PACKAGING

I’ve found the packaging for previous Smartmi products always nicely designed, and protect the contents very well. The packaging for the E1 is no exception. The product is front and centre, so you know exactly what you’re getting, and all the relevant info you’re likely to need is printed on the box too.

It supports Apple Home, Google Home, and Amazon Alexa, but there’s no mention of SmartThings. It also doesn’t support Matter, which for HomeKit users isn’t going to make a lot of difference, but does change things slightly for users of the other two platforms.

The included HEP13 filter is designed to tackle the usual pollutants, like dust, pollen, odours, smoke, pet dander, and PM2.5, which some of these come under anyway. It also has a layer of active carbon in the filter, so this should deal with VOCs to a large extent. As you can see, this is really only meant for small to medium size rooms, with the ideal size being 205 sq. ft./19 sq. m.

This being the case, as you can see from the image on the box, it does have a space saving design, so for small rooms like a kids bedroom for example, this would probably be ideal for taking up minimal space, whilst also being powerful enough for that typical type of room.

The E1 is unique (for an air purifier) in that the replacement filters available come with artwork printed on them. Of the three pictured above, I’ve only really seen the cat design, so I guess they’ll expand on these depending on how well the E1 sells, ultimately.

The E1, like all of Smartmi’s devices, uses standard 2.4GHz WiFi to connect to your network, and your smart home. That being the case, there’s no requirement for a hub.

THE PURIFIER

There’s not a lot in the box; the E1, a metal stand, the manual, and some mounting parts. The filter comes preinstalled, and the grey cover is actually part of the filter itself in that the cover, frame, and HEP13 filter are all one unit. Once you replace the filter, the cover – whether its the plain grey pattern or one of the art style covers – is also gone.

With the filter removed, you can see the fan that draws in air through the filter, which is then pushed out after pollutants are caught in the filter.

The inside is also home to the Apple Home QR code. There’s only one instance, so do make a backup in case. There’s a handy (if not necessary) diagram to show you how to replace the filter. In the third image, you can see the depth of the filter (), with the cover being glued onto the filter frame.

The filter is proprietary, which means you’re unlikely to find or be able to fit generic filters from other manufacturers. This being the case, you’ll need to purchase replacements from Smartmi, who have said that if you don’t want the artwork filters, the plain grey ones will also be made available.

The back of the stand has three keyhole slots that allows the E1 to be hung on a wall or other vertical surface. This, as you might now gather, is the reason for the art covers! If you don’t plan on hanging it off a wall, the unit has two holes for affixing the provided metal stand to the E1.

I think most people will opt for the stand option, although as already mentioned, mounting it to a wall does sort of create even more space, when its at a premium.

The back also features a vent area at the top where the clean air is expelled once it has passed through the filter and the fan. At the top of the unit is a small but brightly coloured panel featuring the controls for both the fan speed (three in total), and a power button.

There are small LEDs representing the power and WiFi connection, as well as the three aforementioned fan speeds. If these are likely to bother you at night, the good news is they can be turned off, although only via the Smartmi app.

First impressions are pretty good, and despite looking similar in concept to the much cheaper Ikea Förnuftig air purifier, the design is a lot more stylish in my opinion, looks way more sturdy, and the latter isn’t smart in any way, so it’s easy to see the Smartmi as a better product ultimately.

SMARTMI LINK APP

the Smartmi Link app is pretty bare-bones when it comes to features, which is a shame as it’s nicely designed and laid out. Any devices you have will appear as large tiles showing the devices themselves with a quick on/off control. Tapping on the tile brings up the main screen which has the standard on/off control as well as a sort of carrousel section to choose from three different speeds, listed as ‘gears’ for some reason. Aside from that, there’s the option to turn off the LEDs, as well as a basic schedule/timer section. The app also stores the HomeKit code, and allows you to bind the E1 directly to HomeKit via the app.

APPLE HOME

The Apple Home app fares little better, although as you can have the E1 interact with HomeKit devices from other brands, this is where it takes over from Smartmi’s own app, and for good reason, as I’ll explain later.

You get all the standard stuff, so a single tile for the E1 that allows for on/off control. Tapping anywhere other than the icon will open up the control screen; this is a slider control and power button. Even though the E1 has three distinct speeds, the slider doesn’t snap to those presets, so setting the slider to the relevant speed can be a bit of guesswork. I did mention this to Smartmi, who promised to remedy this via an update. Beyond that, in the settings panel, you get a different slider, that still controls the fan speed, as well as details for filter life and filter condition. That’s pretty much it.

With many devices, there are hidden controls you can access via third-party apps, but this generally isn’t the case for Smartmi devices, so if you want to turn the LEDs off via an automation, or simply via HomeKit, you’re out of luck, as it can only be accessed via the Smartmi app.

REPLACEMENT FILTERS

As it stands, replacement filters are only available as a triple pack, and they also only come with the ‘art’ selections. I’m told by Smartmi that the plain grey filter, like the one the comes with the E1 as standard, will also be available for purchase soon, so hopefully that will happen sooner rather than later.

Above is one of the artwork filters sent for this review, and although I’m not a cat person, per se, it does look cool. I dare say it would look great on the wall too, but that does require a commitment to drilling some holes into the wall, so it’s over to you!

PERFORMANCE AND POTENTIAL MINUS POINT

The main issue that some will have is that unlike many purifiers, the E1 doesn’t come equipped with a built in PM2.5 sensor – or any sensors at all for that matter. The company’s other purifiers – P1, P2, AP2, Jya – all come with PM2.5 sensors built in, so this is the reason for the lower price point of the E1. I personally don’t think it’s a problem, as I’ve found time and again through tests that the sensors in purifiers tend to measure the air immediately around themselves, and as such don’t tend to give realistic measurements for the room. This I’ve found is in part due to the air surrounding the device being cleaner due to the job it’s tasked with, whilst it seems logical to know the levels of PM2.5 the room in general, not in the immediate vicinity of the purifier.

My take on this is to get the E1 to turn on and off (via automations) based on measurements from an external sensor. There are plenty of PM2.5 sensors available for all budgets these days, and because they’re dedicated to a specific task, chances are they’re going to be at least as good, if not better than any built in sensor. You can also place these external sensors wherever you think the concentrations of pollutants is represented best, possible near a window facing a main road, for example.

Aside from this point, I don’t have any complaints, and in month I’ve had it running, I’m happy to say that it hasn’t gone offline once so far, which to me is always a worry. The usual price point is a little high at US$161 (it’s currently on offer for just US$129.00), considering the superior Smartmi P1 is available for just a little more. Still, it takes up little space, can be wall mounted, and comes with artwork printed on the covers, so it certainly has it’s own niche.

The post Smartmi Air Purifier E1 (review) appeared first on Homekit News and Reviews.

PACKAGING

I can’t fault Smartmi’s packaging, it’s always very straightforward but stylish, and also ensures pretty much all the info you need is there, without it looking too cluttered. Obviously, that’s easier to do with a large box, but they do it very well. It protects the insides well too. As standard, you get the HomeKit, Alexa, and Google badges, although it’s a bit lax that they’re still using the ‘works with Apple HomeKit’ badge, not the ‘Works with Apple Home’ one. That said, there’s also no mention of Matter, but that’s not really a surprise, and really makes little difference at this point in time.

So what is different about the P2 in a nutshell? first and foremost, the unit comes with built-in rechargeable batteries. This allows the P2 to be unplugged and moved to any location without the need to also bring the power cable – unless you’re planning to have it running at another location for over two hours at maximum speed. It’ll also stay connected to HomeKit and your WiFi network even on batteries, as long as it’s within range of your network, so even though it can be put to work in places where there’s no outlet, if you want to control it via HomeKit or the Smartmi link app, it still needs to be connected to WiFi, which in this case uses 2.4GHz as standard.

The other major change is the display on the top, which now comes with an animated RGB screen. It’s pretty small, but it looks great in my opinion. The P2 also has a dual sensor able to detect both PM2.5 and PM10. Finally, the P2 comes with a built-in night light located inside the top part of the unit.

There are other smaller changes from the P1 to the P2, but we’ll go into all of these differences later. For now, we’ll look at the hardware.

THE SMARTMI P2

After having had the Smartmi P1 for a while, which I do like, putting it up against the P2 makes you realise the design has been stepped up in a possibly obvious way, but still well done. The chassis of the P1 had a grille that covered around 50%, whereas the P2 goes pretty much from top to bottom, with just a small section at the top that accommodates the company’s logo.

The chassis currently only comes in one finish, compared to the P1 which offered silver and dark grey finishes. I’m sure the P2 in dark grey would look slick too, but the one here is really pleasing to the eye as it is.

The rear of the device only really features a coaxial socket for the power supply, and the laser particle sensor, which, unlike the P1, is hidden under the grille, whilst the P1 had its own small set of slats to sample the surrounding air for particulate matter. Above the power socket is one of two instances of the HomeKit code.

The air outlet surrounding the control panel/display has also been redesigned with the blades set at a slight angle instead of fanning out from the centre in straight lines. We’ll go into the display itself in a bit.

the inside of the P2, where the filter resides is also home to a second instance of the HomeKit code, as well as access to the laser particle sensor, which appears to be removable for cleaning.

The carry strap has also seen a design change, and one that I personally welcome; The handle no longer uses leather but a synthetic durable type of rubber material that’s soft to the touch, but seemingly malleable and durable. The strap features the smartmi logo, but states that it’s designed by Jya, which is the Smartmi brand for their more expensive air purifiers.

The Strap holds onto the P2 with similar rivets to the ones found on the P1, although they’re in gold on the P2. The strap also tapers at the rivet.

The power supply that came with my unit was for Europe (Type C/E), although they’ll definitely also provide a US power supply once the device is officially released. This power brick supplies slightly more ‘juice’ than the power supply for the P1, but as I needed a US power supply, I tested the P2 with the P1 power supply and noticed no issues at all.

the manual is only available in English at the time of writing but covers almost all aspects of the P2, although there’s very little information on the night light that the P2 comes with, which is a bit of an omission.

FILTERS

For those with the Smartmi P1, if you’re looking to update or add to your setup with a P2, the good news is that they both use the same filters. These filters come in both a ‘Pollen’ filter and a ‘Pet’ filter, with each filter having strengths in particular areas of filtration.

These filters and the lid are all one piece, so when you replace the filter, you’re effectively replacing the lid that locks the filter into place too. In this case, I’ve got a Pet filter installed, which is just as well given how much our dog sheds his fur…

CONTROL PANEL/DISPLAY

The top of the P2 has a glass control panel with four lit buttons surrounding a RGB display. These four buttons are on all the time when the unit is on, with only the power button lit when the unit is off. The four buttons are the power button, a delay-off button, a button to control the brightness of the central display, and a mode button.

The central display is quite small, as already stated, but it still looks good, although unfortunately my attempts to photograph it don’t do it much justice. When active, the display is centred around the PM2.5 numbers, with PM2.5 stated at the top. This should change to P10 if PM10 is more prevalent than PM2.5. Next to this is a WiFi symbol, which should stay solidly lit in normal operation.

Below that is a battery icon, which gives you a rough idea of the battery levels. Alongside the battery icon is the mode icon, which will display one of three icons – Auto mode, Custom/Favourite mode, and Sleep mode. The image above shows it’s in Sleep mode.

The top button controls the brightness of the central display, with three levels plus off.

You can set the P2 to turn off after a delay of 1, 2, 4, or 8 hours.

The mode button allows you to cycle through all three modes – Sleep, Auto, and Custom/Favourite, with icons to represent each mode. Sleep mode sets the fan at a very low and quiet level, whilst Auto mode changes the power of the fan depending on the level of pollution in the air. Custom/favourite mode is determined by the speed/room size you set in the Smartmi app or the Home app.

As the P2 has built-in batteries, when you unplug the mains cable, you’ll briefly see a ‘battery’ icon before it returns to the main screen. If you plug the cable back in, you’ll briefly see a ‘power’ icon.

after a few seconds, the main display reverts to a screen saver that simply displays the particulate matter levels along with whether it’s PM2.5 or PM10.

I mentioned the night light at the start of this review, and when it’s activated when the unit is on (only via the app, unfortunately), the display will show icons for the state of the night light – on or off – as seen above.

The central display will also change colour depending on the levels of PM2.5 or PM10 detected. Above you can see the first image has a display with an orange background; this is just at the start of mild pollution, whereas the second image shows heavy pollution with a red background. For healthy air quality of between 0 ~ 20, you’ll see a green display.

THE NIGHT LIGHT

The night light isn’t an afterthought, although if you’re expecting rich colours, you’ll be disappointed. You may also be surprised to find the night light isn’t exposed to HomeKit, and can’t be controlled from the unit directly, which is quite strange.

Still, if you want something that is purely designed as a night light to aid someone when they take a midnight trip to the bathroom in what could otherwise be a pitch-black room, then it’s good enough. It’s probably also useful for a child’s bedroom if they have a problem sleeping in a totally darkened room at night.

IN THE HOME APP

In the Home app, and HomeKit you get the one tile. Tapping on the icon turns the unit on or off, but tapping on the tile opens up the main two controls – a toggle switch, and a slider for the fan speed. Unlike devices like the Vocolinc PureFlow and the Airversa Purelle, which are set to five specific speeds, the fan speed can be set to any percentage from 0~100%.

Going deeper into the P2 settings page, you can see two ‘accessories’ listed. These are the sensors within the P2, and further controls for the P2 itself. These additional controls allow for Manual or Auto settings, although Sleep mode is missing here. Manual mode is essentially the equivalent of Custom/Favourite mode on the P2.

You also Get information on the filter life and filter condition, as well as a ‘mode’ toggle control although I’m not sure how it works.

Going into the AQI sensor (as I’ve labelled it), you get information on the overall air quality (AQI is an acronym for Air Quality Index), in addition to the density for both PM2.5 and PM10. You can set up automations based on the Air Quality, but if you want to set automations based on the density levels of either of the particulate matter sensors, you either need to use a third-party HomeKit app or use Shortcuts within a HomeKit automation in the Home app.

IN THE SMARTMI LINK APP

If you’re not familiar with Smartmi’s own Link app, it’s nicely laid out, but it can only work with its own products, and when it comes to automations, things could be a lot better if I’m honest. You can control the power status of the device from the main screen, but if you go in deeper, you get information and further control. You can select one of the three modes previously mentioned, with a slider for Custom mode that allows you to set the fan speed based on the floor size. You also get a basic visual of the battery life.

Air quality and PM2.5 levels are shown at the top, and if you want you can also access a graph to show air levels over periods of a day, week or month. The data can’t be exported, however.

Sliding up from the bottom of the screen gives you access to several other options and settings, including filter life, screen brightness, timers in the form of schedules, control of the night light, and the same delayed power-off options as are available on the device itself.

On the subject of the display brightness, I don’t know why, but they use odd descriptions for the four levels – Highlight (bright), Secondary (medium), Shimmer (low), and Rest Screen (off). At least they’re in the correct order I guess.

I’ve already stated that I’m not overly impressed with the night/mood light, and a lot of that has to do with lack of control; You can’t turn it on or off from the device, and it’s not exposed to HomeKit at all. The only way to turn it off manually is to turn the device off, and the only way to control it via your iPhone is via the Smartmi app. That wouldn’t be so bad if it weren’t for the fact that you still have to drill down into the menus to get to it.

What makes things slightly worse is that when you get to the night light settings, you’re provided with the option to store up to 4 different colours, which you would assume are for recall later on. Not so! Once you go back into this section, they’ve all gone. Granted, the P2 isn’t available yet, and this and other potentially missing features could be in place once the P2 is officially launched in the new year, so we’ll have to wait and see.

CLEANING ABILITY AND THE SENSORS

Without the luxury of a perspex box in which to place the P2, it’s hard to easily quantify how efficiently the P2 can clean, but solely relying on the display that reveals air quality levels, it seems to do a more than adequate job for its size. Given this is only suitable for small to medium rooms, if this is used in a large open space like a living room, it’s unlikely you’ll get the best out of it.

In terms of detecting changes in air quality, when it’s on, it detects such changes reasonably quickly and better than the Airversa Purelle in my tests. When compared to the P1, it doesn’t quite match the speed at which the P1 is able to detect such changes, but it’s not a race as such, so I can forgive it for that. One of my tests involved setting up an automation whereby both the P1 and P2 are powered but in off/standby mode, with the automation set to turn the purifiers on, and at full speed if the air quality drops below Excellent. In these tests, the P2 was a bit slower on the uptake, with the P1 reacting almost instantly, with the P2 waking up a few seconds after. It does wake though, so this is something some other air purifiers can’t seem to manage.

If you want to see some of the tests, you can check them out in the video below;

THE P2 IN USE

I’ve not been using the P2 for an extensive amount of time, but I do have the advantage of having a couple of P1 units that allow for some comparisons, as well as expectations on how the P2 should function at a minimum. So first off, it stays connected to my network really well, and hasn’t had a ‘no response’ issue at all – even when on batteries and reasonably far from the router it’s connected to. I’ve also found this with the P1, although to be fair, some people reported a lot of dropped connections.

I don’t tend to have to move my air purifiers around, and as such whilst the battery-powered option is useful, it’s not honestly going to be something I’ll use too often. We’ll see though.

The display is small, but as it’s dynamic to some extent, with really nice visuals, I actually like it a lot. Whilst the P1 has arguably a clearer more visible display, it really does look a bit basic and dated to me, so I’m actually quite happy with the P2’s display.

Aesthetically, I really like it a lot, and of all the purifiers I’ve owned and/or tested, this is the one I like most from a design perspective. Likewise, I’m also quite happy they’ve stuck with the same filters as the P1, which really helps keep things simple.

Aside from the issue with the night light and the lack of ways to control it, sleep mode doesn’t automatically turn off the display, which seems like a given really, and because neither sleep mode nor the display can be automated or scheduled in HomeKit or the Smartmi Link app, it’s a case of having to do it manually. This wouldn’t necessarily matter in rooms used in the daytime, but for a bedroom, I’d say it’s pretty important. If they’d installed a basic light sensor, this could have taken care of things without too much fuss.

On balance, it’s an excellent-looking device, with some nice updates to the P1, although with the few issues around bugs and lack of control for certain aspects, it does feel a bit like a minor fail in some ways. I do hope they can fix both the bugs and add some extra functionality to at least their own app, and if so, it could easily be the standard by which other air purifiers are measured. When the P2 is released to the public, if any changes are implemented, I’ll adjust the relevant points as necessary.

Smartmi currently has the P2 on preorder via Kickstarter, with a discount on the price if you pay before it’s officially released. The deal price is US$179.99, with the retail price listed as US$259.99.

The post Smartmi P2 Air Purifier (review) appeared first on Homekit News and Reviews.

PACKAGING

The packaging has that now quite ubiquitous ‘Apple’ look at the front (not so much with the other sides), with just the Purelle facing towards you, so much so, that if it weren’t for the fact it states ‘Smart Air Purifier’ on the front, you might be left guessing what exactly it was. Be that as it may, the top of the box features the badges you want to see i.e. ‘Works with Apple HomeKit’, but also includes both a Bluetooth logo as well as the ‘Built on Thread’ badge. Don’t worry about the Bluetooth part! Thread relies on Bluetooth only as a fallback if for any reason your Thread Border Router goes down, which wouldn’t be an issue if you had more than one border router anyway.

If you’re in the position to buy this off the shelf in a physical store (unlikely these days, but still), you’ll have all the information to hand with a lot of details on pretty much all aspects of the Purelle; the device uses a pair of True HEPA filters that comes in three parts to capture hair, pet dander, and other larger fibres, particulate matter (AKA PM2.5), and finally, odours, that are tackled by a layer of carbon.

In terms of specs and features, the main one here is that it works with Thread. Whilst it’s exclusively HomeKit compatible, there is an app that gives you access to some of the features that aren’t available in the Home app (but are via third-party apps). It comes with a built-in PM2.5 sensor, which you’d think was a given, although it would appear Meross didn’t get the memo on that one…

There’s a multicolour LED ring, and all manner of details via the digital display, which we’ll get into in more detail later, five fan speeds, plus a Sleep mode, and a child lock.

THE PURELLE

The Purelle is as minimalist in the ‘flesh’ as it appears on the box, at least from the front, with just the Airversa logo to punctuate the off-white plastic. The rear is almost as minimal, with a small coaxial port for power, and a small vent for the PM2.5 sensor. Both sides of the Purelle feature three rows of slots designed to take in the surrounding air, which is then cleaned by the two filters, before being expelled out the top of the purifier, via the fan, which surrounds the aforementioned digital display, that also acts as a control panel.

First impressions count, as they say, and all in all, the Purelle feels well made, considering it’s of typical moulded plastic. I didn’t feel any loose joints where the different parts meet, which isn’t the case with the Sensibo Air Purifier, which by contrast I found has ill-fitting sections and an overall loose feel to it. The top section contrasts with the off-white plastic body by using a mid-grey colour (absence of colour…?).

To access the filters, you do have to turn the unit upside down, so it’s just as well the Purelle only weighs around 3kg / 6.6lb. The digital display is slightly recessed, so turning it on its head shouldn’t scratch the display, although I’d still recommend laying a piece of cloth down first. A quick turn of the large lever in the centre of the base removes the whole bottom section, to then reveal two filters, as seen in the second image.

To replace them, you simply pull these filters out by the little attached material tabs found on both ends of the filters – making sure you also remove them from the plastic bags before using the machine.

Some people might prefer the tubular filters that you find in most of the other air purifiers on the market, and whilst they (in theory) give 360º coverage, the sheer size of them does present a bit more of a challenge when shipping compared to a pair of filters for the Purelle. Sure, we have free shipping these days for most things, but the extra size means more packaging and more costs for shipping, even if you’re not paying for it directly, so I’d suggest these are a tad more eco-friendly. They’re also reportedly cheaper at around US$25~30 for a pair of filters, compared to anything between US$40~60 depending on the purifier you have that uses the tubular-designed ones.

THE DIGITAL DISPLAY

Whether you like automations to trigger your devices, or occasionally just prefer to control the devices from your phone, there’s going to be a point where it’s just easier to control it ‘on-device’. This is where the digital display comes in handy, with controls for almost every feature the Purelle has to offer.

• The bottom has a power button that’s on at all times except for in Sleep mode. To the left of that is a symbol to show that the device is connected to your (Thread) network. This is also on at all times except for in Sleep mode.
• The centre of the display is mostly taken up with the PM2.5 reading, with buttons for the different functions surrounding it.
• Starting with the first icon to the right of the display is an icon that will flash when your filters need changing. Aside from that, the icon is just lit up, doing nothing else.
• Above that is a padlock icon, representing the child lock. You have to press this button for approximately 5 seconds to activate/deactivate the feature. When it’s active, no buttons will react to presses, simply resulting in a ‘double beep’ warning sound.
• Above that is a fan icon. Tapping this cycles through the five standard fan speeds, with the central display temporarily changing to the relevant fan speed number, before switching back to the PM2.5 levels.
• Right at the top is an Auto mode button. When this is active, the Purelle will simply adjust its fan speed depending on the PM2.5 levels.
• Further to the left, we have a clock icon that represents a delay-off timer. Each press of this button adds an hour to the time the purifier will turn off. The maximum is 24 hours, after which the timer will revert to zero hours – off, basically. Even though the timer increases in increments of one hour, the company’s Sleekpoint app allows you to set the timer in minutes as well.
• Below that is a moon icon. This is Sleep mode. Pressing this turns off all display elements, including the LED ring. The Sleep mode icon will also eventually turn off as well. Tapping on the display will turn this icon back on, with any subsequent button press turning the display fully back on.
• In between the power button and the PM2.5 display are five dashes. These represent the remaining life of the filters. As there are five of them, it stands to reason each slot represents 20% of the filters’ lives. Above the PM2.5 display are three wavey lines to indicate the fan is on. They flash in turn, and the faster the fan speed, the more frequently the lines flash.
• The LED Ring that surrounds the display is full colour and will change depending on the level of pollution, thereby giving you a quick visual representation of air quality from a distance, without having to check the display.

Both the LED ring and the display have options to be adjusted for brightness. In the Sleekpoint app, you can set the LED ring and display to one of five levels, each independently, or set them to ‘Adaptive’, where they react to the ambient light levels in the room the Purelle is located in, and adjust their brightness accordingly.

IN HOME | HOMEKIT

As you might expect with HomeKit and the Home app, things are very ‘vanilla’, with much the same options as any other purifier; You get a single tile to turn it on or off quickly, with a long press revealing a screen with an on/off button, and a slider to control the fan speed. The slider snaps to 20% increments to match the five fan speeds (plus off), so 100% on the slider is equivalent to speed 5 on the Purelle, for example.

The settings panel is as you’d expect, with all the standard settings for automations, naming the device and selecting the room it needs to be in. In addition to this, however, is an ‘Accessories’ section, with two accessories listed.

These two accessories are the air purifier again, which I know is confusing, but the fault lies partially with Apple and HomeKit in some ways, and the Air Quality sensor. Starting with the latter, you can see that once you dive into this section you get access to the Air Quality levels and the PM2.5 density. Both of these parameters can be used in automations directly within the Home app. The PM2.5 density gives accurate readings, whereas the Air Quality is based on general levels – Excellent, Good, Fair, Inferior, Poor.

If we go into the Air Purifier ‘accessory’ you get the same controls we’ve seen before, although instead of a power button we get a toggle switch. Going deeper into this section you then get access to manual and auto modes, with buttons for each mode. You also get access to the child lock. Both of these parameters can be used in automations within the Home app.

Some other third-party HomeKit apps get access to additional settings not available in the Apple Home app. Eve for HomeKit gives you options for turning the Purelle’s system sounds on or off, and also gives you filter maintenance details. You also have access to the child lock, although it’s on a separate screen.

AIRVERSA PURELLE AND THREAD

Staying with the Eve app, if you have at least one Thread-enabled Eve device and a HomeKit compatible Thread Border Router of course (HomePod mini, 2021 Apple TV4K), then you can access detailed information on your Thread network. On the first screen, you can see my Thread network, which currently comprises three Nanoleaf Essentials bulbs, a Wemo Stage Scene Controller Smart button, A Wemo Smart plug (Studio Lights), A couple of Eve Motion Smart Blinds, an Eve Energy Smart Plug, and at the bottom, four HomePods Mini. You can also see that the Airversa is listed as a ‘Router’, meaning it can act as a router for nearby Thread end devices, whilst also helping expand the Thread mesh network.

• One thing to note, is that I’ve found that some Thread devices will show as being connected to Bluetooth, not Thread, when initially set up. To fix this, I find that simply rebooting your phone then shows the device connected over Thread after that.

THE SLEEKPOINT APP

The Sleekpoint app isn’t a third-party HomeKit app like Eve for HomeKit, Controller, or Home+, for example, so you can only control devices that are part of Sleekpoint’s smart product lineup, which is just the Purelle right now. There are two other Airversa products, but neither is ‘smart’ and therefore can’t even be added to the app. So, at present, the main screen shows only my Purelle. If I had more, they’d all show up here of course.

Previously, you were required to set up an account in order to use the app, but a new update now provides Express mode, which allows you to access all the same features without having to set up an account. It should be noted, however, that if you go for Express mode, then, later on, decide you do want to create an account, the only way to do so is to delete the app, and reinstall it, to get to these options on the screen (screenshot #1).

Clicking on the device opens up a panel dedicated to the Purelle, which reveals a series of buttons at the top – power, Auto mode, Sleep mode, Child lock, and settings. Below are the PM2.5 levels. I’m currently using a beta version of the app, and as such there are a couple of issues, but I’m told Airversa are fixing them, one of which is the PM2.5 numbers being slightly out compared to what’s seen on the device’s display.

Below this section is a chart to show air quality levels over time, with daily, weekly, and monthly data.

One thing that’s missing from this main screen is quick access to the fan speeds, which I feel is a bit of an oversight. It is available, but you have to go into the settings page to access it, which seems odd. Alongside this option, you get access to separate controls for the brightness of the display and the LED ring. Both can be set to one of five levels of brightness, as well as have them set to ‘Adaptive Brightness’ that adjusts these levels depending on the surrounding light. The difference between levels 1 and 5 is not that large, however.

Where the Sleekpoint app is at its most useful is via Timers and Schedules; Whilst you can set timers directly from the digital display, you can only set timers in one-hour increments, whilst via the app, you can fine-tune these countdown timers to the minute. With Schedules, you not only get the option to set the device to turn on and off at certain times of the day and days of the week, but you can also set start and end dates in which these schedules will work. So, if for example, you’re away from home for a few days whilst you’re having a new bathroom fitted, perhaps, you can limit a specific schedule to work on the specific days that you’re out of the house, whilst also having regular schedules for other normal situations.

The other nice thing with Schedules is that you can have custom settings for pretty much all the other parameters, so you can set a specific fan mode and speed, as well as set the display and LED ring brightness to your liking. Whilst this may not seem of massive use, it does give you a level of customization you won’t get as easily in other apps.

PERFORMANCE / WRAPPING UP

Having had this on test for approximately 9 weeks now, and in terms of connection, the device has been almost totally rock-solid. There was an incident early on where the device lost connection and was only able to reconnect to the Thread network and HomeKit by power cycling it. This only happened once, however,  and happened within the first three weeks of use. Since then I’ve been using the device with updated firmware, and have so far not encountered this issue again. We’d all prefer a 100% success rate in this area of course, but even with the most reliable of devices, you’re likely to encounter an issue like this at one time or another, so I think this is a good sign for the Purelle.

In terms of its cleaning ability, as I don’t really have the kind of lab equipment to test in great detail, it’s hard for me to check the accuracy of the claims on cleaning efficiency. Still, when it comes to what tests I was able to do, it worked as expected, if not in any particularly dazzling manner.

I performed a few smoke tests to check that the PM2.5 sensor was capable of effectively picking up on the smoke, and it worked as expected. In these same tests, I did also measure the PM2.5 levels with a separate device (the QingPing Air Monitor Lite – review HERE, Video HERE). The levels were at a high level during the air pollution test, as expected, and would go down once the Purelle got to work, although as this is designed for small to medium rooms, how fast this change takes place will vary. What I also did was check the difference between the surrounding ‘polluted’ air, and the relative cleanliness of the air being filtered and pushed out through the top of the Purelle. This test clearly shows the air to be a lot cleaner, which is expected of course, but also confirms that it’s working.

In terms of schedules and automations, I had the Purelle working via schedules in both HomeKit and via the Sleekpoint app and had no issues with failed or delayed running times. All in all, I would say that the Purelle performed its required tasks perfectly well, so in that respect, there’s really nothing to complain about. It would be nice to have more of the extras exposed directly exposed to the Home app, but I suspect much of this lies in the hands of Apple.

I’d love to see a larger version too if that is a possibility, but given Airversa is a new brand, we’ll have to give them a bit of time to find their feet perhaps. As Thread is still being adopted at a slower pace than many might like, it’s refreshing to see a company not only embrace this new technology out of the gate but be the first to deliver a brand new product category in the Thread arena, so all kudos to them for that.

The final point, which I try to not focus on too much at present, is Matter, as it’s still not here, so it feels odd talking about something that’s yet to show itself. Still, Matter is on the minds of many who are wary of buying a product that’s only compatible with HomeKit at this time, when Matter is just over the next hill. After having spoken to the company, they’ve informed me that whilst they don’t have immediate plans to look at Matter just yet (sort of understandable for a company with only one product) their plans for future products all involve Thread, with the aim to go ‘all in’ on the protocol. They also informed me that, unlike the relatively recent news that Nanoleaf’s Thread-enabled Essentials lineup (bulb and light strip) aren’t powerful enough to become Matter compatible, the chip used for Airversa’s products is capable of being updated to work with Matter, once they’re in a position to tackle it. Bear in mind that in many ways, it makes little difference for HomeKit users as to whether this is Matter compatible or not, at least that’s how I’m currently viewing the landscape as it stands, as I feel that Matter is going to be a longer and slower process than many care to believe. That’s another conversation of course, and as far as the Airversa Purelle is concerned, for now, this is the only Thread-enabled air purifier in a small sea of purifiers that are sticking to 2.4GHz WiFi, so the company are taking a leap of faith, that many other more established companies still aren’t ready to commit to. I’ll get off my soapbox now…

The post Airversa Purelle Air Purifier with Thread (review) appeared first on Homekit News and Reviews.

It doesn’t end there, however, as you get a premium device for a budget, with a smart home product that is literally brimming with features – all at your fingertips, via the Purelle’s clear digital display. the touchscreen is designed for simple control as well as keep you informed on the quality of the air in your home, to keep your family’s health in check, all with the smart capabilities offered by Apple Home and Thread.

The Purelle’s large digital display gives you everything you need to keep air quality in check, so you can protect your family’s health with just a quick glance.

• Fan Speed – 5 speeds, including Auto and Sleep modes
• Timers – Set the Purelle to automatically turn off after between 1-24hrs in 1hr increments
• Child Lock – Prevents your toddler from inadvertently activating the Purelle
• Air Quality – Large numbers display the PM2.5 levels
• On/Off Control – Turn the Purelle on or off directly from the screen
• Filter Life – View the remaining life of the filters and get alerts when they need replacing
• Connection – Check to make sure your Purelle is connected to your Thread network
• LED Ring – A large colour ring surrounds the display, changing colour depending on the quality of the surrounding air

If you’re building up your smart home, many of the devices offered today will use 2.4GHz Wi-Fi for connectivity. However, It only takes a small collection of Wi-Fi smart bulbs and smart plugs before your home network begins to creak under the strain of all these connected devices, vying for your router’s resources.

Purelle deals with this by utilising Thread, a brand new wireless protocol that takes the strain away from your Wi-Fi network, and creating what can be described as a special Mesh Network, separate from Wi-Fi. As you add more Thread devices to this network, it actually becomes more robust, and more reliable, as well as seeing fast response times.

To utilize Thread with Apple HomeKit, all you need is a Thread Border Router – currently a HomPod mini, or an Apple TV 4K (2021+ model). The Purelle will connect to one of these routers and other Thread devices to spread and enhance your Thread network. If you don’t have one of these, you can still use the Purelle via Bluetooth.

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UNBOXING | CONTENTS

As with the P1, the Air Purifier 2 (herein referred to as the AP2) comes in a decent box to protect it from being damaged, and in my case, this seems to have been shipped halfway across the United States, before being sent over to Hong Kong, and finally Taiwan, with no damage at all, thankfully. The box did look a bit grubby, but that’s ok. The box tells you pretty much all you need to know, including compatibility (Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, and Apple HomeKit), along with features and specifications.

The AP2 is a bit of a sight to behold, with a metallic blue/grey colour and gold base, with the air vent at the top matching in a slightly darker blue/grey. Whereas the P1 came in two colour options, the AP2 only comes in the one finish, but it looks great, so no complaints there. Aside from the AP2 and an included filter, there’s really just a power cable and the manual in English and Spanish.

In terms of size, it’s 200mm (7.87in) taller than the P1, at 563mm (22.17in) tall, compared to 362.5mm (14.27in) for the P1, with the AP2 being slightly wider/deeper than the P1. With the extra size comes a new filter, and of course more capacity to clean;

AP2 vs. P1

• Pollen CADR – 208CFM (353m³/H) | 150CFM (250m³/H)
• Dust CADR – 196CFM (333m³/H) | 130CFM (220m³/H)
• Smoke CADR – 196CFM (333m³/H) | 130CFM (220m³/H)
• Room Size – 279~484 sq ft (26~45m²) | 180~320 sq ft (17.5~30m²)
• Rated power – 40w | 30w

Another difference is in the materials used for the main body of the device. The P1 uses a metal shell, whilst the AP2 is in plastic. This does make sense, as using the same materials as the P1 would make the AP2 considerably heavier.

THE AIR PURIFIER

Speaking of weight, to replace the filter in the P1, you would have to lift and turn it on its head in order to access the filter for replacement. Not so with the AP2, which has a door on the rear, which is opened via an easy-to-operate latch. This removes the door entirely, enabling you to pull the filter out with relative ease. This is also where the one and only instance of the HomeKit QR code can be found.

For power, the AP2 can be used anywhere, with it accepting 100-240VAC @ 50/60Hz. The provided cable, which in my case uses the North American type A plug, comes with what I typically describe as a ‘cassette player’ power lead – one that you would also find used with an Apple TV. However, the one provided here comes with one half of the plug squared off, so you can only plug it in one way, which I assume is the whole reason for the design.

The back section is rounded off with a laser particle sensor designed to measure particulate matter (PM2.5/10). Next to that is a small hole that houses temperature and humidity sensors. These are not exposed to HomeKit unfortunately, so you only really see them in the Smartmi Link app. Above that is a button that can set the display to one of three levels – Light (full brightness), Shimmer (low brightness), and Off (only the two buttons remain lit). Above the button are four small holes that house the TVOC Sensor.

The top of the AP2 is where all the action is, with the combined control panel & display sitting bang in the centre of the outlet fan, just like their original air purifier, and the P1. With the control panel/display you can both see data for the surrounding air, as well as control the AP2 itself;

• Around the edge of the display is a colour LED ring designed to give you an overall view of general air quality (combined VOC and PM2.5 levels). This changes colour depending on these levels, with;
  • green – excellent air quality
  • yellow – good air quality
  • orange – moderate
  • red – unhealthy
• A ‘pollen’ icon, designed to do much the same as the LED ring, but more focused on PM2.5 and PM10, which includes pollen.
• Below is a readout of the actual PM2.5 levels;
  • 1~20µg/m³ – excellent
  • 21~35µg/m³ – good
  • 36~55µg/m³ – moderate
  • >55µg/m³ – unhealthy
• Directly below that is a strip to specifically show TVOC levels. Under normal circumstances, a little square will show, but as the VOC levels get higher, one, two or three bars will reveal themselves in one long strip.
• Either side of the previously mentioned two sections is buttons.
  • The left button cycles through three different modes;
    • Sleep mode – the lowest fan setting
    • Manual mode – the fan spins at the speed you set it at in HomeKit or the Smartmi Link app
    • Auto mode – the fan spins and changes speed based on the air quality readings
  • The right button is merely for power, however, pressing and holding both buttons will reset the device.
• Below that is an icon to show which mode the AP2 is set to;
  • A ‘Moon’ icon for Sleep mode
  • An ‘A’ icon for Auto mode
  • A ‘Heart’ Icon for Manual mode
• A WiFi icon to indicate that the AP2 is connected to your home WiFi network. The AP2 only connects to the 2.4GHz WiFi band.
• A temperature reading – The temperature is shown in ºF or ºC depending on your settings in the Smartmi app.
• Finally, a UV icon to let you know if the built-in UV light is active or not.

When you first plug the AP2 in, or re/place the filter, upon powering up, the screen will briefly display the filter life in terms of a percentage.

It’s hard to fault the control panel (aside from the ºF vs. ºC issue), as it gives you almost total physical control of the AP2, as well as giving you pretty much all the info you need, to the extent that it would barely be noticeable if it wasn’t a smart device as such, in many ways. The one aspect you can’t control is the speed of the fan in Manual mode. To control the fan in this mode, you need to use a HomeKit app or the Smartmi Link app.

One possibly interesting find is that when you adjust the fan speed in either Smartmi Link or Apple Home/HomeKit, you can adjust in 1% increments. This might seem normal, but in actual fact, some air purifiers can only change speed relating to the specific preset speeds they’re designed with. So in the case of the Vocolinc PureFlow, it has 5 speeds, which means when you adjust the slider it will snap to 0% (off), 20%, 40%, 60%, 80%, or 100%. The 20% – 100% steps directly correlate with the 5 speeds available on the device. If you try to get Siri to set the PureFlow to 55%, for example, it’ll round up to 60%. The AP2, on the other hand, can be set to 55% – or any other speed – without any problems.

Unfortunately, Smartmi decided to remove two useful features from the display that are found on the P1, namely an option to cycle through three different preset fan speeds (plus Auto), as well as a feature to set the AP2 to run for 1, 2, 4, or 8 hours before automatically shutting off. These can still be achieved from within the Smartmi app, but not the control panel/display. Whilst that might seem a shame, we are talking about a device designed to be used as part of a smart home ecosystem, so in reality, setting automations to do much the same things is sort of the point, with physical control almost a secondary option, so it’s not as big a deal as it might seem.

In HomeKit and the Home app, you get the one tile to represent the AP2. A long press reveals the standard on/off toggle switch and a slider for the fan speed. Scrolling further down reveals the settings page, revealing two ‘accessories’, which I guess could be described as services.

The two aforementioned ‘accessories’ are for the AP2, and air quality details, so for the AP2, you get a repeat of the basic controls we see initially, namely the toggle switch and slider for fan speed. If you scroll down, this reveals a little more, with separate buttons for manual and auto modes, as well as a horizontal slider for the fan speed, and details on filter condition and filter life.

The Air Quality tile, once pressed, reveals overall air quality, which is a combination of VOC and PM2.5 levels, and a specific reading for PM2.5 density. What you don’t get are specific numbers for VOCs, temperature levels, or humidity levels. Ultimately this isn’t a big deal for me, as I prefer to keep an eye on TVOC levels with an independent device, which is also the case for temperature and humidity levels, especially given that I have devices for these readings dotted about the house anyway.

As is usually the case, the native app for Smartmi offers more, although personally, it’s of little use without better automation options, which I’ll mention later. The main screen for the AP2 shows you an animated device (if it’s on) with a ‘sliding carousel’ control bar that allows you to select Auto, Sleep and Custom modes (Why is it described as Manual on the device, but Custom here?). Custom mode allows you to increase the fan speed, although in this case it’s reflected in terms of the size of the room it needs to cover – the larger the living space, the faster the fan, basically.

You also get to see the temperature and humidity readings from the on-device sensors I mentioned earlier that aren’t exposed to HomeKit.

Pushing up on the temperature/humidity section reveals a lot more; from there you can check the filter life, adjust the screen’s brightness, set timers for the device to turn on or off, and select delayed off presets (1, 2, 4, and 8 hrs). You can also turn the UV lamp on or off, deactivate system sounds (I recommend doing so, as the ‘beep’ is quite loud), and deploy the child lock function. On the home page screen, you can also check which devices within the Smartmi app are linked to HomeKit.

At the top of the home page, there are three icons, the latter two of which, once pressed, reveal rudimentary graphs for TVOCs and PM2.5, respectively. Whilst it’s nice to have these, aside from the colour of the lines, you don’t really get an idea of the numbers for these readings, so you have to just treat them as rough historical data.

There’s a lot to like with the AP2, one of which is the ability to remove the top grille in order to give the inside a bit of a clean. The grille itself is held by a small screw on the rear, and once removed still sits tightly in place until you rotate it anti-clockwise. They probably don’t need the screw, to be honest, and as I was removing the small screw for the first time, I thought to myself, I bet this drops to the floor and will be a bugger to find. No soon had I thought of it, than it happened! So, you’ve been warned.

In a time when certain viruses are at the forefront of many people’s minds, the included UV light is a welcome, timely arrival. As I stated at the start, there’s no way for me to test whether bacteria and viruses possibly trapped in the filter are being chemically dismantled by the UV interaction, but it’s unlikely the company would make such claims without the proof to back them up, and as this technology is already proven to work, I feel I can rest assured that it’s certainly not hurting to have it turned on.

WRAPPING UP

Despite a couple of shortcomings, I have to give some credit to Smartmi for pushing HomeKit to this latest device. It looks really nice – nicer in fact than the model it’s an upgrade from, with a larger display, better intake design (albeit very subtle), and the increased display screen. I like the choice of colour too, and this has already replaced my Vocolinc PureFlow in the bedroom (the PureFlow resides in our living room now). Speaking of the PureFlow, I recently replaced the pair of filters, which came to US$80 plus shipping, so I’m looking forward to having just one filter at around half the price for a while. It’s also a lot more budget-friendly than the now slightly ageing PureFlow, which looks a tad old-fashioned.

What’s lacking is at least some of the features that are accessible within the Smartmi Link app. I appreciate that not everything can be exposed to HomeKit, but I think the display should be able to be turned off via an automation, which isn’t even possible within the company’s own app as an automation, and only by turning the display off via the button on the rear.

There is one major bug that I’m sure is fixable via an update, where the device detects VOCs and shows less than clean air via the Smartmi app and the AP2’s display, however, in my tests, the VOC levels in HomeKit never reflected this, always showing ‘Excellent’ regardless of how bad the VOC levels were. This definitely needs to be fixed, as there’s currently no way to create an automation using this sensor to trigger the fan. You’re probably wondering, why I don’t just have the AP2 on Auto mode. Well, that would make sense, but in my tests, unlike high PM2.5 detection, which would send the fan to a fast speed, when the AP2 detected high VOCs, the fan would increase its speed by only a little amount. This is ultimately why I think it’s best to use external sensors to detect things like this and via automations take the appropriate action.

If Smartmi can fix these issues, this would make Air Purifier 2 the device of choice for larger rooms.

Full disclosure: Smartmi provided HomeKit News with Smartmi Air Purifier 2 for the purpose of this review. No other compensation was made, requested or has not in any way influenced our opinion of this product.

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• Wide Coverage & Improved Performance: Our smart air purifier 2 features Nanoguard Technology and 360° air intake. It is also equipped with a filter that is capable of refreshing air 3 times per hour in rooms as large as 484 ft² / 45 m². It effectively removes airborne particles 0.08 micrometres in size with a CADR of 380 m3/h, and also purifies rooms with Volatile Organic Compounds(VOC) and large pollutants. You can now say goodbye to impure air at home.
• Multiple Levels of Purification: One of the first-ever allergies air purifiers with TÜV Rheinland “Allergy Care” Certification. The H13 True HEPA Filter works alongside the Pre-Filter and the High-Efficiency Activated Carbon Filter to capture 99.98% of airborne particles, such as dust, pollen, pet dander, smoke, odour, etc., ensuring that everyone, especially people with asthma and allergies, breathes safe, healthy and pure air. (CADR: Dust 224 CFM, Pollen 206 CFM, Smoke 224 CFM).
• Additional Layer of Protection: The built-in, short-wave UV-C light kills germs, bacteria, and viruses that are airborne and trapped in the filter for deep and thorough cleaning. The UV light disinfection provides an added layer of protection and can be turned off anytime via the app. It’s your great choice of our air purifier for home.
• Quiet and Efficient: This smart air purifier consumes 40W of energy and is whisper-quiet, with noise levels ranging from 30dB to 64dB. You can choose from 3 modes: Auto, Favorite, and Sleep. The nighttime option in Sleep mode is the lowest setting that operates in virtual silence, and with panel lights that can be completely dimmed at any time, it ensures you can sleep in a noiseless, comfortable environment all night long. Fan speed in the Favorite mode can be adjusted manually.
• Easy App Smart Control: With the free Smartmi Link app, you can control your Smartmi Air Purifier 2 from anywhere. Adjust settings while you’re in another room, at work, or out walking the dog. It is also compatible with Alexa, Google Assistant, and Homekit. Please refer to the product guide and video on the page for instructions on connecting to the app. Additionally, you can always contact us via Amazon if you need any assistance.

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• 414 ft² – 710 ft²
• NanoGuard Technology
• TVOC Clean Air Delivery Rate  (250m³/hour)
• Clean Air Delivery Rate (550m³/hour)
• Air quality monitor and capitalized display

Detailed specs

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• 334 ft² – 581 ft²
• NanoGuard Technology with UV Sterilization
• TVOC Clean Air Delivery Rate  (150m³/hour)
• Clean Air Delivery Rate (450m³/hour)
• Air quality monitor and capitalized display

Detailed specs

• Type – UVC Air Purifier
• CADR – CADR 450 m³/h | TVOC CADR 150 m³/h
• Room Size – 334 ft² – 581 ft²
• Filter Type – Jya NanoGuard Technology
• Smart Sensors – Laser Particle Sensor/Gas Sensor/Environment Sensors
• Display – OLED / Touch Screen
• Air Quality Monitoring and Display – PM 2.5 / PM 10 / TVOCs / Temperature / Humidity
  • On-screen numerical display
  • Air Quality Indicator Light
• Additional Features – UV light sterilization | Hidden Omni-directional wheels
• Maximum Noise Level – < 66 dB(A)
• Smart Connectivity – Works with Apple HomeKit, Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, and Smartmi Link
• Dimensions (mm) – 290 * 260 * 535 mm
• Rated Wattage – 48W
• Weight (kg) – 6.5kg

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With many of us spending more time at home, improving our indoor air quality has become even more vital to our physical and mental wellbeing. STARKVIND air purifier is the latest addition to the IKEA Home smart range and a smarter way to control our indoor air quality. Pollen, dust particles, pet hair and dander, and even fumes and odours from cooking and cleaning all contribute to indoor air polution and can negatively affect our physical health. STARKVIND air purifiers combine our extensive knowledge of home furnishings with indoor air quality control technology. It’s attractive, effective, and connects with the TRÅDFRI gateway and IKEA Home smart app to allow you to control your home’s air quality.

Available in two models – Both the floor and side table models of STARKVIND air purifiers are designed for modern living. They can be connected to the TRÅDFRI gateway and IKEA Home smart app, have clever functions and design solutions such as built-in air quality sensors to detect airborne particles, filter change indicators, child lock setting and cable management. Pollen, odours or all of the above? STARKVIND comes equipped with a particle filter for filtering dust, pollen and other airborne allergens. An optional gas filter can used with the particle filter to help clear the air of gas, fumes and odours.

Settings to suit your needs. With the STARKVIND air purifier, you have flexibility in controlling your home’s air quality. Choose how you prefer to adjust it — manual or auto mode, which monitors air quality thanks to the air purifier’s built-in sensors which detect particle levels in the air and adjusts the fan speed as needed. STARKVIND air purifier has five settings — the lowest being quiet enough for a good night’s sleep.

The post Ikea Starkvind Air Purifier appeared first on Homekit News and Reviews.

PACKAGING

The packaging for the latest Meross product is a step up from the rather plain box I received for their UK smart plug a while back. If you do happen to see this in a physical store, pretty much everything is mentioned on all sides of the box, including compatibility with HomeKit, Google Assistant, and Amazon Alexa, along list of features, and details on the included HEPA13 filter, which also comes with a pre-filter to capture hair and large dust fragments etc, and an Active Carbon Filter to help remove odours from the air.

THE AIR PURIFIER

The MAP100HK, to give it its model name (they also make a non-HomeKit version), comes in at 2.3kg / 5.07lb, and has the following dimensions;

• 185 x 185 x 380mm (WDH)
• 7.28 x 7.28 x 14.96in (WDH)

Noise levels are listed on the Meross website as between 24 – 48dB, with sleep mode being the quietest. In terms of the fan speed levels, you get – Sleep, Low, Medium, and High.

the base of the air purifier has a screw lid with a large handle to make it easy to open and replace the included filter. There are also markings to show the position the lid should be in when you’re locking or unlocking it, which I hadn’t previously noticed, resulting in me initially struggling to lock the lid.

The base of the purifier comes with four standard rubber feet to stop it from slipping about on a smooth floor like ours. The included filter looks fairly generic, with seemingly very similar-looking filters available for the Smartmi P1, the Sensibo Pure, and some of the Xiaomi air purifiers, although I’m just going by a quick visual comparison, so I’m not sure how different this and other filters are. The top of the filter also includes a section for you to fill out the date when you first started using it, so as to remind you to replace the filter, although of course, this doesn’t take into account potentially long periods where it may not get used. So unless you plan to have this running 24/7, it seems unnecessary, especially given that HomeKit and the Meross app will also report on the filter life. How this is achieved, I’m not sure, but apparently, the Xiaomi filters have a chip that measures the life of their filters.

The main body of the purifier is made of metal, which Meross also mention as a ‘feature’ on the packaging. Whilst I’m not sure you could consider it a feature, it does lend itself to appearing more ‘premium’ than you might otherwise expect. Having been testing the ‘Sensibo Pure’ as well, which uses plastic for pretty much the whole product, I can say that the Meross does feel better for having used metal. The plastic used in the Sensibo does unfortunately cheapen the overall appearance. Will it matter to most? Possibly not, but to me, it certainly makes a minor difference.

What does come as a surprise is that Meross use a USB-C port and power supply to power the purifier. It’s not that it shouldn’t be capable of such things, and in some ways, I guess it’s welcome compared to a more non-standard connector. The other end of the USB-C cable has a permanently fixed power supply, and in my case, as this was supplied by Meross’ Hong Kong supplier, it came with a Type G plug you find in the UK. I’ve yet to work out if I can use a suitably powerful USB power brick that I can use a regular USB-A to USB-C cable with to power it.

THE CONTROL PANEL

Like any air purifier, smart or not, the Meross has a control panel at the top and centre of the device, much like the Smartmi P1. The controls are limited to just one button, however, that acts as a power button, speed/mode change button, and for resetting the device where necessary.

The button is touch-sensitive, and only requires a light touch to change the status of the device; a short tap turns the device on (it will start up in the speed or mode it was last in when turned off), whilst further short taps go through the four speeds – Sleep, Low, Medium, and High. A long press turns the device off. Whilst I’m quite familiar with the concept of a long press due to the various wireless switches in our HomeKit home, the length of time required to turn off the purifier is a little too long in all honesty, so I’m hoping this can be looked at and adjusted in a future update.

The four dots you can see contain green LEDs that will light up depending on the mode and speed of the fan, with the bottom LED lighting up when in Sleep mode, and the subsequent dots lighting up in relation to the other three fan speeds.

Despite this one issue, controlling the purifier manually is foolproof, and taking that in tandem with the simple uncluttered design of the top section, shouldn’t confuse anyone.

THE MEROSS APP

As I’ve shown the process of adding a device to HomeKit, either via the Home app or the manufacturers’ own app, I won’t go into the details, but I generally add a device through the relevant company’s own app, and did so with the Meross product. In almost all instances, it’s a case of scanning the HomeKit QR code, even when it’s not the Home app, and this was the case with the Meross app. Once added, it simply showed up in the Home app/HomeKit without any extra input from myself.

The last time I used the Meross app was whilst reviewing the Meross smart plug, and I don’t recall it looking as nice as this! It does look pretty much as good as most of the better third-party apps, although this app isn’t what you could consider a full HomeKit app, as it doesn’t give you access to other HomeKit devices in your home, and doesn’t even have an automation section. All the controls you need are clearly laid out, and it’s an all-round easy app to use.

In the app you also have an option to reset the life cycle of the filter, which leads me to believe that it must have some countdown mechanism based on how long the purifier has been running, and at what speed(s), to determine when the filter needs replacing. This function, while not exposed to the Home app, is exposed to third-party apps, like Eve for HomeKit etc.

In the settings section, you get access to a few features not exposed to HomeKit. There are options to turn the LEDs or the beep sound on or off, as well as the aforementioned filter life-cycle reset, and a WiFi signal strength indicator. You also need the app for any future firmware updates.

THE HOME APP

In the Home app, it’s a fairly straightforward set of options, which leads us to the original point I mentioned in the first paragraph in this review, regarding a missing part. In a nutshell, unlike all other air purifiers I’ve tested, the Meross doesn’t come with any sensors – not even a PM2.5 sensor. This did come as a surprise, as in essence, it means that the device can’t work autonomously – meaning without an air quality sensor, it can’t operate by itself. More on that in a minute, but this is why the purifier here only has one tile and one ‘service’, unlike, for example, the Vocolinc PureFlow, which offers a total of four services – the purifier itself, along with sensors for temperature, humidity, and PM2.5 levels. It’s also fair to point out that the PureFlow is more than twice the price of the Meross, but I still think not having a PM2.5 sensor is going to turn some heads.

So, in the Home app, you get control of the fan speed and power, as well as the ability to control the child lock. The app will also show the life and condition of the filter, I assume based on the data from the Meross app.

That said, I’ve always been concerned that PM2.5 sensors built into devices are quite possibly going to be inaccurate as they (I assume) are only measuring the air immediately surrounding the device, which, if the air purifier is active, is already going to be cleaner than the air further out from the device and its sensor. With this possibly/probably being the case, I tend to rely on external sensors anyway, so in my case, it’s not really an issue. If you don’t have a PM2.5 sensor, then as I see it, you have three options; buy a HomeKit compatible PM2.5 sensor (there are a few around), rely on an app that reports on local air quality, and hope it works with IFTTT somehow in order to activate the purifier when necessary, or simply buy a purifier that does come with a built-in sensor.

To be fair, I’m not even sure how many people solely rely on built-in PM2.5 sensors for their purifiers, and with all my purifiers, I’ve always set up automations involving separate sensors to trigger the relevant purifier. As can be seen in the video review for this product, I set up two separate automations to control the device, using the QingPing Air Monitor Light (watch the video below or read our in-depth review HERE), when less than ideal air is detected.

So I guess my opinion on the omission of a PM2.5 sensor is a little ambivalent, even though in basic terms I do think it should have been included. How does it perform with the aforementioned automations? Well, the device certainly triggered, although that’s a low bar to pass, given that it’s the automations and HomeKit that are doing the work here. It does clean the air in the tests I performed in the video and elsewhere, so I’ve got no complaints in this regard. As it’s a smaller and less powerful device than the much larger Vocolinc offering, it’s inevitably a fair bit quieter, even at the highest level, and so taking this, its coverage (207 sq. ft.) and its physical size into account, this is definitely more suited to smaller locations, like your child’s bedroom or a kitchen for example.

WRAPPING UP

There’s not a lot you can say about a product that has a sole task, but as long as it’s able to do that without any issues, that’s good enough for me. The design, albeit nothing to write home about, is nonetheless pleasing enough to the eye and looking at it from the front, it’s suitably minimalist enough to appeal to my tastes.

The controls (should that be ‘control’ as there’s only one button?) is really simple to use and equally as easy to understand. Pretty much everything about it, including control in the Home app Meross apps is a lesson in simplicity really.

In all honesty, there’s not a lot to dislike about this, but given the omission of a PM2.5 sensor, I do think the price should be a tad lower than the list price of US$169, although currently it’s available for $20 off, so if the price can stay there, and you don’t need a built-in sensor, then the price is about right. Connectivity has been solid, even though it’s reasonably far from the router it’s connected to, and so all’s good on that score.

It does have some competition from the likes of Sensibo and Smartmi, the latter of which features not only a PM2.5/PM10 sensor but also a colour touch panel. So, unlike 12 months ago, where it was an open field as far as purifiers and HomeKit were concerned, that same field is getting steadily more crowded, with potentially more to come with the proposed advent of Matter, which may well expose currently non-HomeKit devices to HomeKit, if they get Matter certified.

While it may not matter to some, I’ve started to challenge my thinking on using any more WiFi-based devices, where it’s not essential (cameras need WiFi for example), and so put to one side the fact that this is yet another 2.4GHz device to further clog up my network, something like this could easily operate on Thread. I predict that   2022 will see an update to this that will indeed include Thread connectivity.

If you’re a Meross fan, I’m sure you’ll love it, and if you’re looking for a budget air purifier, but already have a pm2.5 sensor, then I think this would be a decent purchase.

Full disclosure: Meross (Hong Kong) provided HomeKit News with the Meross Smart WiFi Air Purifier for the purpose of this review. No other compensation was made, requested or has not in any way influenced our opinion of this product.

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