Coway AP-1512HH Air Purifier: Trusted Review & Specs

Coway’s old model – the Coway AP-1512HH, is still an absolute looker, and there’s still plenty of gas in the tank if you’re considering it as your next best air purifier at the moment, even though many of Coway’s newer devices are available. Today, we will make a Coway AP-1512HH Review to see why you still want to stick with this air purifier.

Update: Coway has released the Coway AP-1512HHS as the new upgrade to our current unit. The new air purifier is in the Airmega lineup, so it has all the smart features it needs to compete in the low- to mid-range segment. If you want the newer devices, the Airmega 150 is a smaller version, while the Airmega 230 is an upgrade in design with the Coway AP-1512HH.

Coway AP-1512HH 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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Coway is the number-one Korean brand for air purifiers for a reason. With 30 years in this industry, this brand is a symbol of the life-care industry in South Korea. It also ranked first in Korean Consumer Electronics Market Share & Brand Awareness. When purchasing a technology product, people always look for a well-known brand. The Coway AP-1512HH, in fact, meets every demand a person would have for home air quality. Let’s find out in our Coway AP-1512HH Review.

Other Coway’s Air Purifier Reviews:

Coway AP-1512HH Price

Just like Winix, another South Korean brand, Coway targets a very wide range of consumers, from normal low-range devices to premium high-end air purifiers. We could easily understand the South Korean manufacturers’ trend of bringing air purifiers to every class, each with their own preferences.

It’s no secret that Coway needed to do something big with this air purifier, to unleash something to stop the advance of other rising air purifiers in the low range. In fact, I just didn’t expect the Coway AP-1512HH to be this good. Yes, there are still some elements that prevent it from being the perfect air purifier, but to leap to this point from a very commonplace start is a really, really impressive feat.

It’s dropped a fair bit now, though, with the introduction of the new Airmega family and the new Airmega 200M. That makes the Coway AP-1512HH stand out among low-range air purifiers, with an attractive price of around $229 on the official Coway website. The price can go even lower, and you should grab the deal on Breathe Quality as soon as possible, because the low price isn’t usually available.

The device is available in two colors: a dark black and a bright white. We can easily find the Coway AP-1216L for the same price as the Coway AP-1512HH, but the tower air purifier is quite inferior to our current unit. Or the Airmega 200M, which acted as the new version of the Coway AP-1512HH under the Airmega name.

If you are looking for a comparison, you should check out the Honeywell HPA300 – the powerhouse of this American brand. Or the Levoit Vital 200S and Winix AM90 are also good alternatives, packing smart features and having the same performance as the Coway AP-1512HH. Winix also releases the new Winix 9800 and Winix C909, which should have better performance than the Coway AP-1512HH.

Perhaps the Coway AP-1512HH is truly what we deserve: a standout air purifier at a very reasonable price.

Related post: Best air purifier 2023.

Coway AP-1512HH Design and Size

Well, it’s like Coway makes drastic changes to its industrial design every year, if not many changes in one year.

And that’s exactly the case here. Coway AP-1512HH only shares the same idea design with the low-level AP-0512NH. Frankly, this doesn’t bother me in the slightest. The Coway AP-1512HH was already one of the best-looking air purifiers around. Here is the white version of this Coway AP-1512HH, besides the popular black version.

Both the front and back are covered in plastic, but if compared with the Winix 5500-2 or Coway AP-0512NH, the Coway AP-1512HH still looks much more luxurious. Place the Coway AP-1512HH next to an iPod and you’d be surprised to see the similarity. Under the plastic plate of the front, there are many intake air vents to help bring the polluted air into this device’s air filtration process.

Also, we will have 5 function buttons on top of this air purifier. Like any other classic air purifier, the Coway AP-1512HH has an air outlet grill on top to release fresh air into your home environment.

Source: Amazon.com

Out of the box, the Coway AP-1512HH is a very nice device to look at, with a height of 18.3 inches and a width of 16.8 inches. It’s compact yet elegant, with a clear feeling of premium quality when you just glance at it. That said, it doesn’t feel like the most expensive air purifier on the market – whatever reason Coway is giving for charging so much for this air purifier, it’s not coming through in the design. But it does feel like a device that can be mentioned in the same breath as the Honeywell HPA300 and Filtrete FAP-SC02 in terms of build quality.

Coway didn’t change the classic design of Korean air purifiers with two handles at each side. However, at 12.3 lbs, this air purifier is on par with the Levoit LV-PUR131 in weight and is lighter than lots of air purifiers in its native country, like the Winix AM90 or Winix 5500-2.

Related post: Best air purifiers for bedroom.

Coway AP-1512HH Filters

Close to perfection. That’s the best way to describe the filtration power of the Coway AP-1512HH.

At the low-range segment, most air purifier manufacturers need to sacrifice something – the air filter, the noise level, or the fan power. Within the Coway AP-1512HH, amazingly, there is no sacrifice at all. To compete against Winix with its signature PlasmaWave Technology, Coway added enough air purification technology to be at a mid-range level. Let’s have a look at the 4-stage filtration of Coway AP-1512HH:

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 – Vitalize ionizes the air, boosting its cleaning power and freshening the air. Can be switched on/off.

Not much has really changed in the power of Coway air purifiers, but this still holds up as one of the best True HEPA air purifiers in the world. To test the performance rating of this Coway AP-1512HH, I used a $199 Levoit LV-PUR131 and a $699 Honeywell HPA600B. The result is really amazing, as the Coway AP-1512HH can capture 99.95% of as small as 0.3 microns particles (only a little bit below the Honeywell HPA600B), while the Levoit LV-PUR131 has a lower efficiency of 99.7%.

This top-notch performance is mostly improved through a clever True HEPA filter, which is made with high-quality material. A vital ionizer is also crucial for releasing a charged ion cloud to trap any allergens lurking around the True HEPA filter. This air cleaning system is exactly what makes the Rabbit Air BioGS 2.0 so successful, and again, it boosts the Coway AP-1512HH to the next level of air filtration.

Source: Amazon.com

Having an ionic feature in your air purifier is a reason to create ozone and aggravate asthma and respiratory issues. And it seems the ozone emission level of Coway’s AP-1512HH is worse than Rabbit Air’s ability to handle it. So if your health is affected by ozone, you should turn off the ionizer in Coway AP-1512HH.

Coway continues to surprise its customers with an incredibly low air filter cost. The Coway AP-1512HH’s air filter is only $45, which is lower than both the $68 of the Honeywell HPA300‘s and the $119 of the Winix WAC9500. You need to replace the True HEPA filter once per year and the Activated Carbon filter once every 6 months.

In fact, we were using two Coway AP-1512HH devices at both our home and our office. The symptoms of serious allergies had reduced significantly in a short time. There is not the slightest sign of asthma when using the ionizer within this device, so don’t worry.

Related post: Best air purifiers for allergies.

Coway AP-1512HH Room Coverage

In the U.S. and a few other territories, a powerful air purifier must cover a huge area. That’s why all air purifier brands from the US aim directly at large rooms. We could find the Rabbit Air BioGS 2.0 with 625 square feet or the Honeywell HPA300 with no less than 465 square feet.

With the same price as the Levoit LV-PUR131, the Coway AP-1512HH can effectively cover a room of 360 square feet. Consider the price could drop about $60 to $70 and is way cheaper than other US brands; we are satisfied with this room coverage without doubt.

The ACH of Coway AP-1512HH is 4X. This specs is as powerful as the Korean air purifier rival – Winix. More air changes per hour result in more frequently your room will be cleaned.

The CADR of Coway AP-1512HH is also impressive, with 246 Dust/ 233 Smoke/ 240 Pollen (cfm). Once again, Coway is equal to Winix in terms of power. CADR tells exactly how well an air purifier can clean the air within a particular room’s size, so if you are concerned about the power of your air purifier, you should choose the Coway AP-1512HH right away.

Related post: Best large room air purifiers.

Coway AP-1512HH Sound

As an air purifier designed for bedrooms, the Coway AP-1512HH must meet the strict requirements of being quiet. Many of the bedroom-centric air purifiers, just like the Coway AP-1512HH, produce great white noise, a soothing ambient sound to help people fall asleep. You should choose an air purifier for your bedroom carefully, otherwise you will be continuously kept awake at night.

The Coway AP-1512HH has only 3 fan speeds, with a noise level of 24.4 decibels at the lowest setting. This is just exactly the noise level of the whisper, and in real-world use, you will hardly be able to hear anything. Even at its highest setting of 54 decibels (dB), the Coway AP-1512HH produces a great deal of white noise through the soothing sound of its fan. This is exactly why the Coway AP-1512HH is now the best air purifier for bedroom.

Related post: Best air purifiers for baby.

Coway AP-1512HH 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.

Prepare to be surprised, as the power consumption of the Coway AP-1512HH could be as low as 4.9 watts, thanks to the fantastic Eco Mode. This Eco Mode will put the air purifier in standby mode (which only consumes 4.9 watts) whenever it detects better air quality and there is no need to run the fan. It is safe to say that the Coway AP-1512HH is the most energy-saving air purifier on the market today. Even the top brand in the energy-saving field, the Rabbit Air, can only reach a minimum of 5 watts.

However, if you keep running this Coway AP-1512HH at the highest fan speed, the power consumption can be as high as 78 watts. So to say, the Winix WAC9500 consumes up to 70 watts, and the Honeywell HPA300 even increases to 130 watts. Coway AP-1512HH might not be the best energy saver, but it is not the worst, either.

But hey, the Coway AP-1512HH is still an air purifier with an Energy Star rating, so it must pass strict tests to be energy efficient. The device is also recommended to help save the environment.

Let’s think about it for a minute. For like 8 hours of use per day, it would normally cost you from $10 to $30 per year. Yes, that’s just how you pay for a light bulb each year.

Related post: Best air purifiers for pets.

Coway AP-1512HH Additional Features

Personally, we would like a lot more additional features on an air purifier. Though Coway has unveiled many new air purifiers at the moment, if you want a quick-fire look at the Coway AP-1512HH, we’ve got you covered. In short, our Coway AP-1512HH review will tell you that it’s still a great air purifier with many features.

One thing that will never change about Korean devices is the abundance of features. Both Winix and Coway are well-known for the up-to-date features on their air purifiers. You need a smart sensor to have you automatically select the most appropriate mode for your room, or a timer to set up on your own. Then the Coway AP-1512HH will cover all of these functions. As I stated clearly in the Power Consumption section, the Coway AP-1512HH brings out the unique Eco Mode to help further boost the power of the Smart Sensor and reduce the power consumption to as low as possible. This feature is really gold for anyone who is worrying about the annual electricity bill.

However, there is no Wi-Fi or Bluetooth connectivity for this Coway AP-1512HH. This is still not a good setting for air purifiers, especially when people are most likely to set their devices in auto mode for best efficiency. But if you are really driven by a smart air purifier, you should search for the Honeywell HPA250B or Levoit Core 400S. These brands really pour their hearts into building apps, with little to no bugs while running the smart air purifiers. Also, the new Coway AP-1512HHS is available to help you touch such high-end things on a budget device.

The Coway AP-1512HH uses an intuitive air quality indicator, too. There are two LED filter replacement indicators for the True HEPA and Activated Carbon filters, respectively.

Related posts:

1, Best air purifiers for smoke.

2, Best air purifiers for dust.

3, Best air purifiers for mold.

Coway AP-1512HH 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

The Coway AP-1512HH has finished another year after being awarded as the best air purifier by many famous organizations, but it is still a good performer in the market at the moment. Coway has just raised the bar for every other low-range air purifier. Simply put, if you want to buy a new air purifier for under $200 right now, this is the one to pick.

However, with the new release of the Coway AP-1512HHS and Airmega 250S, we should aim for these 2 air purifiers for an overall better experience than the Coway AP-1512HH.