Technology

No, It’s Not a Bluetooth Speaker. It’s My Smart Air Purifier

FRESH AIR

The TruSens air purifier looks good, purifies well, and proves you can have substance and style.

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Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast/Scouted/Amazon

Scouting Report: This sleek and stylish air purifier can clean up to 750 square feet, but doesn’t take up much space, and the smart features allow you to operate it without lifting a finger.

I’m terribly allergic to smoke, dust, and pollen, so air purifiers and self-cleaning vacuums are a necessity in my home. However, air purifiers that look like air purifiers don’t really fit my design aesthetic. I can slide my treadmill under my sofa when it’s not in use, but I tend to use air purifiers 24/7, so that’s not an option. So, I jumped at the chance to try the stylish TruSens Large Smart Wi-Fi-Air Purifier.

TruSens Large Smart Wi-Fi-Air Purifier

I was not disappointed. The large model (and there are also medium and small versions) is 29 inches tall, but it has a sleek, modern design, so I’m not trying to hide it. In fact, visitors to my home often mistake it for a speaker – although I have yet to see a speaker that looks this cool.

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The air purifier’s round shape and vertical, bi-directional airflow allows me to place it anywhere without worrying about blocking the vents. It has three levels of purification, and in addition to the UV-C light feature, also includes a carbon prefilter, and a HEPA filter. So, the TruSens cleans everything from (the neighbor’s) tobacco smoke to dust and pollen, kitchen odors, and even fumes from cleaning solutions.

There are five fan speeds (whisper, 1, 2, 3, and turbo), and I usually keep it on “3,” but the turbo speed, while loud, comes in handy as well. The TruSens also has another cool feature: it comes with a remote Sensor Pod air quality monitor (small enough to fit in the palm of my hand) that can be placed across the room. It monitors the air in the entire room - not just the air close to the air purifier - and adjusts the fan speed accordingly. And this is important because the large air purifier covers up to 750 square feet.

But that’s not the only thing that I love about it. The control panel is reminiscent of the dashboard in my two-seater sports car – and provides almost as much information. As soon as I lightly press “on,” the display panel lights up and the ring around the display panel goes through a series of colors in the course of 3 to 5 seconds. Those colors are important as they correspond with numbers on the digital panel. For example, a sustained red color (and an air quality reading of 100 to 150) means the air quality is poor. A sustained yellow color (corresponding with a reading between 50 and 100) means there is some level of pollution in the air that could pose a moderate health concern. A green light (and an air quality reading between 0 to 50) means the air quality is good.

It might seem redundant to have both a digital readout and a color-coded ring. However, if I’m across the room, I can just glance at the ring to see the current air quality. Or, I can just look at my phone. Yep—that’s right. The TruSense Smart App sends real-time air quality details to my phone, and even identifies any pollutants, including VOCs, carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, and various particulate matters. I can also choose my fan speed, schedule when I want to turn the air purifier on and off, and choose whether I want to enable the UV feature, and I can do all of this via my phone as opposed to using the purifier’s digital panel.

I’ve tested dozens of air purifiers, and the TruSens remains one of my favorites because it works as good as it looks.

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