A high-quality air purifier can come in handy if you spend a lot of time cheffin’ it up in the kitchen, if you have pets that shed, if you use cleaning products throughout the house, or even if your surfaces seem to collect a considerable amount of dust. This is particularly true if you don’t or can’t open the windows to let fresh air circulate, or if the air outside isn’t the freshest to begin with, as may be the case during allergy or wildfire seasons.
Here’s a closer look at the top five air purifiers, listed in alphabetical order, from our ratings. For more options, explore our comprehensive air purifier ratings, where you can read more about the 150-plus models we currently rate and filter them according to your needs (including by price, brand, room size, and weight). To learn more about how air purifiers work, check out our air-purifier buying guide.
10 inch CTO GAC UDF Activated Active Carbon Block Filter for water purifier
Best Air Purifiers
The Alen BreatheSmart 75i Pure proves to be top-notch at capturing and removing dust and smoke while running at both high and low speeds. It’s not terribly loud, so holding a conversation or getting work done while the unit runs should be easy enough. Another reason this model receives high marks? Its energy and operating costs, including filter replacements, run roughly $140 annually, which is lower than many of the standout models in our ratings. Plus, the machine covers up to 1,300 square feet, much more than several of the others highlighted here. Alen received high marks for predicted reliability, and CR members were highly satisfied with their purchase.
The portable Blue Pure 211i Max features an indicator light to alert you when you need to change or clean the filter. It also has a dirt sensor and four speeds. On its higher setting, it’s terrific at removing dust, pollen, and smoke, but expect a bit of noise. Try it on low and you’ll have more quiet while still experiencing top-notch results. This model is designed for use in a large space of 350 to 650 square feet and costs about $109 a year to maintain—just more than half that of the Pure 211+. It also weighs only 17 pounds, making it easy to move around. CR members found Blueair air purifiers highly reliable and were quite satisfied with their purchase.
The Blueair Classic 605 removes particles impressively at both high- and low-speed settings. While it hums along pretty quietly on low, it’s downright noisy on high. Filter replacements and energy use will set you back around $260 per year. The machine weighs a hefty 30 pounds but has casters that make it easy to move from room to room. Its claimed capacity is a room of 775 square feet. Blueair is highly rated for predicted reliability and owner satisfaction.
The CleanForce Mega 1000, a newcomer to CR’s ratings, does a top-notch job of removing dust, pollen, and smoke at both high and low speeds, but you are going to hear it. Noise levels while operating are average, at best. This tower model has an indicator light that lets you know when it’s time to change the filter. It also has a washable plastic prefilter that captures larger particles to prolong the life of the main filter. At roughly $300, the annual cost for filter replacements and energy use is quite pricey—in fact, it’s the most expensive in this roundup. However, each side of this powerful machine has its own fan and filter (which, in fact, incorporates multiple filters, including a woven pre-filter, HEPA filter, and activated carbon filter).
At 50 pounds, the Coway Airmega ProX is by far the heaviest air purifier in this roundup, but it also provides the best performance. On both higher and lower speeds, this model excels at clearing rooms of dust, pollen, and smoke. And it has the best noise scores on this list. This air purifier accommodates indoor spaces of up to a whopping 2,126 square feet—that’s 800 square feet more than the comparably sized Alen. However, the ProX’s top-tier performance comes at a hefty price of about $1,000 upfront and $247 annually. And unlike many of the air purifiers shown here, it doesn’t have a remote control or an app. The ProX features three speeds, a filter indicator, and a dirt sensor. As with Blueair purifiers, CR members are highly satisfied with their Coway air purifiers, and they earn top marks for predicted reliability.
How We Picked the Best Air Purifiers
Our engineers find that many of the models we run in our labs can ace our tests at high speed with no problem. It’s often how much debris these machines can capture when not on full blast that’s a challenge. The best air purifiers in our ratings are capable of clearing the air even on low settings—and they do it without making a racket. What’s more, they feature an intuitive design, so you don’t need a PhD in particle physics to operate them. And it’s a breeze to move them from room to room, maneuver the controls, and change filters.
In March 2023, we also began folding a brand’s owner satisfaction and reliability ratings into a model’s Overall Score. These ratings are based on Consumer Reports’ 2022 Summer Survey, in which members reported on 8,377 air purifiers purchased between 2012 and 2022. We expect to incorporate our most recent survey data later this spring.
How We Test Air Purifiers
To test air purifiers, we inject smoke and dust particles into a sealed chamber to assess how well each model removes particles between 0.1 and 1 micron. (Human hair has a diameter of roughly 100 microns.) Using a particle counter, we measure the change in particle concentration as the air purifier runs for 15 minutes at the highest speed and then at a lower speed. And because these machines are designed to run day and night, we measure noise levels, in decibels, at every speed, and calculate annual operating costs for filter replacements and energy use to run the machine 24 hours a day.
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