I tested an affordable alternative to Dyson's all-in-one fan, heater and air purifier and was seriously impressed

The Vortex Air Cleanse, RRP £179.99, is a fan and air purifier hybrid. This means when switched on, the air it’s fanning you with has been forced through a filter to remove airborne nasties such as pollution, pet dander and other allergens. As well as blowing air out, it can warm the air too on the heat settings, meaning you can use it in cooler months too.

Like many of the best air purifiers, the Vortex Air Cleanse has various settings, such as fan speeds and a sleep function, so you can leave it on while you sleep, and it will automatically switch off. It’s also pretty quiet, even on the highest setting while oscillating – which it can do through 70 degrees.

I am an experienced product reviewer and have tested almost everything but kitchen sinks at this point (but I have done boiling-water taps!). When testing, I’m always looking at the quality of a product versus functionality and price, and it was no different when I tested the Vortex Air Cleanse fan. I set up the fan in my four-bedroom house and moved it between rooms to see how it performed in different room settings. Close attention was paid to elements such as energy efficiency, noise, cooling capabilities and how easy it was to operate.

In a nutshell

A decent fan that offers air purification and heating as well as cooling functionality. While not quite as mighty as the Dyson hot+cool, it’s a lot cheaper, too. I rated it for its cooling capabilities and its energy efficiency.

Specifications

• Speed settings: 1 - 10
• Oscillation: 70 degrees
• Noise levels: 35-51dB
• Filter type: H13 HEPA filtration system
• Dimensions: 85.5cm x 26.5cm x 16cm
• Weight: 5.67kg
• Wattage: 35W cooling to 1950W heating
• Other functions: heating, air purification, sleep timer
• Remote control: Yes

How I tested

Zoë Phillimore

I spent two weeks testing the Vortex Air Cleanse, investigating whether it’s worth the price tag and if I’d genuinely give it the Ideal Home seal of approval. This meant paying close attention to the quality of the product and how it looked in my home, as well as how easy it was to operate (and how easy other people might find it to operate). I was understandably keen to see how efficient it was at cooling my home, but I also paid close attention to how energy efficient it was, too. I moved the fan from my large open-plan living room/dining room and into my good-sized double bedroom too. I worked with it on (even on chillier days - the life of a product reviewer) to see how much the noise distracted me.

I’m Zoë, a writer and product reviewer who helps the Ideal Home team test out all manner of products to bring you our top recommendations. I also regularly review products for the IndyBest and The Guardian, and have worked for the BBC, STYLIST, Marie Claire, heat, Wallpaper*, InStyle, The Sunday Times Style, Evening Standard, British GQ and many more. When I’m not putting products through their paces, I can be found outdoors staring at nature or on my search for the UK’s best hot chocolate.

Unboxing and setting up

The Vortex came in a brown cardboard box. I was able to carry it upstairs without too much effort, so it’s relatively lightweight. Inside it was encased in styrofoam, and then everything was inside plastic packaging too.

This was a shame from an eco point of view, as styrofoam is hard to recycle for many of us, as it’s not normally accepted in roadside collections. The quality of the packaging didn’t blow me away, but the fan itself looked smart. On reading the instructions, there are quite a lot of spelling errors in them, which admittedly doesn’t fill me with confidence.

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Design

The Vortex Air Cleanse is pretty silent, so great for when you’re working or sleeping or watching TV. It’s also an air purifier, so allergy sufferers in particular will hopefully see the benefit of this.

It looks very similar to the Dyson hot+cool (which I’ve also had hands-on experience with), but it’s a good bit cheaper, so bargain hunters will love it. And because it’s blade-free, the Vortex is great for families and pet owners too.

Performance

I found the Vortex Air Cleanse easy to use. Plug it in, press the button on the unit, and you can then control it using the remote or the buttons on the unit. The buttons on the unit are silver on a white background, so if you have a visual impairment, these might be hard to see. On the remote, I found these weren’t as initiative as I’d have liked with the time and speed functions – there are instructions to explain what each button does though.

Personally, I always like having a long flex on electricals – it allows me to be flexible on where I place devices around the room. On the Vortex, I would have liked the flex to be a bit longer, as I want to have the fan close to the foot of my bed in summer. You can, of course, use an extension cable if needs be.

Air purification

Vortex claims ‘the advanced H13 HEPA filtration system captures 99.97% of airborne contaminants, including allergens, mould spores, dust and bacteria.’ On many air purifiers, you can see the air quality through smart features and an app on your phone. The Vortex doesn’t offer this functionality. You just have to trust it’s cleaning the air.

Robust hot and cold air

Vortex is designed for both cooling air and warm air. I was really impressed by the performance of this bladeless fan. It cooled the air around it effectively, even on a lower fan speed (there are 10). I noticed cooler air immediately when the cool function. I also tested the warm air, and this was just as good, blasting warm air immediately around my large bedroom.

Smooth, 70-degree oscillation

I have suffered the groaning churn of a tired fan as it oscillates to cool the whole room, but that wasn’t the case with the Vortex. It was absolutely silent as it turned 70 degrees. I found the oscillation range more than enough to cool a large bedroom.

Timing function

You can set the Vortex to turn off after a set number of hours. The number of hours is displayed on the small LED screen on the base of the fan, so you know what you’ve selected. You can set it to be on for 1-9 hours, so you can decide how long to have it on while you sleep. This is a handy feature that allowed me to sleep soundly knowing the fan would eventually switch off.

Noise levels

The Vortex claims to offer ultra-quiet functionality, and that’s definitely something I noticed during testing. It’s very quiet, even at the highest fan speed.

At 10, it is no louder than the rain outside your window, and the white noise is actually quite soothing - especially if you’re going to sleep. I could easily have it next to me and watch TV or participate in a Teams call without the fan distracting me.

Cleaning and maintenance

I was sent a sample in white, but the Vortex Air Cleanse comes in eight different colourways – some are going to hide the dust better than others. The white version was easy to keep clean – it’s fairly smooth with no blades, so a quick wipe down with the duster was all it took.

The fan draws in air through the base and filters it here before blasting it out of the oval at the top. This means the filters in the base need to be replaced every 3-6 months – they can’t be cleaned. These are £17.99 on the Vortex website plus £1.99 shipping at the time of writing.

Energy use

At 34w for cooling, this fan costs as little as 9p to run for nine hours. However, when heating this goes up to 1,950W, which would set you back £4.75 for nine hours – you might find more efficient ways to heat your space.

How does it rate online?

Allergy sufferers seem to really rate the Vortex Air Cleanse, saying it eased the symptoms of their allergies considerably. Others have noted that there’s no real way to tell if the air purification is working.

A few people are pointing out that you can’t have air purification on without the fan working. Like me, many people are impressed with how quiet the fan is during operation.

How does it compare to similar models and its predecessors?

As I mentioned above, I’ve tested the Dyson Hot+Cool Gen1, RRP £549.99, before, which is very similar to the Vortex Air Cleanse in that they both heat, cool and purify air. The Vortex is more lightweight in a few ways, though: cost, functionality and literal weight.

The Dyson actively shows how much “bad stuff” it’s cleaning out of the air, which offers reassurance – and yes, a certain degree of smugness. However, it’s £550, which I am not convinced is worth it to feel smug. The Vortex is also perhaps a little less robust, yet they both weigh around the same amount. This doesn’t bother me, but if you have kids kicking footballs around the house or a dog who gets the zoomies, you might feel a bit on edge with them being around the Vortex.

On the other end of the spectrum, I have a Dimplex DXMBCF Mont Blanc Cooling Fan, £84.99. This offers just fan capabilities and is slightly cheaper than the Vortex. It’s probably on par with the power of the Vortex, but it doesn’t come close to the quality of the build, and nor does it offer heating or air purification.

Should you buy the Vortex Air Cleanse?

I would recommend the Vortex Air Cleanse as a purchase if you want the dual functionality of air purification and cooling/heating the air, too. It’s a great, energy-efficient fan that’s really reasonably priced.