Blueair Pure 211+ Review

Performance Comparison

Air Cleaning Performance

The Blueair shares the top score with three other models in our air cleaning tests. It is just a hair better than the other top-performing models, but not to enough of a degree to warrant a higher score. After a half-hour fighting the haze in our smoky testing room, it had reduced airborne particulate counts by 98.97%, and just 15 minutes later, it improved to 99.95%. It held that level until the end of our hour-long test. That was the highest reduction percentage we saw in our testing.

Its CADR (clean air delivery rate) of 350 is also the highest of all the models we tested and gives it enough power to handle rooms of up to 525 square feet. Unless your house was once featured on MTV Cribs, chances are that will be enough for any room in your home. The only downside is that it doesn't have a carbon filter, so it didn't do much for odor. However, the models with carbon filters barely did much better, so we wouldn't let this dissuade you away from the Blueair.

Noise

The Blueair is again near the top of the leaderboard in our noise testing scoring. When set on high, the Blueair is actually similar to the Coway, with a medium pitch that is noticeable but consistent and mellow enough that it will likely fade into the background once you get used to it. On low, it makes a very quiet hum that you may notice while doing quiet activities like reading but is by no means annoying. The Coway is a bit better in this regard, as it is nearly silent on low.

Ease of Use

The Blueair is an average scorer in our ease of use testing. It is very simple to use, as a single button lets you turn it on and off and cycle through three fan speeds. Considering how powerful it is, the weight is quite low at 12.2 pounds, so it's not too difficult to move around. It lost points because of its lack of feature; we would have expected a model of this caliber to have more fan speeds and at least an automatic off timer.

Operating Cost

Its estimated lifetime cost is $1,105, which is much higher than the costs of any of the other models we tested and nearly double the average. This starts with a fairly high but not unreasonable list price. It gets compounded by the fact that replacement filters cost $70 and must be replaced twice a year. It is also one of the more power-hungry models we tested, incurring estimated annual electricity costs of $21.02.

Value

The Blueair is a top-notch performer, but we wouldn't call it a particularly good value. It certainly demands a premium for its high performance. If you don't mind paying a premium to have a single unit that can clean a large living room, you'll be happy with the Blueair. Just remember that for the same lifetime cost, you could buy two Coway Airmega 1512HHs.

Conclusion