The Rabbit Air BioGS air purifier may be cheap, but it's quietly capable

Tom's Guide

12 hours ago

Size: 22 x 16 x 10 inches Weight: 16.8 poundsCADR rating: 136 cubic feet per minute (smoke), 149 CFM (dust), 175 CFM (pollen)Recommended room size: 275 square feet (four exchanges per hour) Warranty: 5-yearEstimated annual power cost: $6.58/yr
Whether you suffer from allergies or live in a high polluted area, you'll need one of the best air purifiers to handle all your clean air needs.
And on paper, the Rabbit Air BioGS 2.0 Air Purifier sounds more than equipped to do so.
With four separate air cleaning elements, Rabbit Air's BioGS 2.0 Ultra Quiet HEPA Air Purifier starts out strong with a four stage air cleaning process that includes an electrostatic element but doesn't sterilize germs.
At under $400, about half the price of comparable gear, the Rabbit Air BioGS 2.0 is for those who care more about price than having a whirlwind in their room.
Read our Rabbit Air BioGS 2.0 review to see if it's powerful enough for your home.
The Rabbit Air BioGS 2.0 air purifier is now available for $369 on Amazon, and the same price on the Rabbit Air website.
At jus under $370, the Rabbit Air BioGS 2.0 is one-half the price of comparable air filters yet includes four heavy-duty cleaning components.
It comes with a 5-year warranty that should be decent, but others cover their air cleaners for life.
Rabbit Air takes a novel approach to replacement filters with a $90 set that they say will need to be changed every 18 months.
The company will automatically deliver the filters on a schedule. Plus, it estimates that it will cost $30 a year if used 12 hours a day or $60 a year for 24/7 operation.
Rabbit Air also sells the larger A3 and Minus A2 for $750 and $600. Both of which can be ordered with 'Peanuts' or 'Hello Kitty' designs for a child's or anime-crazed adult's room.
Design-wise, the Rabbit Air BioGS 2.0 looks like a cross between a hungry sea monster and a step-to-open garbage can.
Its design may not be for everyone, but it has a certain style and allows direct aiming of the air stream.
The problem is that the snorkel vent that delivers cleaned air points away from the status LEDs, potentially making adjusting it awkward.
However, it works best set up parallel to a wall, pointing into the room with some space behind to get close to the control panel.
Available in all white or a Tone Royal version with blue accents, it's small at 22.2 x 16.6 x 9.8 inches and 16.8 pounds, making it portable enough to go from room to room with the unit's handle.
And while the Rabbit Air BioGS's 6-foot blue fabric cord has a two-prong plug to easily fit into older homes, there's no place to stash the excess cord.
What's more, the unit lacks a tip over switch that turns itself off if accidentally knocked over. Something to bear in mind if you have children or pets.
Additionally, it comes with a remote control that uses a CR2025 battery. This has a 25-foot range and you can purchase replacements for $8.50.
The only downside is the Rabbit Air BioGS lacks WiFi and an app for using a phone to control it. This is a bonus that most air cleaners use, including Rabbit Air's larger Minus A2.
After removing the outer box and opening the main packaging, I read the start-up instructions taped to it and pulled the cover off.
The short manual explains things somewhat. I found myself occasionally opening the device to figure out what the lights mean and wished for a cheat sheet, like the one on the Blueair Classic Pro CP7i air purifier .In addition to the expected laser particulate sensor, the Rabbit Air BioGS has a VOC sensor for airborne odors and solvents.
Both are used to determine how hard the purifier works. The control panel has a multitude of white LEDs that are shown through the device's translucent cover.
The air quality is shown upfront in the number of lit LEDs, with five corresponding to good and one for bad. The device doesn't inform those breathing the air what these broad categories equate to in terms of particulate level.
It also lacks a way to connect an external sensor, while the Air Things Renew air purifier successfully does this.
The control panel also has a similar indicator for fan speed as well as a three level control for the Auto Mode's sensitivity. The front also has a way to turn the unit's negative ion generator on or off, which acts like an electrostatic filter. The sleep timer can be set to 4, 8 or 12 hours. The LEDs goes dark after several minutes and can be revived by tapping the on/off indicator.
Under the cover, there are explanations and keys to control it all as well as a filter life indicator, a reminder for cleaning the pre-filter and a reset switch for after a filter change. It has neither internal automation available nor can connect with voice control systems, like Alexa and Google Home Assistant.
For a product that cleans odors out of the air, the BioGS has something that some would consider counterproductive: an accessory for diffusing essential oils to cover up household smells or work some homeopathic magic.
The $20 stainless steel Essence attachment has small felt tabs that can be soaked in any oil, from lavender to eucalyptus, and snapped onto the purifier's vent for distribution throughout the room.
Be careful though, a little goes a long way!
I set up the Rabbit Air BioGS 2.0 in my 25 x 12 foot office, and used the Auto mode at its highest setting during testing.
I also found the middle one worked well for general use, and was quieter.
In fact, when some yellow pollen blew in through an open window, I was impressed at how fast the Rabbit Air BioGS reacted, cleaning it from the air quickly.
After I lit my scented candle, puffed the pastry flour and sprayed my perfume, the Rabbit Air BioGS reacted quickly with the fan blasting lots of cleaned air into the room. And with the filter cleared, 15 minutes everything was back to normal.
That said, it was effective at cleaning the air with a 5-speed fan. The output ranged from a low air speed of 0.2 mph (measured 12 inches from the outlet) to a high of 1.8 mph.
Perhaps one downside is it has a low air flow rate. This gave a much slower flow reading than the likes of well-named, The Windmill Air Purifier's peak of 6.5 mph.
Noise levels:It lives up to its Ultra Quiet name with a peak wind noise of 56 dBA versus over 70dBA for the Molekule Air Pro.
This is a five-fold difference because of the logarithmic nature of the decibel scale where small numeric differences lead to huge differences in sound level. On the downside, the BioGS delivers less cleaned air than the others.
Efficiency:There's also a benefit when it comes to your electricity bill because under the surface, the Rabbit Air BioGS has a high-efficiency brushless motor that uses between 3.7 and 30.0 watts of power – half what others use.
Based on a typical day's use, expect it will add $6.58 to your bill if you pay the national average of 16 cents per kilowatt hour of electricity.
That's close to one-quarter the cost of some other air cleaners, like the Air Pro ($38.44) or the Blueair Classic Pro CP7i air purifier($33.75).
Unlike other purifiers, Rabbit Air recommends cleaning the particulate sensor with a cotton swab periodically. This will only take about half a minute to do, so it's not a major deal breaker.
Compared to other air cleaners, the Rabbit Air BioGS 2.0 Air Purifier makes a loud statement by being quiet and unobtrusive.
All of this while monitoring the atmosphere and ramping up its action during an air quality crisis.
In addition, it has the rather unique feature of having an accessory for incorporating essential oils into the air stream; it's a bargain at $20.
Plus, the Rabbit Air BioGS does without amenities that others thrive on, such as having WiFi and an app to take control from across the room or even across town. I found it simple to operate, including using the dedicated remote control.
Considering its ability to cleanse the air in a moderate sized room, the Rabbit Air BioGS 2.0 is surprisingly small and light. The only downside was its air flow levels pale in comparison to the best for its class.
In which case you might be better off spending a little extra for the Blueair Blue Pure 211+ Auto.
Still, the Rabbit Air BioGS Air Purifier is a bargain that can clean up the air in a mid-sized room, with a modest stream of filtered and purified air. Which is all you really need to do a great job.