You may have never given much thought to needing an air purifier in your life. What you may have noticed, however, is how much dust there seems to be floating around your house. And if you have a pet, you know that even though you can’t see it, pet dander is all around you, too. Considering all of this, an air purifier just might be the home appliance you never knew you needed. When it comes to buying an air purifier for your home, your decision is likely based on several variables: Does it work well, is it easy to use, will it match with or fit in my home, and is it affordable? Take a look at this effective, intuitive, and modern purifier, the Levoit Smart True HEPA Air Purifier. Read on to see if this appliance is right for you.
Setup Process: Swift and simple
We were surprised by how little time and mental energy it took to set up this air purifier. A quick glance at the instruction manual is really all you need before you begin setup. After unboxing the machine, you simply remove the plastic from the pre-installed filters and press the power button to turn it on. When setting up the air purifier, placement is paramount. It’s important to keep your air purifier near the outlet it’s plugged into and to keep the cord away from any heat source. You should be careful not to cover the cord with a rug or place it under any furniture. Finally, be sure to keep the cord out of areas where people walk often to prevent trips and falls.
Compatibility: Smartphone app or voice control
This air purifier works with your smartphone, allowing you to perform many smart home functions—such as controlling your air purifier from anywhere. This air purifier is compatible with the VeSync app, which you can download for free on your iOS or Android phone and set up in seconds. Once you’re connected, the app allows you to remotely adjust fan speeds, monitor air quality, turn the air purifier on or off, and turn the LED display on or off. It can also be used to create schedules and timers that run for up to 12 hours to customize how your air purifier runs. You can even keep track of the filter life and order new filters through the app. We love being able to control our air purifier from anywhere. We often use the app to turn it on shortly before arriving home to ensure that we’ll be breathing in fresh air from the moment we walk through the door. It’s also nice to be able to change settings from the comfort of our bed, especially switching it over to sleep mode. The Lavoit is also compatible with voice control platforms like Alexa, Google Assistant, and others, allowing you to operate your air purifier without lifting a finger.
Filtration System: Three stages of purifying the air
This powerful system filters air through a pre-filter, True HEPA filter, and an activated carbon filter to remove pollutants in the air. This air purifier also removes volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which are organic chemicals that have a high vapor pressure at ordinary room temperature. You may not have heard of VOCs, but you have smelled them. They are the gases or smells given off by paint, mattresses, and other goods that use chemicals during manufacturing. Lavoit’s filtration system is pretty straightforward. First, a pre-filter captures larger particles like dust and hair. Then a HEPA filter removes fine particles. (It should be noted that the high-efficiency particulate air—or HEPA—filter is the best-known air filter in the world. To qualify as a HEPA filter, the filter must trap 99.97 percent of pollutants that measure 0.3 microns or larger in size. For reference, one strand of hair is about 100 microns in width—which means the particles captured by a HEPA filter are very, very small.) One thing a HEPA filter is not able to trap is odor, and that’s where the activated carbon filter comes in. After each of these processes is complete, clean air is finally pumped out through a vent on the top of your air purifier.
Performance: Powerful and effective
The Lavoit’s Clean Air Delivery rating of 135+ means the purifier can cover up to 322 square feet, making it ideal for use in an average-to large-sized living room. We chose to test the Lavoit in our medium-sized bedroom. Since we started using our air purifier about a month ago, we’ve noticed a little less dust on our window sills and fewer particles floating around in the early morning light. For the most part, however, we haven’t noticed any discernible difference in air quality—but that’s not to say there haven’t been improvements. We find the air purifier’s air quality monitor—which allows you to receive real-time feedback on the quality of the surrounding air—to be very reassuring and satisfying. The Lavoit’s built-in sensor gauges your environment so you can keep tabs on the condition of your air. If the air is good quality, your app will read “good” or “very good.” If the air is moderate or bad quality, it will read “moderate” or “bad” and you will hear the machine automatically kick into high gear.
Added Features: Custom settings for your needs
The Lavoit allows you to choose from various settings, including low, medium, and high fan speeds that can tackle any level of air quality. It also features helpful auto and sleep modes: Auto mode uses a sensor to automatically adjust the fan speed based on surrounding air quality, while sleep mode uses the lowest possible fan speed to maintain a quiet environment as you rest. Even on its highest setting, the fan is relatively quiet, with a noise level of fewer than 52 decibels. Nevertheless, we found the high fan speed to be a little loud if we were trying to read, sleep, or just enjoy some quiet time. When it’s time for bed, many people will find the white noise from the air purifier comforting. Only the fussiest of sleepers would be irritated by the soft purr of the sleep mode setting, which runs almost silently at just 27 decibels. Being able to control the speed of the fan is nice but for the most part, we relied on the automatic sensor to do its thing. It continually tests the quality of the air and controls the strength of the fan accordingly.
Accessories: Pricey replacement filters
One of the drawbacks of the Lavoit is that, while the machine itself is pretty reasonably priced, the replacement air filters are a little on the expensive side at $29.99 each or $56.99 for a two-pack. When the air purifier is on the high fan setting, it can cause the machine to burn through filters faster. Levoit says the filters should last between three to six months, depending on how often your air purifier is used. If you’re using the air purifier most of the day and night like we are, then we doubt the filter will last the full six months. But even if each filter lasts only three months, that means you’ll be investing $10 a month. Another nice feature is that the machine will let you know when you’re ready for a new air filter, thanks to a built-in algorithm that monitors the airflow through the filters.
Design: Intuitive and attractive
This air purifier is made of high-quality, durable materials, which suggests it will last a long time. Everything about the Levoit’s design is intuitive, from operating the touch-button controls and smartphone app to installing and changing the filters. This air purifier also features a very sleek and modern design, making it a welcome addition to any home. One drawback is its large footprint. If you have a small living room, bedroom, or nursery, you may feel like this air purifier takes up a lot of space. But in these cases, you might just need a smaller model. Personally, we think our air purifier might be more at home in our larger living room than in our 150-square-foot bedroom. We’re so pleased with this product that we’re planning to move it to our living room and buy Lavoit’s smaller air purifier model for our bedroom and nursery.
Price: Lots of bang for your buck
This air purifier offers one of the best things money can buy: peace of mind. The comfort of knowing you’re breathing in pure, clean air makes this purchase worth every penny. We also love that this air purifier comes with a one-year buyer’s assurance, with a free option to extend the warranty by one additional year by simply registering your new product on the Lavoit website. Lavoit also offers an extended, 90-day money-back guarantee if you are dissatisfied with your purchase for any reason.
The Levoit Smart True HEPA Air Purifier vs. The Coway AP-1512HH Mighty Air Purifier
This triple-filter air purifier boasts an elegant design, top-of-the-line performance, whisper-quiet operation, and excellent ease-of-use. It has all of the qualities you should look for in an air purifier and then some.
