The world is more irritating than ever. It’s not just neighbors and traffic, but also more smoke and pollutants in the air. If you’re noticing a decline in your home’s air quality, you should look into getting an air purifier. The Dyson Cool Gen1 TP10 is a sleek piece of tech with a handful of crowd-pleasing features, including a built-in air quality meter and an oscillating motor. I received the Dyson Cool Gen1 TP10 as a review sample, and after spending three months with it, I think it’s a little underpowered, given its price tag. However, I do see a few scenarios where it might be a huge advantage. So, let’s get into it.
Dyson Cool Gen1 TP10
Pros
- Omni-directional air intake.
- Magnetic remote.
- Can oscillate.
- Onboard air quality monitor.
- Doubles as a quiet fan.
Cons
- Not as powerful as competitors.
- Filter can be challenging to replace.
- Fairly expensive.
The Specs
- Dimensions: 41.33” x 4.72” x 8.7” (H x L x D).
- Weight: 10.43 pounds.
- Room size rating: 101 Square Feet
- Filters: HEPA H13.
- Features: 350° Oscillation, LCD screen, Night Mode, Air Quality Sensor.
What I Like About The Dyson Cool Gen1
It’s Well Engineered
Dyson is a company that excels in high-end engineering, and the Cool Gen1 is no exception. The fit and finish on all its parts are top of the line. All the buttons on the unit and remote have a satisfying click to them. The molding on the plastic has no jagged edges. It all feels like someone took care in making the Cool Gen1.
Another great example of this is when you activate the oscillation setting. You can select between 45°, 90°, 180°, and 350°, and when you do, it rotates back and forth in near silence. That requires a degree of precision manufacturing that many competitors don’t have.
The Cool Gen1 shares a bladeless design with Dyson’s fan lineup. So that quietness extends to the airflow, especially in Night Mode. Even when the built-in sensor picks up an increase in particulates and the motor revs up, you can still carry on a conversation.
Finally, I appreciated the fact that you can store the remote on top of the unit. A magnet holds it in place, so it never falls off. That detail is a small thing, but since the remote can cost up to $30 to replace, it provides peace of mind.
It Automatically Adjusts
The Dyson Cool Gen1 can automatically adjust its fan setting when it detects an increase in particulates between PM 2.5 and PM 10. I put it to the test by cooking near it and by placing the air purifier in a room with a lit incense stick.
In both scenarios, the fan went from whisper quiet to full bore within 30 seconds. That’s fairly responsive.
The bottom line is this Dyson can remove odors from the air before they become overwhelming with its activated carbon filter.
Not a One-Trick Pony
The Dyson Cool Gen1 is not just an air purifier. It can also serve as a fan and an air quality meter.
Most air purifiers blow their filtered air toward the ceiling. This Dyson sends it into the room. It’s not particularly powerful as a fan, but I found it gets the air pleasantly circulating.
There’s an LCD screen on the front of the unit that can give a spot check on the room’s air quality. The Gen1 is not compatible with the Dyson app, so you can’t track long-term trends. However, it is useful to double-check if one room has more particulates than another.
What I Don’t Like About the Dyson Cool Gen1
Competitors Offer More Power
On paper, the Dyson rates the Gen1 for a 101 square foot room, which seems underpowered given its size. A competitor like the Levoit Vital 200S is roughly the same weight but is rated to clean a room ten times the size.
My testing proved this to be practically true as well. I lit an incense stick in a room measuring 7.5 feet by 8 feet by 10 feet, filling it with small particulates. I placed the Dyson in there, along with an air quality meter. It took about 30 minutes for the room to return to baseline. That’s a fairly long time compared to my experience with other air purifiers within the same price bracket.
You’re trading a quieter operation for slower clean air delivery.
The Filters are Difficult to Change
The filters are located at the base of the unit. It’s divided into two halves, each half of which sits inside a plastic shell. To replace the filter, you need to pop the shell out by pushing down on two switches, then remove the HEPA13 filter from the shell, swap with the new filter, and do the whole thing in reverse — twice. Yes, you only need to do this twice a year at most, but it feels like a letdown, given how seamless everything else is.
Dyson Cool Gen1 TP10
Who Do I Think Would Benefit From the Dyson Cool Gen1?
An open-concept apartment or condo would benefit the most from the Dyson Cool Gen1. Its oscillating feature lets it throw clean air to a wide open space. The Cool Gen1 is quiet, so if you spend most of your time at home in a specific area, it’s not going to disturb your life. The striking aesthetic works in its favor here, too. If you have to look at your air purifier every day, it might as well have a pleasant design. Beyond the looks, Cool Gen1 has practical applications in working as a quiet personal fan and air quality meter when the need arises, in addition to being a purifier. The major downside is that the Cool Gen1 has a high expense-to-performance ratio. You can get more air purification for much less in a Winix 5500-2 or Levoit Vital 200S.
