For the price, the Zigma Aerio-300 Smart Air Purifier is a solid purchase. While not a perfect device, those looking for an air purifier for a large room will love the smart features offered by this one. It does a good job of cleaning the air, so the internet-connected features don't take away from the device's core functionality.

Key Features
  • Works in larger rooms up to 1580 sq ft
  • Connects to internet for smart features
  • Works with Google Home, Alexa, Siri, and smartphones
  • H13 True HEPA Filter
Specifications
  • Coverage: 1580 ft2
  • Number of Settings: 5
  • Dimensions: 13.78 x 8.66 x 19.29 inches
  • Brand: Zigma
Pros
  • All functionality on smartphone app
  • Relatively quiet on all but highest settings
  • Works in large rooms
  • Built-in PM2.5 sensor to measure air quality
Cons
  • Highest setting is loud
  • Using with Google Home is clunky
Buy This Product
Zigma Aerio-300 Smart Air Purifier

Air purifiers are great to have for most people—and essential if you suffer from allergies. The Zigma Aerio-300 smart air purifier has all the air cleaning features you could want, but it also connects to the internet, so you can control it with your smartphone, Google Home, Alexa, and so on. On top of that, it features a built-in PM2.5 sensor so you can see exactly how clean (or not) your indoor air is, and compare it to the outside world.

Given that it costs about the same as traditional large-room air purifiers without smart features at a $199 price (though it's almost always discounted on Amazon), we think the Zigma Aerio-300 is a solid purchase.

Setting Up the Zigma Aerio-300

When it comes to smart home devices, we generally have to concede that we're willing to exchange a little extra setup process to get a more streamlined experience once that setup process is complete. The Zigma Aerio-300 is no exception, so you will need to spend a few minutes connecting the device to the internet.

Thankfully, the process isn’t too bad. First, you’ll need to download the Zigma app on your mobile device, and then it’ll guide you through the rest of the procedure. Basically, you’ll be creating an account and connecting the air purifier to your Wi-Fi network, so you can control it from your phone or smart home devices.

zigma1

Speaking of smart home gadgets, you will need to link your Zigma account with whatever service you want to use. I use Google Home, so I had to go to the Google Home app on my iPhone, tap the plus in the top corner of the screen, and choose Set up device. From there, follow the process you would for setting up a device that works with Google, and you’ll be able to command the Zigma Aerio-300 to do your bidding through your speakers and other Google Home controllers.

Outside the smart home features, you’ll also need to remove the filter from its plastic bag before you start running the purifier. After all, it won’t do you any good if you’re not actually pulling the air through a filter. Once removed, you’ll set the filter back in its home, plug the air purifier in, and start enjoying cleaner air.

ZigmaFilter

The door covering the filter is held in place with a few small magnets instead of the breakable clips you’ll find on most air purifiers. This makes setting it up easy, and when you need to change the filter, the process is quick, and you don’t need to worry about ruining your purifier trying to rip the filter door from its hinges.

Is the Zigma Aerio-300 Loud?

One of the main features Zigma pushes in the description of the purifier is that it’s quiet, and the device is relatively quiet. I can hear it running over the TV at moderate volume on the highest setting, but it’s not loud enough to be intrusive.

ZigmaControls

However, it’ll also depend on your tolerance for outside noises while watching TV. My girlfriend, for example, asked me to turn it off when I was running it at the highest level while she was watching TV, as she said it was annoying her. If you find that you’re on the sensitive side, you might not want to have it sitting in the same room as your TV; but if you don't mind a little background noise, then it’ll be a non-issue.

Zigma Aerio-300 Filters

The Zigma Aerio-300 comes with an H13 filter out of the box, which is more than powerful enough to capture all the junk in your home. There’s also an H14 filter available on Amazon, which seems to be the only replacement you can get. The H14 filter apparently has a little more capacity, though it doesn’t look much different from the one you get with the purifier.

ZigmaInside

In my testing, the filter did seem to grab plenty of dust and particles from the air. However, according to the app, which provides a rating for the air in your home, my air quality was excellent before I brought in the purifier. Presumably, that’s because my partner is a bit of a plant junkie, so we’ve had all kinds of plants filtering the air for some time.

Even with them, opening the air purifier revealed plenty of pet hair and other nastiness that the Zigma Aerio-300 managed to grab. Obviously, many of the particles are small and hard to see, but there was plenty of visible gunk trapped in the filter, letting me know that the Aerio-300 was doing its job effectively.

ZigmaFilterClose

Another critical factor is the lifespan of the filter. While they’re not too expensive at $60, the less often you need to spend that money, the better. The company recommends changing the filter every 6-8 months or every 2400 hours. We have to take them at their word there, as we tested the purifier for about two weeks, and the filter was still going strong after that time.

If you run the filter liberally, and you need to change it out every six months, you’re looking at a monthly cost of around $10 (two filters per year at $60 each). Of course, that’s not including the electricity to run the purifier, but the smart features will help limit the amount of energy you use to just the amount you need to keep your air clean.

To test the filter and the air purifier overall, I put a scented candle near it for an hour and let it run. I could never smell the candle running near the purifier, even though the candle typically fills my room with fragrance, so the purifier was definitely grabbing the scent, filtering it out, and keeping the room from smelling like the candle.

Using the Smart Home Features

The air purification features work well, but the smart features really make this model worth a look. Between the ability to control it with your other connected devices and the AI controls, there's a lot to love about the Zigma Aerio-300 smart air purifier.

I found controlling the air purifier from my smartphone to be the most efficient way to get things done. Once you've connected everything during the setup process, open the app, tap the air purifier, and click the remote section. From there, you can change between the various modes, control the child lock, turn on the negative ion mode, and switch the purifier on and off. If you've ever used a smartphone, you should have no problem figuring out how to navigate the remote section.

One of the more interesting parts of the app is the ability to see the air quality both near the purifier—drawn from a built-in air quality sensor—and reported outdoor air quality in your area. You can see the indoor PM2.5 and the outdoor PM2.5 and compare the two, as well as view a graph showing the change over an hour, day, week, month, or year.

Using the graph data, I could clearly see when I started using the air purifier, as my room's PM2.5 was around 20. Since using it, it's consistently remained about 10. So there's clearly been an improvement, even though it was fairly clean to start with (I have two dogs, so there was almost certainly some pet dander floating around).

You can also use the app to monitor energy consumption in kW-h. This is great if you're worried about how much electricity the air purifier is operating. However, with the AI and auto mode, you shouldn't use too much energy, as these modes will have the purifier only kick on when needed.

Finally, the app will tell you how much time you have left on your filter before you need to go out and buy a new one. The filters are rated to last quite long, so this is a useful feature to avoid having to keep track of that yourself.

Using it with Google Home worked pretty well, though you'll need to get used to the exact commands to make it work. The instructions offer basic commands like turning it on and off ("Hey Google, turn on my air purifier"), but I struggled to get it to actually change modes with Google Home. For example, I couldn't seem to get it to change to automatic mode, as asking Google to do it would prompt the assistant to say, "Sorry, it looks like Zigma is unavailable." Turning it on and off worked fine, so I know it was connected and working.

Using it with Google Home got the job done for some functions in a pinch, but I definitely preferred to open the phone app and control the air purifier through it. I was always able to accomplish what I wanted quickly and more straightforwardly, which is all you can really ask for.

Should You Buy the Zigma Aerio-300?

Overall, the Zigma Aerio-300 is a solid air purifier with integrated smart home features. Using it with Google Home and other smart home systems could be better, but the mobile app works perfectly and makes it easy to flip between various modes. Speaking of, you can choose a bunch of different options for how you want the air purifier to run, some of which will do a great job of minimizing the energy usage. The built-in air quality sensor is a great way of seeing how the device is performing over time, and how your home compares to the outside world.

For the price, this is a solid purchase. Of course, it's not a perfect device, but if you're looking for an air purifier for a large room, you might as well grab this smart one, as it costs about the same as most non-smart models.