With so many people working from home due to COVID-19, smart air purifiers have become a hot item, but they can get expensive. If you don’t have room in your budget for a high-end model like the $549 Dyson TP07, which features a 360-degree HEPA filter and doubles as a fan, the $219 Proscenic A9 is an attractive, much more affordable alternative. This four-stage smart air purifier filters out airborne allergens, pet dander, smoke, and pollen, and it did a good job of scrubbing the air in our tests. That said, it’s a basic model that lacks the extensive air quality measurements and extra features you get with more expensive models such as the Dyson TP07 and the $499 Aura Air.
Proscenic A9 Design and Features
The A9 is a freestanding air purifier that measures 20.5 by 10.2 by 10.2 inches (HWD) and is designed to purify air in rooms of up to 968 square feet. It has a white finish with a black top that contains five backlit buttons including a power switch, a child lock button, a shutdown timer button, a fan speed button, and an auto mode button.
When the A9 is in auto mode, the fan will automatically rev up to the appropriate speed depending on the PM2.5 level (the higher the PM2.5 level, the faster the fan speed). PM2.5 is defined as fine particles that are 2.5 microns or less in width that are released into the air while cooking, smoking, burning candles, and burning wood in a fireplace.
There’s a square 2-inch color display on the front that shows you the current indoor PM2.5 level. A color-coded air quality bar is green when the PM2.5 level is good (0-50), yellow when it is moderate (51-100), orange when it is considered unhealthy for sensitive groups (101-150), and red when it is unhealthy for everyone (greater than 151). The display also has a child lock indicator, a Wi-Fi indicator, and a filter replacement reminder (the filter is rated to last around four months).
The A9 uses a four-speed fan and a four-stage filter to cleanse the air. The fan pulls air in from grilles on the front and back of the device, forces it through the filter, and releases the filtered air back out through a grille on the top. In addition to the primary filtering stage that catches large airborne particles such as dust and pet dander, the filter uses H13 HEPA, silver ion sterilization, and granular carbon filter technologies to rid the air of containments.
Proscenic offers a variety of replacement filter options. For $49.99 you can get a white HEPA filter, a purple anti-bacterial filter, a green pet allergy filter, or a black toxin absorbing filter. Or you can buy the above-mentioned standard four-in-one filter that comes with the unit for $59.99.
Although the A9 will tell you the PM2.5 level in your home, it lacks the extensive measurements that you get with more expensive models. For example, the Aura Air and Dyson TP07 will tell you the PM2.5 level as well as the VOC level (volatile organic compounds), the PM10 level (particles up to 10 microns in size such as dust, mold, and pollen), the carbon monoxide level, and the carbon dioxide level. Moreover, the A9 only provides indoor readings, while the above-mentioned models give you real-time outdoor AQI (Air Quality Index), PM, and VOC levels for your area.
The A9 supports Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant voice control, but all you can do is turn the unit on and off. You can’t adjust fan speeds or ask for the current PM reading. For that you’ll need the Proscenic mobile app for Android and iOS devices.
The app opens to a home screen with panels for all of your Proscenic devices. Tap the A9 Air Purifier panel to open a screen with a picture of the A9, the current PM2.5 reading, and the clean air (m3) reading, which represents the cumulative output of purified air. Below the two readings is a power button, and below that are several function buttons.
Use the fan speed button to manually adjust fan speed (1-4), or set it to auto mode to have the fan speed determined by the current air quality. The reservation button is used to create on/off schedules with a set working time (between 1 and 23 hours) and a set fan speed. The timing button lets you turn the A9 off after a set period of time, and the sleep mode button puts the A9 into standby. Use the lights off button to turn off the display panel, and the child lock button to disable the function buttons on the device itself.
To access the A9’s settings, tap the three dots in the upper right corner. Here you can change the name of the device, view filter usage and remaining life, share access to the device with other family members, and view IP and MAC address information.
Setting Up and Using the Proscenic A9
Getting started using the A9 was quick and easy in testing. After removing the plastic bag from the filter, I powered up the device, downloaded the mobile app, and created an account. I tapped Add Device, selected the A9 from the Healthy Life menu, and tapped Access Point to connect the device to my home network. Following the on-screen instructions, I pressed and held the Auto and Fan buttons for five seconds until the Wi-Fi indicator began flashing, selected my Wi-Fi SSID, and entered my Wi-Fi password. I used my phone’s Wi-Fi settings to connect to the A9 and the installation was complete.
The Proscenic A9 did a good job of quickly purifying the air in my home. I placed it in my small office area, which is approximately 110 square feet, and set the fan speed to auto mode. I lit a stick of incense, and within 10 minutes the PM2.5 reading jumped from 004 to 200. The fan began spinning at high speed, and after three minutes the PM reading dropped to 082. After another three minutes it read 048, and after a total of 10 minutes the PM reading was 025. It took a total of 19 minutes to return to its original 004 reading.
The A9’s Cyclone Motor is appropriately named: When the fan is at high speed, it can get quite loud. But if you’re in auto mode, it will only run at high speed until the sensor detects clean air. Otherwise the fan is relatively quiet.
Affordable, But Light on Extras
If you’re in the market for an affordable smart air purifier, the Proscenic A9 is worth a look. It’s easy to install and does a good job of filtering the air, but it can get a bit noisy when the fan is operating at high speed. It’s a solid deal, but it lacks many of the features that you get with more expensive models. For example, it doesn’t offer the dual filters and oscillating fan action that you get with the LG PuriCare 360, though that model is significantly more expensive at $1,299. That said, it also doesn’t offer the extensive indoor and outdoor air quality measurements that you get with the $499 Aura Air and the $549 Dyson TP07. The Dyson model also doubles as a fan, which makes its high price a bit more reasonable, and earns the machine our Editors’ Choice award.
