Why a Smart Air Purifier Is Actually Worth It

Every product is carefully selected by our editors. If you buy from a link, we may earn a commission.

Connected appliances sometimes feel unnecessary, but that's not the case when it comes to air purifiers.

After several stops and starts over many years, it certainly looks like the Internet of things is finally here for good. If you so desire, you can outfit your home with dozens of smart devices, as nearly every household item has the option of being connected to the internet these days, from your door locks to your home gym to your coffee mug. And while the use cases for something like a smart toothbrush may be somewhat dubious, one appliance that is absolutely worth buying in a smartened-up guise is an air purifier.

I currently have three smart air purifiers set up in my apartment (hey, your air can never be too pure), and I've gotten to the point where I won't even look at an air purifier if it doesn't have the smart features I'm after. Below, I've laid out the three advantages smart air purifiers have over their less intelligent brethren.

With a standard air purifier, you're limited to operating it via buttons on the device itself or, at best, a remote control. With a smart air purifier, you're able to control the device with your smartphone and, in many cases, with your voice through a virtual assistant like Amazon's Alexa or Google Assistant. This gives you the ability to control your air purifier from basically anywhere.

Maybe you've gone out for the day and want a fresh home once you get back but don't want to waste energy by leaving your purifier running all day. In that case, simply use your phone to turn your purifier on an hour before you get home. You can also use your virtual assistant to set your air purifiers to different schedules or program them to follow certain commands. Personally, I like to have all of my purifiers run at a certain speed at night, and I've set them up to do so through Alexa. When I tell Alexa "Good night," all three of my air purifiers automatically start running at my preferred settings.

The entire point of having an air purifier is to purify the air in your home. But if you don't have a smart air purifier, it can be difficult to tell if it's actually working. At best, you might be treated to a color-changing light somewhere on the device. Red means your air is bad. Green means it's good. Talk about innovation (this is sarcasm).

Smart air purifiers can sync up to an app, giving you real-time data on your air's quality. The type of data provided will vary by make and model, but generally, you can expect information on your general air quality over time, along with other data like the temperature and humidity of the room. Some brands, like BlueAir, provide even more detailed information, like the amount of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) in the air at a given time. Smart air purifiers will also keep track of when you need to clean or replace your filters, taking the guesswork out of ownership and saving you money by preventing you from replacing a filter before you need to.

A lot of air purifiers, including some that are non-connected, are equipped with an auto mode. These modes rely on an air quality sensor that tells the fan to speed up when it senses bad air, and their use is sometimes discouraged for being too stingy with their purification. But the auto mode on a smart air purifier takes things to another level. These types of auto modes, as seen in air purifiers from Dyson and others, allow you to set a designated target for the quality of your air. If the machine's sensors detect that your air quality has fallen below your target level, it will increase power until that target is reached, and will continue working to maintain that same air quality until you turn auto mode off.

There's no shortage of smart air purifiers on the market, but the three below are all machines that I personally know are worth purchasing.

The most powerful model from Blueair's DustMagnet line — which is designed to remove dust from your home as well as fine particles from the air — is as smart as it is handsome. In-app features include a "Welcome Home" setting that automatically turns the unit on when you get home, along with a countdown feature that tells you how long it will be until your air is clean.

The newest air purifier from Levoit is ideal for pet owners, with a pet mode and a unique air inlet designed to capture airborne fur (living in a cat-filled home, I can confirm that it makes a positive difference). It also features infrared sensors that scan the air for particles, offering another layer of intelligence in auto mode. The VeSync app also offers loads of customization options through "Smart Scenes" that offer as much or as little control over your air filtration as you like.

Dyson is well known for their innovative electronics, and their air purifiers certainly don't fall short. Acting as an oscillating tower fan in addition to being an air purifier, the Dyson's bladeless air multiplication technology works like magic, and I'd almost recommend it for the novelty alone. But where this purifier really excels is its super smart and highly-sensitive auto mode that kicks on whenever my preferred air quality isn't up to snuff.