XQ

I literally just picked up some winix models (c545 and xq) been running them for less then a day and can already feel the difference in Phoenix. The air quality is so bad here that I couldn’t take it anymore and caved yesterday. I chose winix because of wifi capability, but I’m sure anything will be an improvement with our air here. I was looking at levoit and blue air as well. The usual advice is go multiple units (I.e. one per room to share the load) especially in rooms that are heavily used (bedroom, living room etc)

I cannot recommend Winix. i have seen many happy users on here, but given my experiences, I regret getting them at all. My reasons may not apply to you, but they are as follows: 1. Auto mode doesn't work when lights are off. I do understand auto mode on many purifiers isn't great because of the sensors used in the purifier, and because of the low air flow rate, but auto mode should work properly regardless of lighting, and Winix doesn't support this. 2. The Alexa skill is hot garbage. They do not have direct integration, and controlling the purifier based on readings from an external air quality monitor is difficult. To use it at all, you must relink it regularly, and you must ask Alexa to ask Winix and that doesn't even work well when you have multiple units. My experience with Blueair in this regard was much better. 3. Going back to that auto mode, it never triggers turbo. If air quality is that bad, I'd expect this, but too much manual changing of modes is required, which is annoying. The only thing I can say about Winix is that they produce cheap products. For the price, I suppose you get what you pay for. Even Winix's top of the line, $1K QX has these limitations. Winix really should be ashamed of themselves for putting out this garbage and not giving users the control they should have, but capitalism is hard at work, and so long as they can flood the market with cheap junk and people are willing to buy it, I suppose they are doing good work.

I cannot recommend Winix. i have seen many happy users on here, but given my experiences, I regret getting them at all. My reasons may not apply to you, but they are as follows: 1. Auto mode doesn't work when lights are off. I do understand auto mode on many purifiers isn't great because of the sensors used in the purifier, and because of the low air flow rate, but auto mode should work properly regardless of lighting, and Winix doesn't support this. 2. The Alexa skill is hot garbage. They do not have direct integration, and controlling the purifier based on readings from an external air quality monitor is difficult. To use it at all, you must relink it regularly, and you must ask Alexa to ask Winix and that doesn't even work well when you have multiple units. My experience with Blueair in this regard was much better. 3. Going back to that auto mode, it never triggers turbo. If air quality is that bad, I'd expect this, but too much manual changing of modes is required, which is annoying. The only thing I can say about Winix is that they produce cheap products. For the price, I suppose you get what you pay for. Even Winix's top of the line, $1K QX has these limitations. Winix really should be ashamed of themselves for putting out this garbage and not giving users the control they should have, but capitalism is hard at work, and so long as they can flood the market with cheap junk and people are willing to buy it, I suppose they are doing good work.

Oh, I forgot. Their sensors for most of their units are glorified fart detectors. You dear human are too dumb to understand what a PM reading is, so they don't show it to you. Perhaps people get products like this to control odors, so an odor detector is what they want, but the filters they provide don't even remove odors all that effectively, so the best I've got is them cheaping out again.

I have the Winix. No issues to date. I don’t use the plasma wave feature.

I have a Winix from Costco. It’s easy to move. Good value for CADR when they have a sale. Comes with an extra filter and there are knockoff replacements (may not be equivalent )on Amazon. It defaults every time to PlasmaWave mode which generates a tiny bit of ozone. I turn that off.

I say about 1/3rd of my Winix's have a bit of a smell that dissipates quite quickly.

If you're in north america, use the buying guide and grab whatever is cheapest. I recommend going oversizing twice the AHAM/size rating - as purifiers are rated at max speed and most people are unlikely to run it at that speed. I'm partial to Winix (as they tend to be the cheapest both new and open box from Winix/resellers), but anything on the guide will be fine. If you're going for the bedroom, go as big as you can afford - larger fans typically can be run slower and quieter while providing more airflow than a smaller fan. There's more to sound than volume and size, but its a good starting point since sound quality and levels are poorly documented and are difficult to compare across models. Purification is always the last step - vacuuming, good HVAC (good central air filter), and washing sheets/textiles properly is essential. Do not neglect the other steps first; as they're likely to make more profound impacts than the purifier. I have a dust mite allergy, and no amount of purification would ever compensate for regular sheets washing in hot water (and appropriate detergents, ty r/laundry) and clothes washing.