acerpure cool review: a worthy contender to the Dyson crown?

Dyson is the first name that springs to mind when looking for an air purifier, but at £400 or more, they’re pricey. Acer – yes, the same company best known for laptops – has its acerpure range of products (with a trendy, fully lower-case name to boot). The top of its range is the acerpure cool 2-in-1 Air Circulator and Purifier AC551-50W, retailing at around £330. It can currently be found at Currys and Robert Dyas and, hopefully soon, Amazon, AO and Very.

acerpure cool: unboxing

The acerpure comes in a simple, branded brown box. Inside, the purifier is held in place by a number of moulded cardboard sections. So recycling of packaging is easy and efficient.

Other than the device itself, you’ll find a remote control (plus button cell battery), instructions book, a filter and a power cable. Other than basic plastic packaging on these, plus a couple of circles of plastic added to the purifier to protect things such as the screen, there’s not much to grumble about.

Few companies achieve the plastic-free packaging that Apple does, but this is much better than what most companies achieve and should be applauded.

acerpure cool: first impressions

The acerpure is a white, plastic cylinder with what looks like a standard fan sitting on top. It’s not ugly, but it’s not exactly a fashion statement either.

The HEPA filter is added around the back, where there’s also a dust and gas sensor. Underneath all of that is a simple figure-of-eight power connector.

Air is sucked in from the front, then filtered and blown out of the top. The fan above can then be used to blow the cleaned air into the room, rather than simply blowing it upwards.

There are touch controls on the top along with a circular LCD display on the front. The six controls are, from the left, for power, purifier speed, circulator (fan) speed, timer, up/down swing mode (the fan moves up and down) and left/right swing mode (the whole device rotates). The timer button also allows a night mode, where it will operate more quietly.

The included remote control has the same buttons along with a couple more for changing the air quality display and night mode (the latter of which isn’t documented). The remote control magnetically stores on the back of the device.

acerpure cool: PM1.0 vs PM2.5 vs gas

The acerpure measures gas (aka odours) as well as PM1.0 and PM2.5. PM stands for particulate matter and is, basically, the size of the particles trapped by the filter. The number after is the size of the particles, in microns. So 2.5 micron particles are 2.5 times bigger than 1.0 micron particles. The smaller size will include things such as bacteria, and the latter will likely be dust.

The acerpure will trap both of these types, but will report on whichever one you wish. The display on the front will show either, but not both. The gas level is shown separately. Both particles and gas are shown in colour coded form, but you’ll also see a numeric value for particulates.

acerpure cool: the app

The accompanying app, available for both Android and iOS, allows you to control the air purifier, as well as view information being reported by it. You’ll first need to pair the app with the acerpure via Wi-Fi (note that the acerpure only works with the 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi band).

Along the bottom of the home screen are five icons – the centre icon lets you control the power of the device; the others, from left to right, are:

1. Favourites. Let’s you create lists of your favourite settings.
2. Remote control. Shows all of the controls, like a virtual remote control.
3. Schedule. Set up schedules start and end times for the acerpure.
4. Settings

The home screen is pretty sparse, just showing the above options as well as the gas and PM figures. It only shows the PM2.5 number, but if you click the details it will take you to a detailed graph where you can switch between that and PM1.0.

Also on the front screen it shows an outdoor PM figure, but this remained at 0 during my tests. I have no idea where this figure is coming from – the app comes with no instructions and there’s nothing in the acerpure cool manual either. However, the company’s website showed this displaying the figure for the owner’s city, along with the current temperature. At my home screen only shows my location, I’m guessing this may be a feature that’s not currently supported.

The lack of assistance navigating the app and understanding what it’s showing is a big downside.

acerpure cool review: verdict

I love the ability to schedule the device via the app, as well as create my own favourite settings. The magnetic holder for the remote control is a neat touch, and the screen on the front is useful and clear.

The acerpure does a great job of filtering the air. I tried it in the kitchen after a heavy cooking session and it helped clear odours quickly. When combined with the fan, it makes a great room circulator. However, that word – circulator – is important here. It does nothing to cool the air but, as with most fans, it does feel like it.

The fan itself is large and efficient. I know I’ve said it’s not particularly attractive, but I find it better than the Dyson equivalent. The Dyson looks more stylish but the fan only rotates from side to side. By ditching style for substance, and in this case a tried and trusted traditional fan style, it has more capabilities.

Replacement HEPA filters aren’t yet available, so the price of those are currently an unknown, but should be available from wherever you buy the acerpure. If you’re not bothered by the fan, you can save money by buying the cheaper model without it.