The connected air purifier now has a bigger filter with separate layers, and a diffused air flow mode.
Air purifiers, after being considered as luxury gadgets for the rich till not too recently, are finally getting their recognition as a must-have gadget for our homes. That is even truer, if you have small children at home, or any family member tends to suffer from throat ailments regularly. However, not all purifiers are equal, and the eventual performance depends on factors such as the quality of the filter, the power of the fan blowing out the clean air and the design of the clean air vents. British technology company Dyson has added to the air-purifier line-up in India, with the Pure Cool succeeding the Pure Cool Link which was launched earlier this year. While the older Dyson Pure Cool Link still remains a great indoor air purifier, the newer Dyson Pure Cool makes improvements across the board.
At first glance, you might probably think that the Pure Cool is an incremental update over the Pure Cool Link, for the overall design remains largely the same. The 360-degree filter sits in the base, but if you look closely, you’ll notice that the design of the mesh grille is different, so as to let in more air. There are two thin cut-outs on the body, and underneath these sit the laser sensors which keep a constant track of the air quality and detect even the slightest amount of pollutants in the air almost instantly. For instance, spray deodorant in the far corner of the same room, and the Pure Cool’s fan speed will increase a notch as soon as the new addition to the room’s air is detected.
The Pure Cool takes full advantage of Dyson’s enthusiasm towards ensuring that even the smallest of elements on a product they make are perfect. One of the potential shortcomings of the predecessor, the Pure Cool Link, was that the direct blast of air at you while the purifier remained in operation, could be uncomfortable for some users if the ambient temperature wasn’t very warm. That has been solved with the Pure Cool. You can now see an additional vent channel running down the middle on the outer side of the annular loop, which is meant for a diffused air flow. Switch this mode on, and the vent that is blowing out the cool breeze from the front is closed, and the clean air now emerges from the sides.
Secondly, the fan assembly can now oscillate as much as 350-degrees, which means the Pure Cool will be able to spread the purified air much better around a larger room.
Performance is significantly boosted by the updated 360-degree filter set. Unlike in the predecessor where it was a single unit that integrated the glass HEPA and the tris-coated activated graphite. Now, the filter set is not only split into separate layers for the glass HEPA and the activated carbon filter. The very fine layer above the HEPA filter is finer than before and will be able to better capture even the tiniest of particles. The Dyson Pure Cool can capture particles as small as 0.1 microns—these are 100 times smaller than the human hair. The 0.1-micron particles not only go into the lungs but can also enter the bloodstream. Most HEPA filters can capture particles as small as 0.3 micron only.
The activated carbon layer is thicker too, which means it can absorb gases, odours and volatile organic compounds in the room faster than before, and for longer.
We tested this in a 20 sq. m size room, and the Dyson Pure Cool improved the air quality from an unhealthy 98g/m3 of PM 2.5 to 14g/m3 in 15 minutes. This is not just data from the Dyson Pure Cool’s own air quality sensor or the app, but verified by a separate air quality monitor sitting in the same room. The filters should last between 6 months to an year.
On the design front, there is now a display on the front, which gives you a graphical representation of the air quality in the room. Red and orange colours mean the air quality is bad, yellow means it is improving but still far from ideal, and green means it the air you are breathing is clean and safe. You can also toggle between multiple display modes, if you wish to look at specific numbers for PM2.5 and PM10 matter in the room, or peek at the filter life.
The attention to detail is reaffirmed by the fact that at the top arch of the annular loop is a magnet, which is handy to stick the tiny remote there and not end up misplacing it. There were certain instances with the Pure Cool Link that if you were a tad absent minded, you might not wait for the magnet lock to successfully happen, and thus the remote would fall on the ground. The magnet in the Pure Cool is more powerful and holds the remote even more firmly.
Dyson’s smartphone app for managing the Pure Cool (and indeed the Pure Cool Link) is something truly slick. You can control modes and fan speed, see filter life stats and update the firmware of the purifier through this. The Pure Cool can connect with 5GHz Wi-Fi networks, whereas the Pure Cool Link was restricted to only 2.4GHz Wi-Fi networks. In some other countries, you can control the Pure Cool by voice commands, if you have an Amazon Alexa powered Echo speaker at home—however at the time of writing this, the particular skill to enable this isn’t available on the Amazon Alexa app for us. Once that does become enabled, it’ll be tremendous fun to switch on or off and control the Pure Cool via your voice.
The Dyson Pure Cool is learning from its predecessor, the Pure Cool Link, while retaining the strong points. The narrow vertical design doesn’t take up too much space in the room—and it is a tad surprising that there are no rivals themselves attempting to take advantage of such a design. The high-quality filters clean the room’s air quickly. Now you can also adjust the air-flow direction, which is a priceless addition, particularly for winters. The Dyson Pure Cool does have a premium price tag, but it is worth every penny.