The demand for air quality monitors has risen over the last few years. But it is still surprising the number of people that do not seem to care about the quality of the air in their homes. It is always advisable to check the air quality of your home because if the air quality is poor in some way, this can result in health problems for the people, and any pets, that live there.
Not taking air quality seriously is a big mistake. If the air in your home is of poor quality, then this can cause a number of health issues including:
- Fatigue
- Headaches
- Dizziness
These are all short-term problems and if you and your family are exposed to poor quality air in your home for a while then this can result in more serious diseases such as:
- Cancer
- Respiratory diseases
- Heart disease
The best air quality monitor is able to detect a number of different pollutants that could be in your home right now. We recommend that you invest in an air quality detector that has multiple sensors built in to it. These sensors work by drawing samples of the air in your home into them and they are able to check for the following:
- Radon gas
- Carbon dioxide
- Carbon monoxide
- Other types of harmful gases
As for the types of indoor air quality monitors available, you will usually find that they come in four different varieties:
- Floor or tabletop
- Ceiling or wall mounted
- Portable models that you can easily transport from one room to another
- Air pollution monitor that has an associated mobile phone app
So, when you are looking for an air quality tester you need to consider the kind of information that you want. There are air monitor devices that will provide you with basic information about the quality of the air in your home. You can also purchase a more sophisticated air quality meter that will provide you with more comprehensive information.
In this guide we will provide you with what we consider to be the best indoor air quality monitor choices. We have tested all of the home air quality monitors that appear in our list below and provided you with why we recommend them. It is our aim to provide you with all of the details that you need to make the right purchase decision.
Best Home Air Quality Monitor 2021
In order to create our list of the best air quality monitors for 2021, we looked at several devices that are available and compared them based on their price, the type of sensors that they had, the ease of use and other things such as portability and practicality.
1. Yvelines Air Quality Monitor
We chose this device as our top choice because in our opinion it provides the best performance at the most reasonable cost. This device uses electrochemical DART sensors to provide a number of different readings about the quality of the air in your home.
It has a cool wedge design and is a fairly small device with dimensions of 5 inches by 3 inches by 2 inches. You can easily place this pm 2.5 sensor in any room and it is battery powered which is very convenient. The lithium battery is rechargeable and will last between 8 and 12 hours on a full charge.
The Yvelines device does not consume a lot of power and this is ideal for conserving battery life. We found the readings from the sensors to be accurate and the big LCD screen was very clear. It was easy to read the real-time numbers and the device also includes light indicators which show the overall quality of the air.
You will find it pretty easy to use this device. On the side there are function buttons which control the different modes and there is a power and calibration button too. This is a self-calibrating device so there is no complex setting up process.
There are 4 different sensors with this indoor air quality tester which are:
- TVOC (Total Volatile Organic Compounds)
- PM 2.5 and PM10 monitoring
- CO2
- Formaldehyde
Unfortunately, this device does not monitor temperature and humidity, but this is not really a big issue as you are still getting a lot of air quality sensor capability for the money. If the Yvelines device detects any air quality issues then it will provide you with guidance on how to fix the problem.
Check the price on Amazon
2. Huma-I Portable (HI-150)
If you are looking for a portable air quality monitor then the HI-150 from Huma-I is a very good choice. This is a portable device that packs a lot of power. The dimensions are just 3.6 inches by 1.6 inches by 1.5 inches and it only weighs a little over 2 ounces.
You have the choice of viewing the quality of the air in your home in icon form or in graphical form. If you select the icon form then you get a smiley face on the front of the device when your air quality is OK and if there is a problem then you will see a face with a mask.
When you choose the graphical mode to display the air quality information then you will see a lot more detail. You will be able to see the accurate numbers for all of the measurements that the device takes.
There is a fan built in to this device and by pressing a button you can monitor the air quality at a glance. The fan pulls in the surrounding air in the most efficient way and the sensors provide results in real-time. This device has advanced sensors that will provide you with all of the information that you need about the quality of the air in your home.
You get these sensors with the HI-150:
- VOC
- 5 and PM10
- CO2
- Humidity and Temperature
The OLED display on this device is high-quality and everything was clear and sharp. You can take the HI-150 with you anywhere you go as it is very small and lightweight. All of the features of this device do consume a fair bit of power and battery life can be limited.
Check the price on Amazon
3. Stellate Air Quality Detector Indoor
The Stellate is another fine air quality monitoring device that is compact and lightweight. It is another wedge design device with dimensions of around 4 inches by 3 inches by 3 inches. This sensor only weighs around 7 ounces as well.
You can use this as a portable air quality monitoring system or you can situate it on a table in a single room. There is a lithium rechargeable battery which you can recharge using a USB cable. In our tests, we got around 2 hours’ worth of battery life using all of the features.
As you would expect, the Stellate has a fan built in and a number of different sensors that will detect and measure gas and particle levels in the air. It also has a clock which is useful. We really liked the big LCD screen which displays information in different colors. Everything was very clear.
There is a reading for the AQI (air quality index) which is an indicator of the current levels of pollution in a room. The sensors with the Stellate will check for the following:
- TVOC
- 5
- Temperature
- Formaldehyde
- Humidity
We found it very easy to operate the Stellate and setting up was a breeze with the auto calibration. Everything was crystal clear on the large LCD screen and if you want to change the battery out for something of better quality then you can easily do this.
Check the price on Amazon
4. Awair Element AQM8002A
The Awair AQM8002A looks like a speaker box but looks can be deceiving. It is another lightweight air monitor device that measures around 6 inches by 3.3 inches by 1.8 inches. This device has both Bluetooth and Wi-Fi enabled.
Power for the device is supplied by a power adapter and you can also use a USB cable which is included. As a result of this, we do not consider this to be a portable device. At the front of the box, you will see an LED matrix which displays bars and numbers providing an indication of the surrounding air quality.
At a glance you can check the air quality with the LED which is at the top right of the box. When this is illuminated in green your air quality is OK. If you see the LED illuminated red then this means that there is a problem with the air quality.
You can connect your Awai r box to a smart assistant such as the Amazon Alexa or the Google Assistant. There is an app that will provide air quality information from the 5 different sensors that the device has. The sensors in this unit will report on the following:
- VOC
- CO2
- Humidity
- Temperature
- 5 and PM10
We liked the fact that you can receive alerts on your phone with this device and that you can make adjustments to the display so that you can see individual readings. It is also possible to track the quality of the air in your home over time.
Check the price on Amazon
5. uHoo Air Quality Tester for Home
We believe that the uHoo is one of the most comprehensive air quality testers available today. The quality of the air in your home is so important to you and your family and this device will provide you with the most comprehensive analysis about the quality of the air.
This is actually a 9 in 1 air quality measuring device that is also smart. Yes, you get 9 different sensors with the uHoo. The device is not portable as it requires a power adapter of 5V DC and the use of the USB port (micro).
The smart functionality of this device means that you can use it with other smart devices such as Nest, Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa. It is larger than some of the other air quality monitors that we tested and just a bit larger than a coffee mug.
There is a uHoo app available for your phone or tablet which enables the device to send consistent air quality information to your mobile. You will see each of the 9 sensors available in the app and the readings from these are updated in real-time and stored. This is what the 9 sensors do with the uHoo device:
- VOC
- 5
- Temperature
- CO2
- Carbon monoxide
- Humidity
- Ozone
- Nitrogen dioxide
- Air pressure
There are thresholds within the app and you can receive alerts if any of these are exceeded. All of the sensor statistics are color coded which makes everything really clear. The initial setup and connection are easy and it is a very comprehensive device for the monitoring of the air quality in your home.
Check the price on Amazon
6. 2930 Wave Plus Airthings
If you like the idea of using your smart phone to monitor the quality of the air in your home then you should definitely take a look at the 2930 Wave Plus from Airthings. This device has won awards and includes 6 high-quality sensors that accurately detect the quality of the air.
This device needs 2 AA batteries to power it and you can easily mount the 2390 on the wall of your living room for example. It is Bluetooth enabled and you use this to connect with your phone. Setting up this device is really easy and you can connect it to Google Assistant or Amazon Alexa.
A great feature is the ability for you to use your voice to control things. All you need to do to see the current air quality in the room is to wave in front of the device and a colored ring will appear letting you know how good or bad things are.
The sensors in this Airthings device take fresh readings every 5 minutes with the exception of the radon sensor which refreshes every 60 minutes. You can store all of the information about your air quality online if you want to. This is what the sensors detect and measure:
- Radon
- CO2
- TVOC
- Air pressure
- Humidity
- Temperature
All of the measurements that the device takes are stored for up to 80 days. If you want to store the information for a longer period then you can do this for 12 months online. This is a high performing air quality monitoring device and the fact that it has a radon sensor is a big plus point.
Check the price on Amazon
7. AirVisual Pro from IQAir
The IQAir AirVisual Pro will measure indoor air quality as well as outdoor air quality. This is a professional device that utilizes cutting-edge laser technology and the sensors are industrial-grade which means that they provide the most accurate data.
It is a fairly compact unit with dimensions of approximately 7.2 inches by 4 inches by 3.2 inches and weighs in at only 1.5 pounds. There is a lithium-ion rechargeable battery with the device or you can plug it into a mains outlet using the USB port for monitoring on a continual basis.
There is a 5 inch LED display with this device which is very easy to read. If you are looking for an air quality monitor that connects seamlessly with smart home devices then this is an excellent choice. It is Wi-Fi enabled and you connect to the other devices that you want with this.
Just download and install the AirVisual app on your phone or tablet and you can set it up to provide you with alerts if there is any exceeding of thresholds. There are top-quality sensors with this professional device which measure the following:
- AQI
- CO2
- Humidity
- 5
- Temperature
If you use the battery for consistent monitoring then it will last for around 3 hours and 30 minutes on a full charge. You have the option to add your town so that you can see the quality of the air outdoors as well as indoors. Set up the alerts in line with your lifestyle preferences. This is professional air monitoring at its best.
Final Words
Measuring air pollution in your home is something that you should definitely do. Nowadays, there are some excellent air sensors that will enable you to do this easily and provide you with the feedback that you need. In this guide we have provided you with the 7 best air quality monitors that you can buy.
Which of these air quality monitoring devices is right for you? Well, the answer to this depends on the amount of information that you want, the accuracy of that information and the amount of money that you are prepared to spend.
If you just want to check the basics and have a fairly limited budget then the Yvelines is a very good option. For those that have a larger budget and require more performance, you cannot go wrong with the HI-150 from Huma-I. The best quality air monitor devices are the uHoo and the iQAir.