Our Verdict
This purifier turned in an almost unbeatable performance in our air cleaning tests, eliminating 99.99% of measured airborne particulates in the 150 square foot testing room over the course of an hour. It backs up this stellar cleaning performance with super quiet operation, an easy to use interface, and reasonable operating costs. Its list price is higher than that of many competing models, but we’ve consistently seen it selling online for significantly less than the list price, and in many cases for much less than its nearest competition. If you can find this unit on sale, it is both relatively budget friendly and high performing. Even if you can’t find it on sale, we think its stellar performance warrants the high list price.
Air Cleaning Performance
The Winix 5500-2 is one of the most powerful purifiers we’ve ever tested. It consistently displayed impressive air cleaning performance in all of our tests.
When we put the Winix 5500-2 into our smoke-filled, 150 square foot testing room, it removed 99.5% of the measured airborne particulates in just 30 minutes. After a full hour, that mark had increased to a whopping 99.99%. For context, most models struggled to ever get beyond the 99.5% mark even after a full hour. The Winix 5500-2 achieved that in half the time and then went well above and beyond.
The Winix 5500-2 also managed to remove more odors than most models on the market. We’ve yet to find a consumer air purifier that can completely eliminate odors, but the Winix 5500-2 did a respectable job. We could still clearly smell smoke when it was done cleaning our testing room, but it was substantially less pungent.
The Winix 5500-2 boasts a certified clean air delivery rate of 246 cubic feet per minute, meaning it had enough power for rooms of up to 363 square feet.
This purifier also has a built-in air quality meter. This allows you to set the purifier on its ‘auto’ mode and it will turn itself on and off based on the reading of its air quality meter. While this meter doesn’t provide a precise readout –it only displays a blue, yellow, or red light for good, medium, and bad air quality– we found the auto mode to be quite reactive to changes in air quality as measured by our calibrated air quality meter.
Noise
The Winix 5500-2 was one of the quietest air purifiers we tested. On its low setting the noise it emits is barely perceptible. It remains fairly quiet even when ramped up to its highest setting. It is certainly noticeable when running on the high setting, but the low-pitched hum doesn’t feel annoying. We had no trouble watching Netflix at a reasonable volume with this purifier running right next to us.
Ease of Use
The Winix 5500-2 presents very few challenges to even those that don’t like dealing with appliances. This earned it one of our top user friendliness scores.
The unit itself has dedicated buttons for setting the fan speed, setting an off timer, and selecting a specific mode. It also includes a remote control that makes it easy to do the same things without getting out of bed or off the couch. The off timer can be set for 1, 4, or 8 hours. At 15.4 pounds it is at the heavier end of the spectrum, but a convenient carrying handle makes it relatively easy to move it from room to room.
Value
If you find it on sale, the Winix 5500-2 offers exceptional performance at a middle-of-the-road price, making it a great value. Even if you have to purchase it at its list price, we believe the Winix 5500-2’s stellar performance makes that higher price worthwhile.
Conclusion
The Winix 5500-2 is one of the best overall air purifiers we’ve tested, offering top-notch air cleaning performance, quiet operation, and a set of useful features.
