The VOCOlinc PureFlow Smart Air Purifier is a fairly large home appliance that is designed to remove up to 99.97% of dust, pollen, and particles. It runs quietly at just 30dB while using True HEPA filtration technology to do its work behind the scenes. The hive pattern of the activated carbon filter is designed to capture particles as small as 0.3 microns in size. Get details in VOCOlinc Smart WiFi HEPA Air Purifier review.
Pros & Cons – VOCOlinc Smart WiFi HEPA Air Purifier
Pros
- Sleek design
- Large OLED display
- Visual status of air quality
- HomeKit support for fan, auto mode, air quality, temperature, and humidity
- Long filter life
- Carbon filters out smells and odors
- Removed particles down to .3 microns
- Lights are adjustable
Cons
- No support in HomeKit for night mode
- Home app can’t adjust the screen or status bar brightness
- Filter replacement cost can add up over time
Specs – VOCOlinc Smart WiFi HEPA Air Purifier
- Voice / phone control with Alexa, Siri or Google Assistant
- Full accessibility from anywhere
- Large LED screen for fast access to air quality, temperature and humidity levels
- Touch sensitive controls for easy operation
- LED Air Quality indicator bar changes color depending on the cleanliness of your indoor air
- Cleans the air more efficiently, with the use of true 3-stage HEPA filters (Class 12)
- Can be used as part of a custom scene or automation including scheduled on/off times or days of the week
Pricing and availability
The VOCOlinc Air Purifier is available today for pre-order from the company’s website with and introductory price of 439 EURO and then after that it will be 459 EURO. The VAP1 will start shipping 7th July to most EU countries, but this could change with the Covid-19 situation.
Compare VOCOlinc Smart WiFi HEPA Air Purifier vs VS1 Smart Contact Sensor
PureFlow Smart Air Purifier | PureFlow Replacement Filters (Pair) | L3 SmartGlow Color Bulb | VS1 Smart Contact Sensor | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Wireless connection | Wi-Fi 2.4gHz 802.11 b/g/n | n/a | Wi-Fi 2.4gHz 802.11 b/g/n | Bluetooth LE 5.0 |
Special Features | Dual filter, with large 5.1″ screen for quick reference | n/a | 850lm, 16 million colors | No WiFi needed, connects to your Home Hub for remote access |
Compatible with Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant and Apple HomeKit? | ✓ | n/a | ✓ | HomeKit compatible only |
Requirements | iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch with iOS 13 or later; Wi-Fi network (2.4 GHz 802.11b/g/n) | n/a | iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch with iOS 13 or later; Wi-Fi network (2.4 GHz 802.11b/g/n) | HomeHub (Apple TV 4+, HomPod, iPad running iOS13+) for remote access |
VOCOlinc Smart WiFi HEPA Air Purifier review
Build
The VOCOlinc PureFlow sports a clean, slim, mostly-white plastic design, with a large 5.1-inch LCD and a color status light indicating air quality situated on the front. Even though it’s comprised mostly of plastic for the frame, the purifier has some serious heft, coming in at around 20lbs.
Design
The purifier is similar to other mid-size purifiers on the market, with measurements of 22.24-inches tall by 11.42-inches for width and depth. The top of the purifier is flat, with a large circular air outlet comprising most of the surface. The top portion also includes a series of eight touch-sensitive buttons for toggling various features like fan speed and timer, along with a separate power button.
Filters
It comes with a dual-filter, three-stage design. There are filters on either side of the PureFlow that are housed behind removable magnetically-held doors that easily pull free when it is time to replace the filters contained within. When the doors are opened, the air purifier automatically turns off.
Activated carbon in the VOCOlinc PureFlow air purifier filter
Each of these filters has three stages. The first, a pre-filter to stop larger debris, followed by a HEPA filter, then a layer of activated carbon. The HEPA filter takes out all of the smallest particulates and the carbon helps remove odors and scents.
CADR
It distributes air at 500m3/h CADR (Clear Air Delivery Rate), which means it can clean an area that’s up to 645 square feet in size in just 30 minutes, making it ideal for large rooms like basements, living rooms, and bedrooms.
Sensor
VOCOlinc’s air purifier houses several smart sensors, a pm2.5 sensor for air quality, one for temperature, and finally, one for humidity. The LCD puts real-time measurements front and center, with large easy to read fonts, and through an adaptive brightness setting, it automatically adjusts throughout the day to ensure that you can always see the display. Alongside the key metrics, the display shows current fan speeds and feature status indicators, like one for a child lock that prevents accidental changes.
Control
The PureFlow includes four total speed settings and an auto mode that allows it to ramp up and down according to air quality measurements automatically. VOCOlinc lists the operating noise levels as being between 30 to 55 decibels, with the lowest level being achieved through enabling a dedicated night mode. In addition to a lower speed, the night mode turns off the LCD, and all indicator lights, which is a nice touch when used in bedrooms.
Smart Home compatibility
The VOCOlinc Air purifier connects via Wi-FI 2.4GHz to your home network. You can also monitor the air quality in your room and control all aspects via LinkWise app. In addition, the Air purifier works with Apple HomeKit, Amazon Alexa, and Google home.
Speaking of HomeKit support, you can control the VAP1 within the Home App and via Siri controls. You can use scenes and automations to automatically turn on the VOCOlinc Air Purifier based on triggers. In addition, the VAP1 features Built-in humidity and temperature sensors. However, its not know if it will expose these to HomeKit.
App
You can download the VOCOlinc App and add the device there (manage Wi-Fi settings there as well). Then go to User (bottom, right menu) and you’ll see a section for 3rd Party Connection where you can link with Alexa and Google Assistant. Click into the desired one and follow the instructions.
The app is fairly user-friendly, allowing you to turn the unit on or off remotely, set schedules, adjust the mode, activate the child lock, and increase or decrease the fan speed. Note, however, that if you just tap on the unit icon, it will turn the purifier off. If you want to select to open up the data and settings, you need to press and hold. It took me a few tries to figure this out.
The unit does require some maintenance, including cleaning the air outlet at the top with a soft brush, using a dry cloth to clean the inside of the filter cover should it get stains or dirty build-up, and cleaning the particle sensor module on the side with a dry cloth or soft brush when needed. Of course, the filter needs to be replaced when it reaches the end of its life.
How to connect VOCOlinc Smart WiFi HEPA Air Purifier?
After taking it out of the box and connecting the power cord, you need to remove the composite filters, take off the protective film, and put them back inside. Keep in mind that there are two—one on either side of the unit.
Plug in the unit, listen for the tones, press power, and voila! You’re in business.
The top panel looks like it shows menu options that you press the screen or a remote to activate. But at closer inspection, they are actually touch-sensitive buttons themselves. Use these to do things like connect the unit to your home’s Wi-Fi, swap between Celsius and Fahrenheit, adjust the fan speed, turn on sleep mode (for the fan to remain in silent mode), or select auto mode (so the fan speed will adjust automatically based on air quality readings). The Power button is oddly flat, and sometimes I have to shift my finger every which way in order to get it to register.
VOCOlinc Smart WiFi HEPA Air Purifier performance review
If you don’t want to have to keep referring to the manual, you can also note the colour of the status bar at the bottom of the screen, which ranges from green to lime green, yellow, orange, and red. Keep the unit on auto mode and it will run the fan according to the rating: it will be on a Silent 1 when the air quality is excellent, and it will go all the way up to Turbo 5 if it’s poor to try and clear the air of formaldehyde, pollen, allergens, benzene and VOCs, smoke, odours, dust, mold, bacteria, and pet dander.
The first thing you’ll notice about the information display on the unit is that the details are slightly confusing unless you know something about how to measure air purification. The first and largest bit of information is presented in the form of a three-digit PM2.5 value. What’s that? In simple terms, this tells you how clean the air in the room is: 000-035 means it’s excellent, 036-075 is good, 076-115 is fair, 116-200 is inferior, and 201-999 is poor.
When sleep mode is on, the screen will dim after 10 seconds so as not to disturb you with the bright green light if you have placed this in your bedroom or a nursery. After a week in my living room, it was clear the air quality was fine as the unit remained a bright green colour and the PM2.5 ranged from 001 to 004 with 50-60% humidity. I then decided to take it down to the basement to see how things might go there, and numbers were fairly similar – good news! One feature that would have been great: the ability to see a history of readings to determine if numbers had gone up or down significantly at any time. But there doesn’t seem to be any way to view historical data.
Below the PM2.5 value is the humidity value, noted as a percentage; followed by the current temperature; and a line of icons to let you know the status of the machine, such as that it is connected to Wi-Fi, it’s in auto mode, or the timer (0-24 hours) or child lock is on. You’ll also note icons indicating the filter life, so you have a head’s up when it will be time to change it.
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