Honeywell AirGenius 3 HFD300 review: Get The New One!

Last updated on December 7th, 2020

The starters

The older and so-called “entry-level” to AirGenius series. Honeywell AirGenius 3 HFD300 shares many design elements and specification from the group. At 11.5 x 29 x 11.5 in dimension and 13.5 lb weight, the air purifier is neither compact or bulky. Going through the slim profile body, you will find a large honeycomb air inlet at the back and air outlet at front. The flask wide bottom design retained for better stability. Overall, fitting is tight but the lack of a bottom accent light is one of the few things you have to compromise.

Let’s begin the controls from left to right. The Check Filters Button allows you to check filter status on single click. If you see the filter status in red color, press and hold the button for 3 seconds to reset the timer. Next, the Purification level button will cycle between Sleep (night use), General (everyday use), and Max (highest fan speed). The power button will turn on or off the air purifier (duh). To the right, Oscillate will activate side to side purifying for better circulation. If you have seen AirGenius 4 or 5 previously, you will notice HFD300 controls is a little bit empty. that is because there is no Light Dimmer button, Timer button and speed are limited to 3 options.

Lets recap on the specification. You have a 3-stage permanent filtration with 3 cleaning setting. Timer, Oscillation, and check filters/ Reset Button. Finally, AHAM and ARB certified, Energy Star rated and 5 years warranty.

Airflow, speed, and CADR

As an entry-level to the series, the airflow delivery rate is actually OK for a permanent air purifier. Limit to 3 speed, you can set the speed to either Sleep, General Clean or Max. We recommend leaving it to General Clean on everyday use. On the other hand, 225 sq. ft. coverage is average thus AirGenius 3 probably best suited for small to medium room size. Again, no autonomous purifying as mentioned earlier. Honeywell AirGenius 3 CADR return is no doubt the weakest in its series. Starting with the 150 cfm for dust, 160 cfm for pollen and 146 cfm for smoke. Despite dust CADR being the lowest, the air purifier fares quite well on large particles. Smoke CADR is the poorest but for home use is A-OK.

What’s inside count

AirGenius 3 QuietClean ifD technology is what this air purifier is all about. With no filter replacement needed, the pre-filter could easily trap large particles like dust. Next, the patented ifD filter would handle microscopic allergens as small as 0.3 microns. For smoke and chemicals, you have the option to switch to the odor-reducing pre-filter. Do note the filter is non-washable and requires quarterly replacing. There is also an Ionizer at the end that will release ions to merge with airborne particles. This caused the particles to fall from increased weight and the ifD filter will take over from there. As with all permanent filter, regular maintenance is needed (vacuuming only). This would prevent the filter from being congested by contaminants.

Keep it down

HFD300 noise level is very similar to other AirGeniuses despite the weaker airflow. As usual, noise is virtually silent at speed 1 (sleep mode) and audible but not too intrusive at speed 3 (Max). Same goes with power usage, it's at low to a reasonable rate depending on the cleaning mode. Technically, it should use less than a lightbulb but we have not tested it on that.

At what cost

Honeywell AirGenius 3 is the cheapest in its series although not by a whole lot. At this price, there are a lot more HEPA air purifiers available that uses a mechanical filter. If you prefer to pay only at one go, HFD300 is THE ONE thanks to the zero annual filter maintenance. Given all that, we would still recommend opting for the higher spec Honeywell AirGenius 4 or 5 model. Both still availability and offers better performance VS value return.

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