levels. From a meter away it was just 38 on high and 15 on low. This was lower than Blueair’s measurements of 46 decibels on high (the sound of a library) and 17 on low. Put simply, there’s no need to worry about using this filter beside a crib. Capacity: small to medium rooms between 100 sq. ft. and 175 sq. ft. (AHAM rated at 161 sq. ft) / 120 cubic ft/min Clean Air Delivery Rate (CADR) The value of a particular product is largely based on the cost relative to its performance as compared to other products in the class. Ideally, a product will perform better than its peers while priced at or below the price of comparable products. The Blueair Blue Pure 411 costs far less than the class average, yet its overall performance is at an above-average level. As such, we find that the 411 provides users with a good value. Conclusion Unlike many filters, the Blueair Blue Pure 411 comes with a polypropylene filter that can be easily replaced and recycled. Because the pre-filter is external, though, you can easily remove and wash this, meaning it never needs replacing. And if you keep the pre-filter in good shape, with regular vacuuming and cleaning, this will help extend the life of the 2 nd and 3 rd stage filters, helping to further save resources. All of the air purifiers featured in this guide have been tested by the editors on TechRadar. They've been reviewed at home (no labs here) in real-life situations, used daily across a minimum of a two-week time frame.

A budget can also help you to decide on the features you'd like, and whether or not you want a smart air model. All of the air purifiers featured in this guide can be controlled via a display panel or a remote control, but not all have an app.