The Best Air Purifier of 2025, Tried And Tested By Experts

Air purifiers are fundamentally simple machines—little more than a fan and a filter. Yet a well-designed purifier can capture virtually all airborne allergens, such as pollen and mold spores, as well as bacteria, viruses, and smoke. We’ve tested more than 60 air purifiers in the past nine years to find the best options to keep your home's air clean. Whether you need a powerful unit for a large living area, a quiet machine for a bedroom, or a budget-friendly option for a dorm, we have tested them all to help you decide.

Summary of best air purifiers:

The best overall: Coway Airmega AP-1512HH Mighty, $170 at Amazon

Runner-up: Coway Airmega 200M, $230 at Amazon

Best budget option: Blueair Blue Pure 511, $90 at Amazon

Best premium upgrade: Blueair Blue Pure 211i Max, $349 at Amazon

*All products featured on Pure News are independently selected by our editors. However, we may receive compensation from retailers and/or from purchases of products through these links.

1) The best overall: Coway Airmega AP-1512HH Mighty, $170

The Coway Airmega AP-1512HH Mighty is our top pick because it is exceptional, efficient, and affordable. It is powerful enough to clean a large room, quiet enough to sleep near, and engineered to run for years. In our performance tests, it reduced heavy smoke pollution in a New York City office by as much as 99.6% within just 30 minutes. This performance has been consistent across multiple test spaces, comparable to other top machines.

In terms of durability, we have pushed this machine beyond its on-paper limits, including running its filters 24/7 for two years—twice as long as recommended—and it has never wavered or weakened. It offers great value on both initial and long-term costs. Its compact form and quiet operation make it especially well suited for bedrooms or living rooms, and it includes a feature to shut off the display light so it won't disturb your sleep.

Specs:
Coverage: Large rooms (Living rooms/Bedrooms)
Performance: 99.6% smoke reduction in 30 mins
Features: Display-light shutoff, Eco mode
Durability: Tested 24/7 for 2+ years

2) Runner-up: Coway Airmega 200M, $230

If you prefer a different look or find it at a better price, the Coway Airmega 200M is our runner-up choice. It is virtually identical to our top pick, the Coway Airmega AP-1512HH Mighty, in every important respect. They share equivalent noise and performance measurements, and their filters are completely interchangeable.

Like the Mighty, the 200M features controls that allow you to shut off the display lights, making it bedroom-friendly. The only major physical difference is the design: the 200M has a square grille rather than the round one found on the Mighty. If the square aesthetic fits your home better, or if you catch a sale where this model is cheaper than the Mighty, it is an equally excellent choice for purifying your air.

Specs:
Coverage: Large rooms
Performance: Identical to Top Pick
Design: Square grille
Filter Compatibility: Interchangeable with AP-1512HH

3) Best budget option: Blueair Blue Pure 511, $90

For smaller spaces like dorm rooms, offices, or children’s bedrooms, the Blueair Blue Pure 511 is a tiny standout. Not much bigger than a 3-liter soda bottle, this purifier is incredibly compact and weighs less than 4 pounds, allowing it to easily fit on a shelf, desk, or floor. Despite its small size, it is a great performer; in our testing, it cleared 96.9% of smoke particles in half an hour on its highest setting.

The Blue Pure 511 is also extremely quiet, staying below our 50-decibel limit for comfortable TV viewing and sleeping, even when running on high. It is highly energy-efficient, drawing just 3.5 watts on its everyday medium speed. Additionally, its display goes dark automatically, ensuring the machine won't be a distraction when you are trying to nap or work.

Specs:
Coverage: Small rooms (Dorms/Offices)
Noise Level: <50 dB (Quiet)
Power: 3.5 watts on medium
Weight: <4 lbs

4) Best premium upgrade: Blueair Blue Pure 211i Max, $349

If you need to purify a larger space and want smart features, the Blueair Blue Pure 211i Max is a stellar performer. Meant for large spaces around 500 square feet, it aced our tests by reducing smoke levels in our test room by more than 99.9% on its high and high-medium settings. Despite its power, it is extremely energy efficient and quieter than you would expect for a machine of its size.

This premium model comes with user-friendly features including a child lock and an air-quality sensor that reads particulate-pollution levels (PM1, PM2.5, and PM10). You can monitor these readings and control settings remotely via an app. Like our other picks, you can shut off the display while it runs, which is helpful for light-sensitive sleepers. While it is priced higher than our other recommendations, its performance in large rooms justifies the investment.

Specs:
Coverage: ~500 sq ft
Performance: >99.9% smoke reduction
Sensors: PM1, PM2.5, PM10
Connectivity: App enabled

This completes our list of the best air purifiers. If you want more posts about health and gadgets, check our other home page here.