A decade and a half ago, air purifiers were considered a niche product—almost a luxury, and while they’re still among the least sought-after home appliances, usage has only soared thanks to the test of air pollution in the north. India Faces – with the onset of every cold.
Havells is a brand that has become synonymous with home appliances in India, and with the Havells Meditate Air Purifier, the brand enters the ‘premium’ air purifier category. Yes, it is expensive at Rs 49,999 (MSRP Rs 64,999), and it has its fair share of disadvantages. But overall, the Havells Meditate is a good attempt at making a functionally strong air purifier.
Havells Meditate has brought much needed relief to my life
First things first – the Havells Meditate is brilliant at what it aims for – air purification. During my testing, I kept the meditation in my personal work space/studio – a room in my home that I spend at least half the day on a daily basis.
Right from the start, I could see a reduction in my sneezing and, more importantly, the accumulation of pet fur and dust, of which dust is especially a major annoyance in the desert state of Rajasthan. There is quite a bit of dust build up on top of my desk, and every other horizontal surface I can feel and touch in my room.
I also have three pets—two Persian cats and a pug to be exact, and boy, they shed a lot. Havells Meditate was able to magically pull out all the hair and fur, which made me happy.
But of course, simply reducing the amount of dust and pet fur is not enough. While most dust falls into the PM 10 and PM 1 categories of pollutants, it is the most harmful pollutants—organic matter, metals and combustion particles, which fall into the PM 2.5 category—that cause more damage, and penetrate deeper into your lungs. are able to do. ,
Havells Meditate does a good job of bringing down AQI Quickly, without making loud sounds. Every morning—before going to the toilet—I turn on the air purifier, only to see it display an AQI over 300. In an hour, the AQI drops to around 50, and continues to decrease over the next hours.
Is the Havells Meditate ‘Premium’ good enough for Rs 49,999?
tl;dr; DR: No, after looking at competing Dyson products, the design and build quality of the Havells Meditate doesn’t do justice to its Rs 49,999 price tag.
But here’s the long answer: Havells has sought to make a premium air purifier for the Indian market, and yes, anyone who can afford a half a lakh air purifier would expect it to look premium, and a quick glance In general, the Meditate looks nice, but it’s only when you spend a lot of time with it that you become aware of its flaws.
I would not complain if the air purifier retailed within the 25-35K INR price bracket, but since it demands a huge amount, the choice of plastic is questionable, noticing the creaking every time you adjust it Location with proper sound. Plus, the sole silver color option doesn’t exactly speak ‘premium’ to me.
And that brings me to the biggest drawback of this air purifier—the remote
Before I tell you about the oddly shaped remote, the Meditate has a wireless charger built-in-top- used for charging the remote, and smartphones with wireless charging, or perhaps, most QI wireless charging compatible device.
When it comes to remotes – first of all, size defeats the purpose of being a ‘remote’. It’s unnecessarily large for what it does. And of course, it doesn’t do much except show AQI, PM 2.5, PM 10, PM 1, remaining filter life and more. An LED light adorns the sides to indicate the AQI level, which I personally like.
As a whole, the remote is mostly useless, occupying as much space as a mini Bluetooth speaker; Sometimes it shuts off on its own with a loud noise. Hence, I mostly skip it completely.
Havells Sync App redeem product
As bad as the remote is, the Havells Sync app redeems the product for me, and while it too has bugs, the overall sign-up experience and focus of being able to access it remotely is a big plus. The app UI is nice, with three main sections to help you out. The Information tab displays the AQI and filter life and gives you the option to turn the air purifier on/off.
The speed section is also intuitively designed, with three toggles for Turbo, Auto and Night modes. The response is instantaneous, provided you’re connected to the same 2.4GHz Wi-Fi. The third section – Toggle, lets you set the number of hours – after which, your meditation purifier will automatically turn off.
You can even create automations—setting start times, end times, and the exact days you want the air purifier to work.
Verdict: Solid on the inside, but not a looker
For Rs 49,999, the Havells Meditate has stiff competition from the likes of Dyson, but as a whole, the product does an impressive job functionally with mediocre aesthetics, and a poor remote implementation to go along with it.
While aesthetics are subjective, and a certain set of people may prefer the cylindrical shape and silver plastic, the unit brings down AQI levels quickly, and has helped me manage pet fur and dust to a great extent But it begs the question, is it good enough for you to choose Havells Meditate over the competition? Personally, for me, I would like Havells to offer the product at a lower price point.
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