Air quality matters. While an invisible part of our existence, the air we breathe can play a huge role in our health and well-being. Air purifiers provide tonnes of benefits, such as helping to eliminate pollution, smoke, dust, and allergens from your home. If you or someone in your family has allergies or suffers from asthma, using an air purifier indoors can help alleviate their symptoms.
If you have been wondering which model would be best for your needs, whether it’s for smokers, to get rid of odours or to filter pet dander, we have put together a guide on what to consider when looking for an air purifier. From HEPA filters to carbon filters to even washable filters, we've reviewed and ranked the 10 best air purifiers in the UK, from popular brands such as Dyson, VAX and Philips available from Amazon and John Lewis.
Quick List - Top Air Purifiers
VAX
Remove up to 99% Of Pollutants With Smart Sensor Tech, Sleep Modes and Multiple Speed Settings
Philips
An Excellent Air Purifier With a Built-in App, Perfect for Those With Allergies
HoMedics
A British Allergy Foundation Approved Air Purifier With a HEPA Filter and a 12-Hour Timer
Levoit
A Purifier With a Super Quiet Sleep Mode, 360 Filtering, 4 Speed Settings and a Hepa Filter
A recommendation service that carefully researches each product and consults with experts across many disciplines. We are constantly creating new content to provide the best shopping experience from choosing ‘cosmetics’ to ‘food and drink’, ‘home appliances’ to ‘kids and baby’ products, reaching users all across the United Kingdom.
Table of Contents
Pet smells, cooking odours, and cigarette smoke can all linger, making it uncomfortable and unwelcoming. Charcoal air purifiers can help by passing air from your home through an activated charcoal filter that holds onto the odours and tiny particles of pollen, mould spores, dust and other allergens.
Charcoal filters will need changing from time to time, but these types of purifiers are highly effective at eliminating smells, allergens and even noxious airborne chemicals such as benzene. These work well for smokers, pet owners and anyone exposed to strong cleaners or other chemicals in their homes.
HEPA, or 'high-efficiency particular air' - filters are made of ultra-fine mesh that catches particulates as the air is circulated through them. They are particularly effective at filtering out allergens such as pollen, dust, mould spores and dander from pet hair.
Able to extract up to 99.7% of harmful particles from the air, HEPA filters can often be cleaned using a vacuum cleaner but generally need replacing every two to four years. These types of air purifiers can be very beneficial to allergy sufferers and those suffering from respiratory illnesses.
Did you know that plants help purify the air? Take a look through our air-purifying house plants article.
Most portable air purifiers (as opposed to air filtration systems) are designed to cover one or two rooms rather than a whole house. Different makes and models vary considerably in capacity and portability, so it's essential to measure the area you need to cover.
Some air purifiers are designed to be used in your immediate personal space, while others can purify a room of about 30 - 50 square metres. Then there are systems with larger capacities that can filter the air of a whole floor.
Generally speaking, higher speeds are noisier than lower speeds. However, the benefit is that the particulates will be removed from the air more quickly, reducing the allergy symptoms, odours and other issues more quickly. Naturally, lower speeds tend to be quieter and are useful for maintaining the existing air quality or at night.
Some models combine the benefits of multiple air filtration systems to give a more broad-spectrum performance. Additional features may also have been incorporated that are worth thinking about, such as timers, filter indicators and remote controls.
Filter change (or clean) indicator: will let you know that it's still doing its job! It will also help you prepare to stock up on filters, so you don't run out at the last minute.
Automatic sensing and adjustments: can change the filtration speed based on readings taken from the surrounding air quality, helping you save on running costs.
Remote controls: just make your life easier!
Bring balance back to your air with either an air humidifier or dehumidifier.
Products | Image | Click to purchase | Key features | |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | VAX Pure Air 300 Air Purifier|ACAMV101 | ![]() | Remove up to 99% Of Pollutants With Smart Sensor Tech, Sleep Modes and Multiple Speed Settings | |
2 | Philips Air Purifier|AC2889/60 Series 2000i | ![]() | An Excellent Air Purifier With a Built-in App, Perfect for Those With Allergies | |
3 | HoMedics HEPA Tower Air Purifier|AR-29A-GB | ![]() | A British Allergy Foundation Approved Air Purifier With a HEPA Filter and a 12-Hour Timer | |
4 | Levoit Air Purifier|Core 300 | ![]() | A Purifier With a Super Quiet Sleep Mode, 360 Filtering, 4 Speed Settings and a Hepa Filter | |
5 | Fellowes AeraMax DX55|9393701 | ![]() | High Quality, 4-Stage Air Purification for Allergy Sufferers to Filter 99.97% Of Pollutants | |
6 | Blueair Blue Pure 411 Air Purifier|102938 | ![]() | A Luxuriously Small Air Purifier With an Excellent Energy Rating, Perfect for Small Rooms | |
7 | Medify Air Purifier|MA-25-W1-EU | ![]() | A Powerful Air Purifier With Child Lock Protection That Cleans Spaces up to 90m2 | |
8 | Renpho Air Purifier |3580227031 | ![]() | A Comprehensive 5 Stage Air Purifier to Capture 99.97% Of Particles for Peace of Mind | |
9 | Bagotte Air Purifier | ![]() | A Sleek, Solid and Sturdy Purifier With 4 Speeds Including Rapid and Silent | |
10 | Silentnight Air Purifier|3860 | ![]() | A Budget Air Purifier With a HEPA Filter, 3 Speed Settings and a Timer Function |
With a host of valuable features, this air purifier removes up to 99% of airborne pollutants and allergens, trapping particles as small as 0.3 microns. With Vax’s Smart Sensor technology, the unit monitors air quality in your home and automatically adjusts filtration speed to maintain optimum air quality.
The Pure Air air purifier also offers sleep mode, a filter change reminder, and different speed settings. An excellent option for asthma and allergy sufferers, the Vax Pure Air 300 has many features that make it the best choice for maintaining optimal air quality in your home.
This robust air purifier filters out up to 99.97% of allergens, gases and odours from the air, making it an ideal choice for the most sensitive of allergy sufferers. It can tackle even some bacteria and VOCs using a combination of HEPA, active carbon and pre-filter filtration.
Included is an app for your smartphone that controls the unit and monitors air quality, a digital display to show you the changing air quality and filter status and different speeds settings so you can sleep in silence or ramp it up when you need a quick fix.
Approved by the British Allergy Foundation, the HoMedics air purifier uses a HEPA filter, activated carbon filter and UV-C light to clean and purify the air in your home. Best of all, it's an excellent price for such a good product.
This purifier has a programmable 12-hour timer and three-speed settings. Promising to eradicate up to 99.97% of airborne pollutants, it is a great addition to any home, especially those with allergies who want to know that the air they breathe is protected up to 85m2!
With a 360 degree intake of particles, trapping up to 99.97% of airborne particles, this air purifier is perfect for someone who can utilise it centre stage instead of being tucked away in a corner.
This air purifier uses both a HEPA and carbon filter to eliminate allergens such as pollen and dust and absorb smoke and fumes. With 4 speed settings and a sleep mode, you won't even have to hear it.
The AeraMAx DX55 features a four-stage purification system that filters out 99.97% of pollutants and irritants, including pollen, mould spores, pet dander and cigarette smoke, while also neutralising odours.
Featuring a HEPA filter and filter change indicator, the unit also boasts an air quality monitor to ensure that your air is clean, with the colour-coded light indicator visibly highlighting the air purity in the room.
The Blueair Blue Pure 411 uses only 1.5 Watts of power, with an energy efficiency rating of A+++ making it great for those looking to be environmentally conscious. However, it's only really useful for small rooms.
This air purifier will completely filter room air every 12 minutes to effectively lower particle levels and create a comfortable home environment. Compact and able to fit anywhere, it will effortlessly tackle dust, pollen, pet dander, smoke, allergens, viruses and bacteria.
This mighty air purifier cleans spaces up to 90m2 in one house and 46m2 in 30 minutes. The HEPA filtration will remove 99.9% of harmful particles from pet dander to VOCs (volatile organic compounds) and more.
Its easy to use features include a sleek touch screen, a timer, sleep mode as well as a child lock, making it fantastic for both kids and pets. However, this product does not display the air quality, which is a shame.
Live without having to worry about unclean air with Renpho's air purifier. With a 5 stage filtration system, this air purifier is ready to tackle even the most polluted areas, effectively capturing 99.97% of particles it filtrates.
Although the 5 stages of filtration are great and may provide an additional mental sense of cleanliness, it may be too costly to keep up with all 5 when other products may get the same results for less maintenance.
This is an excellent choice if you're looking for a purifier for larger rooms. With 4 speeds, including a sleep timer, this model can go perfectly anywhere - whether you need a rapid filtration or a silent one for sleep.
Bagotte's air purifier has a slight function over form design, so it may not look right in certain areas or fail to blend in well with other objects - just be sure that this is a design you like!
Promising to remove 99% of airborne allergens, including pollen, dust, pet dander, odours and smoke, the 3860 combines HEPA and activated carbon filters with an ioniser to purify your air. The ioniser claims to clean the air by releasing negative ions.
It offers 3 speed settings as well as a quiet sleep mode, and you can also set the timer function to automatically turn off the machine after a set period. This unit is a good budget option, though the power cord is relatively short.
To get the most out of your air purifier, you want to place it in an area where it will get maximum airflow. For example, a high airflow space such as a doorway or near a window. It is also best to keep it near the worst source of your pollutants, such as mould or smoke.
Air purifiers can help prevent mould, but the only way to visibly solve a mould problem is to physically clean up the mould and remove the moisture there that allowed it to grow in the first place.
Not exactly. An air purifier filters pollutants in the air, but it does not remove the moisture. To do this, you'd need to purchase a separate dehumidifier to reduce the moisture and help with humidity.
Written and researched by Sonata Winchester
No. 1: VAX|Pure Air 300 Air Purifier|ACAMV101
No. 2: Philips|Air Purifier|AC2889/60 Series 2000i
No. 3: HoMedics|HEPA Tower Air Purifier|AR-29A-GB
No. 4: Levoit|Air Purifier|Core 300
No. 5: Fellowes|AeraMax DX55|9393701
View Full RankingThe descriptions of each product are referenced from content available on manufacturer, brand, and e-commerce sites.
Automotive
Baby Products
Beauty
Books
Business, Industry & Science
Computers & Accessories
DIY, Garden & Tools
Electronics & Photo
Fashion
Grocery
Health & Personal Care
Home & Kitchen
Large Appliances
Musical Instruments & DJ
PC & Video Games
Pet Supplies
Sports & Outdoors
Stationery & Office Products
Toys & Games