Smartmi Air Purifier P1 review: A smart way to solve those seasonal odors

Over the past year, air purifiers have changed from a luxury product for people with allergies to a mainstream necessity. Many of us have chosen HEPA filtration systems in hopes that they will impact our safety at home during the pandemic. Whether you’re still in that mood or not, Xiaomi’s Smartmi Air Purifier P1 is a surprisingly decent buy, with an attractive design, cheaper-than-average filters, and the kind of voice assistant integrations you’d expect in 2021. However, these integrations are limited A bit high, and the price of $180 is high.

Specifications

Goodness

Not very good

Design, hardware and what’s in the box

The Smartmi Air Purifier P1 is a mostly metal cylinder (I scraped it to be sure — it’s metal), longer than it is wide, but less than a foot long. The air filter inlets are a series of holes throughout the base, down halfway to the top of the sides. The car is ventilated through a grille at the top, with a series of indicators and small controls in the middle.

The digital display indicates the detected level of particulate matter (PM). There are also indicators for Wi-Fi connectivity, a color-based “pollution” level, custom modes or playback, and three touch controls: one for power, one for fan speed, and one for the sleep timer.

The large circular filter is located at the bottom of the unit, where it twists into place. Although it comes with a “pollen” filter, alternatives are also available in a “pet” filter type. Unlike some other air purifiers, multiple filter stages are included in one part. This may make them easier to replace, but will likely reduce their lifespan, even though they are rated to last 6 to 12 months.

This longevity estimate seems to be correct and the app estimates around 300 days per filter based on my own usage. Your mileage may vary.

However, the P1’s replacement filters are also a bit cheaper than some other popular air purifier brand filters, costing around $40. there We are Air purifiers with filters are cheaper, but that’s below average for what I’ve seen. You won’t get a replacement filter in the box, just a power adapter and the usual documentation.

Software, integration and performance

The air purifier itself is easy to use, with just three capacitive buttons, but you can also connect it to Wi-Fi and the Smartmi Link app for additional controls, track filter status, track air quality data, or to enable/disable audio feedback or display that appears on the device. In short: you should use the app.

I know, usually, random smart home gadget apps are kind of terrible, and the design here isn’t the best. But the Smartmi Link app is fully functional, with a reasonably intuitive design and none of the occasional bugs I encountered. It’s not great, but it works.

The controls in the Home app are limited.

You can also link the P1 Air Purifier to your Google Home/Google Assistant/Google account via the Home app, and you’ll be able to control the device in more places, such as smart speakers, displays, on-device Assistant, or the Home Control menu Android smartphone. It also works with Alexa and HomeKit if you’re on a different team — sorry, Android is our style, and I haven’t tested these integrations.

I’ve intermittently encountered an issue where the air purifier registers as “Not Responding” in Google Home, even though the app can control it wirelessly just fine. The Relink option on the home page didn’t work, and manually removing and re-adding Smartmi integration indicated that there were no devices available in my account at all. Then, later, it randomly appeared again on its own. It may perform differently for you, but the Assistant integrations seem to be buggy.

But there’s more to your smart display.

Device controls may initially seem limited in the Google Home app, with only on and off listed, but you can also adjust the current playback mode with your voice, and these additional controls are also available visually on smart displays. I have some air purifiers that also provide precise fan speed, sleep timer controls, and some that provide air filter wear details, all via Assistant, but those types of commands didn’t work for me with the Air Purifier P1 in my testing, and I couldn’t Find a full published list of supported commands. All I can reliably trigger with my voice are the same commands listed on my Assistant-connected smart display (above). Although it has more than the bare minimum of smart home integrations, it would be nice if it supported more Assistant commands, as some of its competitors do.

I don’t have a bunch of extra equipment to test how accurate the Smartmi Air Purifier P1’s measurements are or how well it filters the air in a room. But I suffer from allergies, and I can say that after a good series of sneezes and sniffles in my office, turning on the air purifier made a noticeable difference — at least, until my movements led to more pollen and allergens settling on surfaces.

Should you buy it? Rating 7.5/10

Smartmi P1 air purifier

I wasn’t particularly excited about reviewing an air purifier, but when the offer for the Smartmi Air Purifier P1 came in a few months ago at the height of my herbal allergies, it was pretty hard to say no. As much as I wished otherwise, the air filter didn’t magically solve all my problems – I would probably need several of these items working side by side throughout my entire house, plus some additional weatherproofing (and perhaps an airlock leading Straight home (to my car). But sitting next to me in my office has made a noticeable difference for Ryan, who smells seasonal during the day.

The cost of replacing the filters is also cheaper than I expected and lower than some other premium air purification options. However, with only one filter handling all the filtration stages, this can lead to more frequent replacement, and the auxiliary integrations were a bit buggy and more limited compared to things like Coway Airmega products. I also have an Airmega 400S, and while it’s two to three times more expensive, it has a multi-stage system with parts you can clean yourself to extend the life of the primary filter, and offers more in the way of auxiliary-based controls (although Wi-Fi connectivity -His Fi is frustratingly unstable). We haven’t had a chance to check it out for ourselves, but the NASH Smart WiFi Air Purifier rings in at under $100 with similar specs, cheaper filters, and assistant integration, though objectively ugly, it’s not.

In the end, I like the Smartmi Air Purifier P1. It may be a little pricey, but the filters are also a little cheaper than average, which may balance that out in the long run. However, I can’t help but be a little critical of how limited the Assistant’s controls are. If those integrations aren’t necessary for you, there are plenty of stupid, proprietary, no-name air purifiers from Amazon for a fraction of the price. And if you want a high-end model with a comparable footprint, the Coway AP-1512HH Mighty is the gold standard these days with a more advanced filtration system, and is often available at a similar price.

I still recommend the P1 Air Purifier, but you’ll need to evaluate what you’re looking for in an air purifier before purchasing it.

Buy it if…

• You want a smart air purifier with Assistant built in.
• It should fit the contemporary styles of your home – a lot of air purifiers look like they came out of 1995-2005.

Don’t buy it if…

• This (cheaper) stupid air purifier will do the trick.
• You need one to cover a larger area – this is good for one medium-sized room.

Where to buy

• Amazon