Xiaomi Mi Air Purifier 2S review: Affordable, but still cleans your room

21/10/2018

New Delhi: I bought a Mi Air Purifier two Diwalis ago when I became really concerned about indoor air quality with a five-year-old in the house. My rented house has old iron windows and it can’t keep out anything, certainly not dust or even smaller pollutants. But I was not sure I should buy an air purifier, most of which cost over Rs 25,000 at that time. That’s when I went for the Mi Air Purifier which as the most affordable option. I have not regretted it one bit and the air purifier has been whirring away, almost non-stop, for two smog seasons. So when Xiaomi announced a new version, I was keen to test it out.
Xiaomi Mi Air Purifier 2S review: The Xiaomi Mi Air Purifier 2S is almost similar in looks to the earlier version that I have. There are some improvements though. There is an OLED screen on the front that shows the temperature and humidity, PM 2.5 levels in the room and the mode the purifier is set on. Also, there is a sensor on the top now that seems to be on the lookout for particles in the air so as to adjust the filtration levels. Plus, the power cable now is detachable, not that it should bother you in any way.
The Xiaomi Mi Air Purifier 2S is silent, even when it is working over time to clean the room. The real test for the air purifier came on Dussehra day. Around dusk the PM2.5 levels were around 40, which is good, but certainly not great. But after scores of Ravanas had been send to their smoky ends across Delhi, the numbers shot up to around 172 indoors. Outside, the numbers were over 260, scary when Diwali is still a fortnight away. In ten minutes of running in Auto, the Xiaomi Mi Air Purifier 2S was able to bring the numbers down to a more breathable 82 in about 10 minutes. Much later in the night the levels had fallen to about 45. But that did take some effort from the Air Purifier.
The readings in the OLED display, which looks very neat and functional, seem accurate as I could see the numbers go up and down every time I opened the bedroom door or closed it. However, the numbers appeared to fluctuate a bit at times when there were no external factors. There were times when it would drop for a second from a 120 to a 20. This could be because the laser is not able to spot any particles for a second or two and hence thinks the air is clean. So many the next version might need to look at more such sensors looking out from different sides.
Inside, the purifier has a three-layer cylindrical filtration system similar to its predecessor. The company claims it can purify a room in 10 minutes at a Clean Air Delivery Rate (CADR) of 310m³/hr, but I’m not sure I would be applicable to Delhi. Again, my rider for these is that you just have to take the company’s word for any numbers to do with air purification.
The Xiaomi Mi Air Purifier 2S connect seamlessly with your phone and can be easily controlled via the Mi app from anywhere in the world. Even with the older version I have used the app to keep a tab of pollution levels at home when I am travelling. So this is something Xiaomi does really well.
Available now at an offer price of Rs 8,999, the Xiaomi Mi Air Purifier 2S is a good buy for regular households. This might be inadequate for lager rooms, but then you could look at buying multiple units for different corners as this would still work out cheaper than some other models. Buy it for peace of mind in the impending smog season, after all air purifiers are more placebo that remedy in the times we live in.

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