CES 2021’s Most Innovative Air Purifiers Yet



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The Luft Duo air purifier can purify the air no matter where you take it.

Air qi

This story is part of THESE, where our editors will bring you the latest news and the hottest gadgets from fully virtual CES 2021.

As the coronavirus has reorganized life in much of the world, new and old forms of consumer technology have pushed forward to provide solutions: face masks, hydroalcoholic gel and – at home and in the workplace – air purifiers. Although conventional air purifiers do not solve the problem of COVID-19, they can reduce its spread by removing aerosol particles that normally take hours to settle naturally out of the air. And now at CES 2021, device makers are introducing new air purifiers, offering more mobile designs, more efficient filtration, and more creative approaches to the basic logic of air cleaning.

I wrote on the best consumer air purifiers in the market and interviewed air quality researchers, and in general, the most effective air filtration technology is HEPA – an air cleaning method that has been around for decades. Most air purifiers on the market use HEPA filters, which essentially transport air through a plastic or fiberglass screen designed to capture at least 99.7% of 0.3 micron particles (a particularly difficult to capture size).

CES 2021 air purifiers are venturing in new directions, however. Here are some of the trends I have noticed.

Durability: The first trend at CES is an increased focus on waste reduction. The Luftqi and CleanAirZone purifiers, for example, completely replace ditch filters, opting for washable filters. Other models that I wouldn’t be surprised to see as more and more products are announced include energy efficiency and environmentally friendly appliance material, using materials from sustainable sources, for example.

Innovation in filtration methods: Manufacturers have been testing alternative filtration methods for years, but HEPA-based air purifiers have remained the industry standard because they are so reliable. Large companies, such as TCL, Brondell, and LG, are sticking to this method, even as they add other technologies to their devices. That said, with the explosion of research on the subject, we will undoubtedly see more devices attempting to use new approaches to air cleaning. While these devices should definitely be tested before we sing their praises, this type of innovation is welcome if only for the way it develops our understanding of air quality and long-term purification. .

COVID-19[female[feminine: Coronavirus isn’t just the elephant in the CES hall this year, it’s the room itself. The pandemic has totally reshaped CES, and that’s a huge motivation for device makers. Tackling dust and pollen will be much lower on the priority list of developers selling their purifiers than talking about removing airborne virus particles. This means that UV light and other forms of sanitizing technology could be disproportionately represented in this year’s air purifiers – as we can already see with almost every air filter developer concentrating a large part of their messages about how their devices remove virus particles.

While I am not yet in a position to test these gadgets, these new air purifiers represent some really exciting ideas. Here are the most inventive air purifiers from CES 2021 to date.

Read more: The best air purifiers of 2021

Luftqi Luft Duo

An air purifier you can take with you

Air qi

Luft Duo by Luftqi is a battery-powered air purifier that you can take with you wherever you go. Whether you want to put it on your desk at work, then take it in the car or even set it up on your table at the cafe, the Luft Duo will apparently purify the air around you throughout the day.

The Luft Duo also has a removable and washable filter, instead of using disposable HEPA filters. Additionally, it uses ultraviolet LEDs and photocatalytic technology (mostly light activated) to break down irritants and pathogens. This type of approach may sound familiar if you’ve followed air purification devices like Molekule, which used another form of photocatalytic technology to break down small particles. Molekule has encountered performance issues, but that doesn’t mean the underlying technology doesn’t have a lot of potential.

The 2020 crowdfunding campaign for the Luft Duo has been an incredible success, raising over $ 300,000 in recent months, so enthusiasm for this air purifier is high. We are delighted to test it for ourselves.

Airthings Wave sensors

Air quality sensors that measure the risk of viral transmission and mold

Airthings

Airtings’ new devices aren’t purifiers, but they are innovative gadgets that could work well with air purifiers – and could be smartly combined with them in the future. The Wave Plus sensor tracks the risk factors associated with viral transmission in the workplace, including CO2 levels, humidity and temperature. It then forwards that information to office managers, who, in theory, can make adjustments to make the room more inhospitable to stray virus particles.

The Wave Mini is intended for home use and focuses on the risk factors for mold rather than virus transmission.

These two devices are very creative ways to help people understand different kinds of air quality in different spaces. Although they are not air purifiers, I think the ideas behind them could influence the design of future purifiers – especially since many air purifiers already use some form of air quality monitoring.

CleanAirZone Purifier

Cleaning with natural biotics rather than filters

CleanAirZone

CleanAirZone, or CAZ, is showcasing a new air purifier at CES that cleans the air using “natural biotics and enzymes derived from nature,” rather than using traditional filters. The company claims that its proprietary cocktail of water, microbiotics and natural enzymes will remove pollutants in the air, including coronavirus particles.

CAZ’s goal is to remove waste from other air purifiers – their disposable filters, in particular – and create a more sustainable and “green” environment in the home. As with the other air purifiers on this list, the technology shows promise, but we are withholding judgment until we can test the product for ourselves.

The rest of the purifiers

The Luft Duo and CAZ purifiers are the two most interesting devices announced so far at CES, although there are sure to be more to come once the show begins in earnest next week. But a few other big companies are jumping into demand for air purification devices during the pandemic.

Most notably, Brondell is soon releasing its Pro Sanitizing air purifier, which is a tank of a device: Rather than focusing on innovative new filtration strategies, the Brondell air filter uses the shotgun approach. . This means HEPA filtration, a disinfectant UV lamp, a nanocrystalline filter and a plasma generator. Each of these technologies has strengths and weaknesses, but overall they cover most of the airborne irritants and contagions that you will find in any home.

brondell-pro-family-salon

The new Brondell Pro air purifier offers four filtration methods, plus a pre-filter, all for $ 650.

Brondell

The Brondell Pro can effectively clean the air in a 538 square foot space and will sell at major retailers for $ 650.

LG announced three new air purifiers – the PuriCare Mini, the PuriCare, and the PuriCare 360 ​​- each covering small to moderate areas of the home with conventional HEPA or HEPA-type filtration. While pricing has yet to be released, they are comparable to purifiers costing under $ 500. The only PuriCare air filter released to date costs well over $ 1,000 for around 500 square feet of coverage, so they may end up landing in higher price categories than devices their size.

CES has barely started, so we’ll update this article as the show progresses, adding more devices as we find them.

The information in this article is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended for health or medical advice. Always consult a physician or other qualified health care provider with any questions you may have about a medical condition or health goals.

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