Dyson Purifier Hot+Cool HP1 Review

Design and features

• Heats, cools and purifies
• No option to redirect airflow
• Compatible with the MyDyson app

Using the same tried and tested design, the Dyson Purifier Hot+Cool HP1 looks much like the other purifying fans, such as the Dyson Purifier Hot+Cool Formaldehyde. This new model is cheaper, as it lacks a few of the higher-end features of the top-end model.

Basic build quality is the same that I’ve come to expect from Dyson, and the bladeless fan head still looks as good today as it did when it first launched. With no blades on display, the fan looks neater and smarter.

The bottom of the fan holds the glass HEPA and activated carbon filter, which captures particulate matter (PM), such as dust, pollen and pet dander, and gases, which can remove odours from the air. 

Filters should last 12 months, and you’ll receive a notification in the Dyson app when it’s time to change them. Replacements cost £75, direct from Dyson.

There’s only one button on the fan to turn it on and off. Everything else needs to be done via the remote control or app.

As with other Dyson fans that I’ve reviewed, the remote attaches magnetically to the top of the fan unit.

This remote has all of the controls that you need, including a button to move through the LCD’s screens, control over the fan speed (10 levels), the Auto mode (this reacts to pollutants in the air and adjusts fan speed to suit), temperature control (1°C to 37°C), and a button that can turn on night mode, which dims the display and lowers fan speed, and cycle through the timer options (one, two, four or eight hours).

There’s also an oscillation button, with a choice of 45°, 90°, 180° or 350° of coverage. The fan then moves on its base. That just leaves vertical adjustment, and the Dyson Purifier Hot+Cool HP1 can be tilted up or down.

That’s good, but looking at the remote, it’s clear that there are a few options missing from previous Dyson purifiers that I’ve reviewed. The key one is the one to reverse airflow and send it out the back of the fan.

This reverse mode is useful when it’s cold and you don’t need the heater on, as it blows cool, purified air away from you. Without this mode, when the Dyson Purifier Hot+Cool HP1 is running at full pelt to clean the air, it blasts a stream of cool air.

Flicking through the fan’s information pages on its LCD, it’s clear that the Dyson Purifier Hot+Cool HP1 has fewer sensors on it. In fact, this model has only PM2.5 and PM10 sensors, which means that it can react to only the amount of dust or small particles in the air.

Previous models that I’ve tested also have various gas sensors, such as for VOCs and NO2. The lack of these sensors makes the Dyson Purifier Hot+Cool HP1 less reactive to environmental changes than previous models. I should say that most air purifiers work with PM sensors only, so it’s fairly standard, and using fewer sensors brings the price down.

Connect the Dyson Purifier Hot+Cool HP1 to the app and you get the same controls as the remote gives you via your phone, plus some extras. With the oscillation mode, for example, you can also use the on-screen control to point the fan where you want it, which is handy if you want to pinpoint the airflow at you (or even away from yourself).

There’s also data on the air quality and temperature, plus you can turn on permanent monitoring to remotely monitor a location. And, of course, you can turn the fan on when you’re not there. I tend to turn the heater on in my garden office before I go out, so it’s warm when I sit down at my desk.

Alexa and Google Home are supported, so you can tie the Dyson Purifier Hot+Cool HP1 into any routines you have or control the fan using voice.

Performance

• Heats quickly
• Quiet and efficient fan
• Fast air purification

As a device that does a bit of everything, there’s quite a lot to test with the Dyson Purifier Hot+Cool HP1. I started with my normal fan tests. On speed setting one, the fan delivers a very gentle stream of air, but it’s too slow to register on my anemometer. Sound comes in at 39.8dB, with just a gentle hum.

Up the speed to five, and I got a fan speed of 1.6m/sec at 15cm, but nothing registering at 1m (although you can feel the air move around you). Again, the Dyson Purifier Hot+Cool HP1 is quiet at 43.8dB.

At maximum fan speed, the Dyson Purifier Hot+Cool HP1 output air at a speedy 4m/sec at 15cm and 2m/sec at 1m. Part of the way that the fan works is with Dyson’s air multiplier tech: as air passes through the slits on the fan head, more air is drawn through the centre. The result is that you get a gentle wave of air over you, which feels more natural than a harsh burst of air from a traditional bladed fan.

For the air purifier, I lit a smoke pellet, which burns for 60 seconds. After 11m 37s my smoke alarm told me that the event was over, but it took 19m 03s for the fan’s PM sensor to drop back to safe levels. That’s still good performance and shows that this fan can quickly clear pollutants.

I tested the fan heater and found that it draws 2.1kW. Testing it in my office, I found that it took it from a chilly 15°C to 18°C in just under six minutes, before it turned off the heater and returned to its automatic mode. 

Should you buy it?