Levoit has recently refreshed its air purifier range with fresh looks and some new features. With the introduction of these newer models, Levoit now has an impressive lineup of air purifiers catering to all needs and price range. If you read our Levoit LV-H133 Review, you’d know of its one flaw we pointed out there. It was the presence of a cylindrical filter but the absence of corresponding air inlets in all directions, which is a requirement for a truly 360° air intake system. The Levoit LV-H134 has overcome this design flaw and sucks the air in from all sides. More such sharp analysis awaits your perusal in this Levoit LV-H134 Review.
The Levoit LV-H134 has an imposing personality and is one of Levoit’s dearest air purifiers. Recently, LV-H135 has been launched to compete against popular air purifiers from other brands. Levoit LV-H135 is a prime model pitched against Honeywell HPA300 or Coway Mighty air purifiers. Naturally, it has to be commensurate in its price with its competitors. LV-H134 is still Levoit flagship air purifier.
Levoit LV-H134 Air Purifier Review
Levoit LV-H134 is such a powerful air purifier, it stands out from the rest of Levoit’s models. With all features except for a remote control and mobile APP, its a great air purifier. It is ideal for mid-sized rooms and gives tough competition to the likes of Blueair Blue Pure 121 in coverage area. The air intake design are similar, both take impure air from all sides. The major difference is that Blue Pure 121 is very simple in its feature set with not even a console as such. Levoit LV-H134 on the other hand has a flashy feature-rich console. Blue Pure 121 is an extremely popular model with changeable pre-filter skirting of different colors. It is a little cheaper compared to Levoit LV-H134 and ought to be so since it lacks many convenience features.
PRICE – LEVOIT LV-H134
The Levoit LV-H134 is a newer model to be introduced at the start of 2020. It still wrests the crown as the costliest Levoit air purifiers around. Naturally, the flagship model is always the costliest, so it indeed is. If you look at the specifications of Levoit LV-H133, you would not see any major differences. I am sure you’d even be surprised by the price gap between the two models. So, if the far greater price or bigger size of LV-H134 does not convince you to buy it over LV-H133, you are not alone. At the current price, one can buy two LV-H133 in the price of one LV-H134 plus a spare filter. But, note that LV-H133 is a more than 3 year old model.
The Levoit LV-H134 air purifier does not have any ionizer. Ionizers are always susceptible to producing trace amounts of ozone gas. So, with this air purifier ozone and its hazards are not an issue.
DESIGN AND LOOKS
Your first reactions on unboxing a new Levoit LV-H134 would be that of delight and awe, I am sure of that. No one can dislike the looks and personality of this air purifier especially when its ON. This air purifier will bring its own charm unlike some eye-sore air purifiers out there. This tall air purifier can purify the air in 1170 ft² rooms in 30 minutes and takes just 18 minutes for 710 ft² rooms (~ ACH x 3.3). I would give full marks to it on the looks department.
Levoit LV-H134 has a tower design like any other model in the LV-Hxx series. I very much like this design for its versatility. It is not without a reason that every other air purifier you see has a similar cylindrical design. Firstly, this design occupies lesser floor space which is always a welcome thing. Secondly, the air purifiers fan is able to deliver a powerful air current. Lastly, and most importantly, the cylindrical shape of filters and perforations in the air purifier body all around it make it a 360 degree intake device.
DIMENSIONS
An air purifier meant to service big spaces is bound to be big in size. Levoit LV-H134 stands tall at 32 inches and weighs over 12 Kilos which is quite a handful. Thankfully, wheels are provided in this model to pull it around. I still miss the provision of any handle. The wheels roll in a linear direction and not in any. Moreover, the wheels work well only on absolute flat surfaces. They are not easy to roll on carpets etc. but still something is better than nothing.
The LV-H134 measures 32 x 16.5 x 15.5 inches.
COLOR OPTIONS
Unlike Levoit LV-H133 which is available in White or Black body, LV-H134 is only available in White color.
CONTROL PANEL
The Control Panel is where the attractiveness of this air purifier is concentrated. I do not see any difference in the buttons or even the look of the control panel compared to LV-H133. The center of the display shows the air quality in digital format. The ambient PM2.5 particle level is shown as numbers. This numerical reading along with an LED ring which changes color to correspond to the air quality are a valuable feature.
Levoit LV-H134 has a very attractive control panel. All the functions available line up as buttons along its circular boundary. These touch type buttons make a jingle when pressed.
- Power Button – The main button to Power ON the air purifier.
- Fan Speed – Levoit LV-H134 has a powerful fan similar to jet engines in design. This control lets you make a selection of the fan speed. You can make the fan to run in one of the three fan speeds. At the highest fan speed, the air purifier sucks in 312 cfm of air.
- Auto Mode – Turn on this mode and you air purifier operates with its own free will. Free will in the sense that it adjusts the fan speed in accordance to what the air quality.
- Sleep Mode – Choosing the sleep mode makes the fan to run in its lowest speed. This would naturally mean that the air purifier is as silent as it can be. The thing to note here is selecting sleep mode does not dim the lights on the control panel. The air purifier makes just 25 dB noise in Sleep mode.
- Display Off – Making the air purifier to run with all its lights out can be achieved by this button. Sleep mode coupled with this Display Off button makes it ideal environment for sleeping.
- Filter Change Indicator – The Filter Change Indicator lights up to indicate the need to replace your device filters. The circular LED ring which normally is blue turns red when the filters need change.
- Timer – You can make a selection of the timer interval. Any interval between 1 – 12 hours in steps of 1 hour is possible.
ALSO READ: Levoit LV-H132 Review
COVERAGE AREA
Coverage area is something which defines which segment and price bracket an air purifier belongs to. Do not get carried away or fooled to see hyped up coverage areas in product descriptions. You should compare the rated coverage area for what an air purifier is rated for ACH x 4. Meaning, look for what room size can the air purifier clean in 15 minutes. In other words, what area can the air purifier clean atleast 4 times in an hour. If we take its ACH x 4 rating into account, Levoit LV-H134’s coverage area is 710 ft². The corresponding rating for ACH x 2 is 1170 ft².
All this makes this air purifier suited for 27 * 27 foot rooms. Obviously, this would make for a very big room. An air purifier meant for larger rooms can be used for smaller apartments or office spaces.
AIR QUALITY INDICATOR
Apart from the blue color of the buttons, there’s an additional circular LED on the control panel. This LED is meant for showing a color coded air quality feedback. If not running your machine in Auto mode, the LED color gives an indication of the ideal fan speed. The more polluted the air is, the faster the fan should run or made to run.
- BLUE – Indicates that the room’s air quality is superb.
- GREEN – Denotes a Good air quality.
- YELLOW – color of the LED means that the indoor air is not very pure.
- RED – light LED is as expected, the color of danger.
The numerical air quality indicator constantly toggles the reading in accordance with the pollution. In general terms, readings less than 40 means perfectly clean air. If the LED color does not change or is not in sync with the air quality denoted by the numerical pad, there may be a problem. Check for the cleanliness of the sensor, its the most common reason for such discrepancies. You can check how users have appraised the Levoit LV-H134 Review.
NOISE LEVEL
Many air purifiers talk of generating white or pink noises which facilitate sleep. As a light sleeper myself, the slightest sounds wake me up. So, there’s no question of me being able to sleep off with a ‘jet engine’ gargling by my bedside. But, Levoit LV-H134 has a unique adjustment made with the fan design. This cuts the noise level greatly.
- Highest setting – 54 dB
- Medium setting – 40 dB
- Lowest setting – 32 dB
20 dB is what a whisper or rustling of leaves would make. So, 25 dB is just marginally louder. 40 dB is the noise levels in a library. While 50 dB is the noise of a light conversation at home.
LEVOIT LV-H134 FILTERS
Levoit says its filters can last around 6 – 8 months depending on use and pollution. Some air purifiers use ultraviolet light to kill pathogens. Levoit air purifiers use just the mechanical particle trapping and electrostatic filtration properties of its HEPA filters. So, there is no risk of ozone contamination.
The composite filter is cylindrical and hosts three layers.
- Preliminary Filter – This is a new name given to the quintessential pre-filters. As most of you already know, a pre-filter captures large particles of lint, fibers, hair and fur. This filter should be frequently cleaned with a vacuum cleaner.
- True HEPA Filter – The primary filter upon which the air cleaning efficiency of an air purifier rests. I’ve already alluded to the fact that Levoit air purifiers use high H13 grade filter.
- Activated Carbon Filter – This layer behind the HEPA filter removes unwanted odors. Whatever be the type or source of the odors, kitchen, smoke, VOCs.
This air purifier model uses the same filters as the LV-H133 model. In comparison to the price of LV-H133, the cost of the replacement filters was too much. That price would not look staggering in front of the LV-H134’s price.
CONCLUSION – Levoit LV-H134 Review
I would have liked an added WiFi connectivity feature at this price tag or a remote control mechanism. The Levoit LV-131S has this additional WiFi capability. However, the Pros are too many and outnumber the Cons by a great margin. Levoit LV-H134 is a great air purifier you won’t repent buying. It moves a great deal of air and looks great. Its convenience features lack WiFi or APP functionality and has all commonly found features. Having a numerical air quality display is a great value addition. Most air purifiers in USA still don’t have this feature, think this trend will soon change. Trust me, the satisfaction of seeing the indoor air quality in real-time is something you should try too.
The data on the LV-H134 is inaccurate. It is true that it is rated to run at 312 CFM. However the article states, “If we take its ACH x 4 rating into account, Levoit LV-H134’s coverage area is 710 ft².”
At 312 CFM a purifier will provide 4 air changes per hour in a 585 ft² area (assuming 8′ ceilings). As the article suggests the LV-H134 is in the same class as the Blueair Blue Pure 121, this is simply not true. The 121 will provide 5 air changes per hour in a 620 ft² area. This is a totally different league. Even the Blueair Blue Pure 211+ does 5 air changes per hour in a 540 ft² area… So while the Levoit LV-H134 is considerably closer to the Blueair Blue Pure 211+ in coverage, the 211+ still outperforms it in this regard.
As one additional side note — as Medify Air recently learned in adapting the MA-40 unit – even good air quality sensors are more gimmick than useful in room air filtration systems because the purifier may clean the air in its immediate vicinity (due to room dynamics — regardless of air flow direction) and power down while the air in another part of the room is still not clean. Additionally, truly high quality particle sensors cost as much or more than the majority of air purifiers sold. Thus, running a unit constantly on a reasonably high speed (or preparatory to entering a room) and keeping a separate particle sensor in another part of the same room is a good strategy for truly keeping the air in a room clean as opposed to simply feeling good about it (perhaps often wrongly) because the sensor on the purifier says the air is clean. These units are meant to be run and to do the job for an entire room *should* be.
Also, despite my rant, I really enjoy your reviews! Thank you