PureMate PM520 Hepa Air Purifier Review: a no-nonsense machine that cleans the air and makes some noise doing it

I’ve been using the PureMate PM520 Hepa Air Purifier with ioniser and UV lamp for a while now in a flat with a cat, a smoker visiting regularly, and a lot of pollen in spring. So this isn’t a showroom test, it’s been running in a real messy environment. I mainly bought it for hay fever and pet dander, but I was also curious if it would help with cooking smells and the occasional smoke. On paper it looks pretty solid: True HEPA, active carbon, UV, ioniser, 5 fan speeds, timer, and a claimed coverage of up to 56 m² / about 600 sq ft.

In practice, I’d say it does what it says in terms of cleaning the air, but it’s not perfect. The fan noise is noticeable once you go past level 2, the UV lamp seems a bit fragile according to other users, and the design is more “functional tower” than “nice object you want to show off”. But the main point for me: my nose and sinuses are calmer, and the room smells less like cat and food. That’s basically what I wanted.

Compared to cheaper, smaller purifiers I used before, this one moves more air and seems to clear smells faster, especially when I put it on level 3 or 4 for an hour after cooking. On the low setting, it’s quiet enough to sleep with, at least for me. If you’re super sensitive to noise, you might disagree, but it’s more like a soft whoosh than a harsh fan sound. I’ve had louder “quiet” fans than this.

If you’re expecting a smart Wi‑Fi gadget with an app, air quality sensor and automatic modes, this is not it. This is more of a manual workhorse: you set the speed, you maybe use the timer, and you forget about it. If you’re okay with that and you mainly care about cleaner air and fewer sneezing fits, it’s a pretty decent option, especially for the price bracket it usually sits in.

In terms of value, I’d put the PureMate PM520 in the “good for the money, with a few quirks” category. You get a True HEPA filter, a carbon filter, UV lamp, ioniser, 5 fan speeds, timer, and a decent CADR for a medium to large room. It’s not the cheapest air purifier on the market, but compared to big brands that charge a lot more for similar airflow, it’s fairly priced. The Amazon rating sits around 3.9/5, which matches my feeling: it’s not perfect, but it does a decent job for what you pay.

Running costs are something to think about. You’ll need to replace the HEPA/carbon filter periodically, and possibly the UV lamp if you use it and if it fails (which some users reported quite early). The good bit is there are indicator lights to remind you, so you don’t have to guess. Filter prices vary, but you should factor in at least one replacement a year if you run it a lot. There’s also a 2‑year warranty, which is reassuring in this price range, especially with the feedback about UV bulbs dying early.

Compared to cheaper, tiny desktop purifiers, this one is better value if you actually want to clean a proper room and not just the air around your desk. It moves more air and has a more serious filter setup. Compared to more expensive smart purifiers (Dyson, Philips high-end, etc.), you obviously don’t get fancy sensors, apps or sleek design, but you also don’t pay their prices. You’re basically paying for a straightforward, manual machine that focuses on filtration rather than tech features.

If your budget is tight and your main goal is to cut down on allergies and smells in a medium or big room, this is a sensible buy. If you want a super quiet, super stylish, app-connected device with auto modes and air quality readings, you’ll probably be happier spending more on another brand. For me, it hits a decent balance of performance and price, as long as you go in knowing it’s a bit noisy on higher speeds and the UV feature isn’t its strongest point.

Design-wise, the PureMate PM520 is more about function than style. It’s a black tower, about 71 cm tall, 28 cm wide, and 18 cm deep. So it’s not tiny – you definitely see it in the room – but it’s slim enough to tuck next to a sofa, a chest of drawers, or in a corner without blocking passage. If you’re hoping for a nice piece of decor, this isn’t that. It just looks like an appliance, a bit like a tall fan or a slim heater.

The build feels decent for the price. It’s mostly plastic, but it doesn’t feel like it’s going to fall apart if you move it around a bit. The front grill is simple and lets air out evenly, and the air intake is on the back. That means you need to leave a bit of space around it, front and back, for it to work well. I wouldn’t wedge it completely against the wall or bury it behind curtains, otherwise you’re just wasting the airflow.

On top, you get a touch control panel with a small digital display that shows the timer and fan speed. The buttons are clear: power, speed, timer, UV, ioniser. No learning curve there. When you switch on the UV, you get a blue glow along the top trim and some light coming through the front grill, which doubles as a kind of night light. Some people like that; others might find it annoying in a dark bedroom. Personally I got used to it, but if you hate any light in your room, you’ll probably leave the UV off at night.

One thing to note: because of its height and narrow footprint, it can be knocked over if you’ve got a big dog, a chaotic cat, or kids running around. It’s not super unstable, but it’s not a solid block either. I ended up placing it between two bits of furniture so it couldn’t be easily tipped. Overall, the design is practical and easy to live with, but nothing about it feels premium or nice-looking. It gets the job done and then disappears into the background visually, which is fine for me.

The noise is one of the main trade-offs with this purifier. The spec says 20 dB, but that’s clearly for the lowest setting only. On level 1, it’s genuinely pretty quiet: you hear a soft airflow and a low hum, similar to a gentle fan or white noise machine. For sleeping, I’m fine with it, and a lot of people who like a bit of background noise will probably be okay. It’s not silent, so if you’re the kind of person who needs total silence, you might still notice it and get annoyed.

Once you bump it up to level 2 and 3, the sound ramps up. It’s not crazy loud, but you know it’s running. On level 3, I can still watch TV or talk without raising my voice, but I wouldn’t call it quiet. On level 4 and 5, it becomes more of a strong fan noise – good for quick air cleaning sessions when you’re out of the room or don’t mind the sound for an hour. You wouldn’t want level 5 on all night unless you sleep like a rock.

One Amazon reviewer mentioned a noticeable rumble even on the slowest fan setting. I did notice a slight low-frequency hum, but it wasn’t bad in my unit. It might depend on the surface it’s standing on. On a hard wooden floor it can resonate a bit more; putting it on a small mat or carpet can help dampen the vibration. If you’re very sensitive to low rumbles, that’s something to keep in mind.

So, in short: it’s fine on low, acceptable on medium, and loud but usable on high. That’s pretty standard for a purifier that actually moves a decent amount of air. If super quiet operation is your top priority and you only want to run it on high all the time, this probably isn’t the right choice. If you’re okay using low overnight and high for short bursts, it’s manageable.

Performance is where this thing earns its keep. With 5 fan speeds, you can choose between quiet and more aggressive cleaning. On speed 1, it’s genuinely low noise – you can still hear a soft airflow and a small rumble, but it’s more like background white noise. I’ve been able to sleep with it on level 1 without any trouble. Once you go to speed 3, 4, or 5, it gets noticeably louder. Not jet-engine loud, but you definitely notice it in the room, and for some people it’ll be too much for watching TV or having a quiet conversation.

In terms of air cleaning, it does a solid job. After running it for a few days in a cat-filled, pollen-heavy room, I could tell that my sneezing and itchy eyes were reduced. One Amazon user even said their almost nonstop sneezing basically stopped after using it, and that lines up with my experience: it doesn’t fix allergies completely, but the difference is pretty clear. Dust in the air seems to settle less, and the HEPA filter catches a lot of fine stuff. When you check the filter after a while, you can see the grey dust layer it’s trapped, which is both gross and satisfying.

For smells, the activated carbon filter helps. If I cook something strong or someone vapes or smokes, putting the fan on 3–4 for an hour or two clears the smell much faster than just opening a window, especially in winter. It doesn’t magically erase everything in five minutes, but it shortens the time the room smells like food or smoke. One downside: if you leave it on the low setting near a smoker, some users found the rumble still noticeable and maybe a bit annoying, so you’ve got to balance smell removal vs noise tolerance.

The UV and ioniser are more of a “nice to have” than essential. UV is supposed to kill bacteria and viruses, and the ioniser is supposed to help particles clump together. In real life, you can’t easily measure that. I didn’t notice a huge difference with them on vs off, and some reviewers had issues with the UV lamp dying early (7 weeks, then 1 week on the replacement). The good news is the unit still cleans the air just fine with only HEPA and carbon, so those extra features feel more like optional extras rather than the core of the performance.

The PureMate PM520 is basically a 5‑in‑1 air purifier tower. You get a True HEPA filter, an activated carbon filter, a UV germicidal lamp, a TiO2 layer and an ioniser. In normal person terms: it pulls air in, pushes it through a dust/pollen filter, then through a smell/odour filter, and optionally zaps stuff with UV and spits out negatively charged ions. All the fancy words on the box boil down to that. The CADR numbers (126 smoke, 140 pollen, 150 dust) are mid‑range, not monster level, but good enough for a medium or larger bedroom or living room if you’re not expecting lab-grade air.

Control-wise, it’s simple. There’s a touch control panel on the top with a digital display. You can set 5 fan speeds, a timer from 1 to 8 hours, and toggle the UV and ioniser on or off. No Wi‑Fi, no app, no smart-home nonsense. Honestly, I kind of like that. It’s one less thing to fiddle with. The filter and UV lamp have indicator lights that tell you when it’s time to replace them, which is handy because you don’t have to remember dates or guess based on smell.

The unit is meant for indoor use only (obviously) and is fairly light considering its height. The listed weight is about 500 grams, which honestly feels like a typo because it’s a tall tower; but in any case, it’s easy enough to move around thanks to the handle. I’ve dragged it between bedroom and living room without any effort. If you’ve got pets or kids, you’ll probably want to wedge it between furniture like one Amazon reviewer did, just so it doesn’t get knocked over.

Out of the box, there’s nothing fancy in terms of accessories: just the purifier with pre‑installed filter, power cable (it’s corded electric only), and a basic manual. The good point is that there’s no complicated assembly. You just pull off the front, check the filter plastic is removed, plug it in, and it’s running. For the price and for what it does, the overall package is straightforward. No bells and whistles, but it covers the basics well enough.

My main test for any air purifier is simple: do I sneeze less, and does the room smell less like cat and cooking? With the PureMate PM520, I’d say the answer is yes, to a reasonable level. I have mild hay fever and I’m sensitive to dust and cat dander. After a few days of running this in the bedroom pretty much all day on level 1 or 2, I woke up with less of a blocked nose and fewer sneezing fits in the morning. It didn’t fix everything – this isn’t medicine – but the improvement was noticeable enough that I kept it running daily.

For pet owners, it’s pretty useful. Cat smell and litter box odours in the nearby area were reduced, especially when I kicked the fan up to level 3 for a bit. It doesn’t magically erase a full-on litter box disaster, you still need to clean, but the lingering odour in the air is definitely cut down. Hair and dander end up in the filter instead of floating around. If you look at the pre-filter after a while, you’ll see fur and fluff stuck there, which shows it’s doing its job.

For smoke and vaping, it’s decent but not magic. If someone is actively smoking right next to it, you can see it pulling smoke in and the smell in the room drops faster than without it. However, on the lowest fan speed it’s a bit too gentle to deal with heavy smoke in real time, and as one Amazon reviewer said, the noise on higher speeds might annoy the smoker if it’s right next to them. In my case, I just run it on a higher setting after the smoker leaves the room, and that works well enough.

Overall, I’d rate the effectiveness as “pretty solid for the price and size”. It’s not a hospital-grade unit, but for pollen, dust, pet dander and everyday smells, it gets the job done. The claimed 99.97% at 0.3 microns is standard True HEPA stuff, nothing special, but it’s good to have. If your main issue is allergies or general stuffiness in a medium to large room, this unit will likely make a clear difference, as long as you’re okay with some fan noise and you remember to change the filters when needed.