This Levoit air purifier senses air changes in seconds – and I'm recommending it to all my friends

The Levoit Core 600S, RRP £299.99 at Amazon, might just be the best air purifier for you if you want a smart workhorse of an air purifier that can boost your home’s clean air on a daily basis. With an ultra-efficient True HEPA filter system and plenty of smart features, including a handy app, the 600S promises to tackle allergens, smoke, odours and other airborne nasties in large spaces. I tested it over two weeks in a real family home with pets, subjecting it to dust, smoke, and cooking smells, among other everyday pollutants, to see how well it performed.

It didn't disappoint! I’ve tested dozens of premium air purifiers over the past five years, and I can confidently say that the Levoit is one of the most powerful air purifiers on the market, despite being more affordable than many big brand offerings. It might be a bit of a beast in terms of size, but its no-fuss setup, ease of use, and reliability in performance make it one of the best air purifiers for any home. Here’s why.

In a nutshell

The Levoit Core 600S might not be the smallest or most stylish air purifier in an increasingly large and innovative market, but in my considered opinion, it delivers impressive results.

I tested it over a couple of weeks in my large, open-plan living and dining room, bedroom and galley-style, busy kitchen. It quickly cleared the air after all my toughest tests, including cooking fried food, lighting matches, spraying deodorant and releasing vacuum dust. It also dealt swiftly with, ahem, pet gas and other everyday odours.

Its three-stage True HEPA filter traps particles as small as 0.3 microns, and it has a dedicated carbon filter to neutralise VOCs and lingering smells. The auto mode and laser dust sensor make it a ‘set and forget’ appliance, automatically adjusting the fan speed based on real-time air quality, which is also displayed for you at any time.

Despite its size, the Levoit Core 600S is surprisingly quiet and can blend into most modern homes’ aesthetic. Even on its highest setting, it stayed below 50 decibels - about the same as background music. Add in app and voice control via Alexa or Google Assistant, and it’s a dream for smart home fans.

Specifications

• Recommended room size: Up to 294m²
• Air change per hour: 5 (in a 60m² space)
• CADR (Clean Air Delivery Rate): 410 CFM (697 m³/h)
• Noise levels: 23-50dB
• Filter type: True HEPA and activated carbon plus pre-filter
• Dimensions: H60 cm x W31.3 cm x D31.3 cm
• Weight: 6.3kg
• Wattage: 66W
• Smart App connectivity: Yes
• Timer: Yes
• Auto mode: Yes

How I tested

Joanne Lewsley

I’m Joanne, a freelance writer for Ideal Home. I regularly test air quality appliances and other cleaning products for UK and US websites, putting them through their paces in a natural home environment for reviews.

I tested the Levoit Core 600S Air Purifier for a few weeks in my three-bedroom home in Norwich, which I share with my family, a Golden Retriever, and a long-haired cat. Having tested dozens of air purifiers over the last five years and a fair few models from Levoit, I was excited to try out their big beast - the 600S.

Unboxing and setting up

The Levoit Core 600S comes in a sturdy cardboard box with a mix of recyclable cardboard packaging and plastic bags, which may or may not be recyclable, depending on where you live. Also in the box is the pre-installed filter, a user manual that is clear and straightforward (and also available online in case you lose it), and a quick start guide.

Once you’ve unpacked the purifier, the first thing you've to do, as with all Levoit purifiers and many other brands, is to remove the filter from inside the appliance, discard the plastic wrapping, and reinsert it.

This is super easy; simply twist the top half of the air purifier anticlockwise and lift it off to remove the filter. Remove the plastic wrapping and reinsert it, resecuring the top half. Once that’s done, it’s ready to plug in and start playing with.

Image 1 of 2

What you notice right away is how substantial the 600s feels. It’s not a small machine, but it doesn’t feel clunky or industrial either. Setup is genuinely easy, especially connecting it to the VeSync app.

I just scanned the QR code, followed a couple of steps, and within minutes, I was monitoring real-time air quality data and playing with multiple settings from my phone. For something this powerful, it’s surprisingly beginner-friendly.

Design

While it’s fairly large, the Levoit Core 600S does quite a good job of blending into the background of a modern family home. It’s sleek and semi-cylindrical, featuring a perforated base, soft, rounded corners, and a matte white finish that makes it look more stylish than your average air purifier.

For most of the time during testing, I tucked mine into the corner of my open-plan living room between a chair and a coffee table, and it didn’t catch the eye too much or feel like an unnecessary distraction from my decor, although it might stand out a little more if you have a more traditional or bohemian feel to your home. If I were to give it a permanent spot, I'd probably tuck it behind the coffee table next to the wall, allowing enough space for air to circulate.

It's big, though - at 60 cm tall - it’s not ideal for small bedrooms or tight flats unless you’ve got the floor space to spare. It’s also not suitable for shelving or bedside tables, which might put some people off.

I had to move a few items of furniture to ensure it had the recommended clearance of 38 cm on all sides, so it’s worth measuring your available space before committing to buy it.

I really liked the design of the touch-sensitive control panel, which is at the top of the unit. It features an attractive ‘wheel’ design with multiple air outlets, including a power button, display lock, auto mode, and fan speed controls. You can also see WiFi connectivity, filter status and real-time air quality.

The digital display shows the number of 2.5-micron particulates in your home’s indoor air at any given time, which is a great way to check how well the 600s is coping with pollutants and other airborne contaminants. It’s intuitive and easy to read, featuring soft-touch buttons and a glowing LED ring that gave me an instant visual cue about my air quality in real-time, glowing red for warning and green for good to go.

I also like the fact that the 600s is designed in such a way that air is pushed out through the top in a vertical flow, which avoids the chilly breeze some purifiers give off and (I think) helps distribute clean air across the room more evenly.

If you’re after a more compact design but you appreciate the technology and features that Levoit offers, you could plump for the smaller, more desktop-friendly Levoit 300S Air Purifier, which stands just 36cm tall, almost half the height of the 600S. Or you might like a model that doesn’t look like an air purifier at all, in which case you may prefer the much sleeker and stylish Dupray Bloom Air Purifier, which can be used as a planter and a side table, as well as an air purifier!

Performance

According to Levoit, this unit can purify up to 294m² in just 12 minutes—and based on my experience, I’d say that’s more than realistic. I put the Levoit Core 600S through its paces using the same series of tests we regularly carry out on air purifiers here at Ideal Home. I also assessed its day-to-day performance in a busy family home with long-haired pets.

First up, the fried food test. My partner whipped up a batch of beef brisket chunks, complete with chilli and spices. It wasn’t long before the air was thick with strong cooking odours and the smart sensor maxed out at 999 for PM2.5 particles — the highest reading it can register.

Within moments, the purifier detected the spike and automatically increased its fan speed to its maximum setting. Once the frying was finished, I timed how long it took the 600S to restore the air to a healthy level. I was genuinely impressed — it took just six minutes for the display to shift from red (bad) to green (good), and the lingering food smells vanished almost as quickly.

Next came the deodorant test. I closed all the windows and doors in a bedroom, sprayed a generous amount of deodorant, and waited to see how the purifier would respond.

Within seconds, it identified the surge in airborne particles and kicked into high fan speed. Air quality returned to a moderate level in about 2.5 minutes and reached a green “good” rating within 4.5 minutes.

Next, the match test. I lit two matches, blew them out near the purifier, and tracked its response. After 40 seconds, the sensor flagged poor air quality. It took just under five minutes to return to moderate levels, and a further 2.5 minutes to achieve a green “good” rating again.

The last test involved emptying a dust cup from my vacuum next to the air purifier to see if it would trigger an air quality warning and increase fan speeds. It did not, however, I think that might be to do with the fact that my Dyson V15s already has a powerful HEPA filter that traps harmful air particles.

While it's not an official test, I also noticed that when my rather large dog passed wind, the Levoit was quick off the mark at identifying it, even before we did (!) and got to work at dispelling those odious odours. Needless to say, this happened quite a lot.

Overall, I was impressed with how speedy the 600S was at identifying problem particles and how fast it worked to rid them from my indoor air.

Ease of use

Despite being a high-spec machine, the Core 600S is refreshingly simple and easy to use. The top control panel is clear and responsive, but I mainly used the Vesync app, which lets you switch modes, adjust fan speed, set schedules, and even check the filter status. However, it has a tendency to be a bit glitchy on occasion, so it's something to watch out for.

The voice assistant compatibility is a nice bonus as well. Once I had linked up with my son’s Alexa, I could just say “turn on the air purifier” without lifting a finger.

The Auto Mode meant I didn’t have to think much about it on a day-to-day basis, either. It would quietly ramp up when needed and settle down once the air cleared. I also liked the Sleep Mode, which dims the lights and drops to near-silent operation at night.

Maintenance is super simple, too. The filters are easy to change, and there’s a helpful reminder in the app when it’s time to replace them (approximately every 6 to 12 months, depending on your usage). I liked that I didn’t need to remember or guess—just tap the app, and it tells you exactly how much life is left in your filter.

You do need to remember to clean the outer filter every 2–4 weeks, though, as this will maintain efficiency and extend the life of your filter. You can clean it using a soft brush or a vacuum hose to remove hair, dust, and any large particles. Don’t clean it with water or any other liquids.

You’ll also need to clean the laser dust sensor every three months by placing your vacuum hose over the sensor openings for around 10 seconds. The manual provides instructions for all necessary maintenance and troubleshooting advice.

Noise levels

For something this powerful, the Core 600S is impressively quiet. On its lowest setting, I could barely hear it running, even sitting right next to it. During Sleep Mode, the hum is a whisper-soft 23 decibels, which didn’t disturb my sleep at all.

On higher settings, especially when Auto Mode ramps up during cooking or heavy cleaning, it becomes noticeably more pronounced. At top speed, the noise level can reach around 50 decibels, comparable to a fan on medium. But it’s not harsh or grating—it’s more of a smooth whooshing sound, which I didn’t find distracting, even while watching TV.

If you’re sensitive to sound, you might notice it during peak performance, but for everyday use, I found it blended into the background easily. I never felt the need to switch it off for peace and quiet.

Portability

Although it’s lighter than it looks, the 6.3kg weight and the larger 31.3 x 31.3 x 60 cm dimensions of the Core 600S mean you’re unlikely to switch it from room to room, and you may need help moving it around if you have mobility issues. However, it does have two built-in handles on either side to make moving around easier.

Energy use

With a maximum draw of 66 watts, the Levoit Core 600S is certainly not an energy guzzler. It costs around 2p per hour to run, which is comparable to the cost of a laptop or an energy-saving light bulb.

Auto mode also helps keep its energy use down, plus it’s Energy Star certified, which should give budget-conscious buyers some reassurance.

This guide on the cost of running an air purifier in the home can help you determine the cost on a weekly, monthly, and yearly basis.

Filter replacement

The Levoit 600S features a single cylindrical HEPA filter with an integrated carbon layer. Levoit claims its filter can last up to 12 months, depending on usage, but you can monitor filter life via the Vesync app.

Replacement filters from Levoit aren’t cheap, costing around £70, but they are easy to swap out — just twist the top off the unit and insert the new one. It’s also possible to buy off-brand filters that are compatible with Levoit devices, but be aware that Levoit states that using off-brand filters could affect both performance and reliability, as well as the status of your warranty.

How does it rate online?

The Core 600S boasts thousands of glowing reviews online, earning a 4.6-star rating out of 5 on Amazon, with 81% of customers giving it a full 5-star rating.

They love its ability to tackle smoke, allergens, and odours, with many noting how noticeably fresher their homes smell. Many even say it reduces bouts of coughing, allergic reactions and illness in their homes, with one user stating, 'Only used it today, and air feels fresher and not coughing anymore. Worth the money, especially as other brands can be twice the amount,' and another noting that 'We use it whenever we have visitors, including when my son visited with his toddler daughter and they both had colds. We did not get their colds!' It’s also widely praised for its quiet operation and the handy app.

There aren’t many negative reviews, but some users find it noisy on the highest fan settings, while others say the app can be a bit glitchy - something I noticed in my testing too. A fair few users also complain that Levoit replacement filters are too expensive.

How does it compare to similar models and predecessors?

Compared to the Core 300S and 400S, the 600S is larger, more powerful, and better suited to open-plan spaces. It also features a more detailed PM2.5 display and enhanced smart sensor technology. While it’s undoubtedly bulkier, I reckon its performance more than makes up for the extra size.

Compared to other brand leaders, such as Blueair or Dyson, I’d say the Core 600S offers similar purification, but at a significantly lower price. While it doesn’t have a cooling fan like Dyson’s models or incorporate a dehumidifier like DryZone or Meaco, the ease of use and sleek design make it a winner for me, plus the affordability makes it more achievable to get cleaner air with a smaller budget.

Verdict: Should you buy the Levoit Core 600S air purifier?

I’ve tested dozens of air purifiers over the last five years and have consistently found that Levoit purifiers deliver on clean air quality. Plus, they’re easy to set up and use, and you can forget they’re even running in the background.

If you’ve got the space, I’d say the Levoit Core 600S is one of the best air purifiers you can buy. It’s ideal for open-plan homes or larger rooms and will suit allergy sufferers, pet owners or anyone living in a polluted area.

If your space or budget is tight, the Core 300S or 400S might be better suited to you, but if you want top-tier performance without breaking the bank, the 600S is a great choice.