12 Best Air Purifiers (2023): HEPA, Portable, and Quiet

Mar 09, 2024

Brenda Stolyar Gear Team

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Welcome to the future, where clean air is a luxury. From pandemics to wildfires, air purifiers have become the gotta-have-it home appliance. Buildings let in a lot of particulate matter, volatile organic compounds, and vaporous chemicals. Indoor plastics, furniture, paint, and flooring off-gas noxious fumes too. There’s also evidence that air filters can help clean Covid-causing virus particles from the air.

Since your home might be your workplace, playground, meditation studio, dine-in restaurant, neighborhood bar, refuge, or movie theater, you want to ensure that the air you're breathing for most of the day is clean. These are our top air purifiers. We ran them in apartments and homes all across the US. We tested them during the wildfire season and in living rooms, kitchens, and bedrooms. All of these purifiers provided significant anecdotal benefits, from stopping persistent coughs and allergy symptoms, to helping us wake up with clearer sinuses and less raspy throats.

Not sure if you need an air purifier or something else? We have a guide to all the different devices that can help improve your indoor air quality. For more home tips, take a peek at our other guides, including the Best Robot Vacuums and the Best Mesh Wi-Fi Routers.

Updated June 2023: We corrected the link to the Honeywell HPA5200B, added the Levoit 300S as our favorite smart air purifier and information on types of filters.

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For sheer simplicity and affordability, the Airmega 200M will do the job for most people's lives, houses, and budgets. The compact, attractive device easily fits into a corner of my bedroom and is effective for spaces up to 361 square feet. It saves energy with an included air quality monitor that turns the machine off when no pollution is detected and automatically increases the fan speed if it detects particles. When my dog plopped down in her bed, or when I cooked bacon with the bedroom door open, the Airmega 200M roared to life. You'll probably want to turn off the AQ monitor's bright light at night, though. —Adrienne So

★ Alternative: If you have an even smaller space (under 250 square feet), then get the attractive Coway Airmega 150 ($166). It's ultra-quiet, and the color-coded air monitor light and touch controls are intuitive. There's also a light that indicates when it's time to change the deodorization or HEPA filter. The third prefilter is washable. It's pricey for its size but is nicer looking and comes in a variety of colors (including pink!).

The Airmega 200M is ideal for spaces up to 361 square feet; the AirMega 150 is for spaces up to 250 square feet.

Coway's Airmega 250 is the perfect size for a typical living room or den. It captures 99.999 percent of particulates down to 0.1 microns, which makes it capable of tackling wildfire smoke and big-city pollution. The washable prefilter keeps the replaceable HEPA filter lasting longer too. And, hey, it looks like the air purifier version of a 1994 Plymouth Acclaim, but in an endearingly hip way; retro without trying to look retro. —Matt Jancer

★ Alternative: The Airmega 250S ($373) is the smart version of the standard Airmega 250. You can conveniently view air status and control it with your phone via an app. If you find them both at similar prices, it might be worth the small upgrade.

The Airmega 250 and 250S are both ideal for spaces up to 930 square feet

This Honeywell is rated for rooms up to 360 square feet, which is on par with the other large-room air purifiers we tested. It's also lightweight and easy to pick up and move around with its built-in handle. Inside, it packs two HEPA-grade filters and an activated carbon prefilter for trapping volatile organic compounds such as cooking odors. When air quality dipped inside my apartment, the InSight quickly ramped up its fan and sucked up the odors or invisible particulates. For around $200, you get a strong-performing purifier with an automatic set-it-and-forget-it mode, plus you can tote it from room to room. —Matt Jancer

Ideal for spaces up to 360 square feet

The Levoit 300S cycles the air five times per hour in spaces up to 219 square feet, so it's great for bedrooms, living rooms, and kitchens. It's marketed as a tabletop air purifier, but at almost 9 inches across, it's on the larger side, so I keep it on my living room floor. It's easy to carry around from room to room, though. It also packs a prefilter, an activated carbon filter, and an H13 True HEPA Filter that captures 99.99 percent of bacteria and mold. On top are clearly-labeled touch controls and an indicator light that changes color depending on the air quality.

Using the VeSync companion app, you can check the air quality indoors and tinker with settings. When I was cooking salmon in my tiny studio (smoke and odor filling up the space), the app listed the air quality at 209 and labeled it as “bad.” I switched the fan to high and the quality was back down to 74 (“good”) within 15 minutes. You can also set it to automatic, which will adjust the fan speed accordingly depending on the quality. It's been super useful amid the spread of smoke in New York City due to the Canadian wildfires. I've been constantly monitoring the air quality inside my apartment via the app, which gave me some peace of mind as we waited for the smoke to dissipate. —Brenda Stolyar

★ Alternative: We're also fans of the Bissell 320 Max ($340). Like the Levoit 300S, it has a prefilter, an activated carbon filter, and an H13 HEPA filter. And it works with the Bissell app for monitoring. Both the digital display and app will tell you what the air quality status is too. But with the ability to cycle air 4.8 times per hour in a 366-square-foot room, it covers more surface area than Levoit's. It's also more aesthetically pleasing, with wooden feet and a place to wrap any extra cord.

The Levoit 300S is ideal for spaces up to 219 square feet; the Bissell 320 Max is ideal for spaces up to 366 square feet.

Julian Chokkattu

Reid McCarter

Joe Ray

Medea Giordano

There's an Ikea-like simplicity to the Pure 411, aesthetically and mechanically. To change the filter, you unscrew the fan component from the air filter and then pull the washable fabric prefilter sock off the filter. There's a one-touch control on the top: Tap once for low power, again for medium, again for high, and again for off. That's it. No smartphone app, no display, no smart mode. It can cycle the air in a 161-square-foot room five times per hour. I slept with the Pure 411 just 2 feet away from my head, and I couldn't hear a thing when it was on low. Its quietness and narrow footprint make it ideal for small bedrooms. —Matt Jancer

★ Alternative: The Pure 411 Auto ($140) is just as silent, but it packs a built-in sensor that automatically increases the fan speed when it detects particles. WIRED Senior Associate Editor, Adrienne So, said she'd leave it at the lowest fan setting at night, and it usually ratcheted up to the top fan speed by the morning. She also likes that it's soft and lightweight, so it's safe around her kids.

The Pure 411 is ideal for spaces up to 161 square feet; the 411 Auto is ideal for spaces up to 191 square feet.

The Airmega 400 is rated to clean up to 1,560 square feet and cycles all the air in that space twice per hour. But in a room half as big, its HEPA filters cycle the air four times per hour. From its touch controls to its color-coded air quality monitor light ring, it's intuitive to use. Changing filters is simple. Two sturdy covers are held on magnetically and come free easily, and the two filters snap in and out without a fuss. I tested the 400S, which includes Wi-Fi that lets you control it from a smartphone app. But if you don't need to control your purifier remotely, the cheaper 400 version is the way to go. —Matt Jancer

Ideal for spaces up to 1,560 square feet

If you have a large room (up to 600 square feet) and want to save floor space, consider the Aura Air. You can prop the Air up on a shelf or tall table if you want, but you can easily mount it on a wall. Air goes through four stages of purification: The prefilter grabs dust, pollen, and larger particles; a HEPA filter with three antibacterial layers targets fine particles; a “Sterionizer” releases positive and negative ions to freshen the air and further removes pollutants; and Ultraviolet-C (UVC) LEDs kill parasites, viruses, and other bacteria. Or so Aura claims. It's difficult to test how well all of that works. It's important to note that we don't typically recommend air purifiers with UVC because it has the potential to release ozone, but the company says the Aura Air received California Air Resources Board (CARB) certification and passed the UL ozone safety testing.

The app is convenient. A questionnaire asks for health conditions that might apply (like pregnancy, asthma, or if any children or elderly folks live in the home), common allergens that affect you, and your level of physical activity. Based on your location, the app might offer recommendations to keep you breathing easily, like staying inside if the outdoor air quality is poor. —Medea Giordano

Ideal for spaces up to 600 square feet

Julian Chokkattu

Reid McCarter

Joe Ray

Medea Giordano

The Pure Fan Auto looks more like a little piece of art than an air purifier. We like other Blueair products, and this one adds cool air to its purifying capabilities—it cycles air five times an hour in a 326-square-foot room. The fan is not powerful enough to cool down a sweltering room on its own, but it feels quite nice if you’re sitting in front of it. It hardly makes a sound, but if you’re a light sleeper, Night mode turns the fan to its lowest setting and shuts off the air quality indicator light. —Medea Giordano

Ideal for spaces up to 326 square feet

This air purifier from Clorox isn't the prettiest, but it makes for an excellent desk or nightstand companion. I've been using it as the latter—thanks to the built-in adjustable nightlight and whisper-quiet setting, it doesn't disrupt my sleep. It has three speeds (low, medium, and high) and an optional timer with three settings (two hours, four hours, and eight hours). It's easy to operate with responsive touch controls.

Given its compact size, the Tabletop is best for small spaces. The 360-degree HEPA filter cleans rooms up to five times per hour when placed in an 80-square-foot room and two times an hour in a room up to 200-square feet. It also captures 99.97 percent of particles as small as 0.1 microns, while the prefilter captures larger particles. When it’s time to replace the filter, you’ll see the “Check Filter Light” glow red. Clorox has a version that connects to Alexa, which lets you use your existing Alexa speaker to turn the purifier on or off, change settings, or check the filter life. —Brenda Stolyar

Ideal for spaces up to 200 square feet

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 an end table, and so I keep it right next to my couch. The star of the show is the Qi wireless charging pad, so when I sit down, I just plop my phone right on the purifier to let it recharge. Any phone with wireless charging support should work, though you may need to take your phone case off.

Like all Coway purifiers, it’s powerful—it cleans the air in spaces up to 649 square feet—is easy to control, and simple to clean. This version is Wi-Fi enabled and voice-controlled, but there's a slightly cheaper Icon without those features. —Medea Giordano

Ideal for spaces up to 649 square feet

Julian Chokkattu

Reid McCarter

Joe Ray

Medea Giordano

I’ve had this IQAir model in my house for a little over a year now, purchased in response to Oregon’s intense wildfires in the summer of 2020. Since then, I haven’t used it for anything other than basic kitchen smoke, but it does the job well. It's rated to remove the volatile organic compounds from smoke, which means we’ll be safe if a bad wildfire season hits Portland again. It covers large rooms up to 1,125 square feet. Unfortunately, it's one of the pricier options in our guide. I only recommend it for those with breathing issues, if you live near industrial areas, or if you're in a wildfire-prone area. Otherwise, you’re probably fine spending less. —Parker Hall

Ideal for spaces up to 1,125 square feet

About the size of a water bottle, the Wynd Plus is one of the smallest air purifiers on the market. It's not a HEPA filter, but it can clean all particles greater than 0.3 microns, which includes auto emissions and most wood smoke, in about a 3-foot span. It also comes with its own air quality sensor, a microfiber traveling bag, and a small kickstand to prop it upright.

It is truly dystopian to say that this might be a useful item to keep in your go-bag if you live on the West Coast. I usually bring it in the car if my family and I have to travel through wildfire smoke. It's easy to set up on the nightstand next to my two kids, and it fits perfectly in a cup holder if you have to evacuate by car. —Adrienne So

We've tested a lot of different air purifiers. Here are a few we like but aren't as noteworthy as the picks above.

Smartmi Air Purifier for $80 (Refurbished): This large air purifier has a 360-degree design, which means you shouldn't keep it against a wall—it needs some space for the best results. It captures particulates smaller than 2.5 microns in size. I have it in my living room, which is next to my kitchen, and it always roars to life when we're cooking (it gets pretty loud when the air quality is poor). It changes air 12 times in rooms up to 100 square feet and once in a 517 square-foot room. You can use the Mi Home app (iOS, Android) to see the air quality of the room, temperature, and humidity, as well as the filter's remaining life. I usually left it on Auto, but there's a manual mode to control speeds yourself, and a night mode to keep it quiet and turn off the touch display at the top. It supports Alexa and Google Assistant.—Julian Chokkattu

Smartmi P1 Air Purifier for $180: Weirdly, you need to use a different Smartmi app (iOS, Android) to set up and control the P1. It's similar to the Smartmi above, even using an H13 HEPA filter, except it's rated for smaller rooms between 180 to 320 square feet. This one adds HomeKit support on top of Google Assistant and Alexa, which is great if you have an iPhone, and it also has a nice handle you can use to tote it around from room to room. I have it in my office and the sound is noticeable when there are more particulates than usual (like when my partner is baking cookies).—Julian Chokkattu

Julian Chokkattu

Reid McCarter

Joe Ray

Medea Giordano

Many large states and cities are required to report the local outdoor Air Quality Index (AQI), which was established by the Environmental Protection Agency and measures the concentrations of major air pollutants, like ground ozone and carbon monoxide, that are regulated by the Clean Air Act. We like AirCare (iOS, Android), but your state or county may also have even more localized apps.

To check if your indoor air quality stacks up, consumer monitors like the Temtop M10 ($95) and Airthings View Plus ($300) also measure carbon dioxide, temperature, and humidity, in addition to pollutants and particulate matter. The M10 measures formaldehyde too, a noxious chemical that off-gasses from common household items, such as particleboard furniture and some foam mattresses. Need more information? Check out our complete guide to checking your air quality.

When searching for an air purifier, you might notice each model has a different filter type. Finding the right one for your space can feel confusing. Below, we break down the difference between each one.

HEPA Filters: This is a high-efficiency particulate air filter that can remove at least 99.97 percent of dust, mold, pollen, bacteria, and airborne particles as small as 0.3 microns. It's a great option for those who suffer from allergies or respiratory issues since it can help to clear out airborne particles that can trigger symptoms—like sneezing, sore throat, difficulty breathing, coughing, and more. It's worth noting, however, that HEPA filters don't remove volatile organic compounds from the air as activated carbon filters do. 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. They’re best for removing fumes, smoke, or chemicals from the air. But these filters have to be replaced more often depending on the environment. For example, if there’s a wildfire in your area and the air purifier is working more intensely than usual, it’s important to replace a saturated filter to avoid toxic gases from being released back into the air.

Washable Air Filters: A few of the air purifiers we've listed in this guide come with washable prefilters in addition to a HEPA and/or activated carbon filter—which is what you'll typically find. These are the most cost-effective since you don't have to buy new ones each time you need to replace a filter. Simply remove it, scrub it with soap and water, and let it dry.

UV-C Sanitizer Filters: Ultraviolet filters use UV light to kill viruses, parasites, mold spores, and bacteria. They can't remove airborne particles, VOCs, or gas pollutants, so they're only fully effective when combined with a HEPA filter. According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), UV lights without proper lamp coatings have the potential to 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.

If you run your air purifier constantly, you probably don't need Wi-Fi connectivity, which could save you a hundred bucks or so. A few of our favorite purifiers have a smart mode that monitors your air quality periodically, switching on more power when pollutant levels rise and switching back to a low-power eco mode when air quality is good. However, if you are frequently turning your purifier on and off depending on external stimuli (sunny day or your city is on fire), remote connectivity might make sense for you.

Check the room-capacity ratings on our picks. Manufacturers rate purifiers by square footage, but they use different yardsticks to come up with their ratings. One may rate their air purifiers' coverage based on two air changes per hour (ACH), or how many times the purifier can cycle through all the air in a room, while another may rate theirs based on five ACH. The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers recommends a minimum of about three ACH for residential buildings. You'll likely end up needing more than one purifier. Even if doors are open, thresholds act as soft barriers. One larger air purifier for your main living space and one smaller one for your bedroom is a good setup.

Adrienne So

Adrienne So

Medea Giordano

Adrienne So

Brenda Stolyar

Nena Farrell

Simon Hill

Scott Gilbertson

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