Airthings View Plus – TEST: Impressive

Norwegian Airthings in the wind during the day Signing a million dollar agreement in Canada And with the relatively recent launch of Airthings View Plus, the company’s most advanced consumer product to date.

The Airthings View Plus is the company’s fourth home air quality meter, and the first to actually have an integrated screen, which may be the highlight of the product.

The company’s four models are Wave Mini, Wave Rado, Wave Plus and Wave View Plus, the price range is from 799 to 2999 kroner, there is a wide range of functions.

What they all have in common is that they measure temperature and humidity, while the Wave Mini is the only one that doesn’t measure radon levels and you don’t get to measure VOCs, usually abbreviated VOC, using the Wave Radon.

In fact, only the most affordable ones, like the Wave Mini, have a mold hazard index — they don’t even have a new View Plus.

Airthings explains that product sensors use an algorithm based on temperature and humidity to measure mold risk. So far, only the Wave Mini owns this.

Regardless, below we have summarized the functions of the four different products. As you can see, Wave Plus and Wave View Plus are the most advanced.

Wave View Plus

In terms of design, the View Plus differs significantly from other Airthings products, which are circular and reminiscent of elegant smoke alarms.

The Wave View Plus has a more elongated design with rounded corners. The advantage of this design is that the View Plus can stand on its own without the need for support, and you also get room for a large enough screen.

At the bottom, there is a soft rubber base that ensures the stability and stability of the View Plus. There are also two screw holes in the back, if you want to hang it on the wall.

We mentioned the screen as new, and another is that the Wave View Plus can be powered by the mains as well as the battery. USB-C cable included in the box.

Among other things, we’ve equipped the View Plus with six rechargeable batteries, which means you can’t see the visible cable on the seat.

One of the things we noticed here, and which we also noticed with Airthings meters, is that the battery percentage doesn’t always seem to be going into the right numbers. For example, after inserting new and fully charged batteries into the View Plus, the battery level was 43 percent.

However, it is good to note that if you want to use the hub functionality of the View Plus, it must be plugged in. View Plus has an integrated hub so you can connect other Airthings devices online through it instead of buying a dedicated corporate hub.

One of the great things about the hub is that you can get notifications fairly quickly when the air quality changes.

Without a hub, the Wave Mini, Wave, and Wave Plus sync via Bluetooth to your mobile phone and then upload the data to the cloud, but with the hub this is done automatically, so you can also see new data when you’re not at home.

Biggest news

Since the View Plus has many of the same features as the Wave Plus – plus some additional measurements – we have to say that the screen is the biggest news.

The panel is of the type ePaper, or e-ink, known for its high energy-saving capacity, which means the View Plus has solid battery life. In fact, up to two years.

A device like the View Plus also doesn’t rely on a high-end, power-hungry display, as the meter data doesn’t need to be updated in real time.

The screen is in two parts, and you can choose what is shown on the separate panes. For example, indoor temperature on the left and VOC level on the right, or as we prefer, indoor temperature on the left and weather/outside temperature on the right.

One of the things we would have liked to see as an option is the clock, even though we’re already surrounded by clocks on the stove, arm, and mobile.

Like other Wave devices, you can wave in front of the device to see the air quality in the room. With good quality, green light and text showing that everything is OK, if the quality is moderate or poor, you see an orange or red light and any scaling is negative.

Here they are much better

When it comes to metrics, Wave View Plus has a new addition: PM2.5. in a You can read more about our test of Wave Plus Other measurements are as volatile organic compounds. In this test, you can also read about the setup and general use of Airthings air meters.

PM2.5 (Particles) are small, fine particles. The Norwegian Environment Agency explains this Airborne dust can arise from road traffic—and includes road dust from tires, asphalt wear and exhaust emissions—wood burning and long-distance transportation pollution, not particles you want to breathe in and pull into your lungs.

Sources such as candles and cigarette smoke can also increase the presence of particles in the home.

According to the Norwegian Environment Agency, long-term increased levels of PM2.5 particles increase the risk of death and morbidity. In other words, it’s the kind of particle you don’t want to be in your home.

View Plus will alert you when the presence of this type of particulate, as well as VOCs, carbon dioxide, moisture and radon, is high in your home. It’s useful with these air quality meters, but just as important as how to reduce levels.

When we first tested Wave Plus, one shortcoming was that the Airthings app didn’t provide any information about what the different measurements meant and what you could do. Airthings apparently listened to our feedback, and was later updated with information we missed.

If you click on “What is PM 2.5” in the app, you will be redirected to a content-rich website that tells you what PM2.5 actually is, the risks and what you can do to reduce its occurrence. And yes, the site is in Norwegian as well. very useful!

Here you can read that things like regular cleaning, use of an air purifier, ventilation and a kitchen fan are smart solutions to reduce the level of particles.

This is also the case with Airthings measurements, with informational sites explaining cause and solution. Because it doesn’t help much with a red red alert if you don’t get more information.

solid application (net)

You can get all the information in the mobile app, but Airthings also has a more informative online dashboard where you can really dig into the numbers. You can also customize this as you wish. Feel free to save Dashboard as a web app So you have easy access from your desktop.

One of the things we commented on in our previous Airthings test is that syncing to Android can be a bit uneven, but since the View Plus is updated over WiFi, it works reasonably well no matter what device it syncs with.

Anyway, it has to be said that syncing has generally improved since we tested Wave Plus.

Smart homes and integration

One thing that many people ask when buying such meters for their home is whether they can be integrated into their smart home. Unfortunately, Airthings is still a bit limited.

It supports IFTTT, so you can, for example, set your Philips Hue lights to flash red when the air quality is poor — as well as Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa. However, you cannot add Airthings products to Google Home or Apple HomeKit. No Samsung SmartThings.

However, there is an app for Athom Homey, which we hope will be updated with View Plus support.

Launches the new smart home center!

conclusion

For Norwegian Airthings, the stock appears to be pointing higher for the next time, and they’re doing well with their investments with an eye on air quality. If something is important during the day, it is precisely the (indoor) climate.

The Wave View Plus is the company’s most advanced consumer product to date, with the built-in screen being a big treat. It can have many customization options, but it gives you the most important information about the air quality around you.

Since the first Airthings unit we tested, the company has already put together a good and informative app, making it easier for everyone to understand what measures can be taken in case of poor air quality rather than having to search for the information themselves.

Despite the solid package, we think the price is still a bit high. We think just under 3,000 NOK for an air quality meter – a very advanced metric – means the View Plus won’t become public property in the first place, although within a few years it may be a product that many people should have in their homes.