The Best Air Purifiers of 2026: Allergy Season Is Here, These Models Can Help
To help inform our air purifier picks, we gathered 12 of the newest and most popular models at CNET Labs’ product testing facility in Louisville, Kentucky, where we put them through a rigorous test set.
When evaluating our air purifier scores, we considered particle removal ability, energy efficiency, height, price and features. Each unit is given a score out of 10 for each criterion, and receives a final score weighted out of 10.
After we review air purifiers, we also review the top players for i Editors’ Choice Award as a best buy for most consumers. Evaluation is based on quantitative and qualitative factors, such as particle removal, energy efficiency, noise level, price and unique features. We also evaluate quantitative test results with our rigorous method to determine the winner of the Lab Award. This time, we have two lab award winners for removing particles at different fan speeds.
How to test air purifiers:
- Particle Removal (30%): Average amount of time it takes for an air purifier to remove 90% of particles in our test room.
- Energy Efficiency (20%): Average energy is measured in kilowatt hours used by the air cleaner; we count it again during the month.
- Total Sound (20%): Average sound level across low, medium and high fan settings.
- Price (20%): We look at how affordable or expensive an air purifier is. Most of our recommendations range from $300-$800, depending on size.
- Features (10%): We consider features such as app control, remote controls and design features that help them fit into the room.
Particle removal test
The air we breathe is not just air. In fact, it is a combination of man-made and naturally occurring particles. The former is mainly formed by the emission of hydrocarbons from cities, factories and cars, nitrogen oxides and combustion products, while the latter is mainly represented by smoke from forest fires, sulfates, ash and matter from volcanic eruptions around the world.
According to the EPA, some of these tiny solids and liquid droplets, which can be made up of hundreds of different chemicals, are so small that it’s almost impossible to inhale them.
Fine compared to coarse particles
Regarding smoke, seasonal allergens and dust, an important consideration in buying an air purifier is whether it has an automatic mode. Certain air particles do not remain constant throughout the year or even throughout the day. “Auto mode cleaners can automatically increase the speed when pollution is high,” said Jie Zhao, head of Delos Labs, a human health technology company.
Although the different types of particles are not visible in the air purifier itself, according to the experts we spoke to, an important consideration for particles like pet dander is the absorption of energy, because that type of pollution is theoretically constant in your home and requires regular use of the air purifier.
“It’s so focused on consumer experience and user interaction, that it works all the time, it goes against the basic scientific principle,” Zhao said, when deciding what makes an air purifier best suited for pets.
We test our air purifiers against fine and coarse particles. Coarse particles, PM10 and PM2.5, which are particles less than 10 and 2.5 micrometers in diameter, respectively, pose a great risk to human health, since once they are inhaled, they are deeply distributed in the lungs and even in the blood, interfering with the proper functioning of the lungs and heart. For PM2.5, these include flammable particles, organic compounds and metals.
“That’s the size that can enter our body, enter our lungs and enter our blood,” said Zhao. “That’s the number one environmental hazard in the world. It kills about 6 to 7 million people a year,” he said, due to cardiovascular or respiratory problems caused by particulate pollution.
PM10 includes dust, pollen and mold. Large coarse particles are larger than PM10 and include fine sea sand (PM90), which is less of a concern because it usually does not enter the lungs. However, they can still irritate your eyes, nose and throat.
The fine particles are 2.5 micrometers in diameter and smaller. These include ultrafine and nanoparticles, which have a diameter of less than 0.1 micrometers.
All our air purifiers are tested in a fume chamber to see how quickly they can remove fine and coarse particles.
Smoke chamber testing
Our air purifier test room uses a clear front panel made of plexiglass and gloved hand access, allowing us to operate the air purifiers safely. It also includes a particle holder for our control device, two fans that ensure the proper mixing of air and smoke inside the room, ventilation holes that keep a little fresh air at all times, an ignition hole to light the smoke bombs outside the rig and an exhaust hole that safely removes the remaining smoke from the room and building after each test.
The room is not well sealed, but it is tight enough to ensure that no harmful fumes escape into the surrounding area. Our goal was to create an environment where we exposed each air purifier unit to particle-laden air of approximately the same concentration to test how quickly and efficiently they return air to breathable conditions.
We made custom smoke bombs, made of 50% potassium nitrate (KNO3), 40% sucrose (sugar) and 10% sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) and included a safety fuse for remote ignition. The sugar acts as our fuel source, while the potassium nitrate acts as an oxidizing agent and the baking soda ensures that our dry mix stays fresh and slightly crunchy.
Using the GreyWolf PC3500 Particle Counter, we were able to confirm that 0.5 grams of our dry smoke bomb mixture produced between 590 and 610 million particles per cubic meter. The device is able to count particles of different sizes, including PM2.5 and PM10, and uploads this data once every 15 seconds. Although we can count particles of different sizes individually, it is the total number of particles that we care about, which is the sum of all the particles of different sizes.
The GreyWolf PC3500 Particle Counter is our new particle counter that we use in our smoke chamber.
We prepared a 0.5-gram smoke bomb, which is ignited through the ignition port after installing the air cleaner and ensuring proper sealing. When the air in the room is full of particles (more than 580 million particles/m3), we turn on the air purifier in question. The data output from the GreyWolf PC2500 Particle Counter allows us to accurately track the impact the air purifier has on the particle count in real time.
Noise level
Our new independent sound level meter that we use to measure the sound level of air cleaners.
Using a decibel meter, we measured how loud the air purifiers are at their low, medium and high settings. This is especially important if you plan to install an air purifier in your bedroom at night and don’t want it to disturb your sleep. We conduct this test in a sound-controlled studio to make sure that the decibel meter records only the noise from the air cleaners, excluding other possible sources.
To give you a frame of reference, a quiet whisper is 25 decibels. A normal conversation is about 60 to 70 decibels. A vacuum cleaner ranges from 65 to 80 decibels. A subway train 200 meters away is as loud as 95 decibels. With most of our air purifiers not producing more than 65 decibels, even when set to multiple fans, you’re usually looking at a noise level that matches a normal conversation.
Energy consumption
To answer this question, we used a device called Kill-a-Watt and measure how much energy each air purifier uses at different fan settings. Knowing the power draw of your air purifier can make a difference to your energy bill.
