Coway AP1512HH air purifier review

Editor's note: This product is in the process of being tested.

If you’re searching for a portable air purifier, the Coway AP1512HH Air Purifier should be high up on your wishlist. This small device hardly takes up any room in your home compared to some of the other best air purifiers. However, it still does a good job at tackling pollutants such as pollen, smoke, and odors by passing them through four different filters. 

It may not perform quite as well as other purifiers when it comes to the Clean Air Delivery Rate (CADR), but what you do get are savings on your monthly energy bill because the model only uses 77 W when it’s running full-out.

Weighing just 12.3 lbs, this is also an air purifier that can be easily transported from room to room - or home to home, if you frequently visit family and friends. It’s nowhere near as clunky as other air purifiers, so while it might not have the sleek, modern appearance that other high-end purifiers have, it’s so small that it can easily be tucked into a corner and out of sight. 

The Coway AP1512HH Air Purifier makes use of four filters, including a HEPA filter, carbon filter, pre-filter, and bipolar ionizer, meaning that it's more than capable of handling common allergens such as dust, hair, and dirt. ​As it covers up to 361 square foot, it’s particularly well-suited to smaller rooms such as bathrooms or bedrooms, where it can filter the air at a rate of up to four times per hour.

Coway AP1512HH: Features

The Coway is designed to clean air in small rooms, yet it compares well with purifiers designed for midsize rooms. This air purifier can effectively clean the air in rooms up to 360 square feet, but it loses much of its efficiency in larger spaces. It doesn't have the best CADR scores of the purifiers we reviewed, but it still is fully capable of reducing the indoor pollutants in your home without much issue.

The Coway uses a four-stage filtration process to effectively clean the air in your room. The washable pre-filter captures large particles like hair and dust, meaning you don't have to replace the more effective filters as often. Next, the carbon filter does a decent job of removing odors, though some users have noted it doesn't remove strong odors quickly. 

The True HEPA filter captures the smallest particles, ranging from very fine smoke particulates to larger pollen particles. Finally, the optional ionizer charges outgoing air for easier capture on the next pass. 

It's important to note that ionizers have been scrutinized and sometimes labeled as a health concern because they do produce trace amounts of ozone. If you don't want to worry about breathing very small amounts of ozone, this Coway air cleaner allows you to turn the feature off completely.

Although this Coway air purifier comes with a number of great features, it doesn't have the most impressive clean air delivery rates. The Coway's CADR scores are just under the average scores of the air purifiers we reviewed, meaning it is less effective at removing indoor pollutants than those machines with the best scores.

However, the Coway AP-1512HH is still more than capable of cleaning your indoor air. This air purifier can make four air changes an hour, which means all the air in the room is pushed through the machine and its filters every 15 minutes. Like all the air purifiers we reviewed, this Coway cleaner uses HEPA filters, which are specifically designed to catch some of the smallest particulates.

The Coway does not have a sleep or quiet mode that you can use specifically at night to clean the air in your room without disturbing your sleep. However, it does have an auto mode that senses the air quality in the room and adjusts the settings to maximize the effectiveness of the machine.

Coway AP1512HH: Performance

One of the best elements of this air cleaner is its small, lightweight design. While some machines are large, bulky and difficult to move around, the Coway AP-1512HH is one of the smallest purifiers we reviewed, allowing you to carry it from room to room as you need it. The purifier only weighs 15 pounds, making it the second-lightest machine we found, and includes a handle to help you move it easily. Unlike with some other machines we reviewed, you can carry this air cleaner up a flight of stairs without breaking your back.

You can set an operation timer to control how long the cleaner runs before shutting down. The timer runs for one, four or eight hours at a time. This is a particularly useful feature if you want the machine to run while you are at work or school and not while you're home. At the Coway's highest setting, it only produces 58 dB, meaning it is not too loud. For comparison, a whisper measures around 30 dB, while a telephone dial reaches about 80 dB. Even if you do run the purifier while you're home, the noise shouldn't be too noticeable.

The purifier also includes a filter monitor to let you know when you need to replace the HEPA filters. This is particularly useful, as you want to make sure you replace those filters routinely to retain the maximum cleaning capabilities of the machine. Additionally, the machine includes a pre-filter to capture larger debris such as hair and dust, which extends the life of the more expensive HEPA filters. However, this air cleaner does not include a remote control, which would allow you to operate it without having to get off the couch.

Coway could use some improvements in its customer support offerings. The company does offer a three-year warranty, and its support representatives are available by phone and email. However, we had trouble contacting an actual representative to answer some of our most basic questions. You can download an owner's manual, which is especially helpful if you misplace the physical copy that comes with the machine. Unfortunately, the company lacks a FAQs page or a live chat option. This means you have to find answers to your questions on your own.

Should you buy the Coway AP1512HH?

If you want great air quality without the high energy costs, the Coway AP-1512HH air purifier should most definitely be on your radar. With a four-stage filtration process that only uses up to 77 W when it’s running at full steam, it’s easy to see why the Coway air purifier has been afforded an Energy Star certification - we reckon the annual cost to run the device should be approximately $27 per month.

It provides some great coverage, especially for rooms that are midsized. However, one of the best bits about the Coway AP-1512HH air purifier, aside from its energy-saving disposition, is that the purifier is one the smallest out there, and it’s so lightweight that it’s easy to move it from room to room. The main downside? Its CADR scores are slightly lower than other air purifier models, meaning it’s not the most efficient purifier on the market.

If this product isn't for you

You might be trying to figure out how to deal with all the pet hair and odors your dog or cat leaves around your home. If so, the Winix HR900 Ultimate Pet Air Purifier provides a more targeted response against pet dander, hair, and odors by using an intense four-step purification method. 

Searching for an air purifier that can handle larger spaces, such as living rooms and kitchens? The Molekule Air is a high-tech purifier that can handle spaces of up to 600 square feet, and its Photo Electrochemical Oxidation method is a powerful way of breaking down pollutants.

As for an all-rounder that has customizable options so that you can target germs, toxins, pet dander, and odors all at once, take a look at the Rabbit Air MinusA2. This is our top pick due to its high performance, five-year warranty, and coverage of spaces as large as 815 square feet.