The Molekule Air Mini+ uses medical-grade technology to clear your air: it's sleek, chic, and clever too

The Molekule Air Mini+ is the perfect air purifier if you want clinically perfect results. It delivers innovative, medical-grade results in a surprisingly stylish package. What's not to love?

Molekule is well-established as one of the best air purifiers in the world. Founded out of necessity - as so many leading brands often are - their models boast medical-grade materials and patented PECO filter technology to leave your air cleaner than clean (yes, that's the scientific phasing). It will destroy bacteria and viruses; capture 95% of particulate matter; banish toxic gasses in your home from paints and carpets; stamp out mould and allergens; and remove unpleasant odours.

It's just a hunch, but I think that's what we all want from our air purifiers. However, if you've ever looked into how an air purifier works, you'll know that most simply collect impurities rather than actively destroying them. Molekule is one of a kind and, I'm both intrigued and intimidated by the Air Mini+.

Specifications

Who would it suit?

You can see from the sheer presence of the term 'medical' and statistics involved with marketing the Molekule Air Mini+ that it appeals to people who want reliable, robust results from their air purifier. It uses a special PECO-HEPA Tri-Power Filter to blast pollutants with UV. I said it was serious. So, whether you have allergies and asthma, you're worried about viral exposure, or you live in a polluted area, this is a very thorough air purifier to opt for.

I say that with the caveat that the Air Mini+ is designed for smaller spaces. It's wonderfully compact and surprisingly light. With that comes a slightly smaller 250-square-foot working radius. It's quiet enough to go in your bedroom, home office, or studio apartment (I clocked it working around 34dB). However, when you account for the size, this is a pretty impressive workhorse.

I can't resist adding the fact that this is also one of the most attractive air purifiers on the market. It's sleek, smart, and even has a vegan leather handle. As a result of mastering the brains and beauty balancing act, the Molekule Air Mini+ is one of the more expensive models on the market, especially if you account for bi-annual filter replacement purchases. I call it an investment in quality, but if you're not quite sold on air purifiers in total, it's a bougie place to jump in.

Design and features

I won't shoot the breeze too much about how beautiful this is (for an air purifier), but I do think that the design team deserves some credit. The Air Mini+, true to its name, is very mini. I'd say it's about the size of a small pedal bin, which makes it easy to position in just about any room. The sleek curves and metal look and feel premium. Paired with the vegan leather handle, it's got Scandinavian chic written all over it.

The top of the purifier is where all the controls sit. It's a touch panel with a light-up dot in the centre that indicates the air quality in your home through colour (green means good, yellow means moderate, red means bad, and blue means very bad). It's subtle and will only jump to command if you wave a hand over it (or if you employ your Apple, Amazon, or Google Home assistant to get it to stand to attention).

The central button lets you turn the power on and off and control the Auto Protect and manual fan modes. A series of white dots tells you what fan speed you're running. Five is the highest (and loudest, at 62 dB) fan, and one is the lowest (and quietest, at 29 dB).

You'll have already guessed that there's an app (which is as aesthetically pleasing as the air purifier itself). Here you can monitor air quality, navigate the different settings, and control the air purifier remotely too.

Unboxing and set up

The Molekule Air Mini+'s luxury feel starts from the very outset. It comes in a compact, light cardboard box wrapped in a travel bag. While your air purifier probably doesn't need a sleeping bag, it never hurts to have a clean and tidy storage space.

The box is packed with cardboard and other recyclables, so you won't have any single-use plastics, of which you'll guiltily dispose. That gets a big tick from me, especially since Molekule goes heavy with the 'medical' branding. Lots of brands that follow scientific suit lean on plastics to support the 'ultra sterile' aesthetic of medical gear, but Molekule took the high road: the sign of true quality.

To get it started, all you have to do is plug in the Air Mini+. The WiFi light on top will blink until you connect it to the app on your phone. Here's where you can play puppet master with the controls from the comfort of the sofa. I found the app pretty fiddly to connect and if you have a look at the reviews, I'm not alone. Patience and someone who knows their way around a phone will be a great help to you, so coax them to the air purifier with the promise of effortlessly fresh air at home

If you're not tech-savvy, don't despair. You can still operate all the functions from the sensitive touchscreen on the top of the Air Mini+. The things you'll miss from the app are notifications about the current IAQ (indoor air quality), graphs of your 24-hour or one-week air quality, connectivity with home assistants, and the percentage of your PECO-Filter condition, capabilities, and how to change it.

What is it like to use?

I think it's nice to know a little bit about how air purifiers work and what's going on inside your air purifier before we talk about performance. The founder, Dr. Goswami, spent 25 years researching PECO (Photo Electrochemical Oxidation), which is a way to destroy impure particles rather than collecting them like other air purifiers. He did this to help his son, who was struggling with bad asthma and the standard air purifiers weren't helping him. Now, he's gifting us (and his son) clearer air.

You'll have seen me talk about the five different fan speeds as well as Auto Protect Mode, which sets speeds based on particulate matter. It's a simple setup and you don't need anything more than that. It works well.

I test every air purifier by making a roast and baking bread, lighting a candle, burning toast, and spraying dry shampoo. These tests introduce different impurities into the air, so they're a great way to see how versatile the air purifier is.

The Air Mini+ did really well across all my tests. In general, I found it was happy left running in the background. The energy consumption is really low, so I put it on fan speed one, and didn't worry about the cost. Whilst it's not silent, it's one of the quietest that I've tested on its low speed.

The roast and bread are always the most challenging test for air purifiers, but the Air Mini+ breezed through it. The fan speed needed to crank up to five, making it louder than 60 dB, which isn't exactly subtle (it's about as loud as a normal conversation), but it cleared the air from impurities in 11 minutes, which is the exact average of what I would expect.

The smoke, dry shampoo, and candle smells were mostly removed from the air in eight minutes, and the graphs matched up to those results. The dry shampoo test was actually cleared in two minutes according to the app, but I could smell the fragrance up until the eight minute mark. All in all, it's a powerhouse, especially when you account for the size.

I've seen lots of accounts of hayfever sufferers finding refuge with the Air Mini+ and, whilst I'm not one of the unlucky ones (for now), I do have an asthmatic mother-in-law who is very sensitive to pollen. She has this in her house for two weeks and said, "The air I'm breathing certainly feels clean. I don't think I noticed the pollen and impurities, but I definitely noticed their absence and then their return when I switched this off again."

I asked her if she thought it was worth having at home and she said she'd get one for her office or her bedroom, but probably not the kitchen or bigger rooms in the house. She noticed the air quality in the smaller rooms much more dramatically.

Cleaning, storage and maintenance

The good news is the Molekule Air Mini+ is really easy to maintain and keep clean. Each PECO filter has a six-month life and, if you're worried about forgetting to buy top-ups, you can sign up for automatic filter replacements. We've got lots of other information on how to clean an air purifier for general maintenance: you'll want to keep it both aesthetically attractive and functional too.

How does it compare?

Above is just a snapshot of the many air purifiers that I've tested. You might spot that there's an even smaller air purifier at the front. This is the Vitesy Eteria. It's about one third of the size of the Air Mini+, about half the price, and it's still pretty stylish. I loved the app for this one: it gives you lots of data and graphs about the air quality, humidity, and temperature of your room. By virtue of its size, the Eteria is a lot more portable and much more mini than the Molekule, but there are a few compromises.

The Eteria can only purify 15m² compared to the Air Mini+, which can handle another 8m². You can also only control the Eteria through the app, which is frustrating if you're not very techy or if you don't have your phone on you all of the time. In general, I found the Air Mini+ to be quicker and more effective at cleaning the air, especially when cooking and baking, but if you want an air purifier for your bedroom, the Vitesy Eteria could be the better bet.

If you're not fussed about the size, but you don't like the look of the Air Mini+ price tag, you should take a look at the Shark NeverChange5 Air Purifier. This has special guards around the filter, so you won't need to change the filters as often. Molekule's need replacing every 6 months, whereas the Sharks need replacing every 5 years. In the long-term, the Shark is a savvy choice. It also works well without the app and gives you visual, easy access to air quality indicators. Whilst the Shark's purifying capabilities aren't as rigorously, medically approved, it's a great entry level option.

Should you buy it?

The Molekule Air Mini+ is a seriously impressive piece of kit. The technology behind it uses free radicals – the same radicals used to destroy cancer cells – to rid your air from pollutants and nasties, so I'd breathe a very clean sigh of relief with one of these. There are some compromises: it can't cover large spaces and the fan can be quite noisy, but if you're health conscious, this is the best option for putting your mind at ease.

How we test

At woman&home, how we test air purifiers is serious business. I've been attending lectures and reading up on air quality for over twelve months in preparation for these reviews and I've consulted experts on our testing process.

I try to task air purifiers with cleaning the air on all the important fronts: that means removing compounds and gasses from the air. To test this, I cook and bake in the room that the air purifier is in, I burn toast, I light candles, and I use a dry shampoo. All of these are separate tests that I time, track, and record to let you know how effectively an air purifier works. Most of the best models will self-report results, but I sense (and smell) check these results.

I'll also make comparisons to similar models so that you don't have to do all the exhausting shopping around and I'll give you suggestions on which models suit which homes and why. If you want to find out more, you can always send me a message. I could talk until I'm blue in the face when it comes to air purifiers.