I’ve been reviewing air purifiers for years. I remember that one of the very last things I did before the Covid lockdowns put New York City in a headlock was to meet with a Dyson engineer as he showed me a cutaway demo air purifier with all its guts hanging out.

That was back in, of course, early 2020. Some people had air purifiers, but they weren’t yet as common among households back then. It took the pandemic and a few years of worsening wildfires to turn them from a curiosity found in the occasional home to a run-of-the-mill item.

In that time, I’ve seen a lot of air purifiers enter the market. Some were excellent. Others were just also-rans from companies that had no business in the health space. A few more were wild and weird and wonderful.

When it came time to buy my own for my 700-square-foot apartment, I went with Coway for their transparency in advertising and marketing, and for the fact that the Airmega 200M I’d had for six years has kept on kicking without a failure of a hiccup.

terminology to know

For details on what to look for when shopping for an air purifier and how to cut through all the technical jargon, I’ve made a handy guide for that. I won’t take up all your time and all this article’s valuable real estate by repeating myself.

I’ll only say that you want to aim for 5 ACH (air changes per hour) in determining how big of a room a purifier can handle, and that marketing materials often pad their numbers by giving you the “suitable square footage” for less than 5 ACH. So be on notice when shopping. All these Coway filters have HEPA filtration, as well.

for the bedroom

I point more people toward the Airmega 200M than any other air purifier, since I judge it as the best air purifier for most people’s bedrooms. Mine has followed me through several apartments over the past six years.

The Airmega 200M achieves 5 ACH for rooms up to 350 square feet. That’s enough for small living rooms and most bedrooms. Plus, it’s so quiet on its low setting that I can’t even hear it when I’m lying in bed.

for the living room

The Airmega 250 achieves 5 ACH in rooms up to 372 square feet, so it’s better for living rooms and larger bedrooms. Mine lives in my living room, which isn’t huge since I’m not a richie-rich and I live in an expensive city. But I have 12-foot ceilings, so there’s a lot of air in there.

But I like it here because the Airmega 200M wouldn’t have quite as much oomph. They’re both fantastic, my two favorite air purifiers for medium- and small-sized rooms, respectively.

for the office

Not much larger than a trash can, the Airmega 100 is easier to stash away in a corner or, in my case, under a desk and in a corner. Coway rates this as suitable for spaces up to 133.6 square feet if you’re aiming for 5 ACH.

That makes it suitable for very small spaces, such as a 10-by-12-foot bedroom. That’s about the size of my office, so I’m happy to have this small, automatic, unnoticeably quiet air purifier purring away silently with me all day as I write.