Ongoing lockdowns are causing people to stay indoors more than ever, which means opening windows and/or going for walks (if you can) is so vital. Even without lockdowns, being stuck at home is a reality for a lot of people such as office workers and seniors who may not be able to open windows regularly because of mobility issues or because they live on a really polluted road. If you cannot get clean fresh air regularly, getting an air purifier such as the Zigma Aerio 300 is a good alternative.
The Zigma Aerio 300 does everything you could want from an air purifier, including getting rid of smells and, you can even use it you dry clothes. The outer shell (including the base) is made of hard plastic with a smooth matte finish. The edges and corners are rounded and they unit has an automatic cut off feature that powers off the motor and UVC when the front panel is unclipped, making the unit child friendly.
The Zigma Aerio 300 uses a filtration system that consists of a three stage filter cartridge that contains a pre-filter for large particles (e.g pet hair), a H13 hepa filter for smaller particles (up to 0.3 microns) and an activated carbon filter for removing odours, gases, smoke. The fourth stage of filtration is ultraviolet irradiation via a strong UVC light (200-275nm) that kills pathogens (germs, mold, mildew, etc). Zigma sells replacements for the H13 filter on their website. The stock filter weighs 492 grams and measures 34.5cm long, 28.5cm wide and 4.5cm thick.
The fifth stage of filtration is negative ion generation. During the UVC irradiation, the Zigma Aerio 300 air purifier releases negative ions, just like a negative ion generator (air ioniser) and effectively neutralizing "positive" charged pollutants and pathogens by "negatively" charging them. This is, basically, how a negative ion generator works, although most negative ion generators do not use UVC lamps or filters, making them cheaper to run.
The only downside to negative ion generators it's that they don't get rid of smells; whereas the Zigma Aerio 300 does, thanks to the carbon filtration media. It's worth noting though, the negative ion generation and UVC irradiation feature in the Aerio 300 works simultaneously; hence they cannot be operated independently. Also, the UVC light bulb will need replacing at some point in the future, although maintenance is not required. The UVC light bulb is not user replaceable.
Three quarters of the front panel (air inlet) is perforated with irregular shape cutouts designed to allow the 36-watt extractor motor to inhale and exhale large volumes of clean air (up to 330m³/h). The Zigma Aerio 300 air purifier can clean up the air inside a 1500 square foot (140 square meter) room within 60 minutes and without making too much noise (50dB).
The only downside to negative ion generators it's that they don't get rid of smells; whereas the Zigma Aerio 300 does, thanks to the carbon filtration media. It's worth noting though, the negative ion generation and UVC irradiation feature in the Aerio 300 works simultaneously; hence they cannot be operated independently. Also, the UVC light bulb will need replacing at some point in the future, although maintenance is not required. The UVC light bulb is not user replaceable.
Three quarters of the front panel (air inlet) is perforated with irregular shape cutouts designed to allow the 36-watt extractor motor to inhale and exhale large volumes of clean air (up to 330m³/h). The Zigma Aerio 300 air purifier can clean up the air inside a 1500 square foot (140 square meter) room within 60 minutes and without making too much noise (50dB).
The front panel detaches magnetically from the main body by simply pulling, giving you access into the filter compartment. According to the user guide, the filter lifespan is up to 9 months. This will, naturally, depend on how often you use the Zigma Aerio 300 air purifier and the level of pollution.
The Aerio 300 air outlet is located on top of the unit next to the control panel, which features three physical buttons, including the on/off button that controls the fan speeds. You can cycle from low speed (1), medium speed (2), high speed (3), off and auto mode, which automatically regulates fan speed according to the air quality. Auto mode will also switch on/off negative ion/UVC automatically when needed.
The Aerio 300 air outlet is located on top of the unit next to the control panel, which features three physical buttons, including the on/off button that controls the fan speeds. You can cycle from low speed (1), medium speed (2), high speed (3), off and auto mode, which automatically regulates fan speed according to the air quality. Auto mode will also switch on/off negative ion/UVC automatically when needed.
The on/off button has a status led ring around it that will blink red when the filter needs replacing. The led ring also lights up to indicate current air quality: blue (excellent), green (good), yellow (mild) and red (bad). There are four additional status lights for the Wifi, fan speed, sleep/stand-by and negative ion/UVC. All buttons are physical and have a clicky actuation, including the sleep/child lock button and the negative ion/UVC button, which also doubles as a reset button when installing a new filter.
On the side of the Aerio 300, there are two small hole openings for the PM2.5 air quality infrared sensor, which detects fine particulate matter that is 2.5 microns or smaller in diameter. The PM2.5 air quality sensor cannot be replaced. In terms of dimensions, the Zigma Aerio 300 is a large and bulky air purifier, measuring 50cm high, 35cm wide and 22cm deep. There aren't any wheels on the base to push the air purifier, although it's not excessively heavy, weighing just 6kg.
The Zigma Aerio 300 air purifier can be operated without the need of software, although there is mobile app support via the Zigma app. The Aerio 300 uses 2.4GHz Wifi hotspot (SMART_DEVICE###) so, the app connects directly to the Aerio 300 rather than to a router.
The Zigma app requires access to the phone's location, as well as an account registration, using your mobile number. Then, it's just a matter of following the on-screen prompts. The air purifier can be paired to the app manually or automatically, using the QR code on the back of the Aerio 300 air purifier. The app is user friendly and has a clean home screen interface, showing at a glance the current air quality index (AQI), filter status and remote controls. The air quality index can also be viewed graphically and the AQI parameters can be changed.
From the Zigma app, you can also setup voice assistant, using a smart speaker (Alexa, Google, DuerOS, XiaoAi or Tmall Genie), as well as share the device and schedule operation so, you can set a time/day, fan mode (e.g. auto mode) and enable or disable negative ion/UVC. The Aerio 300 runs on mains electricity so, it comes with a power cable that is 1.5 meters long and has a 2 pin EU plug. You can buy the Aerio 300 air purifier from Zigma.
