Coway Airmega 240 True HEPA Air Purifier with Air Quality Monitoring, Auto, and Filter Indicator, Dove White

I bought a 230 in Sage Green in September of 2023, around the time they first released. It has been running 24/7 at speeds 1-2 since then, with negligible stopped time. I have been pleased with it, so I finally bought a replacement filter for that one in April 2025 (approximately 18 months on a single filter) and purchased another 230.Long story short, this air filter has proven reliable, appears to be reasonably (and anecdotally) responsive to changes in air quality, is aesthetically pleasing, and is easy to maintain. Cost of entry is fairly low, and cost of operational maintenance (time, ease, filter cost) is also comparatively low.I currently run two of these Coway 230's and a Blueair 680i for a 1250 sq.ft (116 m²) apartment. Adjacent units' air leaks into our unit (shared compressor and vent), which means food odors, tobacco (and "other") smoke, and sometimes mildew/mold. The building was built in the 1970s, and there are issues with leaking roofs, poor ventilation in the underground parking, etc. We also have cats, which means litter dust, litter smell, and hair/dander. Of course, we also produce our own air pollutants, like cooking odors or aerosolized products. The Coway has done very well in whichever room it's in, reducing odors and dust. It's fairly quiet at all speeds, although 3 is the maximum fan speed and is loud, though not at all intolerable. There have not been any unusual noises, like squeaks or vibrations. The pre-filter is easy to clean with a vacuum or with water, and helps keep the primary filter media free of large debris like clumps of cat hair. The filter media itself is very large and has a lot of pleats, which means more surface area, for lower load on the blower (more efficient and less energy consumption) and more overall filtration capacity (longer overall life before loss of efficiency).Compared to the much larger Blueair, there are some observations that people may like to know:The 680i is significantly larger, designed to perform five air changes per hour for a 770 square foot (72 m²) room. That means that even at the lowest speed, it will generally outperform the Coway, which can perform the same number of air changes in a 403 square foot (38 m²) room. I believe that most air purifiers measure their air changes at the highest blower speed. A larger unit will have a larger blower, which means running the 680i at the lowest and nearly silent speed will still be moving as much air as the Coway at the maximum and loudest speed. For those sensitive to noise or with a need to minimize ambient noise, it may benefit you to oversize the filter for your application.The prefilter is a win for Coway. I have to vacuum the filter in the Blueair monthly to make sure it's not blocked up with debris. It can be heard as buffeting at the blower output. The cats like quality time in the bedroom, so there's always hair.While I haven't cut up the Blueair filter, it is dimensionally smaller than the Coway filter. One may cautiously assume that they deliver equivalent performance as they are both HEPA. This is not an accurate comparison of filter efficacy, since surface area and static pressure, and as a function of those, dwell time of air through the filter is a good measure of filter performance. Basically, I like big filters with lots of frontal surface area. Coway draws air through almost the entire front face. The Blueair draws air from one side to the other, which means a smaller filter intake area.The Blueair body is made of die stamped, powdercoated steel. It's heavy duty and durable, but weighs at least twice the Coway. It even has casters. Durability of the housing may not matter to you, but the Coway is a bit flimsy. This is not a concern to me, but something you may want to consider.The Blueair is a clamshell design, and when you open the rear side, it swings out so you can access the filter and interior. To replace the filter in the Coway, you pop off the front shell. It's easy, but the clips are plastic and the shell is flexible, perhaps too much so. If you were to be clumsy, you may damage it.The air quality indicator on the Coway is extremely bright. It can be switched off, which is a considerate feature. The Blueair lacks this. However, it's nothing a bit of tape can't fix.The smart function on the Coway will run the blower at an extremely low speed or it will shut off if the air is clean and has stayed clean for a long time. The Blueair will run continuously on the lowest speed.

I have been using this air purifier for a few years now, and I love it. It has gone through two cats, a dog, and a baby and works so well. When we lived in our one-bedroom apartment, it was perfect for our smaller living room/kitchen. However, now that we are in a bigger space, it works better for just one room. I noticed that when it was in our larger living room, it was having a harder time filtering the air, but I know there is a larger option available that would probably be a better fit. it really kicks in after cooking, getting rid of a lot of the smells two rooms away. With a larger space, I have noticed that I am having to dust a lot more often to keep up with everything even with the air purifier, but this really worked great in a smaller environment.

So cute it really blends into your room and it really keeps the air smell fresh- I have a litter box in my bathroom off my bedroom- and I have it setup behind my vanity and it works well on the auto function- plus it’s funny having it turn on when you smoke- I think of it as sentient lol

These are effective at filtering the air in a room to keep it clean and fresh, and are all but silent except for when they catch a pocket of dirty air (I live in a city; it happens). When the machine goes quiet again, you know the grime has gone. Regular maintenance (cleaning the filters) is essential but easy. The machines are also small enough to be tucked somewhere unobtrusive. I was so happy with the first one I had (a gift), I have since bought a second.

TL;DRPros:-Quiet-Relatively small-Looks good (personal opinion)-Relatively inexpensiveCons:-Needs better documentation-Missing second charcoal foam filter-Missing any sort of convenient handle-Not suitable for large rooms/spacesDetailed Review:I have one of the AirMega AP-1512 (now replaced by the almost identical 200M). My choice in selecting and procuring that model was down to all the great reviews that compared the performance, power consumption, cost to buy, and cost to own of several of the top performing and popular brands on the market. There were others that outperformed the Coway, but not enough to be significant, and none were as cheap to procure and own (the running costs of the Coway were hands down less than any other brand). Having a great experience with the AP-1512, I decided to try the new 150 model to use in a smaller room (my 10’ x 10’ office), and because being confined to my house for the past year has more dust being created were I sit and work all day.My first impressions were good. The 150 seems to be well built and has familiar features and layout to the older unit I have been using for years. One thing I notice immediately when I was unboxing the unit was that it only comes with a single charcoal foam filter, which is supposed to be changed out after 6 months, but the HEPA filter is at 1 year. This means I either have to use the foam filter for a full year or replace the HEPA filter early. I wish it would have come with 2 of the foam filters as you would get in a filter replacement pack. Outside of missing one foam filter to make it through a year (and you can only by the replacement filters as a set and not individual components), the unit is also missing any sort of convenient handle to pick up and move it (the AP-1512 has a handle on it).After getting all the wrapping and tape off, the filters installed, and plugged into power, it fired right up and started working in Auto mode. The first thing I noticed is how quiet it is, but also how gentle the air flow is (meaning it isn’t flowing much air at low speed). There was a mild smell to it from the glue on the filters, but after a few hours (maybe a day), this all cleared up (I’ve heard some with major complaints of glue/chemical smells on the AP-1512 replacement filters, so I wasn’t overly surprised).I noticed that after running for an hour or so, the color changing light for auto mode was off and the unit said it was in Mode 1 instead of Auto. I thought something was up, so I cycled through the different Modes (fan speeds) and back to Auto. It stayed there for a while and went back to Mode 1. I thought maybe I had a bad unit, so I read the manual to make sure I understood its operation. That’s when I found out that the manual sucks and does not have near enough information about how this unit works and I now see why there are certain questions about this unit on the Amazon product page (like which was the filters are as the label FRONT on the HEPA filter actually points to the inside of the unit, which would technically be towards the back wouldn’t it?). It turns out that the Auto mode sometimes kicks out and into a more power saving mode, and when it does this, it erroneously shows as Mode 1 (and note that when it does this, it is flowing less air and even quieter than when showing as Auto Mode with a Blue status / air quality light). When the air quality is sensed to be bad enough, it pops out of the Mode 1 and into Auto Mode, so I guess this is all normal.As many have mentioned, this unit is pretty darn quiet, except when going into high gear. At the mid-level (Mode 2 or Green air quality light), it is a bit louder, but not too bad. Mode 3 (Yellow air quality light) is much louder, but about what I expected as the AP-1512 isn’t exactly quiet when it thinks it needs to evacuate the room of all dirty air right this instant.After living with one of the Coway 150 for a couple of weeks, I ordered a second unit to go in another room (13’ x 13’ bedroom) and next to a cat litter box (to help with dust control and general air quality in the room). I noticed that it’s Auto Mode and lights worked the same as the first unit (confirming that I didn’t just get a bad unit). I also noticed that the fan motor was a bit noisier, so I was wondering about quality control of the parts used to make these units. After a few weeks though, the fan motor quieted down and is about as silent as the first unit I procured. These two units are working well and I would certainly think of getting another if needed or recommending one for another person; however, I would not recommend the 150 for anything other than a small room (like an office or regular bedroom). If you have a larger bedroom, living room, etc., then I would look at the 200M, 300 or 400 to cover the larger space as the 150 just won’t cut it.