WIRED Tests Dozens of Air Purifiers a Year. Here’s What We Look For (2025)

If I put a box on the side and I cannot enter the product to lift it from its box, then it is the first strike. Wired considers accessibility, which means handles and wheels on heavier air purifiers. When I review a unit, I think of those who have less strength of the upper body by moving the devices and if they would be able to maneuver it around their house. I move air purifiers all around my apartment; I should not have to bend at my knees to adjust the location of a purifier.

Photography: Lisa Wood Shapiro

I was able to move the 50 pound prox using its hidden handles and integrated lockable wheels.

Once an air purifier is unpacked, it is time to associate it with its application. Not all of the air purifiers wired in air tests have an application, but if it is done, the matching process should not be complicated, and it should not require a lot of time. The best user experience is when an air purifier has an QR code that opens the application and adds the device. An application with a simple dashboard, a graph that corresponds to the AQI color codes, and an intelligent remote control is generally everything that is necessary, although it is a bonus if the application gives to filtering life expectancy.

I prefer a simple power bar design which shows the percentage of lifespan of the filter used. And while the air purifiers models give recommendations on the moment of replacing the filter, like every six months, or when the replacement filter indicator light shines on the device, nothing beats the head of knowledge exactly the amount of life of the filter used.

Internal air sensors, lights and scores

While some air purifiers had internal air sensors when I started testing in 2018, the majority of the current purifiers we are testing now. If the purifier has internal sensors, there is generally a light. Following question: Does the air purifier have an adiceal score (AQI) to see or read the indicators or to read? If it is an intelligent air purifier, then the sensor reads feed the application of the device. And I prefer an indicator that follows EPA color codes for air quality index. This means green for a good air, yellow for moderate, orange for unhealthy for sensitive groups, red for unhealthy, purple for very unhealthy and brown for dangerous. There are companies, such as Coway, which have their own point of view on color codes, which can be confusing.

Photography: Lisa Wood Shapiro

Although Coway air purifiers are Coway’s most wired choices, if I could change something about them, it would be their personalized color scale, where blue means good and green means moderate. More and more air purifiers also display the air quality numbers of their internal sensors. Most of the time, air purifiers will show a PM 2.5 reading. If the internal sensor detects an increase in PM 2.5, the auto mode will trigger a higher fan speed, the indicator can display orange and red with the PM 2.5 number as 100. I should be able to see this light through the room, and the figures must be easy to read.

Then there are certain models, such as those of Shark, which use their own notation system. A score of 100 represents a good air on the display of Shark Neverchange, for example, but 100 H 2.5 would be considered unhealthy.

Photography: Lisa Wood Shapiro

Shark

Neverchange air purifier

Noise and size

I think that labeling on air purifiers is confusing express. Often the square feet listed on a product is for A Air exchange per hour at the highest adjustment of the purifier. An air exchange is the number of times an air purifier can clean the air of a part in an hour. American disease control and prevention centers recommend five air exchanges per hour. If you have a 200 square feet part, your air purifier should be able to shoot the room in the filter using the fan. This air crosses the filter, PM 2.5 and the VOCs are captured by the filter, and the clean air is released in the air at least five times in an hour. Often, cables will not recommend air purifiers that can only clean unusually small spaces. And although these pretty miniature table air or air purifiers seem to be an easy solution, they are generally too tiny to effectively clean air in a medium size room.

Wired also uses a decibel to verify the manufacturer’s decibel complaints. Most of the time, decibels are close to those listed on the user user manual. Sometimes they are stronger. What is too strong? The buzzing of a refrigerator is between 40 and 50 decibels; A conversation is around 60 decibels. Ideally, an air purifier should be able to clean the air in your room five times per hour without looking like a conversation. And if an air purifier is stronger – much stronger – than the manufacturer says, we will include this in our exam or will not recommend it.

If an air purifier is too strong in its highest fan setting, users are likely to lower this fan speed in a quieter and less effective adjustment, making the air purifier in no way than a well-being accessory. Another wired problem takes into account the moment when air intake exceeds external vents, accumulating tufts of unsightly animal hair outside the air purifier.