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Everyone’s health can suffer from poor indoor air quality. That’s kind of a given, right? But the effects are much more significant if you’re already suffering from illnesses/diseases, especially respiratory conditions like asthma. And while things like air purifiers and dehumidifiers can help a lot, you need to know when to run them! You won’t always know when there’s a problem, after all.
That’s where air quality monitors come in. Most of them are super portable devices that can be placed anywhere in your home, and they’ll keep an eye on your air quality. They’ll monitor things like temperature, humidity, particulate matter (PM), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and more. Most of them will give alerts when the air quality is poor, and some can even monitor outdoor air as well!
If you like the sounds of an air quality monitor and you want to add one to your home management system, we’re here to help. There are a lot of features to consider—things like price, portability, battery life, detected air quality indicators, and more! And since each feature will affect their usefulness to you, you’ll want to think about all of them before you buy.
This comprehensive guide will investigate the best air quality monitors in Canada right now and outline the criteria you should consider while making your purchase decision. Let’s dive right into our top five products.
Top Pick: Amazon Smart Air Quality Monitor
Upgrade Pick: AirThings Wave Plus Indoor Air Quality Monitor
Indoor + Outdoor Pick: IQAir AirVisual Air Quality Monitor Bundle
Budget Pick: Temtop S1 Portable Indoor Air Quality Monitor
Also Great: Saf Aranet4 Home Wireless Indoor Air Quality Meter
The Amazon Smart Air Quality Monitor has a lot of features working in its favour. And we’re excited to share them with you. It’s one of the easiest to integrate into an existing home assistant network—it’s compatible with Amazon Alexa and can quickly become part of your home’s routines. It also connects to your smartphone with a companion app—this is how you access your data and history.
The unit itself is very minimalist in its design. It has a simple coloured LED indicating the current air quality in the home—this makes it perfect for blending with your décor scheme. Since it’s capable of monitoring particulate matter, VOCs, carbon monoxide (CO), temperature, and humidity, you won’t be missing out on any important pollutants affecting your indoor air quality.
Although there’s nothing actually wrong with this air quality monitor, there are a few features that we think might not work for everyone. First, this option runs on corded power instead of batteries—it won’t be as portable as a result. And you can’t place it just anywhere in the house. Also, you can’t see any data on the unit itself, so you’ll need to keep your phone handy at all times. Or ask Alexa for the current outlook.
All in all, the Amazon Smart Air Quality Monitor is one of our favourite options right now for pretty much any household. It’s not quite perfect for everybody, but it certainly outperforms its price tag and will make it worlds easier to understand your air quality and make appropriate adjustments.
Performance: 5/5
Usability: 5/5
Price: 5/5
Quality: 5/5
Reviewers are very happy with the quality of the Amazon Smart Air Quality Monitor. It integrates seamlessly into their Alexa system, and it’s really easy to set up routines too. It detects all of the pollutants that they care to know about, and it’s really easy to check the history with the smartphone app. They have no complaints.
Buy If…
You’d like it to be compatible with your Alexa device
Smartphone connectivity is ideal
You’d love a minimalist design
You’re looking for a well-rounded indicator detection range
Don’t Buy If…
You want the data to be displayed on the air quality monitor
You’d prefer a battery-powered option
You want to monitor radon levels
Dimensions: 2.6” x 2.6” x 1.8”
Weight: 0.26 lbs
Colour: White
Indicators: VOCs, PM2.5, CO, temperature, and humidity
Mount Options: Tabletop
Power Type: Corded
Warranty: 1 year
We’re big fans of the AirThings Wave Plus Indoor Air Quality Monitor. It’s got a unique design with some pretty special features. Like home assistant integration. You can connect the monitor to your home assistant and get it to do things for you (like turn on an air purifier when the air quality hits a certain threshold). It detects basically every pollutant you could want to know about, too.
You can get a special pollen report and make adjustments in the home to reduce the impact on your allergies. One of our favourite things about this air quality monitor is the fact it doesn’t display any data on its face. It looks more like a speaker as a result, but you can wave your hand in front of it to get a coloured ring light indication of the air quality. Pretty cool, huh? Perfect for minimalist homes especially.
There are only a couple of features that might not suit everybody, so we’ll lay them out really quickly before we wrap up. First of all, since it connects to your smartphone over Bluetooth instead of Wi-Fi, you won’t be able to access the data remotely. Also, there’s no data displayed on the unit itself, so the only way to access it is from your smartphone. This won’t be ideal for everybody. But it will be for many.
Overall, the AirThings Wave Plus Indoor Air Quality Monitor is one of our favourite air quality monitors of all time. It’s easy to set up, will blend in with your décor, and offers a very well-rounded detection range for air quality indicators. And even a special pollen report for people with allergies. Can’t beat that.
Performance: 5/5
Usability: 5/5
Price: 4/5
Quality: 5/5
Reviewers have nothing but good things to say about the AirThings Wave Plus Indoor Air Quality Monitor. They absolutely love the integration of their home assistants, the Bluetooth connectivity to their smartphones, and the easy installation process. The pollen report is especially useful for people with allergies. It doesn’t look like an air quality monitor, either, which they all enjoy.
Buy If…
You’d love a Bluetooth-enabled air quality monitor
You want an aesthetically pleasing option
You’d like to connect your air quality monitor to home assistants
You’re combatting pollen allergies
Don’t Buy If…
You’d prefer to view the data on the unit itself
You want to monitor the data from remote locations
Dimensions: 4.75” x 4.75”x 1.4”
Weight: 0.48 lbs
Colour: White
Indicators: Radon, TVOCs, CO2, pollen, temperature, humidity, and air pressure
Mount Options: Tabletop or wall
Power Type: Battery
Battery Life: 16 months
Warranty: 1 year (5 years with registration)
When it comes to the IQAir AirVisual Air Quality Monitor Bundle, it’s hard to know which awesome feature to start with. So we’ll just pick randomly. One of the first things you should know is that this thing does an awesome job of monitoring the air quality inside and outside of your home. And you can view both readings on the indoor unit, your smartphone, your tablet, or any computer.
And that’s just the beginning. The outdoor unit gets plugged into an outlet, so there’s no worry about battery life there, and the indoor unit can run for 20-36 months before it needs to be charged. Exceptional, isn’t it? And with professional-grade sensors equipped in both units, you’ll never be misled by the data. It’ll always be accurate and up-to-date.
This air quality monitor does not have a single red flag feature. We know, crazy right? But it’s true. The only problem we have with it is the price tag—it’s very expensive, and it won’t be a reasonable option for every family. And it’s so great that we want everyone to try it out for themselves.
All in all, the IQAir AirVisual Air Quality Monitor Bundle is one of the highest-quality and most versatile monitors money can buy. And although you’ll have to spend a lot of it, the precision readings, broad detection range, and user-friendliness will all make it worth the expense. Trust us. We know.
Performance: 5/5
Usability: 5/5
Price: 2/5
Quality: 5/5
Reviewers have so many great things to say about the IQAir AirVisual Air Quality Monitor Bundle. They love how easy it is to see the air quality indoors and out, and it’s really easy to pull up the info on any device they have handy. They’re also very pleased with the battery life. Although this bundle is very expensive, they would all buy it again for the peace of mind it brings.
Buy If…
You want a full picture of both indoor and outdoor air quality
You want to monitor the readings from every device
Precise readings are very important to you
A long battery life is ideal
Don’t Buy If…
You’re looking for something relatively budget-friendly
Dimensions: 3.25” x 7.25” x 4” (indoor unit); 6.4” x 2.7” x 8” (outdoor unit)
Colour: White
Indicators: AQI, PM1, PM2.5, PM10, CO2, temperature, humidity, and air pressure
Mount Options: Tabletop
Power Type: Rechargeable indoor unit and corded outdoor unit
Battery Life: 20-36 months
Warranty: 1 year
Considering the affordable price of the Temtop S1 Portable Indoor Air Quality Monitor, it’s got a lot of great features working in its favour. It offers a pretty well-rounded reading of your air quality with indicators for comfort (temperature and humidity) and health (PM2.5 and AQI). Plus, it updates every 1.5 seconds, so you’ll never be out of touch.
We really like that it has multiple operating modes—four, in fact—to help you get the most out of your device while preserving battery life. And when the battery does die, a quick recharge with the included Type C cable is all that’s needed.
We do have a couple of critiques to make of this monitor before we wrap up. The first is the battery life—it’s supposed to last between 7 and 60 days depending on which mode you choose, but that’s a bit of an exaggeration. You’ll likely end up leaving it plugged in all the time—not so portable, right? You’ll also only get a generalized idea of the air quality with an AQI reading, not any specifics. Just something to be aware of.
All in all, the Temtop S1 Portable Indoor Air Quality Monitor is perfect for people who aren’t looking for specific readings and will be happy with a corded unit. The price will be right for pretty much everybody, too. And if affordability is your priority, you really can’t beat this one.
Performance: 4.5/5
Usability: 4.5/5
Price: 5/5
Quality: 4/5
Reviewers are mostly happy with the Temtop S1 Portable Indoor Air Quality Monitor. Their main concern is the battery life—it’s pretty short even on the eco setting, and many people end up using it as a corded monitor instead to avoid the inconvenience. The readings all seem accurate, though, and the multiple mounting options are working for everybody.
Buy If…
Versatile mounting options are ideal
You want constant updates for indicator levels
Multiple operating modes sound like a good idea
A general air quality picture is enough
Don’t Buy If…
You want specific readings for specific hazards in the air
You don’t mind keeping it plugged in all the time
Weight: 0.4 lbs
Colour: Black and white
Indicators: AQI, temperature, humidity, and PM2.5
Mount Options: Tabletop or magnetic surface
Power Type: Rechargeable
Battery Life: 7-60 days
We really like the Saf Aranet4 Home Wireless Indoor Air Quality Meter. It’s incredibly easy to set up, and since it’s both compact and lightweight, it’ll make a great travel companion for hotels, restaurants, and more. It has a very precise CO2 monitor thanks to the nondispersive infrared (NDIR) sensors and the intuitive display guarantees you’ll only need a quick glance to understand the current quality of your air.
One of the things we like best about this monitor is its companion app—it’s very user-friendly and lets you check the air quality trends over time. This is a perfect way to make the right changes to your ventilation system, for instance. We also really love the battery life. The e-ink display means a couple of replaceable batteries can last as long as four years! Pretty sweet, right?
We only have one main complaint for this one, and that’s the range of air quality indicators that it detects. As far as hazardous indicators go, this one is limited to CO2. And while that’s an important one to keep an eye on, it won’t help with general air quality. If monitoring things like smoke, dust, VOCs, etc. is important to you, you’ll want to keep looking.
Overall, the Saf Aranet4 Home Wireless Indoor Air Quality Meter is the absolute best option for monitoring indoor CO2 levels. You’ll always know when you need a bit of fresh air, and you can keep an eye on other indicators as well! It’ll even run almost like it doesn’t have a battery at all.
Performance: 5/5
Usability: 4.5/5
Price: 4/5
Quality: 5/5
Reviewers have a great opinion of the Saf Aranet4 Home Wireless Indoor Air Quality Meter. They appreciate how easy the screen is to read—a quick glance makes it obvious whether the CO2 level in the space is safe or not. They’re also big fans of the extra-long battery life and the data tracking in the companion app. Most would agree that the slightly high price tag is more than worth it.
Buy If…
You want to read all the stats with a quick glance
You’d love to track the air quality history
You don’t ever want to think about changing the battery
Precision readings are important to you
Don’t Buy If…
You’re concerned about a broad range of air quality indicators
Dimensions: 4.5” x 4.5” x 2.8”
Weight: 0.7 lbs
Colour: White
Indicators: CO2, temperature, humidity, and air pressure
Mount Options: Tabletop or wall
Power Type: Battery
Battery Life: 4 years
Warranty: 2 years
Air quality monitors can be priced anywhere between $50 and $750+. Most people won’t need to spend more than $250 for an exceptional option, though. In general, the most expensive air quality monitors will have a wider detection range, a longer battery life, and extra device connectivity (smart devices and/or home assistants).
Almost every air quality monitor will measure temperature and humidity, but the health-related indicators can vary. The options include radon, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, particulate matter, VOCs, and more. Some will just give you a general picture with an AQI rating. You’ll have to decide which parameters are most important because you can’t get them all.
Some air quality monitors will be able to connect to your smartphone with a companion app, and others can also connect to home assistants to become part of your integrated home network. Not all air quality monitors will offer these types of connectivity, but many will offer one, if not both.
Most air quality monitors run on either replaceable batteries or an integrated rechargeable one. And the battery life can vary between 7 days and 4 years. If you don’t want to worry about charging or replacing batteries all the time, you’ll want to prioritize a longer battery life.
Most air quality monitors are only suited to indoor environments, but some can monitor the outdoor air too. It might be something to consider.
Disclaimer: The prices displayed are accurate at the time of publication. We’ll do our best to keep them as up-to-date as possible, but you may see slight changes. The products in this list are ranked by independent third parties. Rankings are based on both reviews and independent testing.