Shark's air purifier is a breath of fresh air: it's the best a beginner could buy

It's more important than ever to look after the air quality in your home. From your candles to your cooking, you probably don't even realise the impact that your lifestyle is having on the purity of the air that you breathe. Whilst most air purifiers tuck the tracking and numbers away in an app, the Shark NeverChange5 Air Purifier puts it front and centre.

Traditionally, the best air purifiers have come from niche brands that dedicate their businesses to commercial cleaning and air quality regulation, but Shark are never ones to shy away from a challenge. You've seen them revolutionise air fryers (Shark and Ninja are the same company) and vacuum cleaners. Now, you're about to see them breeze onto the air purifying scene.

The NeverChange5 is a breath of fresh air compared to other models. It looks different, works differently, and skips a lot of technical, fiddly details. If you're not yet convinced by air purifiers or always find yourself puzzling over how to use an air purifier, this could be the one that changes everything.

Specifications

Who would it suit?

The Shark NeverChange5 Air Purifier is a great place to start if you've never owned an air purifier before. Sometimes, these appliances can be very elusive with their tracking or they demand that you connect to an app, but the NeverChange5 wears its air purifying on its sleeve. Quite literally. You get a small round screen on the outside giving you live updates on your air quality. It's the lowest-faff, simplest model on the market.

There's another clever feature that keeps this firmly in the category of low maintenance. The HEPA filters have a guard (known as the DebrisDefence) around them to protect against bigger dust particles. Shark claims this means that you'll only have to change your filters every five years (as opposed to every 6 months), which, as far as I'm concerned works effectively. It hasn't been five years just yet, but from my (and other reviewers) experience, the HEPA filters do benefit from that extra protection.

Some brands dress their air purifiers up with clever lights and extra features, but Shark doesn't keep you under any false pretences. The NeverChange5's appearance is one of a functional, modern, slightly space-age appliance. It doesn't blend in as well as smaller models, but it's not offensive, especially in larger rooms.

Design and features

When I lined up all the air purifiers that I tested, the Shark NeverChange5 fell comfortably in the middle of the full spectrum. It's not as petite or stylish as the Eteria or Briiv 2 Air Filter, nor is it as commercial or bold as the EcoAir. It looks functional and modern, but the white colour and simple shape make it pretty easy to style. It won't disappear in your room, but air purifiers rarely do.

The only drawback with the design is that the black and white shows some of the dust and dirt over time. I'm sad to say that my house has a lot of this, so it was visible within a couple of days. However, it's nothing that a microfibre cloth can't fix.

You'll notice that there are two round LED screens on the Shark NeverChange5. There's one on top which lets you tap between the settings, speed, and all the technical details. Then, the screen on the side of the air purifier gives you updates on the percentage air quality that your room is at. I really like the constant update of the air quality, but some people have raised that the lights can be disruptive in the pitch black if you're trying to sleep.

Unboxing and set up

Shark are always amazing when it comes to packaging. Most brands couldn't resist packaging up their air purifier with plastic and polystyrene, but Shark kept thinks suitably sustainable. All the parts that could be paper or cardboard were, which is great for your recycling bins. You do need to take the filter out of a plastic bag, but this is easy to reach (the simple locking mechanisms on the side easily undo) and it's important for keeping your filter in perfect condition.

The only other design niggle that I picked up was a lack of handles. If you're moving this from room to room, you'll need to hug it to your body. If you try to pick it up from the panels, you'll end up pulling the sides off, which, I speak from experience, is not pleasant. Nonetheless, it's lightweight and still manageable to manoeuvre.

When you want to get going, the set-up is quick and simple. All you have to do, aside from removing the plastic bag around the filter, is plug in the air purifier. The extra step is your anti-odour cartridge that's part of Shark's Odour Neutraliser Technology - their USP. It is a ring pull can that diffuses a pleasant, fresh fragrance. 

I could smell this before I could see it: you sit the can on the top of the air purifier and then twist it open or close the valve to get different intensities. I'm pretty sensitive when it comes to fragrance, so I could smell the cartridge before I could see it (I kept it running very low), but I've seen people go full whack with it, especially in pet homes. Next up, I would love some different fragrance options from Shark. I'm not in control of anything, but a collaboration with Jo Malone's Wild Bluebell would be lovely. Just saying.

In general, I felt the cartridge was more of a room fragrance than an odour neutraliser, but that won't bother most people. It's only because I'm sensitive to home diffusers that I had to err on the subtle side over all else.

What is it like to use?

Not having an app to connect to makes life very easy. You can plug in the air purifier and then it'll be ready to get going. Shark has kept lots of the fundamentals for how air purifiers work and then tweaked them to make them a little more user-friendly. The panel on top is responsive and easy to navigate: you can change the fan speed, set an auto-mode which responds to changes in your air quality, enable a child lock, and work a shut-off timer too. These are the essentials of what you'd want in an air purifier and they're all really well executed.

You'll also spot an 'info' button which gives you updates on the status of your air purity and on the life that your dust filters have left. Shark thinks about everything and you really need that in your air purifier.

The only downside, as I mentioned earlier is that the dimness of the screen, whilst adjustable, doesn't go right down to dark. The three different intensities are great for daytime use, but still too bright for the bedroom.

I have a series of tests that I put every air purifier that we test and review through: I use it whilst cooking my meals (did you know that a roast dinner can make your air quality worse than standing on the street in Dehli? It's a combination of pollutants spanning from VOCs to particulate matter); after burning toast (something I am prone to doing regularly); whilst burning my scented candles; and spraying dry shampoo nearby.

Essentially, I try to emulate what it's like in your home with dust, pollutants, and smoke around and in the air regularly. The Shark is a great and very satisfying way to measure all of these, because the automatically adjusting Clean Sense IQ reacts to the environment and shows you the air quality changes in real time.

When I first unpacked the Shaek NeverChange5, I have to admit, I felt pretty smug. The air quality in my lounge was at 98 (the rating is out of 100). It's not really a surprise: my windows are thinner than paper and very poorly insulated, so we get a draft even with them sealed. There isn't any fresh paint or new fabrics around (common causes of air pollution) or anything that could reduce air quality. However, as soon as I carried the Shark up to where I was cooking bread, the air quality plummeted to 64. I could hear the fans whirring into action and, within ten minutes, the air purity of my 40 square-metre room was back up to 99. Shortly after, the Shark took me up to 100.

I kept testing in rooms that sit around 60 square metres, which is the limit for the Shark and found that the air purifier could always restore my air quality in under 20 minutes, often closer to the 10 or 15 minute mark. Burning toast and spraying leave in conditioner only temporily affected my air quality. It was back to 100 within ten minutes. I could still smell the toast and dry shampoo (don't forget about my sensitive nose) if I left the room and then returned, but the Shark notably reduced the smell.

Over time, I found that the Shark was best placed in my kitchen. The monitor really opened my eyes to how much cooking damages the air quality in my home: more than my dog, my beauty regime, or my sleep. It felt reassuring to have this whirring alongside my extractor fan. I did a quick noise comparison and my extractor fan was clocking 48 dB (she's aggressive) whereas the Shark came in around 32 dB, which is actually quieter than a normal conversation.

The only drawback with the Shark NeverChange5 Air Purifier is that it cannot pick up on relative humidity, carbon dioxide, or volatile organic compounds. None of these are expected from any air purifier - they're only found in more advanced models - but I'm wondering whether that's something Shark will integrate into newer iterations of the NeverChange5.

Cleaning, storage and maintenance

Generally, I'd follow expert advice on how to clean an air purifier to keep yours running smoothly and efficiently, but there are a couple of extra notes I have that are specific to the NeverChange5. 

I've already mentioned another one of the Shark NeverChange 5's USPs, which is the washable DebrisDefence filters. I gave these a clean once a month, which is more often than you need, but a good and very easy habit to get into. As a result, you end up with these reusable barriers which help to take some of the big strain off the HEPA filter further inside the air purifier.

Shark promises that the DebrisDefence could keep your HEPA filter healthy for five years, which would save you about £200. That's a real stand-out feature that's worth the extra maintenance.

As for the scented cartridges, I can't speak for the longevity. I have been purifying through the same one for three months and it hasn't wavered, so rest assured that this is generally low maintenance. Watch this space for an update when I buy replacements.

How does it compare?

It's important to shop around before you commit to an air purifier, which is exactly what I do for you (and then some). Shark sets itself apart from the competition with the longest-lasting filter (you've got the DebrisDefence guards to thank for that) and the 60 square-metre coverage, which is more than most.

I found it to be the easiest, most intuitive to use, so the best option for beginners. And I think you'd be pleasantly surprised at its speedy results, especially with cooking.

What I did take issue with was that sometimes the Shark was a little more optimistic than Molekule Air Pro, for example. When I had the two side by side, the Molekule would anticipate needing to do more work to get to the same air quality claim as the Shark. Even though the Shark is quiet on its day-to-day running, when it was at maximum speed, it was much louder than the Molekule air purifier.

So, if you're starting simple and you want a versatile, intuitive air purifier, this is perfect. However, if you're ready to invest in something a little more technologically advanced, make way for the Molekule.

Should you buy it?

In spite of my criticisms of simplicity, the Shark NeverChange5 is still one of my favourite air purifiers that I've tested. In my home, I have the Dyson Hot + Cool Formaldehyde, which is more expensive, but it doubles up as a fan for cooling and heating. However, if I were to break my Dyson, the simple Shark would certainly be where my money would go.

How we test

At woman&home, how we test air purifiers is serious business. Short of taking them into a professional laboratory, donning our white coats, and glasses, we put them through some serious studies, designed to emulate your home.

When I started doing this work, I geeked out on air purifiers. I went to lectures on them, spoke with experts, and gathered all the information that I could on air quality. Then, I decided upon some key tests that every air purifier needed to go through. These include cooking (frying and roasting affect air quality the most), making - and burning - toast, spraying dry shampoo, and burning candles at home. These are some of the most damaging stand-alone things that you can do with your air purifier, so I put them under proper scrutiny, but I also keep an eye on the air purifier in my day-to-day life. I have a dog, a busy home, and there's a lot of movement around the house generally. This makes for a pretty volatile environment for air quality, so I keep an eye on how well the air purifier can adapt to environmental changes.

I'll deep dive into special features, comparisons, maintenance, and anything else that I think you should know about the air purifier. Hopefully, by the end of my tests, you'll have a clear idea on exactly what this is like to use. However, if you still have questions, don't hesitate to ask me them.