Blueair Classic 203 Slim Air Purifier: Trusted Review & Specs

The Blueair Classic 203 Slim truly packs all the best Classic 205 features for half of the price. What’s the catch? Let’s find out in our today Blueair Classic 203 Review.

Blueair Classic 203 ranks C- in our air purifier ranking list. We give the biggest and most thorough database of air purifier reviews in the world.

UPDATED: The Blueair HealthProtect 7470i and HealthProtect 7770i are the best air purifiers you can get from this Swedish brand right now. Additionally, as the Blueair Classic 203 appears to be fully sold out, I recommend properly checking our deal before reading this review, as the review itself is pretty lengthy.

In Breathe Quality, we have reviewed all air purifiers under these sections. Also, we guarantee that:

• We provide honest reviews (both pros and cons) so that everyone can make the best decisions.
• We do not (and never will) exaggerate one product just to let you click the links and buy that product blindly.

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Blueair is a Swedish brand for air purifier since 1996, with its CEO – Bengt Rittri had worked 8 years at Electrolux. This company has delivered its products to more than 10,000 customers, from more than 60 countries. So, let’s see how the first member in Classic family works in our Blueair Classic 203 Review below.

Other Blueair’s Air Purifier Reviews:

Blueair Classic 203 Price

Being the non-smart version of the Blueair Classic 205, the little device Blueair Classic 203 Slim has a better price tag with only $179. This air purifier will cost you just half of the Classic 205, which price tag is $349. However, it is discontinued.

Of course, there is no smart feature in this device. But for the nearly similar performance rating, for me, none of the sacrifices really affect the quality of the device. In fact, I prefer using this Blueair Classic 203 Slim to the Smart Classic 205. If you want a powerful and smart air purifier, you should choose the Blueair Sense+ right now, for it’s currently the best smart air purifier in low-range market.

There are a lot of air purifier brands for this highly competitive low-range segment. I can tell a few names like Winix with its Winix 5300-2 and Winix 5500-2, Honeywell with its Honeywell HPA160, Honeywell HPA5200 and Honeywell HPA830, or Guardian Technologies with its GermGuardian CDAP5500BCA, GermGuardian AC5109W and GermGuardian AP5800W.

However, Blueair is a well-known brand for its bulky machines. Anyone who’s invested in the idea of a Blueair air purifier, but doesn’t want to indulge its nostalgia at the expense of performance and features, may also want to opt for the Blueair Classic 203 Slim. Check out the latest deal of this air purifier below.

Related post: Best air purifier 2023.

Blueair Classic 203 Design and Size

Staying the same height of 21 inches as the Blueair Classic 205, the Blueair Classic 203 Slim isn’t the most eye-catching device. However, with the big design and the durable steel body, it brings us a feeling of power and certainty. The front metal panel is shiny with an LED on/off indicator, right below the traditional Blueair logo.

From the back, the Blueair Classic 203 Slim presents a classic air intake grill, which is big and only features in old air purifier models. However, this grill is perfect for maximizing the efficiency of the fan power.

On top of this Blueair Classic 203 Slim is the outlet grill, allowing a classic airflow structure used in many other brands’ air purifiers, like the Coway AP-1512HH or Honeywell HPA300. The only difference in design with the Classic 205 is the removal of the digital control panel. Instead, the Blueair Classic 203 Slim use a simple manual switch to change the fan speed.

Source: Amazon.com

Without casters, the Blueair Classic 203 Slim is not really slim, with 24 lbs in weight. Especially when you know that there are too many small air purifiers like the Blue Pure 411 with 3.4 lbs, the Levoit LV-H132 with 6 lbs or the Rabbit Air BioGS 2.0 with 16.8 lbs.

Related post: Best air purifiers for bedroom.

Blueair Classic 203 Filters

When it comes to the performance and power of an air purifier, we decide based on how many air filters it has and the air filter types are used. Blueair Classic 203 Slim follows the use of the Classic 200 Series’ Particle Filter as below.

• Particle Filter/ DualProtection Filter – Blueair’s unique air filtration combines both the electrostatic and mechanical filter. You can choose from the Particle Filter with the power to capture 99.97% of pollutants such as pollen, dust, pet dander, mold spores, viruses and bacteria down to 0.1 microns. Otherwise, you can pay more for DualProtection Filter, which is most likely the combination of a True HEPA filter and an Activated Carbon Filter.

The feature most people have been concerned about with the Blueair Classic 203 Slim is the HEPASilent filter’s performance rating. It is good because all of the filters in Classic family are manufactured in a same way, no matter it is the small Blueair Classic 203 Slim or the flagship Blueair Classic 680i. This gives the same efficiency of capturing 99.97% of as small as 0.1 microns ultra-particles, thanks to the structure of both mechanical and electrostatic filtration. With a low-range budget, you can have the most powerful HEPA filter in the world.

Also, if you need to eliminate the common gaseous pollutants like Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs), traffic exhaust, smog, odors, and smoke, you should use the DualProtection filter exclusive for only Blueair devices. This filter is adding an extra layer of Activated Carbon filter, made of magnesium dioxide and copper oxide impregnation which are highly capable of absorbing smoke and chemicals.

During our testing I did find the power inside this Blueair Classic 203 Slim. The test conditions are staying the same as testing the Blueair Classic 205, in a room of 200 square feet and for an hour. My testing sample, this time, is the Honeywell AirGenius 4 and Winix 5500-2. That is a difficult test because the Winix 5500-2 officially costs you more, and has a powerful fan with up to 360 square feet room coverage. The result is not hard to guess, as the Winix 5500-2 delivered a high efficiency of trapping 99.93% any pollutant particles as small as 0.3 microns. The Blueair Classic 203 was just a little bit behind, with the high efficiency of 99.5%. Meanwhile, the Honeywell AirGenius 4 was only capable of 92%.

The last but not least, I must conclude that all of Blueair Classic air filters are naturally anti-bacterial and 100% recyclable.

Source: Amazon

With an official filter cost of $49 (but is always better if you follow our deal below), the Blueair Classic 203 Slim’s filter is the lowest in the whole Blueair family. In this low-range market, $49 is common. The Honeywell HPA200‘s filter is around $49, or the Winix 5500-2 and GermGuardian CDAP5500BCA stay with $39. However, you need to replace this air filter after 6 months of use, which raises the cost even more.

Related post: Best air purifiers for allergies.

Blueair Classic 203 Room Coverage

As the smallest model in Classic family, the Blueair Classic 203 Slim has a solid cleaning performance for an area up to 240 square feet. Finding this room coverage is not enough for you? You can try the Winix 5500-2 or the Honeywell HPA200. Both of these under $200 air purifiers can cover a room more than 300 square feet with ease.

The ACH of Blueair Classic 203 Slim is 5X. With that air changes per hour rating, an air purifier can clean your 240-sq-ft room 5 times per hour.

The CADR of Blueair Classic 203 Slim is only 155 cfm overall. With such low CADR rating, I prefer the power of the GermGuardian CDAP5500BCA or Blueair Sense+. Both of them have more smart features, better performance and overall better design.

Related post: Best large room air purifiers.

Blueair Classic 203 Sound

Just like Classic 205, Blueair Classic 203 Slim turns out not to be silent at all. This mostly due to the big size and high fan power, which creates inevitable noise, especially at the highest setting.

With 3 fan speeds, the lowest noise level of the Blueair Classic 203 Slim is 32 decibels. This is a bit higher if compare with the most silent air purifiers like the Winix AM90, Levoit LV-H133 or Rabbit Air BioGS 2.0. However, it is still lower than the library noise level of 40 decibels. So when you run this air purifier at HEPASilent setting, you won’t notice any sound at all.

Again at the highest setting, it will bear a noise level of 56 decibels (dB), which is just the noise level of the normal conservation at home, or quiet suburb, or any large electrical transformers at 100 ft. This noise level is mostly acceptable to use in any public places where require the silence.

Related post: Best air purifiers for baby.

Blueair Classic 203 Power Consumption

One of our most FAQs is “Do air purifiers use a lot of energy?” In fact, air purifier must be used for a long time to be efficient. And power consumption is one important criteria to review if this air purifier is good or not.

Using the old technology of HEPASilent, the Blueair Classic 203 Slim has a higher power consumption than others from this brand at lowest setting, with 20 watts. At highest setting, the power consumption is about 74 watts. But you should notice that the power consumption is still better than most of the air purifiers out there in this price range. Personally, I believe that Blueair company is one of the best companies which deserves the Energy Star rating for every energy-saving air purifiers.

For running a Blueair Classic 203 Slim 8 hours per day, you need to pay from $7 to $26 annually.

Related post: Best air purifiers for pets.

Blueair Classic 203 Additional Features

As the manual air purifier of the Classic family, we should not expect any additional features of this Blueair Classic 203 Slim.

That being said, there is only one timer to alert you when your filter needs to be changed. The magnet on the back allows you to attach the timer to your unit or other magnetic surfaces.

Even in this low-range market, the Winix 5500-2 uses a handy Smart Sensor, and the GermGuardian CDAP5500BCA has the hi-tech of Wi-Fi capability with only $199.

Related posts:

1, Best air purifiers for smoke.

2, Best air purifiers for dust.

3, Best air purifiers for mold.

Blueair Classic 203 Customer Service

As one of the best air purifier brands, Blueair focuses strongly on customer service. With a lot of local stores and dedicated support via phone and email, you are guaranteed to reach its customer service as soon as possible.

If you need to find a local store of Blueair anywhere in the world, you can use the store locator function on its website. To reach customer service, you can choose between calling 888-258-3247 or emailing info@blueair.com. Customer service is available for you from Monday to Friday, with the exception of U.S. holidays.

Remember only one thing: you need to complete the Product Registration form within 60 days of purchase or register through the Blueair Friend mobile app to secure the 5-year warranty. Otherwise, you only benefit from a 1-year warranty. Moreover, do not attempt to bring the air purifier outside of the United States or Canada, or your warranty will be void immediately. All Blueair warranties are non-transferable.

Blueair air purifiers from the Blue family have only a 2-year warranty from the date of purchase (with valid proof of purchase). One quick reminder: Blueair doesn’t cover warranties from third-party sellers, so buying from Breathe Quality’s deals is highly recommended.

Our verdict

For the price, the Blueair Classic 203 Slim is a better option to pick when compared with the Blueair Classic 205. However, since the day Blueair Sense+ arrived, there is no low-range Blueair Classic air purifier you need to have anymore.

This air purifier is discontinued.