The New Airthings Smart Air Purifier Is Worth Its $400 Price Tag

The past two years have seen a real explosion of smart devices in the HVAC arena, from smart heaters to smart ACs, so it was only a matter of time before smart air purifiers entered the space. To start, we’ve seen recent entries from IKEA, which has an entire line of air purifiers integrated into furniture that are controllable via the IKEA TRÅDFRI gateway. There have been other entries in the last year, including the Coway AirMega line, BlueAir, and others. But there are lots of reasons the Airthings Renew is the smart air purifier I’m most excited about. 

Unlike a lot of companies making air purifiers, Airthings really only focuses on air quality, and it’s not just in the consumer market. Airthings supplies to businesses as well, where there’s some liability in ensuring clean air, particularly during a pandemic. The specs on these purifiers look pretty great, filtering down to .3 micron, which is the size of aerosolized SARS COV-2. It will scrub the air in a room up to 525 feet square in thirty minutes through a series of medical grade HEPA and carbon filters that pull particulates, gasses, virus, and odors out of the air.  

Credit: Airthings

The Renew is about the size and shape of a desktop computer tower, although a lot more chic, and costs $399. This may seem expensive, but it’s a fair price for this size and quality of air purifiers. Usually where most air purifiers strain people financially is the replacement filters—these are going to run you $70. While usually the rule is to replace filters every six months, the major benefit of the smart app here is that you’ll be notified exactly when it’s time to replace the filters based on usage. If you live in fire country, you may go through them more often, and if you live someplace with little pollution, you might be able to stretch it longer.

I like the idea of a smart purifier for all the functions the Renew has: You can turn it on and off remotely and make it part of your home automations. Just turning it on remotely would be a big help if you’re coming home from a trip, or when the monitor on the purifier notifies you that air quality has dipped. The app will also give you graphical stats on what the purifier is pulling out of the air, which is more interesting than useful.