REVIEW – In 2018 I reviewed an Airdog X5 air purifier and absolutely loved it due to the fact that it didn’t require the purchase of new filters every 6 months or so like many other air purifiers on the market. The Airdog allowed you to wash the main filter and it worked great until it died due to a storm surge that fried the electronics inside it. I was so bummed. But then a month ago, they contacted me to ask if I was interested in reviewing their larger Airdog X8 air purifier unit. I didn’t hesitate to say YES and now let me tell you what I think about it.
What is it?
The Airdog X8 is a large air purifier that is designed to clean the air in spaces up to 1000 square feet.
Specs
Applicable Area (sq. ft) – 1000
CADR (m³/h) – 850
Size (Inches) – 30(H)*15(L)*15(W)
Weight (Lbs) – 43
Noise (dB) – ≤51
Rated Voltage – 220V~50/60Hz
Rated Power – 110W
Design and features
The Airdog X8 air purifier has a similar look and style to the smaller X5 that I reviewed. It’s a square tower with an off-white plastic housing that has black accents.
The front of the X8 has a long LED status bar that glows green, yellow-green, yellow, or red depending on the air quality in the room. Above the status bar is a round display that shows the AQI in digital format.
Unlike many of the smaller air purifiers that we’ve reviewed here on The Gadgeteer, the Airdog X8 air purifier is a large appliance. It’s going to take up some room wherever you decide to locate it. Bravo to Airdog for putting wheels on the bottom of the unit to help with moving it around. I’m not sure how well it moves on carpet, but I have hard floors and I could easily move it around.
The back side of the Airdog X8 air purifier has a holder for a removable air quality sensor.
This small sensor allows you to view the air quality in different areas of your home and it charges in the holder on the back of the X8.
A button on the side of the sensor allows you to toggle between showing AQI, temperature, humidity, and formaldehyde levels.
Above the sensor holder, is the removable access panel for 2 of the X8’s filters.
Unlike the vast majority of air purifiers that are on the market, the Airdog X8 air purifier’s filters (Airdog calls the main one a collecting plate) are not throw-away HEPA filters that you have to replace every few months. You can clean the X8’s collecting plate and other filters to reuse them over and over and over again. This will save you a lot of money over the years.
When you remove the panel from the back of the X8, you can see the large collecting plate which is designed to collect harmful particles from the air.
It’s quite large with metal fins. This one can be cleaned with a brush, water, and a neutral detergent whenever the X8 tells you that it’s time to clean the collecting plates by displaying the word CLEAN on the display.
A smaller thinner “filter” called the Generating Detector stores under the main collecting plate. It consists of a square frame with thin wires. You can clean it with a soft cloth or dry sponge to remove any dust or dirt if you start hearing popping and cracking sounds coming from the unit when it’s powered on. The Generating Electrode is designed to kill bacteria and viruses, and decomposes Formaldehyde and TVOC.
The 3rd and 4th filters are located behind doors on the sides of the unit. One of them is a pre-filter that is designed to remove hair and dander from the air. As you can tell from the image above on the right, it does a good job collecting cat hair. Luckily, this filter is also washable.
The top of the Airdog X8 air purifier has an easy-to-use control panel.
The button on the left is used to toggle the indicator light and lower the brightness of the front digital display. The button on the right is the power button and also cycles between the 5 air volume settings. For example, the air volume is set to 300 in the image above. This is usually the setting that I like to use because it is the quietest mode. Set to 300, the Airdog X8 is very quiet, and many times, I forget that it’s even powered on.
The plastic grill on top lifts out to reveal the composite catalyst which can be cleaned by putting it out in the sunlight.
In the image above, the Airdog X8 air purifier is showing an AQI (Air Quality Index) of 9 which is excellent! When I turned on the X8 for the first time, the AQI was in the 200s!!!
Here it is at a yellow level…
And here it is at a don’t breathe or you’ll die level. I’m kidding. But to be serious, this is what was showing when I first set up the unit. It was on a day when we were getting some of the smoke from the Canadian wildfires all the way down here in Southern Indiana! In less than a half hour, the Airdog X8 had the AQI down in the single digits from the reading that you see above! I could definitely tell a difference in the way the house smelled. I had forgotten how good an Airdog air purifier can make the air smell. It reminds me of how fresh and clean it smells outside after a spring rain.
The AQI levels are as follows:
Green – Excellent – AQI <= 50
Yellow Green – Good – 50 < AQI <= 100
Yellow – Moderately polluted 100 < AQI <= 150
Red – Hazardous AQI > 150
According to Airdog, the X8 is:
Airdog X8 is powered by TPA technology. TPA® creates an Ionic Field that zaps harmful particles, common allergens such as pollen, pet dander, and dust, filtering them down to 0.0146 microns (6x smaller than similar air purifiers filter).
Airdog app
This is the only area where I think the Airdog X8 has room to improve. Unfortunately, I was unable to set up the Airdog app with my iPhone 13 Pro Max and a OnePlus 11 5G Android phone after many attempts. Note that it will only work with 2.4 GHz networks – which I tried.
I don’t think the lack of the app is a deal breaker though because I don’t recall using it very much at all with the Airdog X5 that I previously reviewed. Everything that I need and want to do with this air purifier can be done directly through the unit’s control panel. Here’s a quote from my Airdog X5 review about the app.
The app will let you see the air quality status of the X5 no matter where you are and you can control it via the app by turning it on/off, putting it sleep mode, auto mode, change airspeed, or toggling the child lock. You can also set timers of when to run it and see a graph of the air quality index readings over the last 15 days. Since you can do everything with the included remote control or on the device itself, (except setting timers) I don’t find the app all that useful.
Yes, the app does have a timer function which can be useful, but other than that, I’m perfectly fine without the app.
What I like
- Ability to quickly and noticeably clean the air in my home
- Washable filters mean no consumables
- Ease of use
What I’d change
- Improve connectivity for the Airdog app
Final thoughts
I think that Airdog air purifiers are the best there are. I have now used two of them in my home and find that I can immediately notice an improvement in the air quality when I turn them on. I know that they aren’t cheap, but they are incredibly easy to use, clean air quickly, and the fact that you can wash/clean all the filters makes them very convenient to use and own without on-going expenses for replacement filters a couple of times a year.
Price: $1199.00
Where to buy: Airdog and Amazon (as of this writing, there’s a $120 instant coupon)
Source: The sample for this review was provided by Airdog.
Gadgeteer Comment Policy - Please read before commenting
This product produces ozone which is dangerous. CARB strongly advises against the use of ozone generators in spaces occupied by people or animals.
Rhonda, the FAQ on their site says:
It’s not a bad unit but the IQAir GC MultiGas is higher quality and offers much deeper filtering, including many gases and chemicals. I’ve had two for about five years and have yet to have to replace a filter. They have enormous capacities. A little more expensive but definitely worth it! They are also very quiet.