Blueair air purifier review: Elegant, but expensive

Air purifiers, or air cleaners as they can be called, is something that would possibly be the need of every home in the near future. The amount of pollution in the atmosphere—thanks to vehicles, factories, and many such factors—we are constantly restricting ourselves from going out in the open. Fresh air is probably only available early morning, or farther off in the woods, away from all urban area.

So you restrict yourself from going into the polluted outdoors and stick to your home, office or your car. But you also need to know that your air inside your house, car or office is probably more polluted than the outdoors. The reason—stale air, suspended dust and pollen, dust mites and possibly mold too. Yes, your air inside your house worse than you thought. Unless you clean your walls, floors, furniture and everything inside, everyday, you cannot say that your house is clean.

Dust settles everywhere. With dust mites, pollen, mold and probably lots of other suspended elements in the air, it is highly possible that people are falling sick easily at home too. Keeping your doors and windows closed because you have an air conditioner could help. But you also need to open the doors to get in and out and windows once in a while to bring in fresh air and sunlight. And when you do, you let in pollutants back again. To clean it, you need a good air purifier.

Blueair has entered the Indian market with a bunch of health products. Jumping in on the IoT bandwagon, Blueair has brought in smart air purifiers that are connected to the internet and helps you clean the air in your house, making it safer to breath and healthier for your family. We had the Blueair Sense+ and Sense Aware with us for a while and here is our experience.

So what does an air purifier actually do? Well, there are a series of filters that are put into action when you turn on an air purifier. In the case of Blueair Sense+, the device is an active air purifier. It consists of HEPA air filters on each end and an ionizer in between. The air is sucked into the unit from the rear, filtered and then blown out from the front. The air passes through the first HEPA filter, which helps trap all possible dust suspended in the air. The particles that may be thinner and managed to pass through the first filter are then charged with positive ions before being sucked into the second filter. These charged ions then pass the positive charge to the suspended dust, which are then trapped in the second filter. While the ionizer is charging the particles en route, the air is also cleansed with mild ozone which helps kill germs, bacteria and mold that are present in the air. The ionizer also helps remove odour from the air before releasing it back into the atmosphere from the front end.

The Blueair Sense+ is bulky—not actually, but if you place it at a weird spot, it could occupy a substantial amount of space. The purifier is meant to be kept in an area where the air can flow across the room. Keeping it in a corner could help, but you would be blocking the airflow and also collecting enough amount of dust. The Sense+ is as huge as a Tower PC (the size of a nig server or a huge gaming PC that you would usually see on a desk). The unit has two replaceable filters, one at each end. the filters can be replaced by simply sliding off the two stands on the bottom. Each stand has a filter unit that can be replaced within a few seconds.  A handle and a power indicator are available on each side of the unit.

The top of the unit is where the control panel is. Encased in a hardened black glass, it sports a power button, fan speed, Wi-Fi button and indicators for network and filter replacement. The control panel is motion sensitive—simply waves your hand over the glass panel (a few inches above it) and the unit will come alive. Touch the circular illuminated rings and you can switch between four modes—off/low/medium/high. Next to it is a Wi-Fi indicator and touch switch, which needs to be used only when setting up the device with your smartphone. Lastly, a small red indicator will be visible only when the HEPA filters needs to be replaced. The control panel is just an indicator for operation and status and automatically puts the indicators to sleep to save on power. Lastly, the Blueair Sense+ is made of metal—the large unit looks elegant and is available in different colours to suit your style and décor. The only thing that would probably irritate you is the power cord which comes out from the bottom of the device—but has been intelligently placed there to hide it out of sight.

Connect the unit with the Blueair app and you can take full control of the unit when at home or when you are in the same network. Setting up the device for the first time will take you a while since you have to follow the instructions on your smartphone because the Sense+ has no display. Once connected, you can start using it flawlessly. Control the fan speeds, and switch it on or off with a timer, the app is like a remote control in your hands.

Specifications:

• Room Size: 194 square feet
• Clean Air Delivery Rate: Smoke/Dust/Pollen 120/140/150
• Air changes per hour: 5
• Airflow: 35 - 84 - 150 cubic feet per minute
• Dimensions: Height x Width x Depth -19.5 x 18.5 x 6.7 inches
• Product weight: 24 pounds
• Energy consumption: 7 - 20 - 46 watts
• Intended for use with standard US outlet: 120VAC, 60Hz
• Noise level: 29 - 40 - 50 decibels, dB(A)
• Electronic sensors: Remote
• On/off timer: No
• Filter replacement indicator: Yes
• Speed control options: 1 - 2 - 3, motion censored, smartphone
• Casters: No (handles only)
• Air outlet: Side
• Air inlet: Side
• Connectivity: Wi-Fi

But we have a complaint—priced at a whopping Rs 45,000, the Sense+, though beneficial and smart (controlled via the network), is still too expensive. The Sense+ does not have any sensors, period. The purifier has absolutely no means of letting itself (let alone the user) know that the air is pure, impure or if the filters are working not. The filters need to be replaced once every 6 months if you are using the device continuously for 24 hours. In short–when the Sense+ senses that the unit has completed 4,320 hours (approximately), it will put on the red indicator notifying you that the filters need to be changed. Now whether the unit was placed in the dirtiest environment or in a clean room, the Sense+ cannot determine in anyway if the filters are clean or dirty. The Sense+ can clean a 194 sqft room (within around 12 minutes) if it is kept closed at all times. This means, you cannot keep the doors or windows opened, and you would need an air conditioner installed. The Sense+ consumes a maximum of 55 watts of electricity in full operation mode.

Without a sensor to detect the pure or impure air, the unit seems incomplete. To solve the problem in that area, Blueair retails another optional sensor unit, called the Blueair Aware. But the price is pretty steep at Rs 20,000 added to the purifier—a grand total of Rs 65,000.

The Aware is a small conical unit, the size of a flower vase. It is powered by USB or any USB-based smartphone charger. Once plugged in, the unit can be connected to your smartphone (the same Blueair app) and interconnected to the Sense+ wirelessly. The phone, sensor and the purifier must be in the same home / office network for it to function. The sensor (Aware) is an intelligent air quality monitor and can detect impurities in the air in real time. The front of the sensor features a simple LED strip which lights up in blue or orange, denoting the quality of the air. If orange, then you need to purify the air. If blue, then you are good to go.

The Blueair Aware measures the indoor air quality and sends updates and alerts you in real time on your smartphone. You can keep track of the present air quality or keep track of the air quality over a weekly, monthly or yearly period. The sensor, along with the app, controls the purifier with respect to switching it on, off or increasing the fan speed, etc. the sensor detects humidity, temperature, VOC (Volatile Organic Compounds) and PM (Particulate Matter).

As far as the performance is concerned, we did notice a change in environment after we kept the device running for around 24 hours at our office. We could feel the air lighter and easier to breath. However, without a proper air quality measurement system, we cannot determine if the unit is doing what it says. Relying on the Blueair Aware’s sensors, we could mention that the air purification works well.

To also try on the same, we shifted the Sense+ and Aware to a smaller air-conditioned cabin and entertained a few smokers to some party. After around half an hour, the air was smoking with cigarette impurities and the place smelled like the one of the smoking rooms at the airport. We monitored the quality of the air on the Aware and turned on the sense+. Within 15 minutes, the entire room was clear of smoke. And after a few hours, we could find the room being rid of the smoke odour.

The Sense+ is silent—the fans are efficient and silent even at high speeds. It is best used in offices, living rooms, baby room or in hospital rooms. However, the cost of the unit is pretty expensive and you would need to opt for the Aware if you want to monitor the air quality too. We recommend the unit if you are looking for an elegant air purifier, unlike the ones in the market that spell themselves loud as air purifiers with their aesthetics. The Sense+ is an elegant looking purifier and no one would even tell that there is one in your house silently purifying the air.