If you’re in the market for a discreetly sized air purifier, the Blueair Blue Pure Mini Max and GoveeLife Smart Air Purifier Lite are both great choices. So much so, that the Blueair Blue Pure Mini Max currently holds the crown as the best for small spaces in our best air purifier buying guide. While the GoveeLife Smart Air Purifier Lite hasn’t made it into the lineup just yet, it’s a worthy contender, as becomes evident in this friendly standoff.
They’re both small in size and lightweight, making them easy to move from room to room, and ideal for placing on surfaces like desks and nightstands. If you’ve read my reviews of the Blueair Blue Pure Mini Max and GoveeLife Smart Air Purifier Lite , you’ll already know that both air purifiers proved user-friendly and efficient over the weeks I tested them, resulting in each scoring a commendable four-and-a-half stars in my final verdicts.
The cost of these Blueair and GoveeLife air purifiers aren’t worlds apart, but with a list price of $69.99 / £79 for the Blueair Blue Pure Mini Max, one would expect it to have $20 / £20 of extra features compared to the $49.99 / £59.99 GoveeLife Smart Air Purifier Lite. Regardless of the price difference, both proved easy to use and made a noticeable difference to the surrounding air quality. In terms of availability, the Blueair Blue Pure Mini Max is available at Amazon in the US and UK, and the GoveeLife Smart Air Purifier Lite is available on the Govee site and Amazon.
Replacement filters are available for both purifiers, with replacement Blueair Particle and Carbon filters for the Blueair Blue Pure Mini Max costing $21.99 / £18, and replacement HEPA filters for the GoveeLife Smart Air Purifier Lite costing $19.99 / £19.99. These are fairly average costs for replacement HEPA filters, but while Blueair advises their filters can last up to six months of 24-hour use, GoveeLife hasn’t indicated how long their filters will last before a replacement is required.
Blueair Blue Pure Mini Max vs GoveeLife Smart Air Purifier Lite: Design Although there isn’t much of a contrast in the size and weight of the Blueair Blue Pure Mini Max and the GoveeLife Smart Air Purifier Lite, they differ substantially in aesthetics and structure. The design of the GoveeLife Smart Air Purifier Lite isn’t exactly groundbreaking, but it has subtle dips and curves, and a slatted base section allowing a 360-degree intake of air, all of which add some visual interest. Overall though, GoveeLife has taken a fairly traditional approach with the plastic outer encasing a 3-in-1 HEPA filter, whereas Blueair thought a little more outside the box with the Blue series.
There is no plastic casing around the Blue Pure Mini Max’s HEPASilent and carbon filter; instead, there’s a plastic collar up top and a plastic frame for the filter to fit around. The whole of this base section is covered by a machine-washable fabric prefilter that’s available in a selection of colors, not only making it easier to match the decor but potentially less wasteful and expensive, as the GoveeLife Smart Air Purifier Lite doesn’t have a reusable prefilter. As such, it’s possible that the filter life, which GoveeLife has given no indication of, would be shorter than that of the Blue Pure Mini Max, which boasts a particularly impressive filter life of up to six months of 24-hour use.
That being said, while I love the concept of the interchangeable washable fabric prefilters, my concern with the structural composition of the Blue series is that, theoretically, the HEPASilent and carbon filter could be more susceptible to damage – although if this eventuality did arise, both the filter and prefilters are easily replaceable.
Winner: Blueair Blue Pure Mini Max
(Image credit: Cesci Angell / Future)
Blueair Blue Pure Mini Max vs GoveeLife Smart Air Purifier Lite: Features There’s no doubting the lack of competition between the feature sets of these small-room air purifiers. Manual operation is needed for the Blueair Blue Pure Mini Max, with the purifier’s simplistic plastic top panel housing two touch buttons, one power and the other for cycling through fan speeds. Additionally, there’s an indicator light for each speed and a little filter status light. Blueair has provided no remote control or app support for the littlest member of the Blue family, which is understandable in context, as it’s the cheapest of the range, plus it keeps things simple for those who aren’t tech-fluent.
This basic format is really put to shame, however, when compared to the sleek touchscreen, app, and smart home controls of the GoveeLife Smart Air Purifier Lite. The Govee Home app not only allowed me to change modes from my phone, but it also gave me options to set timers and schedules, and automate the dimming and brightening of the display at different times of the day.
Both air purifiers have three fan speeds, the lowest being sleep mode in both cases, although this isn’t clear just from looking at the Blueair control panel. GoveeLife further proves its worth by offering a Custom Mode feature, which allowed me to configure a series of three fan speeds and timings that I could initiate using the onboard controls, the app, or by asking my smart home assistant.
It’s important to note that despite the GoveeLife Smart Air Purifier Lite’s smart capabilities, it doesn’t provide air quality data readings or auto-detection, and nor does the Blueair Blue Pure Mini Max. You might expect otherwise, but this actually isn’t unusual for air purifiers in this price range.
Winner: GoveeLife Smart Air Purifier Lite
(Image credit: Cesci Angell / Future)
Blueair Blue Pure Mini Max vs GoveeLife Smart Air Purifier Lite: Performance Both the Blueair Blue Pure Mini Max and GoveeLife Smart Air Purifier Lite made the air in my 13 x 16 ft / 4 x 5 meter living room feel fresher within a couple of hours when running on the middle speed setting. I found the air from the outlets on the top of the Blueair Blue Pure Mini Max was colder than I’ve encountered with other air purifiers. Granted, this wasn’t something I would usually focus on, but I found myself investigating when the environment got noticeably colder as I worked with it on my desk. The drop in ambient temperature gave me confidence that air was circulating well, and this cooling sensation could prove beneficial in the summer months – but I can’t say I appreciated it on a November morning in England.
In terms of noise level, there wasn’t a huge difference in the decibel readings between the two air purifiers. It was clear during testing that both air purifiers were satisfyingly quiet: I could work with them on my desk without disruption and drop off to sleep every night of testing with the purifiers in sleep mode nearby, with neither disturbing my slumber.
From lowest to highest, the volume of each speed setting of the GoveeLife Smart Air Purifier Lite clocked at 30dB, 38dB, and 47dB, meaning its sleep setting is as quiet as a soft whisper, and the top setting is only as loud as moderate rainfall. The Blueair Blue Pure Mini Max is just that bit quieter, though, at 26dB, 35dB, and 47dB, with the lowest setting proving so quiet I had to listen very hard to hear it when it was just four feet from my side of the bed. The noise levels of these air purifiers become all the more impressive when compared to the Molekule Air Mini+ , which gave a reading of 39 dB on its lowest setting.
Winner: Tie
(Image credit: Cesci Angell / Future)
Blueair Blue Pure Mini Max vs GoveeLife Smart Air Purifier Lite: Value Although a few more features are on offer from the lower-priced GoveeLife Smart Air Purifier Lite, this doesn’t mean that the Blueair Blue Pure Mini Max isn’t value for money. They are both compact, lightweight, and easy to use. And, most importantly, both made a clear difference to the air quality in my environment.
There’s a question mark lingering over the life expectancy of the 3-in-1 HEPA filter in the GoveeLife air purifier due to the absence of a washable prefilter, and GoveeLife appears not to have provided any estimations on the functional duration of the filters either. Therefore, it’s possible the original cost saving from the GoveeLife Smart Air Purifier Lite could even out over time if this lack of prefilter leads to a higher frequency of filter changes. In contrast, the potential for the Particle and Carbon filter in the Blueair Blue Pure Mini Max to last up to six months of 24-hour use is commendable, and having this estimate gives an insight into how much one could expect to spend on replacement filters throughout the year.
Filter foibles aside, and despite both air purifiers being worthy of their respective price tags, the simple fact is that we’re getting more for our money with the GoveeLife Smart Air Purifier Lite. For $20 / £20 less than its Blueair competitor we get the added benefit of a well-designed companion app, a custom mode, and the ability to change up the settings without lifting a finger.
Winner: GoveeLife Smart Air Purifier Lite
Blueair Blue Pure Mini Max vs GoveeLife Smart Air Purifier Lite: Verdict
(Image credit: Cesci Angell / Future)
Now the dust has settled, it’s clear that the GoveeLife Smart Air Purifier Lite had the wind at its heels and proved itself to be the best choice overall. This victory is down to having clever additional features like custom mode and smart capabilities via the well-designed Govee Home app, voice control, and, of course, the lower price point.
Regardless of this verdict, the Blueair Blue Pure Mini Max still holds a special place in my heart thanks to its innovative and multi-functional prefilter. It’s still a fantastic choice, especially if you’re someone who doesn’t want anything overly technical, or want something a little jazzier than the default white plastic.
Overall winner: GoveeLife Smart Air Purifier Lite
