Sharp FP-A28UW Air Purifier: Trusted Review & Specs

The list of unofficial Sharp air purifiers for the U.S. market is adding the Sharp FP-A28UW, which I’m lucky to have one week to test. It could be unavailable at the time you check our deal, but I hope the review is still valid for anyone who wants to take a look at a Sharp air purifier. So, let’s begin our Sharp FP-A28UW Review.

The Sharp FP-A28UW is discontinued, so we recommend you take a look at the Sharp FP-F30UH for better performance.

Sharp FP-A28UW 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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You may not know about Sharp air purifiers, but you should’ve heard of this giant international corporation with origins in Japan. Moreover, Sharp is the top-ranked air purifier brand in Asia, with a higher number of device models compared with Coway and Samsung. In our today’s Sharp FP-A280UW Review, we will check out an air purifier that we hope to see more of on the U.S. market in the near future.

Other Sharp’s Air Purifier Reviews:

Sharp FP-A28UW Price

Japanese air purifier brand Sharp hasn’t had as much of an impact on the U.S. market, especially when most of its air purifiers are always “out of stock” and the official Sharp website for the U.S. lacks information to help customers purchase its devices.

The Sharp FP-A280UW is meant for the North American market, but somehow you can’t find information about this air purifier anywhere. Given that the Sharp FP-F30UH, Sharp FP-K50UW and Sharp FP-F50UW are available, I highly recommend switching to these products for more proper customer service.

This isn’t the first time for a Sharp air purifier, as you don’t know the origin of things like the Sharp KC-F70-W, Sharp KC-B50 and Sharp KC-H50-W either. They are all well-known in the Asian market, however, but if you buy one of them, you are left alone right after.

The Sharp FP-A28UW first appeared with a price tag of only $129, but it could change later due to increased demand. Probably you won’t find a model of the FP-A28UW in our deal, and don’t be sad about this fact.

This air purifier could be a great competitor with many native air purifiers, like the TruSens Z-1000, Envion Allergy Pro AP200 and Airthereal APH260. There are a lot of Chinese devices for you to take a look at in this price range, like the Okaysou AirMax8L, Elechomes EPI236 or KOIOS EPI209.

Related post: Best air purifier 2023.

Sharp FP-A28UW Design and Size

The Sharp FP-A28UW is clearly not built on a tight budget, and it could be the compact device of the famous Sharp FP-A80UW. But for a budget air purifier, one look at it clearly shows that this is a budget air purifier. With its rectangular shape, no extra design, and no base, the Sharp FP-A28UW is simple and could not make you say “wow.

There is no noticeable flex in the body, and you get the simple bottom-to-top airflow system concept for this air purifier. The air outlet is covered with double grills, which appear only in this Sharp FP-A28UW. I don’t find it appealing, however. The back intake is made with a squared panel, and it acts like a pre-filter.

This air purifier has a compact size with only 14.9 inches in height and 14 inches in width, making the air purifier look like a square unit. The Sharp FP-A28UW takes less base than the Sharp FP-F30UH, but it isn’t as solid as its brother either.

For a budget air purifier, you only get the normal control panel for this Sharp FP-A28UW. Actually, I really like an air purifier with fewer buttons in the control panel, so the Sharp FP-A28UW is quite good in my opinion.

Source: Amazon.com

This could be the most lightweight air purifier in the whole Sharp family, with only 8.2 lbs in total. You can easily move it anywhere you like.

Related post: Best air purifiers for bedroom.

Sharp FP-A28UW Filters

Just like any budget model of Sharp, the Sharp FP-A28UW doesn’t have an Activated Carbon filter. Instead, you have only a 2-stage air filtration system, as shown below.

1. True HEPA filter – The True HEPA Filter captures 99.97% of as small as 0.3 microns of particles like pollen, dust, pet dander, smoke, germs, bacteria, viruses, odors, mold, and fungus.
2. Plasmacluster Technology – This technology is one kind of ionizer that can further reduce the amount of pollutants. Can be switched on/off.

Perhaps the signature Plasmacluster is the unique selling point of Sharp, so this company adds it to almost every Sharp air purifier. By emitting both positive and negative ions into the air, this technology can form hydroxyls that decompose the protein, suppressing the activity of biological particles like viruses, mold spores, and bacteria. This is awarded as the best air cleaning method in Japan and works similarly to the signature PlasmaWave technology of Winix.

Just like any air purifier with Plasmacluster technology, the Sharp FP-A28UW is certified by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) because its ozone concentration limit is less than 0.05 ppm. Combining with the high-quality True HEPA filter, this air purifier guarantees an efficiency of trapping 99.97% of any airborne particles down to 0.3 microns.

Source: Amazon.com

Again, I ran a few simple tests for this Sharp FP-A28UW in a room of just 100 square feet. It performed well, with a high efficiency of trapping 99.9% of any particles down to 0.3 microns in just 1 hour. This efficiency was equal to the Rowenta PU4020, GermGuardian AC5000 and Medify MA-14 in the same price range.

However, it seems the filter cost for this Sharp FP-A28UW is a bit more expensive than other air purifiers in the same price range. However, Sharp recommends using the air filter for 2 years, so the actual annual filter cost is a lot cheaper than many other brands. The filter model is named FZ-A28HFU, and make sure to only buy genuine Sharp air filters for optimal performance.

Related post: Best air purifiers for allergies.

Sharp FP-A28UW Room Coverage

The Sharp FP-A28UW is only recommended for a room size of 124 square feet by the manufacturer. Up until now, Sharp sent a lot of air purifier units to the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers (AHAM), and the company only recommended the room size based on these tests, so you can fully trust in its suggestion of 124 to 150 square feet.

The ACH of Sharp FP-A28UW is 4X. As an ordinary air purifier, the Sharp FP-A28UW is able to clean your room every 15 minutes.

The CADR of Sharp FP-A28UW is 91 Dust/ 77 Smoke/ 100 Pollen (cfm). Its CADR rating is a bit lower than that of the Sharp FP-F30UH, but with an additional Plasmacluster technology, the Sharp FP-A28UW has higher efficiency.

Related post: Best large room air purifiers.

Sharp FP-A28UW Sound

The Sharp FP-A28UW didn’t get too noisy with regular use, as on the lowest fan speed, the noise level is only 27 decibels (dB). Sharp calls its air purifiers “Library Quiet” operation, and it even marked this label on many products.

On its highest speed, with Plasmacluster on, the Sharp FP-A28UW can reach 50 decibels. However, this is just the noise level of normal conversation at home, and I believe many people can even sleep with this mode on.

Related post: Best air purifiers for baby.

Sharp FP-A28UW 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.

The Sharp FP-A28UW was also sent to be tested by the Energy Star, and it was once compliant with this energy-saving rating. The power consumption of this air purifier is extremely low, with the lowest fan speed consuming just 10 watts. On the highest speed, I’ve measured the rated power to be only 45 watts.

If you run the Sharp FP-A28UW for 8 hours per day, you only need to pay $3.5 to $16 each year.

Related post: Best air purifiers for pets.

Sharp FP-A28UW Additional Features

Sharp is one of the best companies for advanced technologies, but for just a budget air purifier like the Sharp FP-A28UW, I don’t expect to see many additional features. Turns out, there isn’t any.

The Sharp FP-A28UW doesn’t have even the LED indicator for filter replacement. Yes, you find nothing in this air purifier. I advise you to spend more on the Sharp FP-K50UW or FP-F50UW for more features.

1, Best air purifiers for smoke.

2, Best air purifiers for dust.

3, Best air purifiers for mold.

Sharp FP-A28UW Customer Service

Sharp is a huge brand; of course it is. But this brand is not as popular in the U.S. market as it is in the rest of the world. Yes, marketing is one aspect of this unpopularity, but it also implies a difficulty in finding good customer service if you live in the United States.

But don’t worry, as the U.S. subsidiary of Sharp is quite active and would like to hear from you. You can reach its customer service toll-free at 800-237-4277 or via email through the “Product Support” page. Sharp’s customer service is available to you 24/7, every day.

However, for air purifiers, the company only provides a 1-year warranty. For most situations, I believe this warranty is enough to cover your device.

Our verdict

The Sharp FP-A28UW is the debut offering for the low-end segment, just like the Sharp FP-F30UH. It is sad that the device is usually out of stock, especially when the Sharp FP-A28UW has high efficiency with the combination of a True HEPA filter and Plasmacluster technology.

It seems the Sharp FP-A28UW has been discontinued.