Ikea Now Makes a (Handsome) Air Purifier

It was only a matter of time. I’ve covered air purifiers for WIRED for a long while, and Ikea’s absence in the market was growing more and more conspicuous. The brand’s tardiness was especially felt last year, when the market for air purifiers blew up among the hellscape of wildfires and coronavirus. Suddenly, everyone wanted cleaner air indoors.

As the saying goes: Better late than never. The Ikea Förnuftig goes on sale in the US today (the overseas market got it earlier this year), and no, even though it’s got a funny name and today is April 1, it’s not an April Fool’s joke. The Förnuftig costs $55, and you can have your choice of case color, as long as you choose black or white. The woven grille on both models is gray. The Förnuftig’s fabric-swaddled design is reminiscent of Ikea’s other smart-home products, like 2019’s Sonos Symfonisk speakers.

Most air purifiers look pretty heinous—like the sort of weird plastic machine you’d find in the school gym storage room while skipping class. But the Förnuftig looks sharp, and as it measures roughly 12 by 18 inches, it doesn’t take up much space. It’s very thin at 4.5 inches deep, and if you want, you can ditch the floor stand and mount it horizontally or vertically on a wall. Very few other air purifiers can mount to a wall.

The Förnuftig has a clean air delivery rate (CADR) of 130 cubic meters per hour, making it what I call a “bedroom air purifier.” The CADR is an industry-standard measurement of how efficiently a device can filter the air in a room over the course of an hour. Without boring you with the details, that rating means the Förnuftig is a good choice for small rooms like bedrooms or small home offices. If you’re buying a device for a bigger room, I suggest you pick one of the larger living room air purifiers from our air purifier guide instead.

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