Whirlpool WPT80P Whispure Review: a quiet, no-nonsense air purifier for small to medium rooms

I’ve been using the Whirlpool WPT80P Whispure in my apartment for a bit now, mainly for allergies and general apartment funk (cooking, a bit of smoke from neighbors, and a dog that pretends he doesn’t shed). I’m not an air quality nerd, I just wanted something simple that I could plug in, forget about, and hopefully sneeze less. This one sits in my bedroom and sometimes gets moved to the living room when we have people over or cook something strong.

Out of the box, it felt like a pretty standard, no-drama appliance: tower shape, light enough to carry with one hand, and no assembly besides unwrapping the filters. I’ve had cheaper no-name purifiers before and one bigger Honeywell unit, so I had a rough idea of what to expect in terms of noise and airflow. Compared to those, the Whirlpool feels a bit more thought out, especially on noise control and the timer features.

My main goal was fewer allergy flare-ups at night and less lingering smell from cooking and dog. In practice, it doesn’t magically fix everything, but there is a noticeable difference. My bedroom doesn’t smell stale in the morning anymore, and during pollen days my nose is less stuffed when I wake up. It’s not perfect, but it’s clearly doing something, especially when I keep it running on low or sleep mode for long stretches.

If you’re expecting it to scrub a huge open-plan house or handle crazy wildfire smoke in a big living room, it’s going to feel a bit underpowered. But for a bedroom, office, or a smaller living room (around the 200 sq ft it’s rated for), it’s pretty solid. The key thing is: it’s easy to live with. The noise is manageable, the controls are straightforward, and filter changes are simple. Not exciting, but it gets the job done without being annoying, which is kind of what you want from an air purifier.

On the value side, this purifier sits in that middle ground: not bargain-basement cheap, not high-end fancy. For what you pay, you get a true HEPA filter, a carbon pre-filter, quiet operation, and a known brand. You don’t get Wi‑Fi, air quality sensors, or auto mode, but honestly, if you just want clean air and aren’t obsessed with data, you might not miss those features at all. I ended up actually appreciating the simplicity—less to fiddle with, less to break.

Where the cost sneaks up is filter replacements. Like any HEPA purifier, the real long-term cost is the filters, especially if you’re dealing with heavy dust, smoke, or pets and have to change them more often. The good news is that the filters for this model are easy to find and there are both OEM and third-party options. The bad news is they’re not dirt cheap. If you run it almost 24/7, you should mentally add a yearly filter budget to the purchase price. That said, this is standard for any real HEPA unit; it’s not uniquely expensive here.

Compared to cheaper brands I’ve tried, the Whirlpool feels more consistent and reliable. The fan noise is smoother, the housing doesn’t rattle, and the controls don’t feel like they’re going to fail. Compared to more expensive purifiers with smart features and bigger coverage, you’re obviously giving up coverage area and fancy extras, but for a bedroom or office, I don’t think you’re missing much. If you’re in a small apartment or just want to handle one or two rooms, this offers a decent balance of performance and cost.

So from a value standpoint, I’d say: good value if you stay within its limits. If you try to make this your only purifier for a huge open house or expect it to fix heavy indoor smoking in a large space, you’ll be disappointed and should probably spend more on a larger unit. But for a regular bedroom, office, or small living room, it’s a sensible purchase that does what it’s supposed to do without overcomplicating things or draining your wallet too hard in the long run.

Design-wise, the WPT80P is pretty straightforward: tall white tower, vents on the sides/front, controls on top. No weird curves or flashy lights. Personally, I like that it doesn’t attract attention. It just sits there doing its thing. The footprint is small enough that I can slide it between my bed and a dresser without tripping on it. It’s also light enough to move with one hand, which matters more than I expected when I started dragging it between rooms.

The touch controls on top are clear and simple: power, fan speed, sleep mode, timer, and filter reset indicators. They’re not super fancy capacitive glass or anything, just basic soft-touch buttons, but they respond well. Even in the dark with just a bedside lamp, I can find the power and speed buttons easily. There’s no bright, annoying LED strip; the indicator lights are there but not blinding. If you’re sensitive to light while sleeping, these are mild enough that they didn’t bother me.

One thing I noticed: the air intake and output are set up so the unit likes a bit of space around it. If you jam it right up against a wall or heavy curtain, airflow drops and you can hear it working harder. I got the best results keeping it about 6–8 inches away from the wall, which is pretty normal for these things. The tower shape helps with vertical airflow, and you can feel a solid stream of air at the top on medium and high.

If I’m being picky, the design is very plastic and looks more like a basic appliance than something you’d see in a fancy design magazine. No metal accents, no color options, just white. It doesn’t feel cheap in a fragile way, but it also doesn’t feel premium. For the price range, I’m fine with that. I’d say it’s practical and neutral rather than stylish. It blends in and doesn’t get in the way, which is really all I needed from an air purifier.

In terms of build quality, the WPT80P feels like a mid-range appliance: mostly plastic, but the panels fit well and nothing rattles or flexes in a sketchy way. I’ve moved it around quite a bit between rooms, bumped it with a vacuum a couple times, and nothing has cracked or loosened. It’s light, but not flimsy. The fan inside sounds consistent—no grinding, no random rattles—even after running many hours a day.

The filters are easy to access: the front panel pops off, the pre-filter and HEPA filter are right there. No tools, no weird clips that feel like they’re going to snap. The pre-filter (carbon) is the one that gets dirty quickly, as expected. I vacuum it gently sometimes to extend its life, but eventually you’ll want to replace it for odor control. Replacement filters are available online, and they’re not dirt-cheap but also not outrageous. You’ll want to budget for filter changes if you run it daily, especially in dusty or smoky environments.

Long-term, Whirlpool as a brand has a decent reputation for appliances, and you can see that in some user reviews mentioning older models still running after many years. I obviously can’t test 10 years in a few weeks, but so far, nothing about this unit feels like it’s on the verge of failing. The buttons still respond cleanly, the fan speed hasn’t changed, and there’s no burned-plastic smell or anything suspicious. It feels like something that should last several years if you don’t abuse it and you change the filters on schedule.

If I had to nitpick on durability, the glossy-ish plastic finish will probably scratch or scuff over time if you move it around a lot or have pets and kids bumping into it. It’s not fragile, just not bulletproof. But from a functional standpoint—motor, fan, controls—everything feels reliable so far. I’d rate durability as “good for the price”: not heavy-duty industrial gear, but definitely more solid than the cheap no-name purifiers I’ve tried that start buzzing or rattling after a few months.

Performance is where this thing matters, and overall it’s pretty solid for a small to medium room. In my 12x14 bedroom (so roughly 168 sq ft), running it on Low or Sleep mode all night noticeably cuts down on that stuffy, dusty feeling in the morning. I have mild dust and pollen allergies, and I’ve had fewer nights waking up with a scratchy throat or congested nose since I started using it regularly. It doesn’t make me feel like I’m in a clean room, but there’s a clear difference versus not using any purifier.

On odors, it does a decent job. When I cook something strong in the kitchen/living area (roughly the size it’s rated for), I put it on Medium or High. It doesn’t instantly erase the smell, but after an hour or two the heavy cooking odor is mostly gone instead of lingering all evening. Same with dog smell: I have a dog that loves the couch, and if I leave the unit running on Low in the living room for a few hours, the general dog smell is noticeably reduced. It won’t fix a full-on smoke-filled room in 10 minutes, but for everyday smells it helps a lot.

Noise is actually one of the strong points. On Low and Sleep mode, it’s very quiet—more like a gentle hum than a fan. I can sleep with it right next to the bed without it bothering me. On Medium, it’s audible but still at a level that blends into background noise while watching TV. High is clearly louder and more like a small fan on high speed, but that’s expected. I mostly use High only when I want to clear the air faster (after cooking, or if the windows were open during a dusty day).

In terms of airflow, you can feel a good stream of clean air coming out the top on Medium and High, and it seems to circulate the room decently if you give it a central-ish spot. If you put it in a bigger open area than it’s designed for, it starts to feel underpowered—you’ll still notice some improvement, but it won’t keep up with heavy smoke or multiple odor sources. For something around the 200 sq ft range, though, it feels well matched and does what it’s supposed to do without complaining.

The Whirlpool WPT80P is a corded tower-style air purifier rated for rooms up to about 220 square feet. So think bedroom, office, or a modest living room, not a giant open basement. It uses a combo of a true HEPA filter plus an activated carbon pre-filter. The HEPA part is supposed to catch 99.97% of particles down to 0.3 microns (dust, pollen, pet dander, some smoke particles), while the carbon layer helps with smells from pets, cooking, and smoke. There’s also Whirlpool’s “Whishield” anti-bacteria thing that’s meant to stop germs from growing on the pre-filter. I can’t really test the germ-killing claim, but the filter hasn’t gotten funky or musty so far.

Control-wise, it’s pretty straightforward: touch buttons on top, with 3 fan speeds (Low, Medium, High), a sleep mode, and a programmable timer (2/4/6/8 hours). There are also filter indicator lights so you don’t have to guess when to swap filters. No app, no Wi‑Fi, no smart home nonsense. If you want to control it with your phone or talk to it through Alexa, this isn’t it. Personally, I liked that it behaves like a normal appliance: press button, fan runs.

In terms of size, it’s about 23 inches tall and has a small footprint (roughly 8.5 x 7 inches), so it tucks next to a nightstand or between furniture without hogging floor space. Weight is around 9 pounds, so moving it between rooms is easy. I sometimes drag it from the bedroom to the living room when we cook something greasy or when friends who smoke come over, and it’s not a big deal.

Overall, the presentation is very appliance-like: plain white, Whirlpool logo, nothing flashy. It fits in fine but doesn’t look fancy or high-end. If you care about design details or color choices, you might find it a bit boring. But if you just want something that looks normal and doesn’t scream “medical device” or “sci-fi gadget” in the middle of your room, it does the job.

Effectiveness is always tricky to judge at home since I don’t have air quality meters lying around, but I can compare it to other purifiers I’ve owned and how my body reacts. With the WPT80P in my bedroom, running mostly on Sleep or Low, I’ve had fewer allergy symptoms at night. Less sneezing before bed, less waking up with a clogged nose. I still react if I’ve been outside on a heavy pollen day, but the usual dust and pet dander buildup in the room feels more under control. When I skip running it for a couple nights, the difference is noticeable enough that I go back to leaving it on.

The HEPA filter seems to do its job capturing fine particles. I noticed less visible dust floating in sunbeams near the unit compared to before. It doesn’t eliminate dusting (nothing does), but surfaces seem to stay cleaner a bit longer. I’ve had it running for weeks and when I checked the pre-filter, it had a decent layer of fine dust and hair on it, which is exactly what I want—better on the filter than in my lungs or on my furniture.

On the odor side, the activated carbon layer is decent but not magic. For everyday stuff like cooking smells, dog, or light smoke from neighbors, it reduces and speeds up how fast the smell fades. For really heavy, oily cooking or strong cigarette smoke, it helps, but you’ll still smell something. Think of it as “cuts the intensity and clears it faster” rather than “erases all smell instantly.” For me, that’s acceptable, especially at this price point. If odor removal is your main priority (like heavy indoor smoking), you might want a bigger unit with more carbon.

As for the anti-bacteria Whishield claim, I can’t verify the 99.99% number, but I can say the filter area hasn’t developed any weird smell or mustiness, which I’ve seen with some cheaper purifiers over time. The air it blows out still smells neutral. That’s about as far as I can judge it as a regular user. In practice, the unit makes the air feel cleaner, my allergies are calmer in the rooms where I run it, and it keeps general odors from hanging around as long. Not perfect, but clearly effective enough to justify keeping it on most of the time.