Levoit has earned a reputation for offering True HEPA filter at a budget price with the Levoit LV-H132. Even with stiff competition from the likes of Blue Pure 411 and lots of cheaper Chinese replicates, the Levoit air purifiers has continued to impress. The Levoit LV-H126, the latest budget air purifier of the line, is no different, and once again offers a decent level of features and performance for a low price. Ready to know about this air purifier?
Update: Levoit has released two new air purifiers to continue dominating the budget segment, the Levoit Core 200S and Levoit Core 300. These air purifiers come up with a sleek cylindrical design, as well as better fan power and higher-quality all-in-one air filter than our today Levoit LV-H126. Also, you can look for the Levoit LV-H128 in 2021, which is the direct upgrade to the low-end LV-H126.
In Breathe Quality, we have reviewed all air purifiers under these sections. Also, we guarantee that:
- We do give honest reviews (both pros and cons) so anyone will guarantee to have the wisest choices.
- We do not (and never) exaggerate one product just to let you click the links and buy that product blindly.
PROS
- Low price
- Real True HEPA filter
- Small and minimal design
- Simple to use
CONS
- No Additional Features
- Weak fan power
Although Levoit is not the brand with long history in air purifier industry, this American brand is now one of the most popular. With good marketing strategy, active community development and good price, the success of Levoit is truly what any other air purifier brands could dream of. We hope the inspiration is keeping up for many years later. Our Levoit LV-H126 Review today is the great compliment to one of the best budget air purifiers.
LEVOIT LV-H126 PRICE
The Levoit LV-H132 has been our Value air purifier of the Year for three years running. The 2018’s air purifier – Levoit LV-H126 still aims to give you great value for money and a True HEPA filter, but Levoit has given it a few new tricks. It has a new shape now, and to trade off for the features, you get a much lower price than its predecessor.
The Levoit LV-H126 comes at a price, though, if you buy it directly from the Levoit website, it is $79. But the price has dropped more, once you catch our deal below in Amazon, as low as $49. For the price, this is the most budget air purifier from the company, with at least $30 lower than the well-known LV-H132.
If you take a look at the Levoit LV-H126 specs on paper you’ll see that you’re getting a lot of phone for your money. The GermGuardian AC4100 and GermGuardian AC4150 are the most potential rivals, with a same design language that we can often mistake one for another, but very close to the Levoit LV-H126. Also, we have both the Honeywell HPA020B and Honeywell HPA060 as the great compact air purifier with True HEPA filter, the same as our today air purifier.
However, there is no concern for the Levoit LV-H126. Levoit has their own community, and a budget compact air purifier is always a pleasure. It may not be the budget champion like the previous LV-H132 was, but we needn’t have worried. It’s still one of the best value air purifier you can buy.
But, again, Levoit amazes us with the new Levoit LV-H128, an air purifier with better performance than our today LV-H126, packing more additional features, yet it is cheaper. I highly recommend you to check its review immediately.Top Levoit LV-H126 deals right now
Levoit LV-H126 Desktop HEPA Air Purifier.
The Air Purifier for Home with True HEPA Filter, Air Cleaner for Allergies and Pets, Desktop Odor Eliminator. An Amazon’s Choice with 2-year warranty.
LEVOIT LV-H126 DESIGN AND SIZE
It feels like Levoit has taken the Levoit LV-H126 back a few steps in terms of design, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. The design of the Levoit LV-H126 is simple, and I think it benefits from the slightly tweaked look.
It’s not the typical cylinder shape as the LV-H132 and LV-H133, instead, Levoit copied the design formula from the GermGuardian AC4150, to bring in a classic desktop air purifier with cubic shape. The Levoit LV-H126 is only 10.5 inches in height and 7 inches in width, making it even smaller than the already small devices from Guardian Technologies. It makes for a more comfortable fit in your desk or table, with a more direct air flow to the users.
On the front of the phone there’s now an air outlet grill behind a cerulean panel with logo of Levoit. Combine with the intake air grill from the back, rather than at the bottom that we saw from the previous model, the Levoit LV-H126 uses exactly the same back-to-front air flow system as GermGuardian AC4100. For a desktop air purifier, this air flow system is the most proper to direct the air toward the users.
We also get a good and simple dial to select the fan speeds of this Levoit LV-H126. From the back, there is a filter reminder wheel to help you manually note which month you put the new air filter, and also which month you need to change the new one again.
Source: Amazon
There are 3 available color options for the Levoit LV-H126, from the Beige (Cream), Black and the Blue. This company is mainly advertising the Black edition of this air purifier, which you can grab one if you like with the below deal.
All in all the Levoit LV-H126’s design doesn’t offend. It is… just different from its predecessor, but for a desktop air purifier, this design fits our air purifier much more. Moreover, you can enjoy the weight of 4.8 lbs, which is even lighter than the compact LV-H132 (6 lbs) or the GermGuardian AC4150 (5.4 lbs). With such weight, you can take the Levoit LV-H126 with you anywhere in your home.
LEVOIT LV-H126 FILTERS
The most important criteria to decide one air purifier’s power is through how many filters it has and the air filter types are used. For a True HEPA Air purifier, Levoit LV-H126 has the same basic filters as the predecessors:
- Pre-filter – Using the good quality fine preliminary filter, Levoit LV-H126 also attaches the Activated Carbon filter into this pre-filter, allowing it to capture both large objects of pollutants and neutralize various household odors such as cooking smells, pet odors and cigarette smoke.
- True HEPA filter – A True HEPA Filter can reduce 99.9% of as small as 0.3 microns in size such as dust mites, pet dander, mold spores, and bacteria particles.
Before the Honeywell HPA060, it was rare to find an air purifier for under $80 with a True HEPA filter. Now you can buy lots of “certified True HEPA” air purifiers, it’s amazing how things have moved on. Sadly, this is just a commercial text on the box, and you have to read review to know which manufacturer can bring the high-quality True HEPA filter to you. That said, I believe in the name of Levoit for a True HEPA filter.
Source: Amazon
But again, the qualified True HEPA filter from the Levoit LV-H126 is a step back from the successful LV-H132. In the Levoit website, they only state the number of 99.9% for efficiency, instead of the normal 99.97%. Yes, we have a reason for this number. To test the performance of this Levoit LV-H126, I put both the Levoit LV-H132 and GermGuardian AC4150 for comparison. You will be surprise that despite of the specs on the paper, both Levoit LV-H126 and Levoit LV-H132 are qualified to deal with 99% of as small as 0.3 microns particles. The GermGuardian AC4150, without True HEPA filter, fell to only an efficiency of 80%.
My testing conditions: Running in a room of 100 square feet, for a full hour.
With an air purifier like Levoit LV-H126, everything would be perfect to use. Unless for the air filter cost, as Levoit will charge you more with this LV-H126-RF filter, that you need to pay for $29. Compared with the $24 from GermGuardian AC4150 or even $21 from Blue Pure 411, the Levoit LV-H126 will not bankrupt you, but I am here to write the trusted review for you.
LEVOIT LV-H126 ROOM COVERAGE
With a desktop air purifier, the room coverage is never an advantage to buy one. You should know that the cost of one air purifier related to both the high quality of its air filters and the exact air flow from its fan power. A portable air purifier mostly uses the small fan in size, and can’t deliver enough air flow for a large room. For our Levoit LV-H126, the room coverage is only 161 square feet, but that is just on paper.
The ACH of Levoit LV-H126 is 2X. With that air changes per hour rating, the air purifier will clean your room every 30 minutes.
The CADR of Levoit LV-H126 stays the same 40 cfm in general, which is the same with Levoit LV-H132. With this CADR rating, it will take you 1 hour and a half to clean a room of 161 square feet, which is too slow.
LEVOIT LV-H126 SOUND
But again, the weak fan power has an indisputable advantage – the silence of the air purifier. Again, this is the selling point for every air purifier from Levoit brand, and Levoit LV-H126 is not an exception. With only 3 fan speeds, the Levoit LV-H126 runs in the lowest setting with 30 decibels. To know how quiet it is, you should know the noise level of library environment is 35 to 40 decibels, and the Levoit LV-H126’s noise level is just half of the “already silent” library.
If you want to switch to the highest setting, the Levoit LV-H126 doesn’t exceed 54 decibels (db), which is the same as the normal conservation at home. In fact, you may not notice any annoying sound from this air purifier, and the white noise from the highest fan speed can help some people sleep faster.
LEVOIT LV-H126 POWER CONSUMPTION
One of our most FAQs is “Do air purifiers use a lot of energy?” In fact, air purifier must be used for a long time to be efficient. And power consumption is one important criteria to review if this air purifier is good or not.
The power consumption, well, never is a worry for a small electrical device. Levoit LV-H126 only operates in 35 watts, which is a little bit higher than the LV-H132 or Blue Pure 411, but that’s not much to consider about the energy bill.
If you buy the Levoit LV-H126, you only need to pay $12.5 annually, to run this air purifier 8 hours per day. I don’t want to find anything that worth $12.5 to compare, so just forgive me. Hooray!
LEVOIT LV-H126 ADDITIONAL FEATURES
We are talking about a $79 air purifier, and just like Honeywell HPA020B or GermGuardian AC4100, we should not expect anything from our Levoit LV-H126 in terms of additional features. The LV-H132 comes with a good Nightlight function, but the Levoit LV-H126 won’t.
Also, we don’t have any features like Timer or well, an electric LED indicator for filter replacement. You need to do everything manually. Actually, for an air purifier in this price range, I believe that turning on and off with hand is not a nightmare for you, right?
LEVOIT LV-H126 CUSTOMER SERVICE
Levoit is a brand that strongly focuses on their customers and community. If you purchase one product from them, they will give all you need to set up and operate it. The negative reviews of bad customer service are nearly non-existent.
There is only one thing, they give an only basic 1-year warranty. To get one another warranty, you need to have some free register. It is easy, and everyone is willing to sign more for another year of warranty. Moreover, you will get a community rewards, which is like loyalty points for your next purchase.
You can contact Levoit freely from Monday to Friday, via phone at 888-726-8520, or via email at support@levoit.com.
