Airthings View Plus Review: A Fantastic Air Quality Monitor for your Home

Airthings, known for their great smart home tech, released their latest air quality monitoring device, the Airthings View Plus. The View Plus is a simple yet powerful device that continuously monitors your home’s air quality to help keep your family safe from allergens, radon, pollution, and more. The first batch has sold out, but you can pre-order yours for $299.

The Airthings View Plus is an elegantly designed monitor with an easy-to-read e-paper display. It’s battery-powered so that you can place it anywhere in your home; it also comes with a USB-C cable so that the Airthings View Plus can be plugged in as well. Thanks to the low-power e-paper display, your View Plus can last 2 years on its battery.

Want a quick look at your air quality? Simply wave your hand in front of the device to see a color-coded air quality check. The View Plus is WiFi connected, allowing your device to communicate with the companion mobile app, which gives you a simple overview of your home’s air quality levels. For a more in-depth look, you can log into the Airthings Dashboard on PC.

Particulate Matter detection is brand new to Airthings’ devices. It describes microscopic particles in the air, which can be anything from dust and pollen to pollutants exhausted from cars, industrial activity, and even wildfires. While you can’t see it, particulate matter can irritate your lungs, exacerbate asthma, or contribute to serious illnesses such as heart attacks or coronary artery disease.

Particulate matter is something only an air quality monitor can tell you is there, and the Airthings View Plus can detect particles as small as PM2.5 (size of a dust particle) to PM1 (size of common bacteria.) What’s great about the Airthings app is it’ll alert you when your PM levels reach a threshold that you can set.

The View Plus can also function as a hub. You can expand your system by purchasing additional monitors and installing them around your home. The View Plus monitors your air for the following:

• Radon
• Particulate matter
• Carbon dioxide
• Humidity
• Temperature
• Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs)
• Air Pressure

We wanted to get an air quality monitor because we have been spending so much more time in our house thanks to the COVID pandemic, and we wanted to keep an eye on the radon levels in our home. Our area is prone to high radon levels, so we felt it was better safe than sorry.

Our professional radon test canisters

After a little bit of confusion (our device was set to metric while our app was set to imperial), we were able to start monitoring our home’s air quality after about a week of the device measuring the air. After getting radon readings around 1.6 pCi/L, we decided to get a more “professional” measurement taken that involves leaving canisters out for a couple of days to collect air samples, then had them sent to a lab for testing.

While the EPA recommends taking action if your home measures 4 pCi/L or above, the World Health Organization recommends taking action on anything around 2.7 pCi/L or above. The “professional” test measured our radon level at 2.4 pCi/L; being a “better safe than sorry” family, we installed a mitigation system. Once we installed the system, we saw the readings go down slightly on the Airthings View Plus, so we could tell that it’s working, even if the readings may not be 100% accurate.

In short, the Airthings View Plus is a really nicely designed device that helps you keep track of your home’s air quality, constantly monitoring several variables that can be unhealthy to you and your family. The app is straightforward to use, and if you want a deep dive, you can log into Airthings online dashboard. The device is nice-looking and will fit into any home’s décor. We’re a fan of anything that helps you take control of your home’s health.

The Airthings View Plus retails for $299; You can pre-order yours from the second batch, expected to ship in September 2021 directly from the manufacturer.

Source: Manufacturer supplied review sample

What I Like: Elegant design; Power efficient e-paper display; Monitors many different airborne killers and alerts you to their presence

What Needs Improvement: Nothing so far!