Coway, AirDoctor and IQAir are among the top 15 air purifiers for 2025.
Recommended With Reservations
Mila Air 3 Critter Cuddler for $297: Mila makes seven bespoke filters that are designed specifically for moms-to-be, allergies, pet owners, etc. Add to that the built-in sensor, easy-to use app dashboard and modern wooden box design of Mila, and it’s no wonder why this product is a favorite. As I continue to cover air purifiers more, the more I think of going big to go silent. On their highest settings, smaller models are louder. The Mila wasn’t as quiet as I had hoped. The Mila reached 70 decibels at full blast on my consumer decibel meter. The Mila, with its 447 CADR/m3/hr rating, would be perfect for the typical American bedroom of 200 square feet. The Mila can be set to its highest setting in a 400 square foot room for the CDC recommended five air changes per hour, but it is a much noisier purifier. The auto-setting of the Mila was able to adjust the air quality in the 200-square foot bedroom my sons share. And while Mila gets its outdoor AQI (air quality index) from PurpleAir, it couldn’t seem to find my PurpleAir outdoor monitor.
Briiv 2 Pro Air Filter for PS399: There are big claims in Briiv’s 2 Pro Air Filter’s small package. The Briiv 2 Pro Air Filter weighs 2.5 pounds and is by far the smallest air cleaner I have tested. However, it’s not the cheapest. According to the company, one Briiv is equivalent to 3,043 houseplants. It also claims it has AI-powered sensors that measure air quality. The Briiv caught my attention because I rarely review air purifiers which are not CARB (California Air Resources Board) certified. The actual area that the Briiv 2 Pro is able to clean is very small. The room calculator on the Briiv website calculated that my dining area was 20 feet by 11 feet with 9-foot high ceilings. This meant I would require two Briivs in order to clean it effectively. Briiv claims that its Briiv 2 can improve air quality within a 794 square foot living area in only 11 minutes. However, the calculator appears to contradict this claim. The Briiv 2 is in my kitchen. When the indicator light turned red, it was because I had been cooking. I could not get the fan working. The app was a bit clunky, but I managed to turn it up full blast. Since then, the fan on my Briiv automatically adjusts to bad air, without my assistance. It also looks very cool.
Photograph: Lisa Wood Shapiro
Puroair 240 HEPA Air Purifier for $159: At under 9 inches tall, the Puroair 240 is a tiny air purifier. It’s loud, too, like many smaller tabletop air purifiers. It may be effective for a small area, such as a 100-150 square foot room. Like most air purifiers that we review here at WIRED it is CARB certified. The filter was too small for a room of average size. While I review smaller air filters, there are quieter and larger models available for the same price that offer greater air exchanges within a larger room. Puroair’s air quality indicator is controlled by an internal sensor in the 240. It is set to green for good, yellow for medium, and red for bad. The indicator light was sometimes difficult to see. The 240 comes with auto or manual modes, a child lock, a filter replacement light, and a timer. The 240 also features a three-stage filtration system, which includes a tightly woven HEPA 14 filter, activated carbon and a prefilter. Lastly, the 240’s black plastic attracted a noticeable amount of fingerprints.
Others We Tested
Coway Airmega 250 for $313: The Airmega 250 has a decently large footprint, but it’s rated to clean a 930-square-foot room twice an hour. It’s for this reason that I placed it right in the middle on the first floor to clean my living room and kitchen. The Smart mode detects airborne particles and increases the fan power every time we cook. Recently, it did the same thing when someone was patching drywall in my mudroom. This mode is powered by a PM10 or PM2.5 particle detector. I measured the fan’s highest setting at 60 decibels. If you prefer it quiet, there’s also a Sleep setting. There are the usual controls such as a timer and filter replacement indicator. The Airmega 250 has a true HEPA-type filter which needs to be changed every 6-12 months. Coway claims that this, along with the washable filter you should clean every two-weeks and the activated charcoal filter, allow the air purifiers to remove 99.999 per cent of ultrafine particle down to 0.01 microns. These filters are easy to remove and clean. It weighs about 21 pounds so it’s easy to move around. Coway provides a warranty of three years. Coway AirMega 250S has the same features as its predecessor, but it also includes Wi-Fi. This allows you to control and view more information via an app. Maybe you don’t care about another app. –Julian Chokkattu
Coway Airmega IconS for $469: Coway continues to make some of the prettier air purifiers, as you might have noticed in this guide, and that continues with the Airmega IconS. It looks like a side table so I place it next to my couch. When I sit down I place my phone on the Qi wireless charger pad to recharge it. You can use any phone that supports wireless charging, but you may have to remove your phone case. It’s easy to use and clean, just like all Coway air purifiers. This version has voice control and Wi-Fi. –Medea Giordano
How to Shop for an Air Purifier
How does a busy shopper find the right size purifier for a room they want to clean? According to the US Centers for Disease Control, you should aim for five exchanges of air per hour in a metric called ACH. Look at the airflow in cubic feet per hour at the lowest setting when evaluating an air purifier. To calculate the cubic footage in your room you multiply the height by the area. Imagine a one foot cube of Styrofoam. What is the maximum number of cubes you could fit in a room?
When shopping for an air cleaner, it’s important to know two acronyms or terms. Look for CARB certification. This means the air purifier has passed the strict standards set by the California Air Resources Board. Check the type of filter. We will explain the differences below. Don’t forget to remove the filter from its plastic wrapper! It’s an awful feeling to realize that you have been using your air purifier while it’s still wrapped in plastic. This is a good option for people who have allergies or respiratory problems, as it helps to remove airborne particles which can cause symptoms such as sneezing and sore throats, breathing difficulties, coughing and more. HEPA filters are not as effective at removing volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from the air, as activated carbon filters. But these are typically paired with carbon filters.
Activated Carbon: Activated carbon filters (also known as activated charcoal) are highly effective because they are very porous and have a large surface area–allowing the filters to absorb gas pollutants, odors, and VOCs. These filters are best at removing chemicals, fumes and smoke from the air. These filters need to be changed more frequently depending on the surrounding environment. Washable air filters:
Some of the air cleaners listed in this guide include washable prefilters, in addition to the HEPA or activated carbon filter. They are also the most economical since you do not have to purchase new filters every time you replace one. It is easy to remove the filter, wash it with soap and warm water, then let it air dry. Because they can’t filter out airborne pollutants like VOCs or gas pollutants, HEPA filters are required to be used in conjunction with them. The United States Environmental Protection Agency states that UV lights without the proper lamp coatings can emit ozone. We recommend checking this list from the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers for air purifiers that have been shown to emit little to no ozone.How to Check Your Air Quality
AccordionItemContainerButtonMany large states and cities are required to report the local outdoor Air Quality Index, which was established by the EPA and measures the concentrations of major air pollutants, like ground ozone and carbon monoxide, that are regulated by the Clean Air Act. AirCare is a good app for iOS and Android, but your state may offer more localized options. The Temtop M10 ($90) and Airthings View Plus ($300) measure formaldehyde, too. This is a toxic chemical that can be found in common household products, like particleboard furniture or some foam mattresses. Check out our complete guide to checking your air quality. Check out our complete guide to checking your air quality.
Air Purifiers We Don’t RecommendAccordionItemContainerButton
Ikea Starkvind for $150:
Dyson Humidify+Cool formsaldehyde is similar to those 3-in-1 appliances which are a combination of a coffee maker, egg cooker, and a toaster. If you want an air purifier to remove gases, I’d choose one that removes formaldehyde. It is a carcinogen. The unit I tested was not able to oscillate as it should have. I tried to troubleshoot through the manual but it seems that the more features an item has the more things can go wrong. The warranty is only two years, which seems to be a short time. –Lisa Wood Shapiro
Morento Air Purifier for $100:
This CARB-certified purifier caught our attention earlier this year for its value. The Morento has a CADR (cubic feet per minute) of 200, which is more powerful than other purifiers in its price range. It also comes with all the features found on higher-end purifiers, such as a PM2.5 sensor, ring-light indicators, and smart capabilities through the Havaworks App. The fan did not increase speed during the test period to compensate for increased PM 2.5 levels. This was true even after I burnt incense to raise the PM2.5 level to the 500s. The problem persisted even though the machine was set to automatic mode in both the app and the machine, and I had cleaned the sensor as well as reset the unit by unplugging the device. Regardless, even if this feature had been working properly, the Morento gives a strangely wide margin for acceptable PM 2.5 levels–the ring light indicator continued to glow green (“good”) up to 75 PM 2.5, which is 15 times more than the World Health Organization-recommended level of 5 micrograms per cubic meter. –Kat Merck
