Sometimes, the things we can’t see are the most harmful to our health. Airborne particles in our homes are something we often disregard, but that should not be the case. The longer you leave your windows cracked and your doors open, the more airborne pollutants will enter your home, and before you know it, your home infested with billions upon billions of lung and sinus irritants that are easily suctioned away by a simple air purifier.
In this article, we’re going to take a look at three models from three different manufacturers – the Alen BreatheSmart, the rabbitAir Minus A2, and the Molekule. This article is to help you determine which of the three would be the best fit for your home. Let’s jump right into our comparison.
Total Area Coverage
Alen
The first thing you need to determine is how big an air purifier you need. Not every air purifier is built to move air efficiently in large rooms. The Alen is built for 1,100-square-foot rooms – more than enough for bedrooms, kitchens, and workshop garages. If you need to clean the air in your apartment, a single Alen BreatheEasy should do the trick.
RabbitAir
The RabbitAir can filter the air of rooms as large as 700 square feet. Place this sleek and sexy air purifier next to your TV to clean and make living rooms more livable or on hallway walls to trap airborne particles in high-traffic areas. It isn’t a multi-room air purifier, you may need several MinusA2s to clean the indoor air in your entire home.
Molekule
If the RabbitAir can not be used for multiple rooms, then the Molekul has no hope of doing so. The Molekule has the tinniest rating of the bunch at only 600 square feet. However, that’s the perfect size for master bedrooms, living rooms, kitchens, and home offices without overkill. That’s a definite plus in our books.
Conclusion: If you need a beast of a unit, then the Alen BreatheSmart is your best bet. With its 1,100-square-foot capacity, there’s probably no space in your home that won’t benefit from the excellent reach of the Alen. The RabbitAir and Molekule provide roughly half as much cleaning capacity as the Alen, but that doesn’t make them second-rate air purifiers. Once again, your purchase decision relies heavily on how wide of an area you need cleaning.
Filtration Stages
Alen
The Alen uses a 2-stage filtration system. The first line of defense is an activated carbon pre-filter that snatches larger particles and odor molecules from the suctioned air. It then passes through a True HEPA Filter (customizable for different purposes) have a 99.97% effectiveness rating for particles as small as 0.3 microns size. The final stage is an optional ionizer that gives a static charge to pollutants, so they adhere better to the filters.
RabbitAir
The RabbitAir uses an astounding six-stage filtration system. The suctioned air passes through a permanent and washable pre-filter that traps visible particles. A medium-sized filter is used to trap particles as large as 1 micron in size. Then comes the HEPA Filter with its 99.97% effectiveness rating. The fourth level is a customizable carbon filter for odor, pet allergies, toxins, or viruses. The fifth stage is a charcoal-based carbon filter that effectively eliminates odors. The optional ionizer wraps up the six-stage process.
Molekule
The Molekule is on a whole other level in terms of air filtration, and not exactly in a good way. It is the simplest air purifier of the three with its dual-stage filtration. The first stage is a pre-filter to trap the largest particles that make their way into the Molekule’s suction inlet. The final stage is a PECO filter that captures and retains VOCs, bacteria, and other molecular irritants. No, it does not have the same effectiveness as HEPAs.
Conclusion: The Alen and RabbitAir produce similar results in terms of air cleanliness. The Molekule, due to its simple dual-stage filtration, has a lot of room for improvement. It may not be the best option in your child’s bedroom since there are many tiny air purifiers with HEPA-style filters.
Auto-Cleaning Mode
Alen and RabbitAir
An extra-convenient feature in most modern air purifiers is high technology sensors. These automatically detect the quality of the surrounding air and kick the air purifier into high gear when it senses abnormally high levels of air pollutants. Both of these air purifiers come with high technology sensors and auto-cleaning modes. You won’t need to babysit these purifiers.
Molekule
Unlike the other two models, the Molekule doesn’t have high technology sensors. Thus auto-cleaning mode is impossible. So not only does this unit have a limited air-cleaning range and worse purifying abilities, but it also lacks a must-have feature for those of you who don’t have the time to monitor their purification all day long.
Conclusion: Auto-cleaning mode takes load off owning and operating an air purifier. The Alen and RabbitAir, as larger models, need this feature to switch between fan speeds for optimal and efficient cleaning. The Molekule lacks the feature, but since it’ll probably stand next to you all day long, you can live without it.
Built-in Timer Function
Alen
A built-in timer function makes air purifiers a lot more enjoyable to use. You won’t have to worry about the device running for hours on end and wasting electricity. You wouldn’t have to worry about that, thanks to the auto-cleaning mode, but with the timer (which can be set to 2, 4, and 8 hours), you can set it and forget it.
RabbitAir
The RabbitAir doesn’t have a timer function which is quite sad, but at least you get a handy remote control. From a distance, you can tell the RabbitAir to turn on or off, switch between fan speeds, and set up auto-cleaning mode without leaving the comfort of your couch. Pretty neat.
Molekule
The Molekule, as the tiniest air purifier of the three, lacks both a timer function and remote control. Since this device will be at your side all day anyway, you probably won’t miss not having these two features. They’d be nice to have, but we get why the Molekule doesn’t come with either one.
Conclusion: The Alen, the beefiest air purifier, would have no excuse for not having a built-in timer. We can give a pass to the Molekule, and the RabbitAir’s lack of this feature compensates with its remote control.
Design
Alen
Although aesthetics usually doesn’t mean much, for air purifiers, the design plays a tremendous role in the optimal placement of the device. The Alen takes the shape of a traditional boxy air purifier. The inlet is located on the front-facing panel and the newly filtered air shoots out of the top of the unit. This device is best placed away from walls and corners.
RabbitAir
The RabbitAir has a sleek design and a wall mount if you’d like to keep it off the floor. It looks more like a flat-panel TV than an air purifier. However, its design does have some noticeable weaknesses, such as its limited ideal placement on or near walls. The outlet is located on top of the unit and is smaller than we hoped.
Molekule
The Molekule’s cylindrical design is, surprisingly, extremely effective. The inlet is placed near the unit-based, and filtered air should be out of the top in every direction. The drawback of this style is that floating particles above the unit may get pushed away by filtered air and away from the base. This style allows you to place the unit anywhere you’d like, as long as there aren’t any obstructions directly in front of the 360° inlet.
Conclusion: We like the cylindrical style of the Molekule, but once again, it’s lackluster performance compared to the other two is what’s keeping it back. The RabbitAir is pretty cool if you’re into flat appliances, and it’ll find fit right into any modern home. The Alen sticks to the classics but works extremely well.
Single Reviews
Alen BreatheSmart FLEX
Alen BreatheSmart 45i HEPA Air Purifier
Alen BreatheSmart 75i
Alen BreatheSmart FIT50
Alen BreatheSmart Classic
Comparison Articles
Alen vs. RabbitAir vs. Molekule
Alen vs. RabbitAir vs. Molekule – Which is the Best Air Purifier?
So after taking a close look at the three models, deciding which is best is quite hard. We can certainly say that one of the three products, the Molekule ranks third. It’s not a second-rate air purifier, but it’s just not as convenient or as useful as the other two.
When putting the Alen and RabbitAir next to each other, we favor the former a bit more than the latter. However, once again, the “right” air purifier depends entirely on how large of a house/apartment/room you need to clean, as well as how polluted the air is.
If you need something to snatch tremendous amounts of airborne pollutants, the Alen would be your best bet. However, if odors are greater problem than dust, pollen, and dander, then the RabbitAir’s and its six-stage filtration is much more reliable.
Breathe easy, folks!
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Last update on 2023-06-04 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
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