Winix NK100 Air Purifier: Trusted Review & Specs

While you can’t find this Winix NK100 in the official Winix America website, the air purifier alone is the prior design for all of the excellent Winix devices today, naming Winix NK105 and Winix QS. This is the air purifier for those who want an awarded design. but won’t pay more for flashy features money. You are in right place to check the Winix NK100 Review.

The Winix NK100 is discontinued, so if you want a great performer at the same price point, you don’t need to find anywhere because the Winix AM90 is so great to be your best companion. Also the latest Winix 9800 is released, packing with more power. If you like tower design, the Winix XLC is the best you could get.

Winix NK100 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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In terms of smart design, Korean brands like the Winix and Coway are always the best. It runs in the blood vein of modern Korean companies, as they pursue to achieve the good-looking appearance above the actual performance. But that’s not a case of Winix NK100, an air purifier with lots of good things to go on. Are you ready to read our Winix NK100 Review?

Winix NK100 Price

The Winix NK100 is a slight step down from the Winix QS – or even the Winix NK105 – in just about the additional features, but it still delivers many of the core features offered by the flagships. Because the Winix NK100 is the first of the trio, that’s not even a problem with us.

The question is, will the missing additional features be worth your money?

As I stated clearly in the review of Winix NK105, the first impression you will get from the Winix NK100 is the intelligent design. It is also a solid air purifier all-round, especially when you’re set on Winix there’s little to complain about here.

The Winix NK100 is also one of the mid-range air purifiers devices, though. It costs $299 in the official website (though there’s no way you can find it now). Yes, it is the entry-level of mid-range air purifiers, and therefore, it is not cheap. For more $20 you can have the fancy Wi-Fi connectivity function with the Winix NK105, and raise the budget for another more $20, you will get the best Winix QS – the device with both Smart features and unique JBL speaker.

And I won’t deny, that’s a lot for just $20 upgrade.

With the price tag of Winix NK100, you can get more for your money elsewhere, like these competitive air purifiers with smart features: Airmega 250, Levoit Core 600S and Honeywell HPA250B. However, with a deal on Breathe Quality, the price of this Winix NK100 can go as low as $207. Well, it’s hard to resist such great deal.

It’s also worth considering another Winix, with good price and solid performance to use. With an up-to-date air filtration system and many exciting deal to catch, the Winix C545 and Winix C909 are perfect alternatives. And so is the Winix 5500-2, if you don’t mind not having the Wi-Fi capability feature. Still, there’s a lot to like here.

However, Winix has discontinued this model, along with all of its tower brothers.

Related post: Best air purifier 2023.

Winix NK100 Design and Size

The Winix NK100 is a mid-range air purifier to bait everyone to spend more for the irresistible additional features in the Winix NK105, and especially the mighty Winix QS. However, as usual, the Winix NK100 is the ordinary-looking device of these successors, matching every slightest detail. Well, actually not everything, but at least 98%.

Its basics are the same, though. The Winix NK100 has a body mostly made of plastic, and a tower design concept which is similar to the Levoit LV-H134. That’s exactly the shape of a conical frustum with a larger base and smaller top. The larger base makes us feel stronger to stand the ground, while the smaller top improves the concentration of airflow in the common bottom-to-top system.

The design concept is so smart that it is the winner of many 2016 awards like Red Dot Design Award and Good Design Award. They are both the honored awards only for good designed inventions from around the globe once per year.

Source: WinixAmerica.com

To enhance the bottom-to-top air cleaning system, the 29.5-inch Winix NK100 has made uses of the modern 360 Degree air intake grill. While this type of air intake has maximized the efficiency of an air purifier, the undeniable disadvantage is the need to have lots of fan power. But again, Winix NK100 balances the fan power so you won’t hear any annoying sound. Also, that keeps the power consumption as low as possible.

At first glance, the Winix NK105 doesn’t look like a huge departure from the Winix NK100. There is no obvious difference between the two. Unless you check the additional Wi-Fi button on the Winix NK105’s control panel, you’re unlikely to notice the changes, even if you just put the two back to back.

But this is indeed a great compliment for the Winix NK105, especially when the Winix NK100 is Red Dot Design Award and Good Design Award winner. For your information, Red Dot Award: Design Concept searches good designed inventions from around the globe every year. Below is the direct link to the Winix NK100.

On top of this Winix NK100, there is a slight different if compared with the Winix NK105. You don’t have the Wi-Fi connectivity function button, instead, you will have a great Child lock function, preventing your children to press the button and change the control accidentally.

Source: Amazon.com

The Winix NK100 is only 17 lbs, and with the handle in the back, you can easily move it around your home.

Related post: Best air purifiers for bedroom.

Winix NK100 Filters

When it comes to the internals of an air purifier, we must look for how many air filters and the air filter types are used. The Winix NK100 has a 4-stage air cleaning system as below.

1. Pre-filter – The polluted air must pass through a built-in pre-filter. This pre-filter will help capture the large objects of contaminants, such as pet hair and even some kinds of pet dander and skin.
2. True HEPA filter – The True HEPA Filter that captures 99.97% of as small as 0.3 microns allergens, virus particles, pollen, mold and fungi particles.
3. Activated Carbon filter – The Coated deodorization carbon filter will eliminate kitchen and pet odors as well as smokes, also reduce the common household chemicals.
4. Winix PlasmaWave – This technology is one kind of ionizer, which can further reduce the amount of pollutants. Can be switched on/off.

The Winix NK100 is the first device to introduce the all-in-one air filter from this brand. At the moment, you can believe that more and more companies are making an all-in-one air filter, to help their customers easier to set up and change the filter. Notable air purifier brands to do that are Coway, Levoit and Blueair.

At it heart sits a True HEPA filter as well as the unique Winix PlasmaWave Technology. This is better than most of ionizers which can emit ozone and irritate asthma issues, since it only form hydroxyls with its ions to clean the indoor air. Winix claimed that all of its air purifiers are tested and certified by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) to comply the standard safety level.

However, we still need a test for the performance rating of this Winix NK100. Using the same internals as the high-end Winix NK105 and Winix QS, the Winix NK100 has more power to compete against the $300 level air purifiers. In this test, I set up the Winix NK100 along with the Philips 1000 and the Whirlpool WP1000 to make a thorough comparison.

The result is impressive for the Winix NK100, as it can capture 99.93% any pollutant particles as small as 0.3 microns. However, the efficiency of Whirlpool WP1000 is a bit better with 99.95% efficiency, while the Philips 1000 drops to only 99.9%.

One thing you should notice when using the Winix NK100, you don’t have the latest air filtration technology of Winix. That means there is no AntiCel Treatment like in the Winix HR900 and Winix WAC9500. However, the cost of the filter N is still a bit high as $119. The True HEPA filter of the Philips 1000 is just $69, and the Whirlpool WP1000 is just $94.

Related post: Best air purifiers for allergies.

Winix NK100 Room Coverage

To guarantee that there is no ozone emission with the PlasmaWave Technology, the Winix NK100 needs to cut off the fan power. Therefore, the room coverage of Winix NK100 is only 320 square feet. You can easily find better room coverage for lower price, like in the Blue Pure 211 or GermGuardian AC5900W.

The ACH of Winix NK100 is 5X. With high air changes per hour, this air purifier can clean your room as often as possible, once every 12 minutes.

The CADR of Winix NK100 is 221 Dust/ 207 Smoke/ 218 Pollen (cfm). With that CADR rating, the Winix NK100 needs more time to clean your room if compared with the Whirlpool WP1000.

Related post: Best large room air purifiers.

Winix NK100 Sound

For the noise level, we need an as silent as possible air purifier so it won’t distract you while sleeping or working. The Winix NK100 has a normal noise level of 33.7 decibels (dB), which is a lot lower than the library noise level.

Sure enough, the Winix NK100 can make annoying noise if you don’t clean the air filter regularly (which is recommended for 2 weeks). However, the normal noise level is acceptable, and even better than many expensive air purifiers, like the Alen BreatheSmart FLEX or Honeywell AirGenius 6.

Related post: Best air purifiers for baby.

Winix NK100 Power Consumption

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

The Winix NK100 has an average power consumption of 46 watts, on highest fan speed. Predictably, then, real-world energy cost for the air purifier is decent, not that high as the 70 watts from the Winix 5500-2 and Winix WAC9500. It is also an Energy Star air purifier, just so you know.

For like 8 hours of using per day, it would cost you about $16 per year.

Related post: Best air purifiers for pets.

Winix NK100 Additional Features

In a $300 mid-range segment, the Winix NK100 is expected to at least have one Smart feature. Digging deeper into exactly what I get here, the Winix NK100 uses a great Smart Sensor to check the current air quality in your home and give feedback into the top indicator light. Moreover, the Auto Mode will be used to automatically change the fan speed to clean the room better.

In the past I’ve found some of Winix’s sensors to be worse than their Coway counterparts. However, the modern Winix NK100 and those later are great.

Source: WinixAmerica.com

Winix NK100 also has a good LED indicator for filter replacement, so you won’t need to remember the date to change the air filter anymore.

Related posts:

1, Best air purifiers for smoke.

2, Best air purifiers for dust.

3, Best air purifiers for mold.

Winix NK100 Customer Service

Established over 40 years ago, in 1973, the Winix company is truly an expert in the air purifier industry. It has many headquarters, not only in South Korea but also in both the U.S and Europe. You can reach its customer service from 9 a.m to 5 p.m, Monday through Friday, via phone or email. If you have trouble calling its service, you can email Winix America at info@winixinc.com.

On its official website, the company is selling both new and certified refurbished air purifiers, of course with free shipping in the U.S only. The Winix limited warranty is two years for most of its products. During the warranty period, Winix will repair or replace the product if it fails because of a defect in material or workmanship, as determined by Winix. Remember that this warranty will be null and void if the product is used for purposes other than home, consumer purposes.

Our verdict

That’s it, the Winix NK100 is a decent air purifier, with a progressive smart design. But other elements of this air purifier are not so special, especially when it is a mid-range device. I believe that you should upgrade $20 for a better Winix NK105 or Winix QS.

And you can’t buy the Winix NK100 anymore, because it was discontinued. However, you have the Winix AM90 with the same great performance and much better features.