Honeywell HFD-120-Q Air Purifier: Trusted Review & Specs

As one of the first air purifiers from Honeywell, the Honeywell HFD-120-Q is exactly what this brand needs to respond to the trend of tower air purifiers created by Guardian Technologies and Coway. The upgrade to the HFD-010 is an Amazon’s Choice for air purifiers and is recommended by more than 1,000 customers. So, are you ready for our honest Honeywell HFD-120-Q Review today?

Update: If you are looking for the Honeywell HFD flagship, you should look for the Honeywell AirGenius 6.

Honeywell HFD-120-Q ranks C+ 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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Honeywell is a Fortune 100 company with more than 25 years’ experience in the air purifier industry. The Honeywell HFD-120-Q is the tactical tower air purifier to compete directly with Guardian Technologies. Lots of Breathe Quality’s readers were asking for this review too long ago, and today we are happy to deliver it to you: the Honeywell HFD-120-Q Review.

Other Honeywell’s Air Purifier Reviews:

Honeywell HFD-120-Q Price

As part of the improvement of the Honeywell HFD-010, Honeywell was ramping up the Honeywell HFD-120-Q by adding a necessary new ifD air filter along with a more powerful fan speed to improve the air filtration efficiency. Honeywell continued to use this IFD air filter in four consecutive air purifiers after this Honeywell HFD-120-Q, indicating that the new air filter was a huge success.

Honeywell HFD-120-Q comes with a more affordable price tag of $159, a cut of $20 from the successor HFD300. Even now, this Honeywell HFD-120-Q is still one of the most popular choices from this brand.

This air purifier is also intended to provide some stiff competition for the GermGuardian AC5250PT and Coway AP-1216L. To do that and to keep the price as low as possible, Honeywell needs to make use of a new air filtration system other than the current expensive True HEPA filter.

Newer Honeywell air purifiers are also recommended in this price range, for example the Honeywell HPA080 and Honeywell HPA5100.

Related post: Best air purifier 2023.

Honeywell HFD-120-Q Design and Size

Put the Honeywell HFD-120-Q side-by-side with the HFD-010, and there are some minor yet crucial differences between the two Honeywell air purifiers. The Honeywell HFD-120-Q features the same front and back air grills but now uses double the fan power to increase efficiency. For a tower air purifier using the back-to-front airflow system, the 28-inch height is also an additional feature to keep the fan going.

Source: Amazon.com

Some changes have been made to the top of the air purifier, as the Honeywell HFD-120-Q doesn’t have the common manual switch from the predecessor. Instead, you will have one on/off and one oscillation control. Also, there are three LED indicators to show the fan speed.

Source: Amazon.com

The Honeywell HFD-120-Q weighs 12.3 lbs, which is quite similar to other products of Honeywell, like the HFD-300, HPA200 or HPA030B.

Related post: Best air purifiers for bedroom.

Honeywell HFD-120-Q Filters

The Honeywell HFD-120-Q upgrades the first and most famous air filtration technology of Honeywell and pushes it to the next level: the patent-pending ifD air filters. You can look at the 2-stage air filtration system as shown below.

1. Pre-filter – The Honeywell HFD-120-Q features high-efficiency air cleaning with permanent, washable filters, saving you money on expensive replacement filter costs.
2. ifD filter – The Honeywell HFD-120-Q distinguishes itself substantially by properly utilizing IFD filters that trap particles without interrupting or disrupting the flow of air. Moreover, the air filter is also attaching an Activated Carbon filter to help reduce odors and tobacco smoke in the air.

Instead of using the true HEPA filter, the HFD models of Honeywell will make use of the ifD air filter, which stands for intense field dielectric. Working as an ionic air filter, the Honeywell HFD-120-Q can charge a high voltage source to stick airborne particles within a mechanical air filter. This air filtration method can effectively reduce up to 99% of airborne particles as small as 0.3 microns, like dust, pollen, pet dander, and tobacco smoke.

However, the downside of an ionic air filter is that it emits ozone, which can irritate asthma or other breathing issues. Sadly, we don’t have an on/off button for this function on the Honeywell HFD-120-Q. This is one of the main reasons why you should not use this air purifier. As a better alternative, the Coway AP-1512HH has an on/off feature for its ionic air filter, and you can live much easier.

The ifD filter, which is named HRF-K2, is one of the most affordable filters from Honeywell, with only a $17 price tag. Moreover, this air filter is permanent because it can be washed. As you can see, an investment in Honeywell HFD-120-Q is an investment for life.

Related post: Best air purifiers for allergies.

Honeywell HFD-120-Q Room Coverage

The low fan power of a tower air purifier is characteristic of its design. The Honeywell HFD-120-Q is not an exception, with only a small room coverage of 170 square feet. A Honeywell HPA100 or HPA030B can provide the same room coverage for $129.

The ACH of Honeywell HFD-120-Q is 5x. The Honeywell HFD-120-Q can clean your room every 12 minutes with this ACH rating.

The CADR of Honeywell HFD-120-Q is 100 Dust/ 110 Smoke/ 132 Pollen (cfm). This CADR rating is not as good as the Honeywell HPA030B, but remember that the CADR rating is not a criteria to determine the performance of your air purifier; it only determines how fast your air purifier cleans the room.

Related post: Best large room air purifiers.

Honeywell HFD-120-Q Sound

Honeywell is not a good brand for making a quiet air purifier, and clearly the Honeywell HFD-120-Q QuietClean Tower Air Purifier is not as quiet as other air purifiers like the Blue Pure 411 or the Coway AP-1512HH.

The range of noise level for this Honeywell HFD-120-Q is 40 to 51.5 decibels (dB), which is not as loud as other True HEPA air purifiers from this brand. Also, as you move the air purifier away from you, the sound becomes noticeably quieter.

With only 3 fan speeds, the Honeywell HFD-120-Q can still suit many quiet places, such as your office or bedroom.

Related post: Best air purifiers for baby.

Honeywell HFD-120-Q 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.

The Honeywell HFD-120-Q starts a new direction in air purifiers of this brand, which are less energy-consuming in exchange for the lower fan power. As the first of the HFD models, the Honeywell HFD-120-Q has a maximum power consumption of 43 watts, which is still higher than the HFD300 but acceptable for normal use.

If you used an Energy Star Honeywell HFD-120-Q for 8 hours per day, it would cost you up to $16 per year.

Related post: Best air purifiers for pets.

Honeywell HFD-120-Q Additional Features

The Honeywell HFD-120-Q is not a smart air purifier, and the fact that this is one of the oldest products of this brand strongly proves that you won’t have any additional features when buying this air purifier. There is one oscillation function button to help you circulate the air more often. Beyond that, there is nothing.

As with a typical air purifier, you will still have a LED indicator for filter replacement in the Honeywell HFD-120-Q.

If you are looking for the smart air purifier from Honeywell, you can also look for the Honeywell HPA080.

Related posts:

1, Best air purifiers for smoke.

2, Best air purifiers for dust.

3, Best air purifiers for mold.

Honeywell HFD-120-Q Customer Service

Honeywell is a market leader in air purifiers, but its customer service is not as friendly as that of competitors. You can reach customer service via the mailbox at the Honeywell Store at 407 N. Quentin Road, Palatine, Illinois. But I suggest you call 847-701-3038 for any support questions. Or you can email sales@honeywellstore.com for any problems you experience while on the site or after buying a product. Honeywell is available from Monday to Friday.

It doesn’t have free shipping like Rabbit Air or Alen, and you must notify customer service within one business day of any problems with a third-party shipping service like USPS or FedEx. Otherwise, it will not accept liability for any merchandise damage during transit. Also, the shipment can take up to 10 business days from the date that the order is shipped.

The hardest part is when you want to return one Honeywell air purifier, as you only have 30 days from the date you receive your item to process your return. If there is no transit damage or workmanship defects, you won’t receive the shipping charge (on both the original shipping charge and the return shipping charge) and will have to pay a 10–30% re-stocking fee.

Honeywell’s warranty policy is also among the longest in the industry, with up to 5 years of coverage.

Source: Amazon.com

Our verdict

Yes, the Honeywell HFD-120-Q is old and might not be appropriate to buy at the moment. However, the ifD air filter is still one of the best air filtration technologies, as it is literally permanent.