Hi everyone,
I’ve been getting many requests to review the Awair units, and I’m wondering if it’s time for me to take a look. They’re quite pricey and cost a lot to ship here (which is why I haven’t yet taken a look!), but considering the attention they get, I think it could be a good time to review them.
Please let me know if you would be interested so I can judge your interest!
The Element appears to be the only consumer-focused device from Awair, and it retails for $209. While pricey, it’s significantly cheaper than the ‘premium’ monitors from AirThings and IQAir (the full reviews of which can be found below):
As per this fantastic teardown, it looks like the Awair Element uses these sensors:
CO2 - Telaire T6703–5K
PM - Honeywell HPM series sensor
VOC - Not known
At first glance, what strikes me is the accuracy of the PM sensor and also the CO2 sensor. The CO2 sensor has a stated accuracy of ± 75 ppm or 10% of reading, whichever is greater. At this price point, I would expect a sensor with a ± 30 ppm ± 3% - ± 50 ppm ± 5%. Admittedly, ± 50 ppm ± 5% would prove similarly accurate or even less so in some cases than 75 ppm, but at higher concentrations, 10% is a large variance in readings.
When it comes to the PM sensor, I am used to seeing sensors such as the SPS30 from Sensirion, which have a stated accuracy of ± 10% and are in a similar price range. The Honeywell sensor in the Awair Element, however, has a stated accuracy of ± 15%. Again, there is not a big difference in most cases, but at this price, I would expect slightly better. However, there may be some advantages to these sensors that are hard to identify without a hands-on!
On that note, I must admit that I think this is one of the best-looking air quality monitors out there. I love the vent with the LEDs that from a screen and I would love to see how this performs in real life!