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For a lot of different reasons, I was tasked with doing "Air Purifier research," for our household.
My wife and I have two toddlers. We have two cats. At the time these discussions started, we were moving from spring to summer. There were colds passing through the house. There were wildfires far away from where we live, but close enough that the air quality outdoors really started to dip.
And we started thinking, "If the air is so bad outside, what's going on inside?"
After much research of many different options online, smart and non-smart, various levels of functionality vs. style, and general ability to remove undesirable compounds from our household air, I landed on Blueair, and specifically, the 211i Max.
It's probably niche, but if you're a person who is looking specifically for reviews of the Blueair 211i Max air purifier, I now consider myself an expert and am happy to share what I like, and what I don't, about this device.
Blueair Pure 211i Max One Paragraph Review
In the world of air purifiers, the Blueair 211i Max checks all the right boxes (and a few extras). It can target a variety of microscopic pollutants in the air, while the outer cover captures large stuff, like pet hair. You can remove that outer cover and clean it in the washing machine (HUGELY helpful) or change up the look by picking up an alternate colour cover. The app, while not essential, is genuinely useful, if you care to dig into it.
Pros
- Looks great
- Excellent app
- Cleans large areas
Cons
- No handle
- Top-heavy to move
- No Apple Home compatibility
Why get an air purifier in your home, anyway?
Before I dive deep into the air purifier I chose, let's quickly touch on the reasons people might consider having one in the first place.
Breathe Easier: They capture tiny airborne particles, like dust, pollen, pet dander, and even mould spores that can trigger allergies and asthma.
Fight the Funk: Air purifiers can help neutralize odours from cooking, pets, and even everyday living, making your home smell fresher.
Healthier Living: By removing harmful pollutants, you're improving your indoor air quality, which can contribute to overall better health and well-being.
Peace of Mind: Knowing you're breathing cleaner air just feels good, especially in urban environments or homes with lots of foot traffic.
At the end of the day, it's about dealing with the problems you can't see but suspect are lingering in the air around your home.
How do air purifiers work?
All air purifiers work on the same principle. A fan inside the device pulls your household air through a filter (or series of filters) and releases it.
The things that float in the air are all different sizes. Some stuff you might be able to see (like pet hair and general dust); other stuff is microscopic.
With the Blue Pure models, the outer layer catches the big stuff and inside the units there are High-Efficiency Particulate Air filters (ever hear people mention HEPA filters? Now you know what that stands for), which captures the stuff we can't see. Mould spores that form in the nooks and crannies of your home. Allergens that are dragged in with your flip flops when you're coming from outside. Even viruses and bacteria.
Some air purifiers stop there, others (like the model I chose), also have a carbon filter. This is an extra layer that deals with household smells (when you burn the bacon or your pup has just a hint of wet-dog scent). This was a key feature for me when I was seeking out air purifiers, because I have a smart litter box, which also uses a carbon filter, and it's shocking what a huge difference these make.
Also, on the Blueair website, they specifically highlighted how their filters have something called "SmokeBlock," and since wildfire smoke was a concern at the time, it ended up being a key deciding factor in choosing a Blueair purifier over something else.
Why I chose the 211i Max as my smart air purifier
Once you get into the more premium air purifiers, there's a lot of similar qualities. Namely, the ability to filter out a large percentage of particles and allergens (in the case of Blueair, they claim 99.97%), so it starts to come down to the little extras that set brands and models apart.
In the case of Blueair, I picked the 211i Max for a few reasons:
- Design: Some of these look super futuristic, others blend into the room. We wanted something subtle.
- Style: I love the fact that you can buy alternate coloured covers because I wasn't sure which room we were going to set this up in. For $20 CAD, I added the "moss" cover to my cart, just so I can change up the look if I want to down the road.
- Smart Features: This is going to get its own section, but since I'm a tech guy, I figured if I was spending hundreds of dollars on an air purifier, I wanted it to work with my smart home.
- Silence: This was SO important and something you can't tell until you've bought it. The biggest complaint I saw from people who chose other air purifiers that seemed to work great otherwise was how noisy these things were when they were running. This is crucially important if you set it up in the bedroom. I actually couldn't tell the fan was on until I used the app to turn it up to level 3 of 4.
Drawbacks of the 211i Max air purifier
I've had the device less than a month, so it's still early days. But I've had this long enough that there's a few points that I think are worth considering.
- Top Heavy: This is really only relevant for the first time you lift it out of the box, but its weight distribution is different than it looks. Once you have it flat on the ground, this is a non-issue, but mine tipped out of my arms as I pulled it out of the box (fortunately, it was a short trip to the carpet), but keep that in mind if you get one - hang on tight.
- No Handle: If, for some reason, you're moving this from room to room, there's no handle. I like the sleek aesthetic of not having a handle, but if you're moving the device around, it's a two-handed job.
- Specialty Filters: When you're ordering, pay attention to the filter it ships with. There's a particle and carbon filter (the "regular one"), a Smokeblock filter (2x activated carbon to tackle smells and smoke), and AllergenBlock (dialed in for dust, allergens, and pollen). From what I can tell, all three filters do 99% of the same work, but if you want an extra emphasis in one area or the other, take note of which filter comes with your device. You may want to add one of the specialty filters when you order.
Is the Blueair app good?
The app experience with the 211i Max air purifier is excellent. You don't need much from your air purifier, in terms of smarts. But the Blueair app delivers basically everything you could want from your air purifier.
The best part of the app comes when you compare the current outdoor air quality with your current indoor quality. There's something very satisfying about this. "Take THAT, airborne particles! I'm safe in my house!"
Setting up the app and connecting to your device was easier than connecting to a Bluetooth speaker. You can manage multiple air purifiers, if you have them. You can turn on auto mode (the device manages the fan) or you can adjust the fan manually (takes it out of auto mode).
You can set schedules based on when you're home or away to manage power, OR you can use location permissions to have that happen automatically based on your daytime habits.
You can also see your filter lifespan, order replacement filters, and, if you really want to know "is this thing working," you can look at a little graph that breaks down how polluted the air is/was and the various particle sizes that were cleaned by your device.
The app works with Google Home and Alexa; however, it doesn't work with Apple Home. This was fine for me, because my smart home is based around Google Home as the control centre; however, this may be worth considering if you're exclusively living in Apple's smart home environment.
Is the Blueair 211i Max worth it?
I've only had my device for less than a month, but it's one of those things that, once you have it, you say "why didn't we do this sooner?"
The main floor of our house is very open, and the 211i Max is designed for extra large rooms. It's overboard for what we need (in under 15 minutes, it cleans 674 square feet, in 30 minutes 1,618 square feet, and in 60 minutes, it cleans 3,235 square feet).
Smart Air Purifier
Blue Pure 211i Max
Geeking Out Shop
Blueair makes high-quality and stylish smart air purifiers, and the 211i Max is ideal for large spaces. Aside from the high-quality filtration system suitable for particles as small as 0.1 microns, the smart features make this an easy device to monitor, providing a clear picture of its impact on the quality of air in your home.
Now that I have it, I'm sure I would've been fine to choose a smaller model. But the thing looks great and blends in nicely to my home's vibe, so I'm happy with the one I picked.
If you're looking for a high-quality air purifier to improve your home's environment, I can confidently share that my experience with Blueair has been excellent and the 211i Max, AKA the big Kahuna in their product line-up, works wonderfully!
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