This Morento air purifier can clear smoke from a room, but not as much as it claims (2024)

About the Morento Air Purifier HY4866

• Area coverage: 270 square feet
• Dimensions: 7.64 x 13.19 x 17.52 inches
• Weight: 7.98 lbs
• Color options: White
• Maximum noise level: 60 decibels
• Filter life: Three to six months

This small, white air purifier has rounded edges and a gray top. Its front and back sides feature a perforated plastic shell that protects its air intake. Above the filter zone, an outlined, oval screen shows the results of its built-in PM 2.5 air quality sensor and the health of its HEPA filter.

You can buy replacement HEPA filters for $30.

How we tested

We test air purifiers at Reviewed's Cambridge lab. Each unit is evaluated first for performance, and then for how well it does in a home setting.

Our testing process includes how well it can clear smoke and other pollutants from the air, and how much noise it generates at different fan speeds. We also factor in its design and the overall user experience.

What we like

The sensors are responsive to smoke

Air purifiers with sensors only run when needed, and won't waste resources when they’re not.

The filter has an optical sensor calibrated to 2.5 micron particles (PM 2.5 sensor). It is fairly basic, and won’t respond to chemicals like the VOCs emitted from cooking.

The Morento’s sensor is responsive to smoke. This makes it a good choice for wildfire season. As you can see in the video above, in a room full of incense, it comes on at top speed, pulling the air into the machine and clearing it.

Set-up is simple

The Morento air filter’s interface is straightforward, with buttons on its top that control fan speed, timer, and sleep mode. The design makes sense and it's responsive to touch.

The Morento’s front display provides a nice chunk of data about air quality, with an outline that changes colors to alert you to increased particulate matter in the room.

When you press the far right button on the top, the screen displays the health of your filter, giving you simple cues when it’s time for a change. Sleep mode will switch the screen off entirely.

It handles certain pollutants decently well

The Morento filters a decent amount of pollutants. It has an H13 HEPA filter, but it also has an activated carbon filter, which gives it some chemical filtration capability.

Chemical filtration is only about 50% of the average we've recorded among air purifiers. However, considering its small size and price we don’t think this is too much of a loss.

HEPA filters capture particles down to 0.3 microns and can handle dust, smoke, pollen, and more.

By our calculations, this purifier is suitable for improving indoor air quality for about 270 square feet of floor space (think a large living room).

What we don’t like

The company makes some muddy claims

Morento claims the unit can handle spaces up to 1,067 square feet with a clean air delivery rate (CADR) of 300 cubic meters of air an hour.

In the U.S., it’s far more common to measure CADR in cubic feet per minute, not hour. In cubic feet per minute, this unit has a 176 cfm CADR. This is about right for a single room of about 270 square feet, not a whole 1,067 square feet, as claimed—at least, not in a reasonable amount of time.

Based on our calculations, the figure citing 1,067 square feet is grossly exaggerated.

The EPA certification claim is also strange, as the EPA doesn't certify air purifiers. Instead, the unit is CARB-certified, proving it doesn’t release ozone. However, since none of the technology involved in the unit creates ozone, this certification isn’t worth much.

Any time companies make deceptive claims to brag about their products, we see it as a red flag. In this case, the 1,067-square-foot claim is an exaggeration, and the EPA and CARB claims are irrelevant.

The build of the air purifier feels flimsy

The air purifier is lightweight and is made with lots of plastic, so we worry that one hard knock or a tip-over could break it for good.

If you live in a house with bounding labradors or kids, you might want to think twice before you invest.

It's loud on the highest setting

At the lab, 50 decibels is our benchmark for air purifier noise; anything louder bears mention.

The Morento hits 60 decibels at its top fan speed. This isn’t extreme, but it is loud enough to be annoying.

Our complaint is mostly a technicality. The air purifier usually won’t run at top speed, and on lower fan speeds, it isn’t annoying.

Importantly, its sleep mode is quiet, meaning this unit should make a good bedroom companion.

Pet hair could be a problem

HEPA air purifiers filter out all particle sizes, down to some tiny ones. The catch is that larger particles like pet dander will clog air purifiers quickly if they don't have a prefilter.

This air purifier doesn’t have a prefilter. If you live in a home with lots of pet fuzz, it will likely clog up much quicker.

What owners are saying

The Morento wins very high ratings on Amazon. It has a 4.6-star rating with over 2,000 reviews. Many people love the value it delivers for its price and love its small size.

We saw more than one complaint about the unit’s on / off switch flashing uncontrollably, however, we didn’t encounter this issue in our testing.

Should you buy the Morento Air Purifier HY4866

Maybe, it might save you money, but there are better options

The Morento Air Purifier is a true budget air purifier that could be worth it if you're worried about smoke and don't want to spend much money. However, the much better Winix 5500-2 costs just a little more, and we suggest anyone who wants to buy the Morento should read about it first.

The Morento does do a lot of things okay. It does a good job with smoke pollution, the sensor steers well, and though it can get loud, most of the time it runs very quietly. It also looks fairly sleek.

The Morento is well-rated, but we wonder if some of Morento’s misleading claims could have contributed to these high ratings. For example, the unit seems like a much better deal if you believe the claims about it effectively cleaning 1,067 square feet of floor space, instead of about 270.

While the Morento isn’t among the best of the best air purifiers we’ve tested, you can’t deny the attractiveness of its price-point and its reasonable filter replacements.

Prices were accurate at the time this article was published but may change over time.