Coway AP-1216L Air Purifier: Trusted Review & Specs

If we live in the native country of Korea, or others in the Asian region, we could easily find one Coway air purifier in a local store or online. But we are here, in the United States, and the Coway AP-1216L is the representative of the very old models from this brand. At last, we are able to deliver a Coway AP-1216L Review to Breathe Quality’s eager readers.

Coway AP-1216L ranks B+ in our air purifier ranking list. We give the biggest and most thorough database of air purifier reviews in the world.

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As the 1st ranking in the Korean Consumer Electronics Market Share & Brand Awareness, Coway is truly famous all over the world for its air purifiers and life-care services. A great part of this success lay in the ability of the South Korean firm to tap firmly into the low-end of the market as well as the high-end. So, get ready for our today’s Coway AP-1216L Review.

Other Coway’s Air Purifier Reviews:

Coway AP-1216L Price

Like I said earlier, Coway has various devices that date back exactly 30 years at the time of writing. The Coway AP-1216L is the only old representative this Korean brand brought to our country to claim the throne as the best air purifier. However, the competition in the low-range is heating up, and the fact that the Coway AP-1512HH (and later, the Airmega 200M) is too good to secure the spot, the Coway AP-1216L is little by little forgotten.

But while it can’t have the same success as its brothers, the Coway AP-1216L is still a good deal to get, with a good old Coway air filtration process and a sleek design that you can’t ignore.

The official price of the Coway AP-1216L is exactly the same as the AP-1512HH, at $209. It drops now, so you can easily buy it at a discounted price, for example, if you grab our deal below.

While doing that, the Coway AP-1216L is now a direct competitor of many tower air purifiers from other brands. They are all from American brands, and just because of that fact, they gain the upper hand in this race. Guardian Technologies could be the strongest one, with its Smart GermGuardian CDAP5500BCA.

Honeywell follows right behind with its unique tower devices, the Honeywell AirGenius 4 and Honeywell HFD-120-Q.

And Coway shouldn’t forget the new ones like the Levoit Vital 200S, Levoit Core 400S and TCL Breeva A5, which both have great smart features for the price.

Perhaps bringing a tower air purifier into this aggressively competitive market is not a smart move from Coway, but we will find out right now.

Related post: Best air purifier 2023.

Coway AP-1216L Design and Size

This is the first and only tower air purifier from this company.

And honestly, it gives us the feeling it is an exact duplicate of the series of HFD models from Honeywell. Looking at both the AirGenius 3 and AirGenius 4, you can see the similarity.

It’s not hard to spot the influence Honeywell has over the manufacturer’s work, for example, in the solid stand and the tower design with a flat, rectangular top. There are differences, though, like the fact that the Coway AP-1216L is 32.7 inches tall, which is 5 inches taller than its competitors from Honeywell. The width is nearly the same at 10.5 inches, compared to the 10-inch width of the Honeywell AirGenius 3.

While sporting exactly the same back-to-front airflow system as the tower air purifier, the Coway AP-1216L only has the intake air vents on the back. The outlet air grill on the front, however, is covered by a thick plastic plate. There are four openings for the fresh air to get out.

Well, I must admit that the Coway AP-1216L is more attractive than any other tower air purifier at the same price. I like both the leaning top and the beautiful LED ring, which isn’t featured in any AirGenius devices. The front panel is also in good shape, and I love the overall concept more than the GermGuardian air purifiers.

On the top control panel, besides the obvious LED ring for the Smart Sensor, there are six function buttons to manually control this air purifier.

Source: Amazon.com

The Coway AP-1216L weighs about 13.2 lbs, and with such a light weight, you can easily move this air purifier anywhere in your room.

Related post: Best air purifiers for bedroom.

Coway AP-1216L Filters

Coway made any air purifier with “AP” in its name an adequate performer on a budget. Generally, to decide the performance of one air purifier, we should look at how many filters are there or what the air filter types are. The result is that the Coway AP-1216L has a 4-stage air cleaning process just like that.

1. Pre-filter – A washable pre-filter will help you capture the large particles of contaminants, such as pet hair, human hair, and mold. Keep in mind that this pre-filter is washable and therefore permanent.
2. Activated Carbon Filter – This filter works its best to deodorize and trap harmful gases to keep your place fresh and odor-free.
3. True HEPA filter – The high-performance composite True HEPA filter captures 99.97% of allergens, virus particles, pollen, mold, and fungi down to 0.3 microns.
4. Ionizer – Vital ionize generates an electrochemical reaction that reduces particles in the air. Can be switched on/off.

With exactly the same air cleaning process system as the famous Coway AP-1512HH, the Coway AP-1216L can boast powerful filtration against nearly 99.97% of pollutant particles with a size as small as 0.3 microns. The vital ionizer and True HEPA filter are important to do that.

With how much Coway has shown in the past, testing the performance of the Coway AP-1216L is just a formality. I put three other tower air purifiers into a test with the Coway AP-1216L in a room of 150 square feet and let them all run for an hour. The Coway AP-1216L showed very good performance, capturing 99.93% of particles as small as 0.3 microns. GermGuardian CDAP5500BCA dropped to only 99%, while the Alen Paralda was 83% and the Honeywell AirGenius 4 was 92%.

So to say, if you like the tower air purifier concept, the Coway AP-1216L is among the greatest devices at the moment.

Source: Coway website

The Coway AP-1216L’s filter cost is a bit higher than the Coway AP-1512HH, which is $54. It is not as high as Alen Paralda‘s OdorCell filter, however.

Related post: Best air purifiers for allergies.

Coway AP-1216L Room Coverage

The Coway AP-1216L is quite the same as its famous brother in every way, including the room coverage. It can cover 330 square feet. It is decent for the price.

The ACH of Coway AP-1216L is 4X. With high air changes per hour rating as the Winix C535 and Winix 5500-2, we can expect this tower air purifier to clean your room every 15 minutes.

The CADR of Coway AP-1216L is 235 Dust/ 213 Smoke/ 262 Pollen (cfm). This CADR rating is suitable for the room coverage, and this air purifier will clean your room pretty fast.

Related post: Best large room air purifiers.

Coway AP-1216L Sound

The noise level is very important for a device with fan power like the air purifiers. If the fan is getting too noisy, you can’t work or sleep with it. That’s why a silent operation is one of the most appealing features of one air purifier brand.

And it is also the competitive edge of Coway, as the Coway AP-1216L is really quiet. The lowest noise level is only 21 decibels, which is even better than the $400 Rabbit Air BioGS 2.0 – one of the best air purifiers for silent operation.

Even at the highest setting, I recorded only 52 decibels (dB) for the noise level. You can imagine it is only the noise level of normal conversation at home, which is audible but won’t annoy you. Actually, keeping the same frequency, the white noise is actually a sleep aid or helps work better.

I highly recommend you use any Coway air purifier for work or when you need fresh air while sleeping.

Related post: Best air purifiers for baby.

Coway AP-1216L Power Consumption

One of our most FAQs is “Do air purifiers use a lot of energy?” In fact, air purifiers must be used for a long time to be efficient. And power consumption is one important criterion for reviewing how much energy this air purifier will consume.

I must confess, I don’t like the power consumption of any Korean air purifier. The Winix has a bad reputation for making energy-consuming air purifiers, but the Coway is not much better. Until Coway innovated its own Eco Mode, the high power consumption was still a problem for using Coway’s devices.

Surprisingly, the old Coway AP-1216L has a power consumption of only 50 watts. It is even better than the compact Coway AP-0512NH, and I am impressed with such low power consumption within a higher fan power. It is much better than the competitors, like the Winix 5300-2 or Alen T500.

If you don’t really get the specification, you just need to know the Coway AP-1216L is an Energy Star-rated air purifier, which means it will save you money and protect the environment.

For using the Coway AP-1216L for 8 hours per day, you need to pay $18 per year.

Related post: Best air purifiers for pets.

Coway AP-1216L Additional Features

The Coway AP-1216L shows exactly the progressive technology being used in many modern air purifiers of South Korean brands, something that not many American brands could do.

What I want to mention is the vital Smart Sensor. One air purifier with the Smart Sensor is truly a smart device, and you just need to turn it on and forget about it completely. Such top-class features are usually integrated in the top-class air purifiers; however, even in this low-range segment, we can see lots of potential candidates.

The Coway AP-1216L is one of these increasing smart devices that can detect real-time indoor air quality via an air sensor and then report through the LED ring. Finally, in Auto Mode, the Coway AP-1216L will automatically adjust the fan speed to match the current air quality. For example, if your indoor air quality is very unhealthy, this air purifier will run on the highest speed.

Even without the Smart Sensor, the Coway AP-1216L packs many basic settings. You can turn off the light anytime if you wish (one thing that even the Coway AP-1512HH and Airmega 200M don’t have), use a basic timer to turn off the device automatically, or use an LED indicator for filter replacement.

There is only one reason why I will choose the Coway AP-1512HH over this air purifier: there is no Eco Mode in the Coway AP-1216L. The unique selling point of Coway products is unavailable in the older devices, and with nearly the same price tag, it’s hard to close your eyes and buy the older one.

Related posts:

1, Best air purifiers for smoke.

2, Best air purifiers for dust.

3, Best air purifiers for mold.

Coway AP-1216L Customer Service

As one of the top electronic brands in Korea, Coway is somehow as huge as Samsung. This brand not only carries out clean innovations for the customers, but Coway also delivers its direction as Coway Trust. That’s why Coway always places a strong focus on its customers and community. With global subsidiaries and regional dealerships that serve over 60 countries, you should believe in the customer service of the company.

Moreover, you can contact Coway’s customer service via phone at 800-285-0982 or via email at support@coway-usa.com. Normally, customer service will try to contact you within 24 hours.

All air purifiers made by Coway have their motor and electronic parts warranted for 3 years, while other internals are warranted for 1 year.

Our verdict

I am truly fond of the Coway AP-1216L. In fact, I believe this is the best-looking tower air purifier for the price. But when considering performance over value, the Coway AP-1512HH is much better with its Eco Mode.