Don’t struggle with odors and allergies with this unit’s 3-stage dual filter design-H13 True HEPA filters that trap 99.97% of airborne pollutants sized 0.3 microns. This unit is not equally efficient as the larger Levoit models but it does its job. The Levoit LV-PUR131S is an excellent option for those looking for a powerful machine, capable of cleaning the air in a medium-sized room. With a pre-filter, H13 HEPA, and Activated Carbon filter under the hood, this unit makes light work of ultrafine particles, capturing 99.97% of pollutants as small as 0.3 microns.
It weighs 11 pounds and it’s not small, running about 20 inches tall and 10 inches in diameter. It’s made for large rooms, with an effective range of up to 403 square feet. It has a very reasonable MSRP for how much performance you get out of this little machine. If you are looking for an air purifier for a small room or simply don’t want to shell out more money for a more powerful device, the Levoit is a great choice. The only thing this device is really missing is an automatic air sensor. Some of the more premium options will kick on by themselves if the air quality in the room dips below a certain level.
As Levoit’s mid-range unit from the celebrated Core range of purifiers, the 400S is the ideal unit for the average home. Best suited to medium to large rooms, this purifier comes with a pre-filter, H13 HEPA, and Activated Carbon filters to tackle a whole host of pollutants, marking its impressive performance with a clean air delivery rate (CADR) of 260 CFM. Manufacturers typically base their room-size recommendations on tests with the machines set on high—no doubt for marketing purposes, but also because CADR ratings are usually based on this setting. Purifiers rated for spaces larger than the one you plan to use them in can operate on lower, quieter speeds. That said, after we created the abnormal smoke conditions at the outset of the tests, from then on the New York test room was subject to only the natural, ambient air conditions and whatever leakage infiltrated the test room. So we deliberately countered that setup in our Los Angeles office, where we tested our top pick, the Coway Airmega AP-1512HH Mighty, and our large-space pick, the Blueair Blue Pure 211+, on handling ongoing smoke from burning incense sticks.
And even on its highest setting, on which it produced an intolerable 66 decibels, the Air Mini+ only reduced the smoke by 91%; the Levoit captured 97.4% on high, while measuring at 54 decibels. That’s a bit too loud for continuous use, but less than half as loud (in terms of human levoit air filter perception) than the Air Mini+. At its highest sub-50-decibel setting, which was speed three of a total six, the Air Pro performed similarly to our top-pick Coway on its medium setting, removing 86.1 percent of the smoke particles we’d filled our test space with in 30 minutes.
We set 4 ACH as the minimum for a purifier to be considered adequate for each room size. Based on our years of real-world testing, we know that 4 ACH ensures rapid and nearly complete cleaning of highly and continuously polluted air—a big concern during, say, a nearby wildfire. One of our favorite levoit purifier air purifiers of the year, Levoit’s EverestAir Smart True air purifier is down to $350 right now (save $150). It can completely filter 2,745 square feet an hour, and you can choose from four different vent angles to send fresh air in any direction while the EverestAir filters the room.