Alen BreatheSmart 75i Review

With the Alen BreatheSmart 75i, if clean air is what you're after, clean air is what you'll get. It scores exceptionally high in our air purification tests. It's also quiet and comes packed with user-friendly features. The only major drawback is the price point and the usage costs associated with running this powerful device.

Performance Comparison

Air Cleaning Performance

Our performance testing consisted of a few different components. The first was making sure that the CADR (clean air delivery rate) number provided by the manufacturer was verified by AHAM (Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers). This ensures that the machine's efficacy has been verified by a third party; not all air purifiers go through this outside verification. The BreatheSmart 75i has the AHAM stamp of approval and is capable of cleaning 400 cubic feet of air per minute. Ultimately, this means that this is an exceptional option for large rooms.

The next step was sealing up our 150-square-foot testing room and filling it with smoke by burning paper and other testing materials. We monitored the air with a Dylos air quality monitor; once the room reached our desired level of airborne particulate pollution, we kicked on the BreatheSmart 75i for an hour. After 30 minutes, there were only 16.62% of the original particulates left floating in the air, .003% after 45 minutes, and 0 detectable particulates after an hour. While the odor from the burnt paper wasn't entirely eliminated, it was severely reduced.

Noise

While we all want to be in a room breathing clean air, some machines are simply too noisy and distracting to make it feel worthwhile. In order to see just how noisy each device was, we turned each one on and measured the sound output with a decibel reader. Even when set to the turbo, the BreatheSmart 75i produced very little noise. In this setting, it omits a pleasant low hum that our testers found to be noninvasive white noise. When running on medium, it was even quieter, and it was all but unnoticeable when set to low.

Ease of Use

When testing each machine's ease of use, we looked at a couple of key features. First, we timed how long it took to get the device out of the box and set it up. It took our testers about five minutes to get the BreatheSmart 75i up and running, which is pretty average when compared to most other models.

As with the majority of air filters, the BreatheSmart 75i does not come equipped with a remote control. The built-in control panel, however, is simple and easy to use. The buttons are straightforward and well labeled.

One of our favorite features is the inclusion of an air quality monitor. This lets you turn the machine to “auto” and will kick on if the room's air quality dives below a certain measurement. This function works in tandem with an LED light ring that changes color as the air quality improves or worsens. It can be set to run in increments of two, four, and twelve hours and has five different speed options. The BreatheSmart 75i is a large and bulky machine. While it is equipped with handles, it weighs a whopping 27 pounds, which makes it a little more challenging to relocate.

Operating Cost

Operating costs account for two things. The amount of electricity the device uses and how often you have to replace filters. To measure the amount of electricity used, we hooked the device up to a watt reader and recorded how many kilowatts per hour it used while running on a medium setting. Assuming 12 hours of use per day, it costs around $9.00 to run the BreatheSmart 75i for a year. While quite a few devices were cheaper to run, this was nowhere near the highest annual cost.

While the BreatheSmart 75i isn't too expensive to run for a year in terms of electricity, you will need to replace its combined HEPA and carbon filter once a year. These will run you around $99.00 a pop. We assumed an average lifespan of five years for all of the devices; when you add the initial purchase price, the annual use costs, and the annual filter costs, this machine has the highest lifetime costs of any of the air purifiers we tested.

Value

While the initial purchase price is hefty, the performance offered by the BreatheSmart 75i is outstanding. If you have a large space and need serious performance, this machine is up for the task. If you have a smaller space or are on a budget, other models will likely be better suited. All in all, the Alen delivers and we find it's worth the price.

Conclusion