The QT3 is a small, portable air purifier designed to provide a stream of clean air on the go. Even though the QT3 is not designed for cleaning entire rooms, our tests show it is effective at cleaning small rooms up to 15 m². That raises the question, is the QT3 useful in larger rooms?

The QT3 Provides a Strong Stream of Clean Air

The QT3 isn’t designed for cleaning all the air in a large room, but rather creating a personal stream of clean air. It’s designed to give you your own stream of clean air in places like offices, cafes, lecture rooms, or classrooms.

So how far does this “stream” of clean air go? Smart Air ran a series of real-world tests to find out.

QT3 Effectiveness vs Distance test

To test how far the QT3 can push out clean air, we ran a test by placing the QT3 on the corner of a table in a large room, turning it on high. Using an air quality monitor, we then measured the air quality at distances varying from 0 to 1.2 m away from the QT3 air purifier.

With this data, we can measure the percentage of clean air a person would breathe varying distances from the QT3.

Effectiveness of QT3 Reduces With Distance

As expected, the air is the cleanest right at the QT3’s outlet, with the air being over 95% filtered at this point.

This drops dramatically within the first 40 cm to 50% filtered, then gradually drops up to 60cm. After 60 cm, the amount of clean air hovers around 25-40%, all the way out to 1 meter. For reference, the average human arm length is 64 cm.

How Close Should You Stay to the QT3 Air Purifier?

The data above suggests that the closer you are to the QT3, the more clean air you will breathe. In practice, remaining within an arm’s distance (64 cm) of the QT3 will ensure the air you breathe is 40% cleaner air than it would be without the QT3.

Still, if QT3 was placed up to 1.2m away from you, for example on a desk or bedside table, you would still be breathing significantly cleaner air; approximately 25-30% cleaner.

In cafes, hotels, restaurants, and offices, where installing a large-sized air purifier to clean the entire room may not be possible, the QT3 can provide a marked improvement in air quality for the user.

Update: 2024 QT3 Test Results

In our latest test, we placed the QT3 on the floor to minimize interference from other airflow sources in the room. This setup allowed for a more accurate assessment of the QT3’s clean air delivery. At 30 cm, the QT3 performed significantly better at high speed, achieving 75% effectiveness—an improvement from the 60% recorded in our previous test.