Winix U450 Air Purifier: Trusted Review & Specs

With the next-gen 5-stage air cleaning system, the Winix U450 (Winix WACU450) is not a budget air purifier anymore. It is currently the most powerful air purifier of the Signature Series, and also the most powerful mid-range air purifier to date. So, what could you expect from our Winix U450 Review. Let’s find out.

The Winix U450 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.

Winix U450 ranks B in our air purifier ranking list. We give the biggest and most thorough database of air purifier reviews in the world.

In Breathe Quality, we have reviewed all air purifiers under these sections. Also, we guarantee that:

• We provide honest reviews (both pros and cons) so that everyone can make the best decisions.
• We do not (and never will) exaggerate one product just to let you click the links and buy that product blindly.

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Winix is, again, ready to end the series of Signature air purifiers with the Winix U450, the equivalent of the Winix P450 in the old FresHome family. Apart from the apparent increase in size, the Winix PU50 must follow the core of the Winix U300 since beginning. Quick fact: the Winix U450 is just the next upgrade for the Winix P450, and is a bigger version of the Winix U300. So, do you need this air purifier? Let’s read our Winix U450 Review first.

Winix U450 Price

Winix took a major leap in its fight against the native air purifier brands in the U.S market with the series of FresHome and PlasmaWave families many years ago, with some very competent air purifiers like the Winix P150, Winix 5300-2, Winix 5500-2 and Winix C535. The Signature Series is a masterstroke when Winix shifts focus to mid-range market, but need the adequate quality to meet the more complicated requirements.

Like the Winix U300, the Winix U450 is rather well for the asking price of $299, featuring a totally new air filtration system with only the cost of the old devices with lesser specs like the Winix C545 and Winix HR900. However the Winix U450 has been discontinued. The latest Winix 9800 and Winix C909 are better alternatives.

So to say, the Winix U450 is the best air purifier in the range of $300 at the moment. Apart from the already famous Winix army, other air purifier brands in the same price range are quite lacking interest, like the Oransi Finn, Medify MA-40 or Sharp FP-F60UW. However, don’t forget that there are still many air purifiers with smart features in this price range, and if you feel in need of a modern air purifier, you should have your eyes on the Levoit Core 600S, Airmega 250 and Honeywell HPA250B right now.

We also notice the presence of the Dyson Pure Cool Tower and Dyson Pure Cool Link Desk in the same price range. These air purifiers, besides the True HEPA filter, are having an amazing cooling fan power to help you survive the summer time. The Dyson Pure Hot+Cool, with a little bit higher cost, will come with the heating power as well.

But if you settle on the Winix U450, I am happy to give you a great deal, to further decrease the price of this air purifier.

Related post: Best air purifier 2023.

Winix U450 Design and Size

The Winix U450 looks… totally similar to the old Winix P450. From the design concept of lean-on-top digital control panel, the front plate to hide the air grill, and of course, even the size is the same. Look at the dimension of this Winix U450, it is still the same with 25.6 inches in height and 17.3 inches in width. I bet you can tell the difference between the two model, unless you notice the change in the logo on front of the Winix U450.

Just a couple of years ago, even native air purifier brands like the Honeywell and Austin Air tried to keep the same appearance for their air purifiers, only change the size to hint the actual room coverage. While it helps you easily tell one air purifier from a specific brand, it is really boring to have a similar air purifier over and over again. It doesn’t work that way for the Winix, as it still prefers to change the appearance a lot of time, as you can see from different products like the Winix 6300-2, Winix WAC9500, Winix HR950 or Winix QS. They are all different, and if you don’t have much experience, you won’t know that they are all from the same company.

That being said, the Winix U450 still sports the same bottom-to-top airflow system concept just like, actually, all other Winix air purifiers. The digital control panel, as a result, stays the same as the previous Winix U300 as below.

Source: WinixAmerica.com

Winix U450 weighs 19.4 lbs, and with only one inconvenient handle, it will be a more difficult task to move this air purifier around your home.

Related post: Best air purifiers for bedroom.

Winix U450 Filters

You need to know that the 5-stage air cleaning system is currently the most powerful air filtration technology for mid-range of the Korean brand. And just like the predecessor in Signature Series, the Winix U450 does an excellent job at keeping your indoor air quality as healthy as possible.

1. Pre-filter – The polluted air must pass through a pre-filter. This pre-filter will help capture the large objects of contaminants, such as pet hair and even some kinds of pet dander. This filter can be washable to work permanently.
2. CleanCell Anti-Bacterial Treatment – Though this is not a physical filter, the treatment also provides a layer of protection to your air quality.
3. True HEPA filter – The True HEPA Filter that captures 99.97% of down to 0.3 microns allergens, virus particles, pollen, mold and fungi particles.
4. Activated Carbon filter – Made of high-grade granular activated carbon, this Activated Carbon filter will eliminate odors and smokes, also reduce the common household chemicals.
5. Winix PlasmaWave – This technology is one kind of ionizer, which can further reduce the amount of pollutants. Can be switched on/off.

With moderate to heavy usage, you can easily feel the difference in your home while using the Winix U450. First, the Winix U450 uses a real washable pre-filter that can effectively traps large particles such as pet hair, lint, dust and fibers. The filter cassette has a mesh shield to improve the performance and significantly inhibit the growth of impurities on surface of HEPA filter. Moreover, the innovative CleanCell antimicrobial treatment of Winix covers the pre-filter, to reduce the development of bacteria, fungi, mildew, molds and dust mites.

We also have the combination of both True HEPA filter and a premium quality carbon filter to adsorbing and neutralizing strong odors caused by ammonia, and bacteria. The Activated Carbon filter can last for 1 year with regular washing. Meanwhile, the True HEPA filter is the UL listed HEPA filter to deal with 99.97% of as small as 0.3 microns particles.

The last but not least, Winix U450 makes use of the powerful patented PlasmaWave technology. This treatment can remove airborne viruses, chemical vapors, gases, and remaining odors by naturally forming hydroxyls to neutralize the pollutants at the molecular level, and turn them into the water.

Just like the old Winix P450, testing the Winix U450 with others in the same price range proves unnecessary, as the Winix U450 is truly a beast in the room coverage of 250 square feet. As you can see in the chart below, the Winix U450 performed a high efficiency of 99.97% for trapping any particles down to 0.3 microns. Meanwhile, the Oransi OV200 was only 99%, and the Alen BreatheSmart FLEX was even lower with 94%. Even the air purifiers from giant multinational corporation can only achieve 99.8%, just like the Philips 2000i or Sharp FP-F50UW.

The Winix U450 will use the latest filter F from this brand, which costs you $139. For a HEPA filter that only lasts for 1 year, the air filter cost is too high to handle. The Winix P450 costs you only $89, while others like the Whirlpool WP1000 or Levoit LV-H133 cost you $94 and $84, respectively.

Related post: Best air purifiers for allergies.

Winix U450 Room Coverage

Again, the Winix U450, as its name implies, is able to deal with a room of 450 square feet. The CADR rating of this air purifier is also the highest of the brand in mid-range tier. It is similar to the powerful air purifier of America like Whirlpool WPPRO2000 or Honeywell HPA300.

The ACH of Winix U450 is 4X. Even for a large room air purifier like the Winix U450, it still exchanges the air in the room every 15 minutes.

The CADR of Winix PU50 is 298 Dust/ 291 Smoke/ 343 Pollen (cfm). This could easily be the highest CADR rating for an air purifier in low to mid-range budget of Winix. If you demand an air purifier with such great CADR rating, you should look for the Sharp FP-A80UW or Blue Pure 121.

Related post: Best large room air purifiers.

Winix U450 Sound

Winix might have continued the trend to make air purifier with silent operation since the Winix P150 and Winix P300, so we can expect the Winix U450 to have a smooth operation for the fan power.

Once again, we are looking at an air purifier with the noise level of only 28 decibels (dB). For an air purifier with only 4 fan speed like the Winix U450, it is the very great noise level.

Winix is an air purifier brand with fame in making low noise level air purifiers. Even with a much more fan power, this company improves the fan to reduce the noise level as low as possible. This is also the effort Winix tries to do to reduce the ozone emission from its PlasmaWave technology.

So to say, the Winix U450 is a great air purifier for the large bedroom, or the office.

Related post: Best air purifiers for baby.

Winix U450 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.

High power consumption was the biggest issue with the early products of Winix, and the Winix U450 is not an exception. As the result, the Winix U450 has a high power consumption of 110 watts. The lowest setting of Winix U450 is only 11 watts, so you need to turn the Auto Mode on to keep the fan speed mainly on low speed. For an Energy Star rating air purifier, the highest power consumption is still lower than the 130-watt Honeywell HPA300.

For using the Winix U450 8 hours per day, it would cost you $0.4 to $40 per year, depending on the most-used fan power.

Related post: Best air purifiers for pets.

Winix U450 Additional Features

In terms of additional features, the Winix U450 is exactly the same as the Winix P450. There is a Smart Sensor to help this air purifier detect the change in your indoor air quality. Then you can set the Auto Mode on to automatically adjust the fan power to match the current indoor air quality. This is an important feature, but is more and more common due to the existence of this mode in even the low-budget devices like the SilverOnyx, AeraMax 100 or Coway AP-1216L.

Source: WinixAmerica.com

Winix U450 can easily be controlled by the remote when you are far from this air purifier (only 20 ft from the air purifier). Moreover, when in the Auto Mode, this air purifier activates the light sensor, which can detect the amount of ambient light in the environment and automatically dims the control panel light and changes the fan speed to low.

And finally, you still have the LED indicator for filter replacement in this Winix U450.

Related posts:

1, Best air purifiers for smoke.

2, Best air purifiers for dust.

3, Best air purifiers for mold.

Winix U450 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

With a good price for the new 5-stage air filtration system, the Winix U450 is the most popular choice to buy from this brand, especially when it has higher CADR rating than its brothers, like the Winix WAC9500, or Winix HR950.

The Winix U450 has been discontinued, along with its brother. However, you have the Winix AM90 with the same great performance and much better features.