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If you find yourself staying in hotels often or have rooms in your home that always seems to have stale air and odor, you may want to add a portable air purifier to your wishlist. This portable air purifier is new on Amazon and priced at $69, and Galanz recently sent me the air purifier to test for myself.
The gadget measures 10 inches tall and weighs 2 pounds, making it easy to lug around on vacation, to the office or simply from room to room. The purifier has three adjustable speeds and can refresh a 175.2-square-foot space one time per hour or a 36.5-square-foot space five times an hour. It captures large air particles and up to 99.99% of fine airborne particles, germs, dust, pollen, pet dander, mold spores and other allergens, according to the brand.
It also claims to eliminate odors left behind from cooking, smoking and pets. An added bonus of this portable air purifier is it has an essential oil diffuser built in, which aims to help make rooms even more pleasant.
When Galanz sent me the personal air purifier to review, I put it in my office with the windows and doors closed. The first thing I noticed is that none of the speed settings were very loud. The lowest speed is like subtle white noise, but I’d wager that you could even sleep through the highest setting, depending on how soundly you rest. You probably won’t want to try watching TV with it running on high, however.
I continued working in my office with the purifier on the low setting for about an hour, then I left, shut the door again and came back two hours later. When I returned, the room felt fresher, almost like I had the windows open and it had aired out a bit. I didn’t notice any smells in the room beforehand, so I can’t say that it pulled odor out, but it had that fresh-air feeling.
To really get a handle on how well the Galanz air purifier tackles odors in the air, I lit a strong candle in the same room and let it run as the candle burned. I can usually easily smell this particular candle the entire time it’s lit, but after about 30 minutes of having it near the purifier, I could no longer smell it unless I was up very close. I then blew out the flame and watched as the smoke went directly into the purifier instead of simply dissipating into the air. This proved to me that the portable purifier could indeed suck up smoke and odor, even on the lowest setting.
I then tested out the essential oil diffuser function and found it to make almost no difference. I added quite a few drops of essential oil and hardly smelled the scent at first, but after just a few minutes, I couldn’t smell it at all. I have another diffuser in the same room, so I turned that on and, with the purifier off, the smell lingered for more than hour.
That left me wondering if the purifier is actually removing the smell created by its own essential oil diffuser from the air, making that function basically useless. It’s perhaps another sign that the purifier’s ability to remove smells from a room — even good ones — works as advertised. But if you’re looking to purchase the this personal air purifier because of the built-in essential oil diffuser, I wouldn’t recommend it on that basis.
Instead, I would purchase a dedicated diffuser like the top-rated and affordable InnoGear Essential Oil Diffuser for $16 — but I wouldn’t put it in the same room as the air purifier, or you will likely run into the same issue, as the two devices work against each other.
One thing to keep in mind is that you will have to replace the air purifier’s H13 HEPA filter after about 50 days, depending on how much you use it. Galanz says the filter used needs to be from its brand, but I haven’t been able to find any for sale online and was unable to get a reply from the company about how to find extra filters. So this could definitely be a problem if other H13 HEPA filters don’t work.
Overall, I love the white noise effect the air purifier offers and the fact that it’s so lightweight and has a handle makes it easy to move from room to room. While it works for any small room, I think the most benefit would come from taking it with you to work if you have a private office, or when traveling, as hotel rooms can sometimes have lingering odors and stale air.
If you have a specific room that needs a refresh, especially one where you can’t easily open the windows, it’s well worth the $69 price tag.
If you need an air purifier for a larger area, Galanz’s Pro Large Air Purifier is highly rated at Amazon and covers 875 square feet. It’s priced at $217. If you’re looking for another single-room option, consider this Levoit Air Purifier that has more than 17,000 five-star reviews and is priced at $120.
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