Did you know? According to the World health organization, nearly seven million deaths occur due to air pollution every year. Nine out of ten humans are inhaling below standard air, which exceeds the ‘WHO’ set parameters. Are you one of them? Smog, soot, and greenhouse gases are the top pollutants making our planet’s air contaminated and detrimental to health.
Your health is your most precious asset, would you consider compromising it? You should not! Investing in a quality air purifier would not be a bad deal. Air purifiers filter out the dust, bacteria, greenhouse gases, smoke, and other injuries contaminants from the air.
We will be comparing two air purifiers selling brands unbiasedly in this article; Coway’s air purifiers and Cuckoo’s air purifiers. Putting both brands side by side regarding their prices, maintenance cost, features, performance, and certifications will help you make an informed decision.
| BRAND | COWAY | CUCKOO |
| PRICE | $600-$1000 | $560-$830 |
| MAX CUSTOMIZED MODES | 4 | 11 |
| AIR QUALITY INDICATOR LEVELS | 4 | 6 |
| HEPA FILTER | ✓ | X |
| VOICE CONTROL | X | ✓ |
| MAX PURIFICATION STEPS | 6 Steps | 7 Steps |
| CHILD LOCK | ✓ | ✓ |
| POWER CONSUMPTION | 33 W – 106 W | 25 W – 65 W |
| PRODUCT WEIGHT | 7.25 KG – 25 KG | 7.4 KG – 11 KG |
| WARRANTY | 1 YEAR | 1 YEAR |
| MONTHLY RENTALS | ✓ | ✓ |
What should you keep in mind while purchasing air purifiers?
Before making any decision, you should know about these specifications so you wouldn’t regret after.
- Filters used
Buying an air purifier with efficient and reliable filters should be the main focus as it filters the air to make it impurities-free.
- Maintenance cost
Some air purifiers come with washable filters while mostly are only replaceable; you should check the prices of filters before purchasing.
- Power consumption
Add the cost of electricity to your maintenance cost because air purifiers consume a lot of power, increasing your monthly expenses.
- Pricing
Find an air purifier that is value for money, keeping in mind your room size and the features you need. Prices of air purifiers vary according to the coverage area and specifications.
HEPA Filter
| HEPA FILTER | ✓ | X |
Coway’s air purifier has a significantly efficient filter known as HEPA filter, also known as high-efficiency particulate absorbing filter and high-efficiency particulate arrestance filter. This air filter can remove 99.97% of dust, pet hair, pollen, mould, bacteria, and any airborne particles with 0.3 microns.
Cuckoo’s air purifier lacks HEPA filter, although they have their advanced filters named Ultra PM2.5 filter. The working capability of this filter cannot match HEPA filters.
Air Quality Indicators
| AIR QUALITY INDICATION LEVELS | 4 | 6 |
Coway’s air purifier comes with four levels of air quality indication, glowing different coloured led lights in it. These lights tell you about the air quality in the room and remind you to turn off the purifier when the air is fully cleaned.
Red light: High Pollution
Yellow light: Medium Pollution
Green Light: Low Pollution
Cuckoo’s air purifier has six level air quality indicators that make it more interactive. These levels help you calculate the speed of cleaning the air.
LEVEL 1 (Blue): Good
LEVEL 2 (Teal): Moderate
LEVEL 3 (Green): Average
LEVEL 4 (Yellow): Poor
LEVEL 5 (Purple): Bad
LEVEL 6 (Red): Very bad
Operating modes
Coway’s Lombok3 has four different operational modes.
- AUTO (Auto adjust the settings according to the room environment)
- ECO (Decrease the performance and save electricity)
- SILENT (Lowers the fan speed, which reduces noise)
- TURBO (Enhance the fan speed and cleans extra quickly)
Cuckoo’s model C+ is the latest model with 11 operational modes.
- AUTO MODE: Detects air quality and adjusts air purification settings automatically.
- STERILISATION MODE: Turns on CUCKOO Plasma Ionizer to sterilize air.
- TURBO MODE: Increases fan speed drastically to speed up air purification.
- BABY MODE: Dims light and decreases the volume.
- ROOM CARE MODE: Adjust fan speed according to room size.
- YELLOW DUST MODE: Filters factory fumes and haze particles.
- ENERGY EYE MODE: Auto senses darkness and dims light (Energy-saving function).
- REPEAT MODE: Operates according to time settings.
- LOCK MODE: Locks buttons and modes.
- FILTER INDICATOR: indicates the need for a filter change.
- AUTO HUMIDITY MODE: Detects the humidity in the air automatically and turns on the humidifier.
Filtration steps
Coway’s Lombok3 has six steps of filtering the air, including the HEPA filter, the most trustable and worthy filter.
| FILTER TYPE | FUNCTION | |
| Stage 1 | Pre-Filter | Filters large particles like hair, fur, and dust. |
| Stage 2 | Fine Dust Filter | Filters tiny particles like fine dust. |
| Stage 3 | HEPA Filter | Removes cigarette smoke, viruses, germs, and fine dust. |
| Stage 4 | RBD Plasma Filter | Removes moulds and germs such as Aspergillus Nigermand and E.Coli. |
| Stage 5 | Catalyst Filter | Removes harmful gas such as formaldehyde, toluene, xylene, and other VOCs. |
| Stage 6 | Deodorization Filter | Removes bad odour and harmful gases. |
Cuckoo’s Air purifiers offer a seven steps filtration process with no HEPA filter, but still, they have their own developed Ultra PM2.5 filter, which eliminates fine dust and haze particles.
| FILTER TYPE | FUNCTION | LIFE SPAN | CLEAN / REPLACE | |
| Stage 1 | Pre-Filter | Eliminates large dust and animal hair | Two weeks | Clean |
| Stage 2 | Harmful Gas Filter* | Eliminates sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide | Four months | Replace |
| Stage 3 | Deodorization Filter** (Granular Activated Carbon***) | Odour removing | 12 months | Replace |
| Stage 4-7 | Ultra PM2.5 Filter (Anti-Bacteria) | Eliminates PM2.5, fine dust, and haze particles as small as 0.3 microns. | 12 months | Replace |
Power consumption and weight
The power consumption of an air purifier depends on its coverage capacity and size. For example, Coway’s largest model, the Tuba, has coverage of 93m2, while Cuckoo’s largest model, the D Model, only has a coverage of 66m2. They consume 106W and 65W, respectively.
Similarly, the weight is also dependent on the size; The Tuba weighs 25Kg while the D Model weighs around 11Kg.