The best air purifiers of 2024, tested for fresher, allergen-free air

The best air purifiers will help you towards a healthier home. They'll clear out pollen, pollutants, and allergens from your air with minimal noise and maximal benefits. We've been testing models for hayfever sufferers, pet homes, busy homes, and more — these are the ones we loved.

I remember the days when 'clean air' meant cracking open a window and letting the breeze run through your home. I'm sure, even then, the air wasn't pure, but it feels like we're a far cry from that now. These days, opening a window invites all sorts of airborne pollutants into your home, whether it's from traffic and smoke or allergens and pollen. If you choose to keep the windows closed, it's almost worse. You're trapping dust, mould spores, viruses, and Volatile Organic Compounds (released from laminated wood, MDF, paints, and cleaning products) in your room.

So how do you improve air quality in the home? The answer is actually very simple. Even a small air purifier or air purifying plant can completely overhaul the air quality in your room. Air purifiers work by using a fan to suck in air, drawing it through high-efficiency particulate arrest (HEPA) filters to trap particles, before recirculating the particle-free air back into the room. In some cases, you'll want one of the best dehumidifiers to take moisture out of the air too, but air purifiers do a lot of the leg work.

We've been testing all the best air purifiers on the market, looking for the models that help soothe hayfever symptoms in the summer, keep the air clear in the winter, and generally let you breathe easy in the comfort of your own home. Overall, the Meaco 76X5 ticked all the boxes. It can completely purify rooms up to 30m² without generating a lot of noise and using much electricity. It's not the only one we loved though. There were models from Dyson, AEG, and Philips making perfect examples of exactly how air purifiers work. We've put all the details below.

Our top 6

Best air purifier overall

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I was apprehensive that the compact MeacoClean couldn't live up to its immense hype, but it does. In fact, it's even better than I expected.  Of all the models we tested, the catchily named CA-HEPA 76x5 was the smallest air purifier to boast an air-quality sensor and smart controls. There’s a control panel and display on top, plus coloured lights to give a visual indication of air quality - and the machine’s companion app adds remote control, air-quality tracking, scheduling, and even voice control to the offering.

Some say, this does it all. It's smart, compact, and affordable. However, what it isn't is stylish. Luckily, the design is subtle enough to blend in well with your home. What it lacks in looks it makes up for in performance: this model tested well, effectively cleaning the air in a 30m² room. Its three-layer filter includes HEPA and activated charcoal to catch microscopic particles and gases. 

The filter will, however, need replacing every six months, so that’s an additional cost to bear in mind. Overall, the Meaco is hard to fault, as it's compact, affordable, has great smart controls, and will help you work towards living in a cleaner, healthier, and more sustainable home.

You can find out more in our full MeacoClean CA-HEPA 76x5 Wi-Fi air purifier review.

Best air purifier and fan

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Dyson does everything differently, including their air purifiers. This stylish, simple model sets the tone for any elegany home. It's easy to use, effective, and has a useful formaldehyde-filtering feature. It's not a given that every model offers this, but if it does, it's really helpful to have. You might not be aware of the damaging effects of formaldehyde; the pungent gas is often emitted from furniture (including new sofas and wood-based products). 

There are lots of useful features integrated into the Dyson. The app is brilliant if you want to gauge your current air quality, (which can range from good to very poor). It can tell you how many of each particulate (be it a PM10 or a PM2.5) or harmful gases is in the air, all of which it will catch. In fact, the Dyson collects potentially harmful gas (called HCHO), as well as ultra-fine dust and allergens and VOCs (volatile organic compounds), and particulates down to the size of 0.1 microns.

We put this through the ringer in our tests. We used it when we built a coffee table in our room, as well as to eliminate smoke from a room (when Laura, one of our experts, forgot she left bread in the oven), and when building work was happening in the house. Each time, we read the graph displayed on the Dyson, showing us it had quickly taken the air quality from 'poor' to 'very good' in a matter of minutes.

As well as the purifying qualities, the Dyson also acts as a dual-purpose appliance, helping heat and cool your home too. We used it to keep cool in summer heatwaves and warm up in chilly evenings and it worked well across all functions. It's expensive, but we're treating it as a worthwhile investment.

You can find out more in our full Dyson Hot + Cool review.

Best air purifier for allergies

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You'd be forgiven for thinking that the best air purifier for allergies was capitalising on their title, but actuallym this is really affordable. It's small, easy too use, and is really effective at removing allergens and pollen from the air, just ask our hayfever sufferers. It works wonders. 

The only catch we'd forewarn you about is that, whilst this really is the best air purifier for allergies, it's only designed to clean air in a single 15m² room. Should that be what you’re looking for, it’s perfect. If not, you might need to take a look at some other options.

We used this during the summer and in pet homes, where allergens are seemingly everywhere and were impressed at how much it eased our wheezing and puffiness. Our experts loved how simple this is to use. "You just tap a button and select from three power levels. The high power filters the air faster, but it's louder. I only used the lowest setting and I was fine. It's brilliant if you're on a budget." If the idea of this being 'louder' alarmed you, don't worry. The clever three-layer filtration includes Blueair HEPASilent, a quieter way to remove tiny particles.

Whilst looks aren't everything, they can make a big difference to how often you use your air purifier and whether you like having it in your room. What's wonderful about the Blueair is that it's both attractive and compact. Contrary to what the name suggests, this doesn't only come in blue, You can opt for a range of cheery colours and different fabric pre-filters to cover the bottom half. 

If you're tech savvy you might miss the option of an app, smart controls, air quality sensors, and automatic modes. However, if you're on a budget, you can't expect to have everything packed into your air purifier and, in the case of this, it was all the techy bits.

You can find out more in our full Blueair Blue Pure 411 air purifier review.

Best air purifier for dust

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There’s no getting around the fact that the Philips AC3033/30 Air Purifier Series 3000i is both large and pricey but, that being said, it looks great and the filter even the dustiest, oldest rooms in your home. Think of it as an investment too; this should last for years. 

In our tests, our experts thought that the top setting was loud but, thanks to its air quality sensor, you can put it on auto mode and it will work away as quietly as possible (dependent on the air it’s cleaning). Like the Meaco, this air purifier has touch controls and a display on top, plus coloured lights to give a quick visual indication of air quality. And, again, you can use the app in multiple ways - as a remote control, to track air quality, and for scheduling your purifier's working times.

Its three-layer filter includes HEPA and activated charcoal, to catch microscopic particles and gases, which is why we recommend it for particularly dusty homes. The filter life is 'up to 36 months', which, if you read between the lines, means a big saving on replacement filter cartridges. The Philips performed well during testing, and is designed to clean the air in a 32m² area: that’s two good-sized rooms. Large it might be, but this stylish model is also low maintenance and simple to use, which is why it makes our list of the best air purifiers.

You can find out more in our full Philips AC3033/30 Air Purifier Series 3000i air purifier review.

Best air purifier for pets

Large homes, pet homes, busy homes — I've found the air purifier for you. The Honeywell AirGenius 5 Air Purifier will purify the air of a 112-square-metre room, no matter how many furry friends are padding around inside it. In fact, it'll extract a laundry list of allergens out of any room: mould spores, smoke, pollen, dust, pet dander, and cleaning products. 

We're in the process of testing this, but we've also had a look at customer and expert reviews in the meantime. This is hailed as both a powerful, effective, and ultra-quiet model. There are five settings to choose between, letting you start from quiet and low to fast and furious. Generally, you'll only need to run this on a lower setting, since it's incredibly efficient. When it's not working at full pelt, you'll hardly hear it. When you go to bed, you'll only need it on low, But if it's the middle of the day and you're cooking, with kids and animals around, you might need it on five out of five. It's noisy, but quieter than your surroundings, so it seems quiet anyway.

While the filters on some models need to be regularly replaced with new ones, the Honeywell models are washable, meaning there’s no extra expense further down the line, which is why it's also a great air purifier for keeping maintenance costs low. 

There's a lot to love about this, especially the super crisp air that it blows out. No matter how chaotic your home, this does an incredible job of filtration. The Honeywell promises to catch up to 99.9% of microscopic particles as small as 0.3 microns - and you can taste it. There's also a handy night light. It's every big, busy home's dream.

We are currently testing this right now. We'll update you with a formal review soon, but these are our initial thoughts.

Best air purifier under £100

If you're looking for a discreet and lightweight air purifier that will do its job with little fuss, the Levoit LV-H128 Air Purifier could be the one for you. We were impressed with the lack of noise that this model made (it only hit 25dB), especially since it performed so well.

The Levoit LV-H128 has three modes; Low, High, and Sleep. In Sleep mode, there is no noise at all, while Low has a subtle sound with no unpleasant rattling and High is slightly noisier, without being too intrusive. The design is attractive and modern, meaning it won't look out of place on a mantlepiece or side table. This model is recommended for purifying a 120-square-meter room - any bigger might minimize the effects. This purifier, like all models in the Levoit range, is ozone-free.

The Levoit LV-H128 also boasts an unusual feature - an aroma pad where the user can add essential oils. The idea is to add 2-3 drops of essential oils to the pad, and the air passing through will then flood the space with the chosen scent. 

Our tester found that you need to add more drops frequently to retain any fragrance and that, while this was an attractive feature, other benefits - such as the discreet noise levels and stylish design - were what made this product one of the best air purifiers on the market. 

We are currently testing this right now. We'll update you with a formal review soon, but these are our initial thoughts.

Best stylish air purifier

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With its tall, grey, curvy five-sided shape and unusual leather-style handles, the AEG AX9 600 air purifier’s design is one you'll either love or hate. This was the largest air purifier we tested, but its room-cleaning capacity was the same as the more discreet-looking Philips at 32m².

Its controls are divisive too: the app is excellent but the AEG’s touch panel doesn’t display air quality. Instead, it indicates this using colored lights. The panel allows you to select from nine levels of power, but - as ever - the smart setting is best, as it means the machine is quiet most of the time. Although, as noise levels go, the AEG is relatively quiet.

The filtration system has an interesting feature - each of its five stages of filtration can be customized using one of three cartridges, prioritizing pollen, odor, or general work. The AEG performed well during testing, but we marked it down a little for its size and quirky structure. However, if you love the look of it, it won’t disappoint. It's an effective air purifier with a striking design, which would go with any kind of decor.

You can find out more in our full AEG AX9 600 Connected air purifier review.

Best air purifier for small spaces

If you only need to purify a small room and don’t want to shell out too much money, then the Dimplex HEPA DXAPV3N air purifier is a good entry-level choice and our best air purifier choice for a smaller space. It’s a very compact design and will easily fit on a bedside table (as well as a corner of a room). Plus, it looks super-stylish, too, with a chic white and blue design that should go with most home decor.

The model purifies the air in a 28-square-meter room and is quiet even on the highest setting at just 50dB, which we loved. Granted its performance isn’t as efficient or effective as others on the market, but it does the basics well and there are no unnecessary bells and whistles. Lightweight and compact, take this wherever it’s needed in the home - we'd especially recommend it as part of your kitchen cleaning routine, or other small rooms in the home, such as an office or a child's room.

We are currently testing this right now. We'll update you with a formal review soon, but these are our initial thoughts.

How we tested the best air purifiers

We didn’t just read the specs from the manufacturers we carried out our own tests to gauge the personal benefits of using an air purifier, establishing the best air purifier for each kind of home. 

While testing the purifiers we looked at a few different factors to reach a fair conclusion of the best overall models, including:

• How well they purified the air: Our tests used the high-end industrial air quality meter, the Met One Instruments Model 804 Handheld Particle Counter. With this, we tested the room’s initial air quality, tested it again after the air purifier had been used at its top setting for an hour, then compared the two sets of results to establish how well the air had been cleaned. We focused on the PM10 and PM2.5 figures because these are the ones the World Health Organization uses as benchmarks of air quality. These are particles measuring no more than 10 microns and no more than 2.5 microns respectively.
• Noise: Were the air purifiers on our list quiet enough not to notice, or did they interrupt our daily activities?
• Value-for-money: Were the priciest machines worth the extra money, or did more affordable options work as well?
• Style: We also assessed how well the below air purifiers would fit decor-wise in a home, sharing whether we thought it was stylish enough to fit.
• Ease-of-use: Finally, our tester looked at how easy each machine was to set up and operate on a daily basis, because overly complicated technology isn't ideal.

FAQs

What do I need to consider before buying an air purifier?

There are a few things to think about before deciding if your home needs an air purifier and which one to purchase, to ensure you are getting the best air purifier to suit your needs. Consider the following before choosing a model: 

• The size of the room: What size room do you want to use it in? There’s no point putting a design that purifies the air in a 15-square-meter room in an open-plan kitchen-diner that’s twice that size, as it just won’t be effective. Plus, do you want to move it around? If so, perhaps choose a lightweight option.
• Design: Some air purifiers are much more modern and aesthetically pleasing than others. Plus, assess the size and weight of the air purifier too it needs to fit neatly into your space.
• Extra features: Finally, pay attention to extra features - such as voice-activated controls, air-quality data via your smartphone, and even heating and cooling functions—and decide whether these functions will make your life easier or are unnecessary additions that you’d rather not pay more for.
• A HEPA air purifier: Almost all of the best air purifiers use high-efficiency particulate arresting (HEPA) filters to trap dust particles and other pollutants. They do not produce any ozone (something we want to avoid, as it can be harmful to our health), so it's important to make sure you purchase a HEPA air purifier. Models that are described as ‘ionizing air purifiers’ use an electric charge and do produce ozone, so do take this into consideration when buying. 

What do air purifiers actually do?

You might be wondering exactly how air purifiers work. They operate much like fans but, rather than simply circulating air, they pull it in and move it through a series of filters that collect (or trap) different sizes of airborne particles, before recirculating the air. The air pollution particles - everything from dust to microscopic particles such as smoke, pollen, odors, and germs - are then trapped in the layers of the filter cartridge, reducing the pollutants in your home. And if you're wondering how to clean your air purifier, it's worth noting that even with the best air purifier, over time (and with use) these filters require maintenance, if they’re not reusable or washable, they’ll need replacing fairly regularly for the air purifier to continue to function efficiently. 

Most air purifiers recirculate the air discreetly, so there’s no cooling breeze like that of a fan. However, you can buy air purifiers that have extra cooling functions, which are useful for the hotter summer months - we've included two above. It's also worth noting that in the air purifiers vs dehumidifiers debate, dehumidifiers are more useful for ridding your home of winter condensation than an air purifier.

Air purifiers vary in how they filter and purify your air though. Some air purifiers are small and simple - you just turn them on to your chosen setting and leave them to clean the air in your room. Others are known as ‘smart’; they contain a sensor that measures air quality in order to choose their own setting accordingly, and can also be connected to an app on your phone so you can control them remotely. Additionally, these apps usually allow you to keep track of air quality ups and downs. The best air purifier for you depends on personal preference, but it's worth noting that smart purifiers tend to be more expensive.

What is the CADR and why is it so important?

When choosing the best air purifier for your home, the other main consideration is how much air each model can filter. After all, one of the main air purifiers benefits is that it rids your space of harmful pollutants. In order to measure how much air each model can filter, it is necessary to take a look at its Clean Air Delivery Rate (CADR). Measured in cubic meters per hour (m³/h), it refers to the volume of air that an air purifier can clean in the space of an hour. If you want really clean air, the gold standard is for all the air in the room to be cleaned five times an hour. 

"CADR Or Clean Air Delivery Rate is a performance matric developed by AHAM (Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers) to show the relative performance of a room air cleaner’s ability to pull dust, smoke, and spores out of the air," Tony Abate, a certified indoor environmentalist as designated by the Indoor Air Quality Association and the American Air Quality Council, told us.

"It gives the consumer an important scale to determine the performance of the device and tested to an independent standardized test method. There are CADR ratings for dust, spores, and smoke, and very recently AHAM released ANSI AHAM AC-5 which is a test for micro-organism reduction in space."

It might help to dig out your tape measure. If, for example, your room measures 16m² (the room’s length multiplied by the width) and your ceiling is 2.5m high then you have a volume of 16x2.5 = 40m³ of air. To clean it five times an hour you need a CADR that’s five times that number, so at least 200m³/h. Look for a higher CADR if you want clean air in larger rooms and open-plan spaces. If this is a technical spec too far, don’t worry - we’ve done the maths for you in the reviews above.

Are HEPA air purifiers better?

Many of the air purifiers on our list have HEPA filters, but what does this actually mean? HEPA stands for high-efficiency particulate air and is a vital component for an air purifier, as Abate concludes. "HEPA filters allow for very small range particles to be captured to a high efficiency," he explains. "When considering a viral-sized particle, HEPA is the only filter that can capture something that small. This is why they are often used in healthcare settings. 

"For enhanced protection, especially on very small particles, HEPA is the best choice, especially if combined with an active technology such as bi-polar air ionization as well."

Do air purifiers get rid of dust?

In short yes, air purifiers do get rid of dust in the home. While for most dust is just an annoyance to have to constantly battle against, for some it can be far worse. Airborne allergens expert Max Wiseberg explains; "“Dust allergy is in fact a reaction to proteins in the excretion of the dust mites. Yes, that’s right – you’re allergic to dust mite poo. When the allergenic proteins are breathed in or make contact with the skin of an allergic person, their body reacts with symptoms – wheezing, sneezing, runny nose and soreness and redness of the skin and eyes.”

"Consider using an air purifier with a HEPA (High-Efficiency Particle Arresting) filter to capture the pet allergen particles and cool and circulate the air.”