Winix 5300-2 Review: The Best Air Purifier under 130?

Last updated on March 17th, 2020

Winix 5300-2 review

The starters

Visually improved at every aspect, Winix 5300-2 exterior is a big leap from its previous model. There is updated vertical strips elements, controls, and black housing. Retaining similar size and weight as 5300 (15 x 23.6 x 8.2 in/ 15.4 lb), build quality is again sturdy with no loosed parts. There are no premium materials used in this air purifier. Everything you see and touch is plasticky as expected from the price point. No surprise on the air ventilation location. You have the air inlet tucked behind the front cover and air outlet is push to the top. Like every other Winix air purifiers, there is standard handle slot to grip on.

What’s in the control panel space is five round buttons (On/ Off, Mode, PlasmaWave, Fan Speed and Timer). Right at the center, there is an air quality indicator bar, light/ odor sensor, and a small filter reset button. Operating Winix 5300-2 air purifier could not be any easier, so let’s cover the main function first. On/ Off button is what it is, Mode button will switch between Auto mode and Sleep mode. The dedicated PlasmaWave button activates/ deactivates the Hydroxyls purifying function. Fan speed button cycle between the four speeds; timer button will cycle between 1, 4, 8 hours, and off setting. There is also a small reset button that you would only use it on a yearly basis. Air quality indicator light that will be in blue color when the surrounding air quality is good. When air quality is fair, the bar will change to yellow and dropping to red when air quality is poor. Light sensor adjusts the LED indicator light brightness based on the ambient light. Odor sensor enables Auto mode according to the level of airborne particles in a room. Like 5500-2, the controls are nicely labeled and angled for better standpoint visibility. We do miss the classic clicky button type more than touch button here.

To recap what’s in the box, 5300-2 is powered by the familiar 4-stage filtration with PlasmaWave. There is also 4 fan speeds with auto/ sleep mode, odor sensor, and light sensor. The greatly miss timer (1, 4, 8 hours), AQ indicator, replacement filter indicator. Finally, AHAM, CARB ozone-free certified, ENERGY STAR rated, and improved 2 years warranty. Remote control is sadly not included.

Airflow, speed, and CADR

A tiny improvement over its predecessor, Winix 5300-2 comes with a small bump in coverage at 360 sq. ft. (lowest air charges). Impressive figures to say the least. Fan speed retains at four (low, medium, high to turbo) while 35.3 - 240.1 cfm airflow gets bump up at low speed. Auto mode (enabled by default) automatically adjusts the fan speed to deal with the surrounding particles. Sleep mode will set the fan speed to low and dim all indicator lights to prevent glaring disturbance. Like most console air purifier setup, Winix 5300-2 is ideal for medium-sized bedroom, kitchen or studio. The air purifier official CADR is equally impressive as airflow. Dust CADR pushed up slightly at 243 cfm (VS Winix 5300). Pollen and smoke CADR gets dropped by not significantly to 246 cfm and 232 cfm. Safe to say that anything that passes the 200 cfm benchmarks will do well against irritants. In other words, Winix 5300-2 will not disappoint you in airflow performance.

What’s inside count

Winix 5300-2 filter kept the same setup with the dependable 4-stage filtration. The first layer of defense is the odor absorbing carbon filter that focuses on large particles and household odors/ gases. Next is True HEPA filter that removes tiny allergens down to 0.3 micron size with a filtration rate of 99.97%. Lastly, PlasmaWave would create Hydroxyls to break apart lingering airborne pollutants. Overall, the filter size is spot on and we are happy with True HEPA filtration quality. The carbon filter though is a little bit of mixed bag. Somehow against stronger irritants, the deodorization part falls a little bit back.

Keep it down

Winix 5300-2 generate a modest 27.8 - 60+ dB noise level. Generally silent in low, medium speed, and bearable noise at Turbo speed. For an uninterrupted sleep at night, Sleep mode is just a click away. As for power consumption, the air purifier is ENERGY STAR rated as one would expect. However, there is a slight increase in energy usage at 5 - 70+ watts. Still reasonable for its airflow capacity and Auto mode play a key role in energy management.

At what cost

Winix 5300-2 online price is surprisingly cheaper than 5300 given the all-around improvement. Within its mid-range category, it is an absolute bargain and a "genuine" best bang for the buck air purifier. Filter availability is plentiful, and the annual replacement cost is not overly high. Considering the bundled Filter A package comes with 4 carbon sheet with 1 HEPA filter. The same old, nitty-gritty complain we have is the carbon sheet short 3 months lifespan. It makes more sense to put it a better carbon filter that can last throughout the year, like the one in 5500-2.

Winix 5300-2 VS the challengers

Verdicts and ratings