The Best Air Purifier

Air purifiers are fundamentally simple machines—little more than a fan and a filter—but a great one can improve your life by reducing airborne allergens such as pollen and mold spores and capturing bacteria, viruses, and smoke from wildfires and other sources. To qualify as great, however, an air purifier doesn’t just need to work well; it also needs to be robustly engineered and thoughtfully designed. To us, that means the air purifier should be powerful enough to clean the air in a large living room or playroom, quiet and dark enough for you to sleep near the machine in a bedroom, and inexpensive enough that it’s reasonable to have several units spread throughout your home. After nine years, during which we’ve tested more than 50 different air purifiers, we believe that the exceptional Coway Airmega AP-1512HH Mighty is the best among them—as we have since 2015. That said, as strong as the Mighty is, its performance is not as singular as it once was, and in recent years many other air purifiers have closely approached our high standards. If you prefer the looks, cost, or other features of our also-great picks, know that they match this Coway model in purifying performance.