We found that it does have a number of small flaws in terms of response times and fan speeds though, and the performance will vary depending on the room size. I’ve written quite a bit about how to choose an effective air purifier, so if you’re not familiar with CADR, AHAM and so forth, get a crash course here. Or consider buying the Blueair Blue Pure 411 (or 211+). These filters carry an AHAM Verifide seal and a CADR. The 411 has a CADR of 120 for dust and pollen. This means that at the top setting the filter produces 120 cubic feet of clean air every minute. For smoke, the CADR is 105. The purifier manages about 5 air exchanges per hour for a small bedroom or nursery, or one every 12.5 minutes.

Say hello to the Blue family’s smallest and slimmest air purifier, the Blue Pure 411. It contains Blueair’s world-leading filter technology and is designed for rooms up to 15 m² (161 ft²) Just grab it, place it wherever you want, plug it in, and breathe perfectly clean air 24/7. A broadcaster, raconteur and public speaker, Duncan used to be on telly loads, but an unfortunate incident put a stop to that, so he now largely contents himself with telling people, "I used to be on the TV, you know."

Our Verdict

The value of a particular product is largely based on the cost relative to its performance as compared to other products in the class. Ideally, a product will perform better than its peers while priced at or below the price of comparable products. The Blueair Blue Pure 411 costs far less than the class average, yet its overall performance is at an above-average level. As such, we find that the 411 provides users with a good value. Conclusion Unless the air purifier has been specifically designed to purify and cool the air – the Dyson Purifier Cool Autoreact, for example – the model will not cool the air. Carbon filters remove chemical fumes including VOC's, traffic combustion gases, pet odours, tobacco smoke and many more gaseous pollutants.However not all carbon filters are the same. Basic carbon 'sheet' filters are generally lightweight and have little capacity to adsorb these pollutants effectively. On the other hand filters containing actual carbon 'granules' are infinitely more effective and should always be chosen over carbon sheets where the most effective gaseous pollutant removal is required. IN terms of power consumption, having been on for four hours on the Everyday setting, the air purifier used only 0.008kWh of electricity, which is so low you’ll barely notice a change in your electricity bill. In the UK, this is less than 2p per 24 hours of continual use at this setting (based on an electricity price of 35p per kWh). In the US, the cost would be less than 1 cent for a 24-hour period (based on an electricity price of 20c per kWh). Note that prices vary between states and suppliers, so you may need to do your own calculations. Either way, the Blue Pure 411 Auto air purifier isn't an appliance that guzzles energy.

As far as I can tell, the warning to change the filter is based on time passed rather than sensing how saturated with allergens, particles and smoke it is, so it's probably wise to keep an eye on it if you're using it in a more polluted area. Despite the picture above, there is no way I'd use this in the kitchen if you're doing high-temperature cooking that will produce smoke and oily fumes. Get a more butch air purifier if you're going to do that. Or, you know, turn on the kitchen extractor fan that is there to do that exact job. AHAM certified room size is the size of room in which the air purifier can provide a full five air changes per hour. Therefore refreshing all of the air in the room through its filters once every twelve minutes.This is more relevant than 'maximum' room size which does not reflect an air purifiers genuine effective capability. Always be sure to only use the 'AHAM certified' room size for true comparison purposes. Before T3, Duncan was a music and film reviewer, worked for a magazine about gambling that employed a surprisingly large number of convicted criminals, and then a magazine called Bizarre that was essentially like a cross between Reddit and DeviantArt, before the invention of the internet. There was also a lengthy period where he essentially wrote all of T3 magazine every month for about 3 years.What else can I tell you about the Blue Pure 411? Changing the filter is a simple matter, which is good since you'll be doing it a couple of times a year at least. The filter is a three-layer affair, with an outer filter to catch larger particles and dust, a fine HEPA filter to remove particles and allergens and a carbon filter to deal with fumes. We keep the purifier on the highest setting as it’s an excellent white noise machine. The Blueair not only helps to soothe our baby to sleep, it also drowns out the noise of the wolf that lives next door. That’s right, we have a wolf hybrid neighbor who howls for a large part of the night (and day). Without the air filter, I’m constantly woken up with spiked adrenaline (not awesome in pregnancy). With the air purifier, I sleep right through the howling. Controls are pretty simple too. They are as follows: one button on the top that you push to cycle the Blue Pure 411 between its three power settings. And that's it. No apps, no displays, no flashing lights apart from a red one that tells you when to change the filter. It's very lagom, as the Swedes say. Or do I mean hyyge? It's simple and minimalist is what I am saying. I was testing the unit in spring, when the pollen was affecting my husband's hay fever. As such, I kept the Blueair purifier running on auto the whole time, switching to Night mode at bed time. On several occasions I noticed the air quality light change from blue to orange, as well as red; the unit increased the speed accordingly, which was reassuring. But I’d use the Everyday mode in winter, when there are fewer contaminants that might irritae. The 411 is whisper silent, energy efficient and the one-button speed control makes it super easy to use. And when you finally have to replace the filter, you don’t have to be an engineer – all you need is one simple twist.