Blueair - Blue Pure 511i Max
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Reddit Reviews:
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Based on 1 year's data from Mar 17, 2026 How it works
Liked most:
16
1
"I have terrible allergies and use Blue Air on every level. Works amazing."
"It's amazing the difference it makes. ... Also the filters are a wildly different color when I replace them."
"Blueair has been awesome for our basement, dogs, cats, sometimes chickens and always a burning fire for the wood stove and you would honestly have no idea all of that was going on. ... I wfh in the basement sometimes and I could tell that without that I was feeling gunky. Buying it made a huge difference!"
6
0
"Dead silent on the first setting"
"the fans are nice and quiet"
"I like that it has a night mode with a silent fan and no lights."
3
0
"They're incredible and the best thing is that they have this washable cloth sleeve (pre filter) that goes over the entire intake which happens to wrap all the way around. ... It does such a good job that the actual internal filter stays significantly cleaner and doesn't need to be cleaned or changed as often. ... It's a game changer."
"Blueair imo because they have washable prefilters, and pet hair and dander is large and honestly doesn't need HEPA filters to clear it out the way, say, smoke does."
"Blue air. The prefilter is washable."
4
1
"Well the larger 211 is still trucking after these years so that is why is just repurchased the improved model."
"Premium built, that's for sure."
"they’re holding up better than the Blue Air’s I got."
6
0
"happy to hear from guests our house doesn’t have a dog smell."
"Blueair has been awesome for our basement, dogs, cats, sometimes chickens and always a burning fire for the wood stove and you would honestly have no idea all of that was going on. ... I wfh in the basement sometimes and I could tell that without that I was feeling gunky. Buying it made a huge difference!"
"Yes we use Blueair and they make a huge difference especially with dog related smells or puppy accidents."
Disliked most:
3
3
"the auto setting barely did anything unless I literally blew smoke at them"
"Maalikabok pa rin kahit super sealed yung unit."
"I recently got a blueair air purifier to see if I like it and if I notice any difference. ... According to the built-in sensor, we have excellent indoor air quality. ... I've had it for about a month and I recently took the filter out to see if there was any noticeable dust or anything and it seemed pretty clean. ... But given what I've seen so far, I'm not ready to buy them for other rooms in the house since it is quite an investment and I haven't seen anything that makes me think it's effective."
0
1
"I don’t like they have an ionizer that you can’t disable. ... Ionizers create ozone, and when ozone reacts with different molecules it creates all kinds of new compounds that can’t be predicted."
2
2
"Blue air is the best of the three, also isn’t HEPA but has a static generator which bothers some people."
"Although you'll find complaints it doesn't use a "real" HEPA filter"
"Blue air is the best of the three, also isn’t HEPA but has a static generator which bothers some people."
1
2
"the larger sizes have significantly more expensive filters"
"BlueAir is ok but the filters are small and replace more often."
0
1
"the auto setting barely did anything unless I literally blew smoke at them"
"Their sensors suck"
Blowingleaves17 1.0Yes, an air purifier would definitely help in the bedroom, but it must have one that uses carbon filters, not just HEPA ones. Price wise, since the room is only 121 sq. ft., you can go with a smaller room air purifier, but the most inexpensive ones may not work that well in a smoky room. I would suggest looking at the one below by Blueair. It is on sale, too at the Canada Blueair website. [https://www.blueair.com/products/blue-pure-511i-max-allergenblock-filter](https://www.blueair.com/products/blue-pure-511i-max-allergenblock-filter)
Awodrek 0.7I have cats and use the blueair511i max. It’s in the room with the 2 litter boxes and damn does it make a huge difference. Highly recommend an air filter . Mines automatic . Anytime the cats go in and do the “business” the air filter senses a motion from the litter being smacked around and kicks in .
BonusAdventurous9162 0.7I have a Blueair 511i max for my room which is 11ftlong and about 7ft tall and about 7ft wider does a decent job but I still get back I got for my stuffy nose and the dust which is does quite good at reducing the dust but my nose still feels horrible any suggestions I usually run it on 2-3 speed
Raptor07 0.7We have 2 BlueAir 211i Max for our living room and upstairs and a 511i Max and humidifier for our kids room. I'm in Salt Lake City, UT where we get heavy pollution in the winter inversions and occasional forest fire smoke in the summer. These purifies make easy work of keeping the air clean and work perfectly with HA. They also have a nice look to them so they aren't as much of an eye sore.
Travishamockry 0.7Seconding this. I have two Blueairs too. I have a 511i Max also for my bedroom and the new Signature for the living room. Works well and good stats in HA, which is all I really wanted.
AnonBaca21 0.5It’s fine. I have two. Plus a 211+. I don’t need the most perfect air purifier in existence I just need something that works well enough and it’s $800.
Dull_Apple1455 0.5Unfortunatly, i had at Blueair 411 formabout 5 years in the bedroom. It just stopped working. So I replaced it with the newer 511
InspectionNo9124 0.5It’s honestly so good! I initially started with the 511, 5 years ago and recently just upgraded to the blue signature (during Black Friday) which is the prettiest out of the bunch! lol I’d absolutely get the 311 for our other rooms— gotta wait for another sale tho lol
Long_Zookeepergame25 0.5BlueAir not having true HEPA and just a HEPA-type filter is fine. Multiple official testing sources show them pushing benchmarks similar to other true hepa rated units by popular brands. They still pull dust and still filter air just fine. They do have an ionizer and do produce extremely minuscule amounts of ozone. That’s why they’re certified. However, they are (especially the 511) weak units with a low CADR. If you want better performance, definitely return for a different unit or a stronger BlueAir model like the 211
PurpleFairy11 0.5I have the Winix A231 and BlueAir 511. I started with the Blue Air 511 which isn't terribly loud when it's on blast. I added the Winix A231 as an extra precaution. This one is the loudest of the two. I mask when my office door is closed and the air purifiers are running. My workplace has an HVAC system and from the looks of some of the vents, I know the filters for individual rooms haven't been replaced. There's clumps of dust visible in one of the air vents in my office. Considering there's a possibility air from another room is being mixed into the air coming into my office, I mask. I've been at my current job for almost 3 years. For the first 2 years I've been fine with the Blue Air 511. I caught strep once because I didn't wait long enough to remove my mask after two coughing kiddos left my office. That incident prompted me to start bringing my 4Lite to work so I could eat or drink soon after someone left my office. I've been around COVID and flu-positive people at work and didn't catch it thanks to my N95 In some cases my air purifier helped too- it just depended on where I interacted with the person. I was recently gifted an elastomeric mask. I doubt I'll wear it to work because I would be too self-conscious. Here's a helpful article on the difference between laminar flow and turbulent flow. [https://smartairfilters.com/en/blog/the-truth-about-laminar-airflow-in-air-purifiers/](https://smartairfilters.com/en/blog/the-truth-about-laminar-airflow-in-air-purifiers/) Unfortunately Smart Air is trying to sell their QT3 as a laminar flow air purifier, and while it may be laminar flow, it has an incredibly small stream of air. I do not recommend it. All their other devices are great.