The Nuance Collective
The Nuance Index™
012
Ap
Air Purifiers
00
How this works
We asked five questions about air purifiers, five times each, then the same five about air purifiers for allergies. 50 answers; we scored 25.
What’s the best air purifier? I’m about to buy air purifiers. What should I get? What’s the highest-cadr-per-decibel air purifier? What are the top brands of air purifiers? If you were buying air purifiers for me, what would you choose?
As usual, the model wrote the third question based on the fodder it saw. “Highest CADR per decibel” just means the most clean air for the least noise.
What’s the best air purifier? I’m about to buy air purifiers. What should I get? What’s the highest-cadr-per-decibel air purifier? What are the top brands of air purifiers? If you were buying air purifiers for me, what would you choose?
As usual, the model wrote the third question based on the fodder it saw. “Highest CADR per decibel” just means the most clean air for the least noise.
01
The Number — Category Clarity
77.3
Clear
The answer is stable and accurate.
61.7
Agreement
does it answer the same way twice
55.2–72.7 at 90%
92.8
Accuracy
is what it says true
no interval — checked claims, not resampled
True →
Unsettlednot the same twice · true
Clearthe same twice · true
Confusednot the same twice · false
Miscastthe same twice · false
Same answer twice →
Settled at Agreement 50 · true at Truth 50 · this category sits at Agreement 61.7, Truth 92.8 · both boundaries are the midpoint of their own metric
PASS Indexable 22 scoredPASS Capture blind 3 of 3 control runs— Number two parts this week— Baseline no prior run, no arrow
Accuracy 92.8. We checked 220 statements against the brands’ own sites, manuals and court records. One was wrong.
Agreement 61.7. The answers mostly name the same top brands.
This week the Number has two parts. We also counted how many models each brand has certified for sale in California. That count had little to do with which brands got named, so it is left out.
Agreement 61.7. The answers mostly name the same top brands.
This week the Number has two parts. We also counted how many models each brand has certified for sale in California. That count had little to do with which brands got named, so it is left out.
02
The Read
For purifier brands: getting named is barely half of it. It’s about what the model says next.
17 of 25 answers end with a list of what not to buy. Biggest surprise is that 17 answers suggest skipping the brands altogether and building your own by taping a box fan to furnace filters.
17 of 25 answers end with a list of what not to buy. Biggest surprise is that 17 answers suggest skipping the brands altogether and building your own by taping a box fan to furnace filters.
03
The Standings
This week’s top three: Coway, Levoit and Blueair. Coway is named in every answer and named first in 20 of 25.
| Brand | Presence | Rank | Conviction | Fidelity | Composite | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Band 1 · 81–83 · 1 brand, separated from every other band | ||||||
| 1 | CwCoway | 100.0 | 94.2 | 94.0 | 22.1 | 81.8 81–83 |
| Band 2 · 68–74 · 3 brands, not separated by the data | ||||||
| 2 | LvLevoit | 100.0 | 78.7 | 66.0 | 23.8 | 72.6 71–74 |
| 2 | BaBlueair | 100.0 | 71.1 | 76.0 | 21.6 | 72.3 72–73 |
| 2 | WxWinix | 100.0 | 66.2 | 66.0 | 25.0 | 69.8 68–71 |
| Band 3 · 49–63 · 3 brands, not separated by the data | ||||||
| 3 | AaAustin Air | 92.0 | 34.8 | 68.5 | 25.0 | 59.6 56–63 |
| 3 | IqIQAir | 76.0 | 46.2 | 68.4 | 23.8 | 56.6 51–62 |
| 3 | AlAlen | 76.0 | 35.1 | 71.1 | 23.8 | 54.3 49–59 |
| Band 4 · 33–54 · 5 brands, not separated by the data · Rabbit Air 47.1 · AirFanta 45.8 · Dyson 40.7 · Molekule 38.2 · IKEA 35.2 | ||||||
| Band 5 · 23–41 · 4 brands, not separated by the data · Smart Air 34.1 · Honeywell 33.0 · Lasko 28.3 · Mila 25.7 | ||||||
| Band 6 · 19–30 · 6 brands, not separated by the data · Xiaomi 24.5 · Sharp 23.0 · Philips 22.3 · GermGuardian 22.0 · Medify 21.9 · AirDoctor 20.7 | ||||||
Composite, with its 90% interval
10,000 resamples of the 25 runs
Band 1one brand, separated from every other band
Coway
Band 23 brands, not separated by the data
Levoit
Blueair
Winix
Band 33 brands, not separated by the data
Austin Air
IQAir
Alen
Band 45 brands, not separated by the data
Rabbit Air
AirFanta
Dyson
Molekule
IKEA
30.043.057.071.085.0
Point estimate
90% interval — where this brand sits if the 25 primary-noun runs are redrawn
Bands are cut where the intervals stop overlapping
Table view — composite and interval
Coway 81.8 (81–83) · Levoit 72.6 (71–74) · Blueair 72.3 (72–73) · Winix 69.8 (68–71) · Austin Air 59.6 (56–63) · IQAir 56.6 (51–62) · Alen 54.3 (49–59) · Rabbit Air 47.1 (41–53) · AirFanta 45.8 (38–54) · Dyson 40.7 (37–44) · Molekule 38.2 (34–42) · IKEA 35.2 (33–41)
Coway 81.8 (81–83) · Levoit 72.6 (71–74) · Blueair 72.3 (72–73) · Winix 69.8 (68–71) · Austin Air 59.6 (56–63) · IQAir 56.6 (51–62) · Alen 54.3 (49–59) · Rabbit Air 47.1 (41–53) · AirFanta 45.8 (38–54) · Dyson 40.7 (37–44) · Molekule 38.2 (34–42) · IKEA 35.2 (33–41)
04
The Signal
The skip list · this week's featured finding
Two of the brands that AI names are there so it can tell you NOT to buy them.
Dyson is in 23 of 25 answers. But every time, the model either mentions it weakly or tells you to skip it: “beautifully engineered fans that underperform on air-cleaning-per-dollar.”Molekule is in 22 of the answers but in 17 of those, it is said to be the brand to avoid. The answers say it “repeatedly flopped in independent testing,” which we could not confirm. They also say it went bankrupt, which is true (October 2023). What they don’t say is that Molekule’s purifiers now include a HEPA filter.
LG sells a $299 purifier on its own site and has 54 models certified for sale in California. But the Korean giant is only named in 1 answer. Whereas Austin Air has 10 and is named in 23.
Certified for sale in California, never named in a scored answer: Hunter (353), Whirlpool (79), Midea (59), Dreo (45), Frigidaire (36), Panasonic (24), Hamilton Beach (21), Vornado (18), Hathaspace (9) and GE (3).
Who is included. Every brand that the answers mention that sells a finished portable air purifier under its own name. Left out: the Corsi-Rosenthal box (a design anyone can build), Nukit (kits), the fans and furnace filters named as DIY parts, and three whole-home heating and cooling brands (Trane, Aprilaire, Carrier). We made these calls after the answers came in.
California requires every portable air purifier sold into the state, online included, to be certified first. We counted certified models for 41 brands, from AirFanta’s 2 to GermGuardian’s 532. Six of those brands (big appliance makers) were added after the answers came in. The list goes back to 2010, and California says certification covers safety and ozone, not how well a purifier cleans.
California requires every portable air purifier sold into the state, online included, to be certified first. We counted certified models for 41 brands, from AirFanta’s 2 to GermGuardian’s 532. Six of those brands (big appliance makers) were added after the answers came in. The list goes back to 2010, and California says certification covers safety and ozone, not how well a purifier cleans.
Scores are not comparable across categories, and no edition cites
another's. Every edition is a self-contained verdict on its own category.
Every count on this page comes from the answers, a brand’s own website or California’s certified list. Anyone can check it. The Nuance Collective
Every count on this page comes from the answers, a brand’s own website or California’s certified list. Anyone can check it. The Nuance Collective