Alen BreatheSmart 45i Review

If there is a singular strong point to the Alen BreatheSmart 45i, it's the well-integrated smart functionality. While the app was a bit tricky to set up, once we started using it, we found it to be well-designed and intuitive. The app effectively turns your phone into a remote for the device, which we enjoyed.

Performance Comparison

Air Cleaning Performance

We were very pleased with how the Alen BreatheSmart 45i performed overall with no big weak points to speak of. Our testing protocol puts each device through their paces to see how efficient they are.

The Alen BreatheSmart 45i is listed to cover up to 1600 square feet, and we don't doubt its efficiency. Using an air quality meter, we were able to determine just how effective this model truly is. It offers four filter options: Pure, Fresh, Odor, and Smoke. These HEPA-grade filters, according to the manufacturer, remove 99.9% of air particles. In our smoke test, it managed to eliminate 99.98%% of smoke pollution with an AQI of 500, which is incredibly impressive.

Regarding its ability to filter out bad smells from the smoke test, it didn't seem to help much until about the one-hour mark. It cleared out the hazy smoke within an hour, but the smell took a little longer to dissipate. Keep in mind that we used the standard filter for this test to ensure consistent results across different air purifiers. However, we are confident that using the odor filter would yield different results.

Noise

You'll likely want to make sure that your chosen air purifier doesn't disrupt your daily life with the sound that it emits, which is why we've included this metric in our rigorous testing. We are pleased to report that the Alen BreatheSmart 45i surprised us with how quiet it was across all settings.

Considering how powerful the Alen is, we didn't expect it to perform as well as it did. On the Turbo level (the highest setting), it registered at 48 decibels. While this isn't super quiet, we found the sound it emits to be pleasant and not distracting. At the medium setting, it measured a bit lower at 44 decibels. On the lowest settings, our decibel reader registered the lowest possible levels at 10 decibels. While there are quieter devices on the market, rarely are they as powerful or efficient as the Alen BreatheSmart 45i. It's nice to know that with this device, you won't have either air or noise pollution in your home.

Ease of Use

The Alen BreatheSmart 45i checks nearly all the boxes when it comes to ease of use. It's relatively simple to set up, comes with a companion app (which is great—more on that soon), and the button layout on the device itself is intuitive. We couldn't ask for a more well-rounded experience when interfacing with this air purifier.

If you want to know when to change out the filter, the Alen BreatheSmart 45i comes with an indicator that has three lights: green (good to go), yellow (indicating the filter will need to be replaced soon), and red (time to replace the filter). The black mesh layer on the front of the filter (the prefilter) is easy to remove and replace the filter door, requiring minimal effort.

Now let's talk about the app. In short, it's an incredible addition to an already solid device; however, there's no QR code or even a mention of the app itself while unboxing it.

Once we were able to figure out how to download the app, we found that it offers real-time tracking and a representative chart. It is extremely clean, well-thought-out, and easy to navigate. In the bottom right-hand corner, there's a remote icon that, when clicked, transforms your phone into a remote control for the machine, allowing you to adjust the fan speed, activate the lock button, and toggle the ionizer. Each time you change a setting using the phone remote, the machine emits an audible beep to confirm the adjustment. One downside is that you can't turn the machine off or on within the app. This is forgivable, though, because even without the app, the back-lit touch sensor buttons on the device itself are very responsive and provide more than adequate functionality.

The Alen BreatheSmart 45i features a well-designed control panel that enhances usability. It has four fan speed buttons, each with indicator lights above them to represent the power levels. A single line indicates low power and additional lines are added to represent each increase in power, with a “T” for Turbo indicating the maximum power setting. You can control the light setting with the “Light” button, choosing between “Lo” for dim lighting, “Hi” for full lighting, or “Off” for darkness. This feature is particularly useful, as it allows the purifier to double as a night light with just a hint of light or to be fully dark for light sleepers.

The control panel also includes buttons for Ionizer, Filter, Light, Power, Speed, Auto, and Lock, providing comprehensive control over the device's functions. Additionally, there is a color ring around the power button that indicates air quality. Blue signifies a very low level of airborne particles, green indicates a low level, orange represents a medium level, red denotes a significant level, and purple shows a very significant level of airborne particles detected.

Finally, we appreciated the design of this air purifier as well. While not the most portable at 15.5 pounds, it has a relatively slim profile and can be placed close to walls to blend in more with your decor. It also comes in multiple colors to suit your needs. It features a small, shallow handle to make it slightly easier to move around your home and should fit in nicely wherever you decide to place it.

Operating Cost

Unfortunately, providing clean air in the home comes with a cost, which depends on the device in question and the price of filters plus the electricity to run the said device. Thankfully, we've done the math so you don't have to.

Now, we use the national average for electricity costs per kilowatt, but your mileage may vary depending on the cost of electricity in your local area. That being said, we found the Energy Star Certified Alen BreatheSmart 45i to be quite economical, assuming you'll mostly be running it at the medium power setting for around 12 hours a day. This isn't the only cost to consider, as you'll need to replace filters as often as necessary to keep the air clean in your home. Our biggest gripe with this device is the filter cost, which is $70 for the HEPA filter and a whopping $89 for a Carbon filter during the time we tested it. All in all, we estimate the annual operating cost for this device to be around $179 per year if you use this device regularly. There are more economical air purifiers out there, but this one holds a ton of power, and we feel the cost is worth the performance.

Should You Buy the Alen BreatheSmart 45i?

Simply put, this is one of the best air purifiers we've tested, and it's absolutely worth adding to your list. Even if you don't need the smart integration via the app, the core device still functions extremely well with the onboard touch controls. We couldn't find much to fault with this air purifier other than the high upfront and long-term costs. Otherwise, we highly recommend it to anyone looking for a powerful air purifier that works well in large spaces like your living room.

What Other Air Purifiers Should You Consider?

If you want to cover a large space of over 1600 square feet, then the Coway Airmega 400S should be on your list of air purifiers to consider. It covers bigger spaces better than the Alen and still has app integration. It also proved to be a better air-purifying performer. However, it is very pricey. If you don't need such large coverage, the Levoit Core 400S will save you a ton of money and remains an excellent air purifier thanks to its cleaning performance and included companion app.