Breathe Safe: Top 3 smart air purifiers you may consider buying this Diwali

Air pollution in the Indian cities is a well-known problem. In cities such as Delhi, the problem is so severe that the Supreme Court had to ban the sale of firecrackers ahead of Diwali. Last year, the Delhi government had to shut down schools due to heavy smog, triggered by higher levels of particulate matter (also known as PM) in the air after Diwali.

What does an air purifier do?

The mechanism of an air purifier is very much similar to a water purifier. Air purifiers come with multiple filters (three or more in some cases) to capture particulate matter that usually consists of allergens and pollutants. The purifiers filter out these pollutants to re-circulate the clean air. Most of the air purifiers come with an air pollution indicator to show you the air quality indoors.

Do you actually need one?

Air in cities such as Delhi is quite toxic, which you can yourself check through the indexing websites such as aqicn.org/city/delhi/ or airquality.hindustantimes.com/. The indoor pollutants, which usually go unnoticed, can lead to a number of severe health hazards such as pneumonia and heart diseases.

You can read more about the health impacts in this in-depth report from the World Health Organisation. Last month, a report indicated that the exposure to indoor air pollution from burning solid fuels could increase the chances of stunting among Indian children.

Xiaomi Mi Air Purifier 2

Price: ₹8,499

The Mi Air Purifier 2, which launched last year, is still one of the most affordable and smart air purifiers available in the market right now. The purifier covers 400 square feet and comes with a real-time Air Quality Index (AQI) monitoring. It features a triple layer filter to keep PM2.5 (fine particulate matter) at bay.

The Mi Air Purifier 2 comes with Wi-Fi support and can remotely be controlled by a Mi Home app (available for both Android and iOS phones). The app also allows you to monitor the air quality, humidity and temperature sensors as well as fan speed. The Mi Home app also allows you to keep a tab on the degradation of filters and notifies users when they're up for an upgrade.

Honeywell AirTouch S8

Price: ₹33,824

Honeywell is one of the most popular names in the air purifiers industry. Its Honeywell Air Touch-S8 covers 450 square feet (and rooms up to 9 feet high) and comes with a number of smart features along with high-end air filtering mechanism.

The device comes with a High-Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filter that is claimed to remove "any microscopic pollutant and allergens above 0.3 microns including PM2.5 and pollens." The Honeywell AirTouch S8 is Wi-Fi enabled and allows you to control via the company's 'Honeywell Hplus' app which is available for both Android or iOS. The app provides insights such as real-time filter health indication on air quality indoors.

Blueair Sense+

Price: ₹42,499

The Blueair Sense+ air purifier covers 194 square feet of area. It comes with two filters and is capable of capturing "99.97% of airborne particles down to 0.1 microns in size." It also comes with motion sensors and can be controlled via the company's Blueair friend app. The Wi-Fi enabled air purifier provides insights on the air quality and allows users to remotely control the device. With sound levels between 29-50 db (A), the air purifier works pretty silently.

If you don't want a smart feature in your air purifier, you can consider the Honeywell Air Touch I8 and A5 air purifiers. There are a few Do it Yourself (DIY) air purifiers available online that start at as low as ₹4,000, but we are not really sure about their effectiveness.