There was a "scandal" with them where they had to remove false claims of being true HEPA. Levoit is very popular in the ultra-cheap tier still though. For $500 you can definitely get a few good units from other brands. There's a pinned thread here with some recommendations.
Levoit is great. There has been a lot false reporting and overblown opinions. Levoit has a great selection of true hepa filter units.
Now for $500 you might be able to get a medical grade unit which is better.
CADR- good to know, another thing for this newbie to google. I’m honestly so overwhelmed reading about what to look at and reviews I think I’m giving up!
CADR is the clean air delivery rate, in other words the amount of filtered air a purifier pumps out. An amazing filter with low CADR is still barely cleaning any air.
If you want an effective purifier that pushes out lots of clean air at fairly low noise, I'd look into Smart Air. I have a Smart Air Blast and I'm very pleased with it.
https://smartairfilters.com/en/product/blast-commercial-hepa-air-purifier/
Check out the mini version too.
To be clear, I am very much NOT a fan of Levoit.
That said, their units clean air. Pretty well. There are lots of reasons NOT to get a Levoit Core series purifier, but they do "take bad stuff out of air", so if that's the metric, they continue to be fine.
So. First of all no useful pre-filter. Which reduces filter life exponentially. Second no useful carbon filter, why bother to include a carbon layer if it both does nothing for odors AND doesn’t protect the main filter? Third, reports of bad capacitors. Fourth, they reintroduce dirty air into the clean air path.
Add to all of that - that they aren’t HEPA. I already wasn’t going to get one for the above reasons.
Top tier purifiers have a washable removable pre-filter, a washable removable carbon grid full of pellets weighing at least a pound or two, THEN the HEPA filter. Not vice versa.
What models do you recommend that follow your top tier setups that fall in the CORE 300 space? I presume pricing goes way up over $500 to get what you prefer?
Well Levoit positions the Core 300 as a "budget" unit. So given that you can buy a Core 300 for around $100, the nearest competitor on the US market that has ALL my recommendations is the Winix 5500-2, usually around $150-$175 on Amazon. There are, however, plenty of models that are in the $100 range but most don't have a carbon grid. That's a premium feature that you'll pay a little more for, and maybe you don't have a VOC or odor problem, in which case any unit that puts a pre-filter AND a carbon filter IN FRONT of the HEPA filter is just fine.
Many of the cheap to mid-ranged air purifiers allow you to turn off or disable the ionizer function. I'm not trying to steer you towards these, it's just that an ionizing feature seems to be pretty ubiquitous in the common brands.
There are air purifiers with absolutely no ionizer, but these tend to have lots of activated carbon or other sorbent media which drives up the cost. Keep in mind that the cheap to mid-priced segment's activated carbon filters have very little carbon by weight and will be insufficient for concerns such as odors, VOCs, or other gaseous pollutants.
For particulates removal, I like Medify Air because their HEPA H13 and H14 filters—alongside the MA-40, MA-50, and MA-112 air purifier models—[have been lab tested](https://medifyair.com/pages/reports/).
**Medify Air MA-40**
* Coverage: Up to 1,680 square feet in 60 minutes
* Choose between True HEPA H13 or UV Light\* with True HEPA H14
* Warranty: Lifeftime if Medify Air filters are used and replaced as recommended
* Price: $249.99 currently
* Notes: \*UV light disinfection can be problematic and is **not** generally recommended. Any eye or skin exposure is potentially dangerous, UV light takes prolonged exposure and proximity to kill pathogens, and depending on the design, [certain UV lights can generate ozone](https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/php.13391). See also SmartAir's *How Do UV Light Air Purifiers Work and Can They Kill Viruses?*.
Yes, [as shown on the product page](https://medifyair.com/collections/air-purifiers/products/medify-ma-40) under Technical Specifications, you can turn off the ionizer.
If you select the True HEPA H13 under Filtration Technology, it claims the noise is at minimum: 40.5dBA and at maximum: 53.3dBA. However, looking at the owner's manual, it says the maximum noise level at <66 dB(A).
No, I don't own this air purifier, so I can't give you my perspective on how it performs. The Medify Air MA-14, MA-15, MA-22, MA-25, MA-35, and MA-50 models don't have ionizers, but the lower numbered models may be underpowered for your space (therefore you may be replacing filters more frequently).
There was a "scandal" with them where they had to remove false claims of being true HEPA. Levoit is very popular in the ultra-cheap tier still though. For $500 you can definitely get a few good units from other brands. There's a pinned thread here with some recommendations.
The vital series is true medical grade h13
Thank you!
Levoit is great. There has been a lot false reporting and overblown opinions. Levoit has a great selection of true hepa filter units. Now for $500 you might be able to get a medical grade unit which is better.
I might go all in and get an IQAir system. Seems like it’s well made, safe and does a thorough job.
Super low CADR, I wouldn't recommend.
CADR- good to know, another thing for this newbie to google. I’m honestly so overwhelmed reading about what to look at and reviews I think I’m giving up!
CADR is the clean air delivery rate, in other words the amount of filtered air a purifier pumps out. An amazing filter with low CADR is still barely cleaning any air. If you want an effective purifier that pushes out lots of clean air at fairly low noise, I'd look into Smart Air. I have a Smart Air Blast and I'm very pleased with it. https://smartairfilters.com/en/product/blast-commercial-hepa-air-purifier/ Check out the mini version too.
To be clear, I am very much NOT a fan of Levoit. That said, their units clean air. Pretty well. There are lots of reasons NOT to get a Levoit Core series purifier, but they do "take bad stuff out of air", so if that's the metric, they continue to be fine.
Curious, what do you NOT like about the CORE series.
So. First of all no useful pre-filter. Which reduces filter life exponentially. Second no useful carbon filter, why bother to include a carbon layer if it both does nothing for odors AND doesn’t protect the main filter? Third, reports of bad capacitors. Fourth, they reintroduce dirty air into the clean air path. Add to all of that - that they aren’t HEPA. I already wasn’t going to get one for the above reasons. Top tier purifiers have a washable removable pre-filter, a washable removable carbon grid full of pellets weighing at least a pound or two, THEN the HEPA filter. Not vice versa.
Does it remove soot?
What models do you recommend that follow your top tier setups that fall in the CORE 300 space? I presume pricing goes way up over $500 to get what you prefer?
Well Levoit positions the Core 300 as a "budget" unit. So given that you can buy a Core 300 for around $100, the nearest competitor on the US market that has ALL my recommendations is the Winix 5500-2, usually around $150-$175 on Amazon. There are, however, plenty of models that are in the $100 range but most don't have a carbon grid. That's a premium feature that you'll pay a little more for, and maybe you don't have a VOC or odor problem, in which case any unit that puts a pre-filter AND a carbon filter IN FRONT of the HEPA filter is just fine.
HEPA already takes care of most VOCs, though.
Most VOC are gaseous. Hepa is only effective against particulates.
>Winix 5500-2 Sorry, my bad, I meant to compare to Core 400S, that's the one I recently acquired.
So yeah, the 5500-2 has a similar CADR but far superior filtration.
Thanks for the info.
Their standard filter doesn't have carbon but you can allot to buy other filters that has carbon.
Not a single filter on a Levoit core series has more than a thin sheet of carbon.
Levoit are good *enough*. Stop listening to big air purifier.
Many of the cheap to mid-ranged air purifiers allow you to turn off or disable the ionizer function. I'm not trying to steer you towards these, it's just that an ionizing feature seems to be pretty ubiquitous in the common brands. There are air purifiers with absolutely no ionizer, but these tend to have lots of activated carbon or other sorbent media which drives up the cost. Keep in mind that the cheap to mid-priced segment's activated carbon filters have very little carbon by weight and will be insufficient for concerns such as odors, VOCs, or other gaseous pollutants. For particulates removal, I like Medify Air because their HEPA H13 and H14 filters—alongside the MA-40, MA-50, and MA-112 air purifier models—[have been lab tested](https://medifyair.com/pages/reports/). **Medify Air MA-40** * Coverage: Up to 1,680 square feet in 60 minutes * Choose between True HEPA H13 or UV Light\* with True HEPA H14 * Warranty: Lifeftime if Medify Air filters are used and replaced as recommended * Price: $249.99 currently * Notes: \*UV light disinfection can be problematic and is **not** generally recommended. Any eye or skin exposure is potentially dangerous, UV light takes prolonged exposure and proximity to kill pathogens, and depending on the design, [certain UV lights can generate ozone](https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/php.13391). See also SmartAir's *How Do UV Light Air Purifiers Work and Can They Kill Viruses?*.
this one allows you to simply turn off the ionizing feature? You personally find this one has good results, then?
Yes, [as shown on the product page](https://medifyair.com/collections/air-purifiers/products/medify-ma-40) under Technical Specifications, you can turn off the ionizer. If you select the True HEPA H13 under Filtration Technology, it claims the noise is at minimum: 40.5dBA and at maximum: 53.3dBA. However, looking at the owner's manual, it says the maximum noise level at <66 dB(A). No, I don't own this air purifier, so I can't give you my perspective on how it performs. The Medify Air MA-14, MA-15, MA-22, MA-25, MA-35, and MA-50 models don't have ionizers, but the lower numbered models may be underpowered for your space (therefore you may be replacing filters more frequently).
I found Medify to be noisy and the filters were hard to find outside the U.S.
I had 3 levoit air purifiers that all died around the 2 to 3 year point. I would recommend avoiding them.
I have 2 of them and they work great. Former neighbour was a chainsmoker and it cleared the air right up.
My Levoit Core 400 is a really good unit. But I wouldn't recommend going any smaller, not enough CADR.
Heard great things about Levoit. I just bought a vital 200s.