It’s time we clear the air, quite literally. If you live in any of India’s biggest cities, you know, the ones vying for an unenviable slot in the “world’s most polluted cities” list, all you have to do is open your car/home window to see (and choke on!) the massive shrouds our cities have been cloaked in the past couple of days.
It’s about time we started considering an air purifier to combat the allergens, suspended particulate matter and air-borne pollutants… you know, stuff that our lungs just should not deal with.
Trouble is, most air purifiers are usually a pricey proposition, not only to purchase but also to operate on an ongoing basis. Xiaomi decided to launch their first home product Mi Air Purifier 2 at a jaw-dropping Rs. 9,999 price point. Can the Air Purifier 2 ignite sales for a segment ironically still considered a luxury for most households?
Pros:
- Minimalistic, blend-in-anywhere design
- Easy setup and operation, smart features
- Works as advertised
- Excellent pricing
Cons:
- Filter replacement costs will add up over time
- Visual air quality indicator missing
Setting Up
Setup and getting going with the air purifier is exceedingly simple – just install the Mi Home app (Android/iOS) and use the app to connect the device to your home Wi-Fi network.
No display on the device means everything is controlled via the app – controlling the fan speed/modes, checking current air quality (PM2.5), temperature and humidity levels – and since the device itself is internet-connected, you can do all this while sitting in the office or when you are on your drive home.
It pretty much nails the brief for what you’d want from an IoT-enabled smart home appliance in 2016.
Open it up, and you see another unique feature of the Mi Air Purifier 2 – a cylindrical 3-layer filter set – that includes a PET filter for larger particles, an EPA filter for smaller PM2.5 & PM0.3 particles and an activated carbon filter for much smaller particles and odours.
No HEPA filter that we’ve seen in some of the much pricier models from Blue Air and Philips, though. Air is sucked in from the bottom from all four sides, after which it goes through the filters and is then pushed up and out into the room from the top.
What’s Good?
For what is meant to be a utilitarian appliance, the Mi Air Purifier looks more like a sleek home speaker than an air purifier, and it’s just the kind of design that would blend into virtually any home decor.
It has a small footprint, and the lack of buttons and displays – just 3 LEDs to indicate mode and the one button to cycle through the various modes – lend a sense of minimalism to the design. At under 5-kg with the filter, it’s easy enough to lug around to another room in the house, even though it doesn't have wheels.
In use, the Mi Air Purifier 2 is quiet, almost too quiet and you often end up wondering whether it’s running… except when it is in turbo mode. Then, it really kicks in and makes a bit of a racket, but fortunately, the turbo mode is only triggered when the air quality is really poor.
Up and running, the purifier delivers a clean air delivery rate (CADR) of 310 cubic meters per hour, which is impressive, given the air purifier’s diminutive size, and you can use this for rooms up to 400 square feet in area.
Sure, you cant see “clean air” unless you’ve cooked a bunch of paranthas and you run the air purifier to, quite literally, “scrub” the air. But if you leave it on in a closed room, there’s a discernible difference in air quality both when you look at the app and if you measure it independently via an air quality monitor.
Beyond the numbers, empirical evidence suggests that the Mi Air Purifier 2 was doing its job well – I loaned the device to a friend in Bangalore who’s constantly troubled by a bad dust allergy and he reported sleeping better with the purifier on all night.
The Mi Air Purifier 2 is doing a stellar job in Delhi of late as well, giving early adopters some much-needed respite from the insane pollution levels in the air… only as long as you keep your doors shut and run the air purifier all through the day.
As with most Xiaomi products, the Air Purifier 2 wows on the price you have to pay for this level of functionality.
Not only is it priced lower than any other branded air purifier in the market, the Air Purifier 2 is many times cheaper than the next Wi-Fi-connected “smart” air purifier. The timing of the launch – pre-Diwali and as we head into the particularly bad north Indian winters – is spot on!
What’s Bad?
While Xiaomi’s got the price spot on, and running costs are low, you will need to factor in the recurring filter replacement cost (Rs 2,499) every 6-8 months – the app handily gives you an indicator of filter life so you can order one from Xiaomi in advance.
While we loved the design, one cannot help but wonder if the top-open design could pose a problem with careless people or kids – one water spill could ruin a whole bunch of things.
A visual indicator of air quality index levels (AQI) on the device would have been nicer, as would some basic graphs within the app to show you the change in air quality in the past few hours, when the air purifier has been on.
The Right Buy?
At the end of the day, despite what brands claim, there’s no solid proof that an air purifier can improve your health, or control respiratory issues.
If you’ve tried everything – from closing windows to keeping your home smoke-free – and just want a shot at a breath of fresh air without having to run away to the mountains, the Mi Air Purifier 2 may be for you.
(Tushar Kanwar is a technology columnist and commentator and has been contributing for the past 15 years to India’s leading newspapers and magazines. He can be reached at @2shar)
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