Purifiers are not new to the scene, in fact, Dyson has a whole battalion of well-made purifiers that are perfect for small spaces, such as the Dyson Cool Formaldehyde and the Dyson Pure Cool. With a lot of purifiers on the market, they are either squarish or tower-like, and developed to purify the air in a singular room layout. But what happens if your home is designed to be open-concept and instead of rooms, the home’s layout is more of like a large, fluid space?
This was an issue I encountered, having hacked away most of the walls in my HDB apartment to create a bachelor pad with one large living area and a bedroom within a conventional 4-room HDB layout. As most purifiers on the market are developed to purify the air within a radius of 1-5 metres around it, that’s not quite strong enough for an open-concept living/dining area for example. With that in mind, Dyson’s latest purifier aims to help clean large spaces, it can also achieve the result while being one of the quietest purifiers around.
Okay, so the above is a quick explainer infographic from Dyson on what makes the Big+Quiet Formaldehyde so powerful. Here’s the TL:DR summary: Not only does it offer the usual HEPA H13 grade filteration capabilities and digital panel to show you the amount of particulates, gases and formaldehyde that’s being filtered from the air, it also comes with new acoustic engineering broadband silencer to keep the sound volume down. The most outstanding feature has to be the large format body – at 37cm x 83 cm, this mega purifier not only projects air across 10 metres throughout the space, it can also contain a HEPA filter that can last up to 5 years! Compare that to most filters that need to be changed every 6-1 year and that is a HUGE difference.
The Unboxing
Unboxing the Dyson Big+Quiet Formaldehyde is rather easy. Everything comes in a large box and is semi-assembled. All I had to do was peel off the protective stickers, plug and play.
I have to say I really like the look of the top cone though, which is designed to condense the wind output into an air jet so it can be catapulted across 10 metres. The acoustically engineered ‘bucket’ design also helps to dampen the sound down to a whisper. Both my dogs tend to be afraid of loud-sounding objects, but they didn’t react at all when the Big+Quiet Formaldehyde is in operation. As a matter of fact, I barely hear the machine at all when I am watching television.
You can direct the airflow across 3 angles, or select the ‘Breeze’ feature, which simulates the feeling of natural air indoors based on a unique algorithm that calculates how the air moves outside your home.
Aesthetically, the Big+Quiet Formaldehyde in Prussian blue and gold looks very high-end. As with all of Dyson’s products, the finishing is smooth and matte in style. The rich hues complement my grey cabinetry perfectly in my living room, and while it takes up a slightly larger footprint compared to other Dyson purifiers, the size is just nice to fit right next to my TV console. Height-wise, it doesn’t tower over everything, and just high enough so it blends with the stools and chairs around your room. It is unobtrusive and very cute.
Another great thing I like about this unit is that unlike other Dyson purifiers, this one actually comes with hidden wheels on the base, allowing it to be easily moved around the room. As my windows are closed when I’m out of the house, the air quality can be quite stale when I get back. What I do is to wheel the Big+Quiet to the centre of the living room and let it circulate the air while filtering out the dust, before moving it back to the side of the console after 10 minutes. This helps the air to circulate to the corners of the room and cool it down.
While the Dyson Big+Quiet Formaldehyde can operate out of the box, you will need to connect it to the Dyson app in order to enjoy all the smart features. This includes controlling the purifier from your mobile device, as well as finding out the air quality of your home. There are graphs to show you the air quality from day to day or even week to week.
Aside from dust and dander, there’s a table on the cone that tells you about the gases the filter can remove from the air as well. These are gases that we may not be aware of but are commonly found being emitted by new furniture, paint, glues and even cleaning agents we use around the home.
But is it cooling?
The Big+Quiet Formaldehyde is a great air circulator and purifier, but because of its bladeless conical shaped air output design, it is not meant to function like a conventional fan. You can definitely feel the air jet being directed out of the unit, but the angles of the output are made to allow the clean air to be projected across a room and not directly onto your face. It wouldn’t be fair to judge the machine on how you would judge a fan. Personally, I do notice how well it helps to cool down a room quickly. I also like the fact that it looks good and at the height of a coffee table, it can be easily placed in the living room without sticking out like a sore thumb.
Pricing
Now for the all-important question of pricing. The Big+Quiet Formaldehyde (Prussian blue + gold) is priced at $1,399. You can also consider the Bright nickel + Prussian blue version, which is slightly cheaper at $1,299 because it doesn’t come with the K Carbon filter (which is used to remove nitrogen dioxide). For peace of mind though, I’d recommend to go with the upgraded version for a total peace-of-mind.
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