Levoit's $189.99 Pet Purifier Is Built for Hair, and Hair Is the Real Problem

My verdict: a sensible idea for a home full of pet hair. I have not tried one, and the odor claim is the manufacturer’s own.

Levoit’s Vital Pet Pro costs $189.99. It uses a U-shaped air inlet meant to catch hair floating in the air, a washable pre-filter, an activated carbon filter with 140 grams of carbon, and a tray that cleans itself. Levoit says it removes up to 70% of odors within an hour. The reviewer at TechCrunch could not verify that figure, but found the unit effective at collecting hair and debris over a week and noticed fresher air. The downsides were its size and noise at the highest fan speed.

I live with two cats. One of them sheds constantly, and they sleep on my bed. At some point I stopped being surprised to wake up with my clothes covered in hair. The air in the room is often more of the same. I have never owned a purifier like this one, but it sounds like a good way to cut down the pet hair in the air, especially with small cats whose hair is fine enough to drift through a room.

My view on the odor argument is different. With any cat that is reasonably cared for, hair will be the problem, except perhaps for certain breeds. Cats are clean animals by nature. So I would judge this machine on hair and treat the odor number as marketing until someone measures it.

Whether it beats a general purifier with a good carbon filter is something I cannot answer from experience. Compare the filter specs and check the replacement costs and noise before you buy. The sources are linked below.