 "Blueair Sense")
Everyone is in a festive mood with Diwali around the corner. But have you wondered what it leaves in its wake? Piles of garbage, polluted air and dirty roads. This is the time to spare a thought for those who suffer from respiratory illnesses. Thankfully, there's help at hand, at least if you stay indoors. Here's a look at air purifiers to suit every pocket.
Xiaomi Mi Air Purifier 2 (Rs 9,999)
From the same people who give you packed-to-the-gills phones at very competitive prices, the Mi Air Purifier 2 is a silent killer. It's so silent that I had to fish out my phone to check the app if it was running! And it looks great and is super compact. I set it up in my bedroom and after connecting it to the Wi-Fi network and pairing it with the Mi Home app (you need a Mi account; I already had one), I was set. For most practical purposes, setting it to auto would suffice; plus one could monitor air quality on the app. The only time I could hear the purifier working was when I had just closed the windows and it engaged turbo mode to clean the air. But one needs to replace the cylindrical filter (Xiaomi claims it would run for six months). The damage? A recurring cost of Rs 2,499.
I saw this HEPA (high-efficiency particulate air)-based air purifier in action the first time at night. With the eerie circle of light near the top end, it sure looked like a prop from some Star Trek series; the light can also be turned off. Since it has a maximum coverage capacity of 76 sq m, I shifted it to the living room (it's big and heavy but has a handle to move it about). The touch panel is pretty responsive and the display shows the PM2.5 level. What I liked was the "Allergen" mode, which I think should come in handy against the proliferation of pollen. Using the Auto mode sufficed most times. The display also shows the PM2.5 level and the time taken to bring it down. If you can handle the bulk, this is a good buy; but there's no word yet on how much the replacement filters could cost.
My first reaction to seeing the Sense+ was, "Wow! This looks classy." The leaf-green colour and understated elegance was unlike any I had seen in air purifiers earlier. But its weight, heft and the lack of handles or wheels means it would be a chore moving it around. After downloading the Blueair Friend app, I connected to the purifier easily. A single wave above the top of the unit meant the fan was running at its lowest. But the app provided very few details about air quality. That said, it did clean up the air as I didn't get any of the allergies I normally do, in the few weeks I used this HEPA-based purifier. The filters (said to last six months), did turn dirty, but were easy to clean.
