Best air purifiers 2024

A great air purifier will improve the air quality in your home quickly, without being too noisy or using too much energy. Our tests measure all of these features. Poor-performing models will be significantly slower, trap fewer particles and make more noise and use more energy in the process.

We've reviewed Dyson and Philips air purifiers, and models from Blueair, Levoit, Shark and Ikea. Our testing revealed a Great Value model that's more than £150 cheaper than one of our Best Buy recommendations – proving you don't have to fork out a fortune to get an effective air purifier for your home.

Our research also revealed a Don't Buy air purifier that came with ill-fitting filters. You'll definitely want to avoid buying that one.

The best air purifiers from our tests

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The air purifiers we tested

All the air purifiers we tested are listed in alphabetical order, below.

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Acer Acerpure Cool C2 (AC551-50W)

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Most recently tested July 2024

Size and weight 84 x 25 x 25cm (HxWxD), 6.9kg

Filter type HEPA and carbon

Need to know Night and auto modes, smart compatible, timer, ioniser, 10 fan speeds

Acer Acerpure Pro P2 (AP551-50W)

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Most recently tested July 2024

Size and weight 58 x 24.8 x 24.8cm (HxWxD), 4.6kg

Filters HEPA and carbon

Need to know Night and auto modes, smart compatible, timer, ioniser, four fan speeds

AEG APU72571UG

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Most recently tested July 2024

Size and weight 64 x 40.5 x 25cm (HxWxD), 9.5kg

Filters HEPA and carbon

Need to know Auto mode, smart compatible, five fan speeds

AEG Pure 5000 APO50371DG

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Most recently tested June 2024

Size and weight 41 x 23 x 23cm (HxWxD), 3.36kg

Filter type HEPA and carbon

Need to know Night and auto modes, smart compatible, child lock, three fan speeds

Blueair Blue Max 3250i

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Most recently tested July 2024

Size and weight 48 x 23 x 23cm (HxWxD), 3.1kg

Filter type HEPA and carbon

Need to know Night and auto modes, timer, smart compatible, three fan speeds

Blueair Blue Pure 511

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Most recently tested July 2024

Size and weight 34 x 20 x 20cm (HxWxD), 7.7kg

Filter type HEPA and carbon

Need to know Night mode, three fan speeds

Dyson Purifier Cool Formaldehyde TP09

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Most recently tested June 2024

Size and weight 105.2 x 22 x 22cm (HxWxD), 5kg

Filter type HEPA and carbon

Need to know Night and auto modes, smart compatible, timer, 10 fan speeds

Need to tackle damp and mould? Discover the best dehumidifiers we've tested

Electriq EAP500HC

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Most recently tested June 2024

Size and weight 68.4 x 42 x 23cm (HxWxD), 9.56kg

Filter type HEPA and carbon

Need to know Night and auto modes, timer, four fan speeds

Ikea Starkvind

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Most recently tested June 2024

Size and weight 52.5 x 50.4 x 19cm (HxWxD), 5.44kg

Filters type Particle filter, carbon filter available separately

Need to know Smart compatible with additional hub, auto mode, five fan speeds

Levoit Core 400S Smart

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Most recently tested June 2024

Size and weight 52 x 26.5 x 26.5cm (HxWxD), 4.92kg

Filter type HEPA and carbon

Need to know Night and auto modes, timer, smart compatible, four fan speeds

Levoit Vital 100S

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Most recently tested July 2024

Size and weight 40.6 x 32.1 x 16cm (HxWxD), 4kg

Filter type HEPA and carbon

Need to know Night and auto modes, smart compatible, timer, four fan speeds

Philips Air Performer 7000 Series AMF765/30

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Most recently tested July 2024

Size and weight 105.8 x 28 x 28cm (HxWxD), 7.28kg

Filters HEPA and carbon

Need to know Night and auto modes, smart compatible, timer, 10 fan speeds

Philips 600i Series (AC0650/20)

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Most recently tested July 2024

Size and weight 34 x 20.4 x 21.2cm (HxWxD), 2.2kg

Filter type HEPA

Need to know Night mode, smart compatible, three fan speeds

Philips 1000i Series AC1715/30

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Most recently tested June 2024

Size and weight 48.5 x 25.3 x 25.3cm (HxWxD), 3.87kg

Filter type HEPA and carbon

Need to know Night and auto modes, smart compatible, four fan speeds

Philips Series 3000i AC3033/30

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Most recently tested June 2024

Size and weight 64.4 x 28 x 28cm (HxWxD), 6.88kg

Filter type HEPA and carbon

Need to know Night and auto modes, smart compatible, three fan speeds

Shark NeverChange5 HP150UK

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Most recently tested July 2024

Size and weight 37.5 x 25 x 23cm (HxWxD), 3.3kg

Filter type HEPA and carbon

Need to know Auto mode, timer, five fan speeds

Winix Zero-S Air Purifier

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Most recently tested July 2024

Size and weight 59.6 x 38.2 x 22.3cm (HxWxD), 7.7kg

Filter type HEPA and carbon

Need to know Night and auto modes, four fan speeds

Which? Don't Buy air purifiers

Our tests uncover the best and the worst. If a product performs so poorly that we think you should avoid it, we call it a Don't Buy. 

No matter how attractive the price might be, it won’t do a good job of purifying the air in your home and is best avoided.

• The worst air purifiers we've tested struggle to remove pollutants from the air, use more energy than most and are noisy on the highest setting.
• A Don't Buy might also be annoying to use, with awkward controls and filters that are tricky to remove.

How we test air purifiers

We put air purifiers through a full set of tough scientific tests to find the ones that excel in all these key areas.

• Particle removal We measure the CADR (Clean Air Delivery Rate) of each machine, which looks at particle removal over time. It allows us to compare how efficiently different air purifiers can clear the air of different-sized particles. The small, medium and large aerosol particles we use represent common household allergens such as pollen, dust and smoke.
• Volatile organic compound (VOC) removal This test gives an indication of how well the air purifier can remove odours and gas pollutants from the air. We use a gas created from a mix of VOCs.
• Aged filter performance We simulate the ageing of the air purifier’s filters by exposing them to the smoke from 100 cigarettes, then repeat the particle removal tests.
• Quietness We measure the noise level on the highest and lowest settings, and our expert panel also listens out for any irritating sounds.
• Annual cost We measure how much energy each air purifier uses during 12 hours on its highest setting, then calculate what this is likely to cost you across the year.

We regularly revisit the air purifiers on sale to find and test any popular new models.

Find out more about how Which? is not influenced by product manufacturers or retailers and how your support helps us to stay editorially independent. 

What does an air purifier do?

Air purifiers improve indoor air quality by removing particles and pollutants from the air and circulating clean air back into a room.

Fans suck air into the purifier through a grille and pass it through a pre-filter to remove larger particles, such as hair and dust. Air passes through another filter, often a HEPA filter, which removes smaller particles such as pollen. Many also have a carbon filter designed to remove gases and foul odours. Some use UV light technology and an ioniser, which are claimed to eliminate microorganisms such as mould and mildew. A fan then distributes the clean air back into the room.

An effective air purifier with a High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filter could help alleviate allergy symptoms while you're indoors. The particles an air purifier captures include dust and grass pollen – two common allergens – so a good model may help alleviate symptoms of these allergies.

By combining an effective air purifier with preventative measures – such as regular vacuuming, keeping windows closed and keeping pets out of your bedroom – you should be able to reduce allergy symptoms while at home.

An air purifier can also eliminate mould spores – so if you’re facing a mould problem, it could help prevent this from spreading. However, it won’t tackle the underlying problems that cause mould in your home, such as excess humidity, so you’ll need to deal with those separately.

Some virus particles fall within the particle-size range (0.01 microns and larger) that HEPA filters, found in some air purifiers, capture. An air purifier could therefore capture viruses if the device has a particular type of HEPA filter with an efficiency of 99.95%. These small virus particles move in random directions, so there's a good chance that some will attach to the filter fibres as they pass through it, anyway.

Crucially, though, in the real world, a lot depends on factors such as the type of HEPA filter you have, the size of your room, the frequency of air changes in that room and the state of the filter.

We are currently unable to assess the claims made by air purifier manufacturer's about removing viruses.

Best air purifier features to consider

• HEPA filter A high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filter is a type that uses a combination of trapping mechanisms to capture pollutants. EU standards state that to use the term HEPA, a filter must remove at least 99.95% of tiny particles with a diameter of 0.3μm. Watch out for filters with marketing names such as HEPA-type, HEPA-style and so forth, as there's no guarantee they will conform to the same criteria.
• Carbon filter For unpleasant smells and gases, including volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from common household products such as cleaning products, you’ll need a carbon filter as well as a HEPA filter. This is also sometimes called an activated carbon filter or a charcoal filter. 
• Automatic mode and air-quality sensors Models with this feature will start working when they sense an increase in pollutants in the air. Often, they give you information on the quality of the air in the room (based on their estimation) via an app or a machine's display.
• Night mode This will turn off the lights on the display and run the purifier on the lowest fan setting, so you can sleep undisturbed.

Which air purifier brand is most reliable?

As well as our tests, we also ask air purifier owners how happy they are with their chosen brand, so we can give you some insight into the best out there – as well as the ones to avoid.

Only Which? subscribers are able to see our unique data comparing the most popular leaf blower brands. Log in or sign up to Which? to get instant access.

Air purifiers and smart security

Software and security support are important considerations when buying any smart product, dictating how long the brand continues updating the device with features and security patches, to guard against emerging threats.

For air purifiers, expect from two to over five years of support from certain brands.

• AEG offers a decent policy of five years from end of sale.
• Ikea told us it will support its smart air purifiers for five years.
• Dyson did not share a general policy but appears to offer up to seven years.
• Philips offers two years of support from purchase.

For more information, read our guide to smart devices and security.