Best air purifiers in 2025 tested and rated
The best air purifiers, based on our lab and in-home testing. Whether you need one to clear out smoke, pet dander, or any other unpleasant odors, we have a recommendation for you.

- Quick list
- Best overall
- Best value
- Most energy efficient
- Best for large rooms
- Best for small rooms
- Best smart features
- Best compact air purifier
- Best App control
- How to choose the best air purifier
- Also tested
- How we test
- CADR explained
- Air purifiers compared
- Tips for keeping your air clean
- Frequently asked questions
Here are some of the criteria we use when testing air purifiers. For more detail, check out the "how we test" section.
• CADR Rate: How many cubic feet of air the purifier can clean per minute?
• Energy efficiency: How much power does an air purifier use?
• Noise level: How loud is the air purifier when it's running?
• Ease of use: Is it simple to set up and operate?
• Cost of replacement filters: What are the long-term costs?
Whether you're dealing with indoor pollution, allergies or simply want dust-free air, you'll need one of the best air purifiers improve the overall quality.
But with so many different sizes and models to choose from, it can be tricky to know which air purifier is suitable for your needs and home. Luckily, we’ve extensively tried and tested some of the best air purifiers to find the right one for you.
In our tests, we looked at their CADR (Clean Air Delivery Rate), which measures the filtration rates across dust, smoke and pollen in a measured space. Then we put the air purifiers to the test in real-world conditions to see how it copes with everyday use.
The Blueair Blue Pure 211+ Auto came up tops, scoring highly for purifying air in a large room, ease of use and attractive design. However, if you are on a budget, the Clorox Large Room True HEPA Air Purifier did a great job at cleaning the air, despite costing about $100 less.
Here are our top picks for the best air purifier to suit every home, lifestyle and budget.
Quick list
The best air purifier overall in our tests, we recommend this model above all others because it gets the job done quickly and efficiently, saves energy and works well in large spaces.
Value: ★★★☆☆
Design: ★★★★☆
Performance: ★★★★★
Ease of use: ★★★★★
This compact air purifier is ideal for rooms up to 320 sq ft. It’s simple to set up and great value for money considering how efficiently it cleans the air.
Value: ★★★★☆
Design: ★★★★☆
Performance: ★★★★☆
Ease of use: ★★★★☆
Small and compact in stature, this air purifier comes with a useful eco setting which will keep energy costs low. It provides a decent clean air delivery rate (CADR) as well.
Value: ★★★★☆
Design: ★★★☆☆
Performance: ★★★★☆
Ease of use: ★★★★★
The perfect option if you're shopping on a budget, but need an air purifier which can handle a large space. While it’s not exactly pretty, it will get the job done.
Value: ★★★★☆
Design: ★★★☆☆
Performance: ★★★★☆
Ease of use: ★★★★☆
This air purifier stands out for featuring “Plasmawave” technology. It creates Hydroxyls to tackle any unwelcome airborne particles. Plus, it comes with a useful remote control to change settings from afar.
Value: ★★★☆☆
Design: ★★★☆☆
Performance: ★★★★☆
Ease of use: ★★★★★
The best air purifier for anyone who wants smart connectivity and remote control via an app. There's a useful LCD screen built into the device itself.
Value: ★★★☆☆
Design: ★★★★★
Performance: ★★★★☆
Ease of use: ★★★★☆
The best air purifiers you can buy today
Why you can trust Tom's Guide
Best overall
Specifications
Reasons to buy
Reasons to avoid
✅ You want a strong air purifier: This air purifier achieved an average CADR of 360 across dust, smoke and pollen — the highest rating of those I tested. This means the Blueair Blue Pure 211+ can handle rooms up to 550 sq ft.
✅ You want ease of use: The Blueair Blue Pure 211+ Auto comes with enough features to suit everyday operation, including three fan speeds, an auto mode and a night mode. It’s very straightforward to operate and not overly-complicated in its design.
✅ You want to customize your air purifier: The skirt on the lower half of this air purifier comes in several colors, including pink, blue, green and gray, so you can customize it to suit your décor or personality.
❌ You’re tight for space: This air purifier measures 20 x 13 x 13 inches and weighs 12.5 pounds, so it's a hefty design which will take up some room. It will be more obvious to the eye at this size as well.
❌ You want a strong night mode: Night mode effectively dims the lights on the unit and slows the fan down to reduce noise, but I found it to be on the weak side, so you might end up running the standard settings to get a satisfactory performance.
❌ You’re conscious of noise: While the Blueair Blue Pure 211+ Auto runs quietly at its lowest setting, it's among the noisiest at its fastest setting. It’s not particularly noisy on the whole, but this is something to be aware of.
The Blueair Blue Pure 211+ Auto will suit most households. It’s a substantial air purifier, and offers first-rate air purification capabilities alongside a premium and simple-to-operate design. There’s enough settings to cover the basics, it's attractive, and can be customized to your liking.
What you need to know: Throughout these tests, one cube-shaped air purifier stood out above the rest. The Blueair Blue Pure 211+ Auto dominated the competition. This medium-sized air purifier will suit rooms up to 550 sq ft. It features an upright cuboid design, with a plastic upper section and a skirt fitted around the base, which acts as a pre-filter and comes in several colors. A HEPASilent filter is included, which uses both a carbon and particle layer. For me, it looked like a futuristic robot, which has a quality appearance compared to the competition. There are three fan speeds on offer as well as an auto function, plus a night mode is included for dimming the lights.
Design: This model provides enough settings to cover basic necessities. The three fan speeds offer a decent range, and the auto function means it’s able to self-adjust the speed to suit the quality of the air. As a consequence, this air purifier will only use as much energy as required. The night mode is a useful function, but I did find the power more lackluster than I would have expected on this setting.
Performance
Smoke CADR | Dust CADR | Pollen CADR |
353 | 347 | 380 |
This air purifier scored best for its CADR; achieving 353, 347, and 380 respectively for smoke, dust and pollen. That means it will make quick work of all sizes of airborne particles. It also means it can handle a decent room size of 550 sq ft — making it more than adequate for a large bedroom or living room.
Noise (low) | Noise (high) | Power use |
35.6dB | 60.8dB | 0.159 kWh |
It scored average marks for noise produced, as it was fairly quiet on its lowest setting (35.6db), but on the noisier end of the spectrum at its loudest (60.8db). It was reasonable in terms of electricity consumption as well, using only 0.159 kWh over the course of 24 hours on auto mode. By comparison, the Levoit Core 300 required 0.7 kWh over the same period.
Ease of use: This air purifier is very easy to use with one button to cycle through every setting — although the air quality indicator light is less than obvious with a blue light meaning good, and red meaning bad, and orange somewhere in between. Changing the filters couldn’t be more simple either, just remove the top of the device via the buttons on each side. Changing the filter is one of the 7 ways to get more out of your air purifier.
Value for money: At around $300, this air purifier isn’t the cheapest, but it’s also not the most expensive. The Coway Airmega AP-1512HH by comparison is $200, while the Blueair HealthProtect 7470i will set you back over $450. Replacement filters are $70 though, which is pricey.
Read the full Blueair Blue Pure 211+ Auto review
Attributes | Notes | Rating |
---|---|---|
Price | At $300, this air purifier is average | ★★★☆☆ |
Design | Offers the basics, but lacks extra features | ★★★★☆ |
Performance | Top of the class | ★★★★★ |
Ease of use | Straightforward and user friendly | ★★★★★ |
Best value
Specifications
Reasons to buy
Reasons to avoid
✅ You want a compact design: This air purifier features a compact design which is ideal for smaller spaces. Measuring 19 x 10 x 10 inches and weighing 11.6 pounds, it’s portable and easy to store as well.
✅ You want value for money: Priced at $149, this air purifier offers excellent value for money. And, it's very energy-efficient. However, replacement filters are a somewhat pricey $49.
❌ You need something to suit a large room: Despite its name, this air purifier works best in rooms up to 320 sq. ft., so it’s likely unsuitable for larger bedrooms or living rooms.
❌ You want to control it remotely: To cut some corners, this model does not come with a remote control or smart home connectivity, but Clorox offers higher-priced models with these features.
The Clorox Large Room True HEPA Air Purifier is the answer if you need an air purifier at an affordable price. While its CADR readings aren’t as high as others on the list, it’s still more than capable of adequately cleaning up to 320 sq. ft. Plus it offers all of the settings you need, including an auto function.
What you need to know
The Clorox Large Room True HEPA Air Purifier offers a small and effective design, measuring 19 x 10 x 10 inches while suiting rooms up to 1,500 square feet. It has a neat and pleasing appearance — looking somewhat like a large battery with a fitted pre-filter skirt and a single button on top.
Design: We liked the Clorox's simple, plain design. On the top is a touchscreen that lets you control all of its functions, and clear indicators for fan settings, automatic operation as well as the current particulate level. A vertical LED bar shows the level of 2.5-micron particulates per cubic meter with six different color-coded levels; green is safe, while maroon means you should probably leave the room. It also has a timer for automatically turning it off, and if the unit is tipped over by a pet or small child, it automatically turns off.
Performance
Smoke CADR | Dust CADR | Pollen CADR |
206 | 219 | 232 |
The Clorox's CADRs of 206, 219 and 232 across smoke, dust and pollen make it well-suited for medium- to largish-sized rooms up to 320 square feet. At its lowest setting, I also found this air purifier to be quiet (41 dB), but it rose to an annoying 58.7 dB at its highest setting. It is very energy-efficient, though, using just 3.6 watts of energy at its lowest setting.
Noise (low) | Noise (high) | Power use (kWh) |
41 dB | 58.7 dB | 0.036 kWh |
Ease of use: With a touchscreen to control everything, ease of use couldn’t be more obvious. The only thing really missing is a remote control, which would have been handy. The filters are easy to switch out when needed though.
Value for money: This air purifier costs just $149, which makes it pretty great value — although keep in mind filters cost $49, so replacing them could add up over time.
Read the full Clorox Large Room True HEPA Air Purifier review.
Attributes | Notes | Rating |
---|---|---|
Price | Good value up front and in energy costs | ★★★★☆ |
Design | Plenty of settings | ★★★★☆ |
Performance | Capable in a smaller space | ★★★★☆ |
Ease of use | Straightforward with easy-to-read controls | ★★★★☆ |