This desktop air purifier is perfect for simple, savvy homes - here's why I love it

It’s rare that the words 'fun' and 'air purifier' go together — that’s not me shaming or playing down air purifiers, but they’re rarely attractive and not often bright and colourful. If that’s deterred you from investing in one in the past, you need to take a look at the Tower Desktop Portable Air Purifier.

Hailed as one of the best air purifiers on the market, especially if you’re shopping on a budget, the Tower Desktop Air Purifier offers all the basics that you would need, whilst adding a splash of style and colour to the market.

I put this to the test, on my desk, and in my home to find out whether prettiness and practicality can go hand in hand. Here’s what I found.

Tower Portable Desktop Air Purifier Specifications

Unboxing the Tower Portable Desktop Air Purifier

The Tower Desktop portable air purifier comes in a simple box. It’s pre-fitted with the filter, so all you need to do is remove the plastic wrap that sits around the HEPA filter and then set it back in place. You’ll get a generous lead to plug your air purifier in with and then the rest is done. Overall, it’s a very pleasing set up.

I always score products on sustainability, which is tricky when it comes to air purifiers. Most of the Tower Desktop Portable Air Purifier’s packaging is recyclable except for the bag around the HEPA filter, which could go in a soft plastic recycling, if you made the effort. From what I’ve gathered, this is the most effort that a brand can make, so the Tower has set itself off on a brilliant foot.

Who would the Tower Portable Desktop Air Purifier suit?

The Tower Portable Desktop Air Purifier is perfect if you're shopping for a budget, but stylish air purifier. This won't break the bank and you'll still notice different result in your air quality. It's rare that any air purifier looks as good as the Tower too, especially around this price point.

The Tower is also brilliant if you want an air purifier in a smaller room, such as an office or bedroom. It's designed to be used in smaller spaces and you'll see that it works brilliantly in compact rooms. If you have high ceilings and an open-plan living space, you might need something a little more robust.

What is the Tower Portable Desktop Air Purifier like to use?

All the Tower Desktop Portable Air Purifiers controls sit on top of the appliance. The top screen lets you choose different bright lights and you can use the touchscreen to navigate between four speed settings with the option of a quiet sleep mode as well as a 2 - 12-hour timer. You won’t get the feedback that more expensive air purifiers offer, for example, if you wanted to monitor air quality, you would need to buy a separate appliance. You just have to trust that the Tower is doing its job.

I have a series of tests that I run air purifiers through to test how good they are. Often, I match them with their room size and capability because it’s not fair to over stretch them. The Tower is recommended for rooms that are maximum 14m², so I sat this in my office and used it whilst I was working. Day to day, I don’t have many habits that would pollute my room, except that I like to have a candle lit at almost all times. I had mine burning and I also blew it out to see how effectively this could remove smoke from the air. What’s cool with the Tower Air Purifier is that I actually watched it almost suck the smoke out of the air. It didn’t have time to leave any smoky smell in the room because it was almost gone before it appeared.

The same happened when I sprayed dry shampoo two meters away from the Tower Air Purifier. I have to say, the smell stayed in the room a little longer, lingering for about two minutes, but after that, it was a clear room. I tested whether I could speed things up by cranking the speed from a slow base setting (which runs around 36 dB) up to the fastest speed setting, which is much louder at 47 dB. It did wick the dry shampoo straight out of the air again, which never gets old, but this isn’t something that I would to run regularly.

When I took this into the kitchen to test out the Tower beside my toaster while I burnt some toast (on purpose) and baked a cake (obviously on purpose too). My kitchen is a much bigger room — it’s open plan with high ceilings — so I didn’t expect to see the same quality of air temperature regulation. As expected, this did the best that it could, but without being set up for success, it’s difficult for the Tower to achieve consistent results. It took twenty one minutes for the smell of burnt toast to leave my kitchen, which is a relatively long period of time. Without the air purifier, it would probably have taken an hour, with the window open, it would have needed a similar amount of time. I don’t have to pay to have my windows open, so if you’d be buying the Tower for a big room, here’s an example of why it might not be for you.

The same applied for the air quality when j baked bread. I have another air purifier that monitors changes in air quality so I ran this while I baked bread. I watched the air temperature drop to 72/100 and let the Tower run on its maximum speed. I didn’t get back up to 100 for two hours, by which point I think the bad particulates had probably dispersed themselves around my home and hopefully out of the door. This isn’t a criticism of the Tower, because I stretched it beyond its means, but it’s a standard test that I use for all the air purifiers that I test, so it’s only fair to put the Tower through the same process.

With that in mind, I kept this in either my bedroom or my office where I could enjoy the subtle, background cleaning on offer from the Tower. Its quiet model only clicked 23 dB on my monitor, making it easy for me to set a 8 hour timer and sleep with my air purifier running.

While I was working, I enjoyed the vibrant lights that are on display on top of the Tower. It’s a real treat and a nice way to add ambiance to a room with what is essentially a very functional appliance.

Cleaning and the filters on the Tower Portable Desktop Air Purifier

The Tower comes with a pre-filter to remove dander, a HEPA filter for your bacteria and viruses, and then a carbon filter for odours. This is an impressive triad that actually look after each other really well. The pre-filter is useful for protecting the other two filters so that you can keep using them for longer. I didn’t find that this needed cleaning often, even though my house is both dusty and ruled by a big dog. Nonetheless, Tower recommends cleaning it every fortnight or month. You can see how much build up there is on your pre-filter and let that guide you. The HEPA filter will need replacing every 6-8 months if reviews are anything to go by. I’ve not yet used this for long enough to need a refill, but am reliably informed that these last around the standard amount of time and the same applies for the carbon filter too.

The touchscreen needed daily dustings, which says more about my house than the air purifier, but it’s nonetheless worth noting. It’s a really sensitive screen, which is great, but it will show off every last fingerprint.

How does the Tower Portable Desktop Air Purifier compare?

Desktop air purifiers have been very trendy recently, so they’re no longer boxy, ugly appliances that you wouldn’t dream of showing off. Next to the Tower, one of my favourites is the Vitesy Eteria. This boasts the same power and range as the Tower, but it’s even smaller. I’ve compared it to the size of a water bottle. It’s generally around £30-50 more than the Tower, but you make the money back in the long term. The filters are washable and so endlessly reusable and you get access to a clever app that tells you all about your air quality, with more detail than air purifiers that are two, three, and four times the price.

That’s not to say that it smashes the Tower out of the park. The Tower is easy to control and very simple, whereas the Vitesy Eteria is all app-based, which plenty of people don’t like. You also have the added bonus of the lights on top of the Tower — it’s really stylish.

Alternatively, if you have a bigger room and you need more feedback on your air quality, you can’t beat the Shark NeverChange. This has an on-screen monitor and powerful motor that works well in rooms with high ceilings. It’s not as attractive, but it offers more robust work.

Should you buy the Tower Portable Desktop Air Purifier?

If you want a small, simple air purifier, the Tower is perfect. It’s stylish, quiet, and effective in bedrooms and offices. If you need more space or you have high ceilings, you might need to invest in something a little bigger.

How we test

We've established a rigorous and set procedure for how we test air purifiers at woman&home. Not only will we break down the filter type and components, we'll talk about some real-life examples of how well it works and which contexts are the best for making good use of yours.

I like to run air purifiers through the most common household tasks that pollute your air: burning a candle, making toast, using dry shampoo, and cooking. I do these in different rooms and also make sure to use the air purifier at night, so I can test how quiet it is.

If you're interested in learning more about the process, you can take a look at our dedicated page for how we test air purifiers.