Alen BreatheSmart Classic Air Purifier: Trusted Review & Specs

Alen is really good at releasing armfuls of confusingly-named air purifiers and essentially leaving us to work out the differences. The Alen BreatheSmart Classic is one of those, slotting in between the Alen BreatheSmart FIT50 and Alen BreatheSmart 75i – the flagship. Since the FIT50 range is Alen’s mid-tier offering, that places the Alen BreatheSmart in the middle of… the high. Let’s find out in our Alen BreatheSmart Review to see if the air purifier is unremarkable or not.

Alen BreatheSmart Classic ranks B- in our air purifier ranking list. We give the biggest and most thorough database of air purifier reviews in the world.

The Alen BreatheSmart is now superseded by the Alen BreatheSmart 75i, which is the latest flagship of Alen brand. However, it is now packed with a real True HEPA filter, so it is a good deal for anyone who want to taste the Lifetime Warranty for a much lower price.

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

• We do give honest reviews (both pros and cons) so anyone will guarantee to have the wisest choices.
• We do not (and never) exaggerate one product just to let you click the links and buy that product blindly.

Sections

The Alen BreatheSmart Classic is sitting among the high-end air purifiers. It’s Alen equivalent of the Blueair Classic 480i, AIRMEGA 400 and Molekule Air: a top-end air purifier with lots of features and the price to match. It’s truly an air purifier for Alen fans, or those are in love with the lifetime warranty policy. Now, it’s time for the Alen BreatheSmart Classic Review.

Alen BreatheSmart Classic Price

The BreatheSmart devices have always been lookers. They’ve been fashionable rather than functional; delicate rather than durable. The Alen BreatheSmart is the first entry that feels like a match for the Blueair Classic 480i and AIRMEGA 400.

From a distance, and especially in pictures, the Alen BreatheSmart looks just like the Alen BreatheSmart FIT50. But turn it on, use it in a large room and then you’ll notice the difference.

But back to the price, you can imagine how Alen BreatheSmart costs when I compare it with the top-class air purifiers. For the standard bundle with White color, and HEPA-Pure air filter, the Alen BreatheSmart starts with $649. The price is, again, $100 more than the previous FIT50. However, it deserves the price for a much better performance as well as a broader air filter.

The Alen BreatheSmart is the ideal air purifier for anyone who relies on a long-term investment and isn’t satisfied with an average lifetime of 2 years for one air purifier. The warranty of Alen is truly superior, that defeats even the 5-year warranty from Rabbit Air, Honeywell or IQAir. It’s not cheap, but still far away from the price of the top luxury high-end devices.

We also notice the presence of the Dyson Pure Cool Tower and Dyson Pure Cool Link in the same price range. These air purifiers, besides the True HEPA filter, are having an amazing cooling fan power to help you survive the summer time. The Dyson Pure Hot+Cool, with a little bit higher cost, will come with the heating power as well.

Looking for the Alen BreatheSmart? Check out our deal for this air purifier.

Related post: Best air purifier 2024.

Alen BreatheSmart Classic Design and Size

As the first of BreatheSmart family, the Alen BreatheSmart Classic is the pioneer in this current design, which Alen still linger on it until then. When it is launched, the Alen BreatheSmart is Alen’s best-looking air purifier yet. This is also the rare air purifier allowing the customizable colors to select from.

Alen has done an exceptional job of making an air purifier with 26.7 inches in height but only 10 inches in depth. That’s why the air purifier feel far smaller than it should. This is in part the result of the stretched-out panel, which now pushes almost to the edge – aside from the requisite notch, of course – and also due to the heavy reliance on curves.

Like the GermGuardian AC9200WCA, the Alen BreatheSmart Classic marks the air filter on front of the device. The comparison is quite inappropriate for a high-range air purifier, especially when others are making more and more 360 Degree air intake grill. We are talking about a very common bottom-to-top air flow system, with a large air intake grill behind the panel. Normally, it indicates exactly the low fan power, and in truth, that’s what you get for an Alen device.

Alen is, of course, a fan of experimenting with colors and so the Alen BreatheSmart Classic is available with no less than 14 options of hues. My review unit has a normal white body that not only looks great, but is also the most affordable to purchase.

On top of this Alen BreatheSmart Classic, beside the signature air vent is a same control panel, with 7 function buttons, just like the Alen BreatheSmart FIT50. As the first in BreatheSmart family, you should only see the word BreatheSmart and no other words on the control panel.

Don’t be deceived by the shape of Alen BreatheSmart, as the air purifier is 21 lbs in weight. It is almost impossible to see in pictures, but you should know that it is still bigger than the BreatheSmart FIT50. However, in the world of $650 air purifiers, there are lots of heavier air purifiers out there. The example could be the Blueair Classic 480i – with 33 lbs and AIRMEGA 400 – with 24.7 lbs. Personally, with the light weight and a handy handle, I prefer the Alen BreatheSmart more.

Related post: Best air purifiers for bedroom.

Alen BreatheSmart Classic Filters

As the decisive criteria for the performance of one air purifier, by default we look at the quantity and the quality of its air filters, and what the air filter types are using. The Alen BreatheSmart starts with the unique Alen’s 3-stage air cleaning system. At the center of this air cleaning system, you can choose 1 from 4 different level of HEPA air filter as below.

1. HEPA-Pure – The standard HEPA filter of Alen BreatheSmart Classic, which is able to capture 99% of as small as 0.3 microns pollutant particles such as dust, dust mites and pollen.
2. HEPA-Fresh – The next level HEPA filter will improve the first HEPA-Pure, with an addition of Activated Carbon filter, to deal with the household odors like cooking smells and light smoke. This air filter is necessary for people who are sensitive to VOCs.
3. HEPA-Silver – For a little bit more money, you can upgrade to the HEPA-Silver filter with anti-microbial Silver-Ion threads that prevents the growth of mold spores and bacteria.
4. HEPA-OdorCell – The ultimate level HEPA filter of Alen BreatheSmart Classic, with the unique Alen’s Molecular Conversion Powder, that can destroy the odors on a molecular level.

To protect the HEPA filter against large objects of pollutants, Alen BreatheSmart Classic uses a pre-filter. That may not mean much to most people, but essentially it means that your HEPA filter will last for a couple of months before filter replacement date.

With more layers of filtration, the heart of this Alen BreatheSmart Classic is now a True HEPA filter – the latest selling point that Alen had just released. One might question what could help improve the efficiency of the air filtration system – and sure, if you researched enough you will know the answer – an add-on ionizer. An air ionizer (also known and an Ionic air purifier) operates by emitting negatively charged ions into the air. These ions attract positively charged ions, which includes things like allergens, dust and bacteria, and causes a bond to form between them.

Once this bond is formed, the particles become heavier than normal. This weight increase causes the bonded particles to fall to the physical HEPA filter, even though the actual size of the particles can pass the air filter without doubt.

But how does the Alen BreatheSmart’s actual performance compare to others?

It is a segment of high-range $650, so I will use the AIRMEGA 400 and Blueari Classic 480i to test the performance of Alen BreatheSmart Classic. I put them all in a room of 300 square feet, and run them in 1 hour. All have come to a result, and the AIRMEGA 400 had both the Alen BreatheSmart Classic and previous Alen BreatheSmart FIT50 beat in the performance department. It has high efficiency of trapping 99.97% of all particles as small as 0.3 microns. The performance of Medify MA-112 is a bit down with only 99.95%. The Alen BreatheSmart Classic has a good fan, but the efficiency is no higher than 99.92% after 1 hour of consecutive running.

That is to say, the Alen BreatheSmart Classic doesn’t charge you that much because of its air filters. The reason is mostly the perfect customer services, that I am happy to explain later. For now, if you owned an Alen BreatheSmart, you should look for the air filter cost for regular filter replacement after 9 months. For the standard HEPA-Pure air filter, Alen BreatheSmart Classic will cost you only $69. The price is up to $109 for the HEPA-OdorCell filter, which is a little bit higher than the $99 air filter of AIRMEGA 400.

Related post: Best air purifiers for allergies.

Alen BreatheSmart Classic Room Coverage

People who need an air purifier for large room will love the Alen’s products. All of the air purifiers from BreatheSmart family, with the original Alen BreatheSmart Classic, are capable of cleaning large rooms. The room coverage of Alen BreatheSmart is one the second highest, with 1100 square feet, only lower than the flagship – Alen BreatheSmart 75i. However, we are talking about the high-range devices, and there are others capable of dealing with large room. The best example is the AIRMEGA 400 with 1560 square feet, or the Austin Air Pet Machine with 1500 square feet.

The ACH of Alen BreatheSmart Classic is 2X to 5X. For a room of 1100 square feet, this air purifier only clean twice an hour.

The CADR of Alen BreatheSmart Classic is 279 Dust/ 256 Smoke/ 300 Pollen (cfm). The CADR rating is quite insufficient for the room coverage of 1100 square feet, but it is still better than most of well-known high-end devices at the moment, like Rabbit Air MinusA2 or Honeywell HPA600B.

Related post: Best large room air purifiers.

Alen BreatheSmart Classic Sound

One reason Alen gave to public for not having True HEPA filter is because they don’t want the True HEPA filter restricts airflow. It is quite reasonable, and with less restriction in the air flow, you don’t need a powerful fan to cover a large space. Now the Alen BreatheSmart Classic has a real True HEPA filter, so is it going to be quiet?

Source: Amazon.com

But remember, this is the first device in BreatheSmart family. Though Alen had done everything to keep the noise level as low as possible, I’ve recorded a fixed noise level of 41.5 decibels at the lowest setting. That is just similar to the noise level of library, so Alen proudly call the technology WhisperMax. However, the lowest noise level is not as good as the successors, like BreatheSmart FLEX and BreatheSmart FIT50.

At the highest setting, the Alen BreatheSmart Classic’s noise level is only 56 decibels (db), which is the same as other ultra high-end devices like IQAir HealthPro Plus, Blueair Pro L or IQAir GC MultiGas. The noise level is higher than the normal conversation at home, but is still acceptable for normal use. Again, there is a pink noise frequency in this Alen BreatheSmart Classic, so even though you run at the highest speed, you are still able to sleep easily.

So to say, I put trust in the Alen BreatheSmart Classic in terms of silent operation, even for those who are sound sensitive.

Related post: Best air purifiers for baby.

Alen BreatheSmart Classic Power Consumption

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

Even with an Energy Star rating, the power consumption of Alen BreatheSmart Classic is still 120 watts on the highest speed. This power consumption is higher than both Blueair Classic 480i and AIRMEGA 400, not to mention the energy-saving Honeywell HPA600B with only 44 watts on the highest speed.

But you should not worry too much, for using a Alen BreatheSmart Classic 8 hours per day, it would cost you about $43 per year.

Related post: Best air purifiers for pets.

Alen BreatheSmart Classic Additional Features

Alen is touting the Alen BreatheSmart Classic as a smart device, and that’s a fully believable claim. As its name implied, the Alen BreatheSmart Classic has a Smart Sensor to detect the air quality of your home. For those who don’t know, the Smart Sensor doesn’t just check the air quality and display it on the feedback light. From that, it will run an Auto Mode to change the fan speed automatically. For example, if the light red, Alen BreatheSmart Classic indicates that your room has heavy pollutants and automatically runs at the highest fan speed to deal with the pollutants faster. If you find the light blue, you can believe that the air purifier only runs at whisper fan speed, and therefore reserve the energy better.

Yes, it means you can say goodbye to any manual control from now on.

Alen is also adding the basic functions into this Alen BreatheSmart Classic, such as a Timer and a LED indicator for filter replacement. There is a good lock function to prevent your children from messing with the air purifier, too.

Related posts:

1, Best air purifiers for smoke.

2, Best air purifiers for dust.

3, Best air purifiers for mold.

Alen BreatheSmart Classic Customer Service

Running through a very long review about Alen air purifiers, you may question us: “Why I need to buy Alen air purifier?” Yes, if it is not for the outstanding performance, or the top-class fan power, then there is must be something really, really important. What I’m trying to say here is the perfect customer service from the Alen Corporation.

Alen doesn’t hide the intent to speak high of their customer services. Look at their website, there are full of content to support the customers. You will have their phone, their emails, and of course, their support policies without any hindrance. To reach the Alen, you can contact them 6/7 days per week. They provide the best fast and free shipping for any products, as long as the orders are placed before 3 PM, they will guarantee to ship in the same day. Impressive, right?

They expand the refund time up to 60 days, or 2 months. You won’t need to worry about the quality of your air purifiers, because Alen will back you up with (also the first) Lifetime Warranty. Whenever your personal Alen air purifier doesn’t operate as normal, you will have a same refurbished air purifier with free shipping. To do this, please call 512-436-0457.

There are a lot of good review for the Alen customer services, that’s why I highly recommend to look for the brand if you need permanent better air quality for your home.

Our verdict

The perfect lifetime warranty is the most reason to buy the Alen BreatheSmart Classic. Now with a True HEPA air filter, the air purifier has a much better performance, a good room coverage and an accurate Smart Sensor to rely on. If you want the Smart connectivity, you should look for the AIRMEGA 300S or Blueair Classic 480i. However, I believe it is hard to ignore the perfect customer service of Alen company.