A cat-friendly home without odours? I’m testing an extra-strong air filter
13/5/2026
Translation: Elicia Payne
Pictures: Darina Schweizer
My first pet air filter was good, but noisy. Now a more powerful model is taking over. The million-dollar question: can high performance also be quiet?
It stinks in my utility room with the litter tray – and I’m stinking fed up of it. That’s why I’m testing air purifiers that eliminate unpleasant odours and cat hair. The first one did a pretty good job of it. But it was old-fashioned and too loud.
Now another contender is put to the test: the Levoit Vital 200S Pro. At a price of around 230 francs, it’s about 100 francs more expensive than its predecessor, the Petair. The reason being that it’s designed to filter larger rooms of up to 88 square metres instead of just 50. But is it really capable of more?
A pre-filter that can be rinsed
The first impression is really positive. Measuring 39.6 × 21.7 × 50.2 centimetres and weighing 6 kilogrammes, the Levoit is slightly bulkier than the Petair, but it looks more modern and high-quality. It’s also rectangular instead of round. It draws in air from only one side instead of all around. I’m not yet sure whether that’s a good or bad thing.
The first step is to remove the plastic packaging from the pre-filter. It traps large particles such as dust, lint, fibres or hair. What’s special about this one? It’s washable. It’s recommended you do this every two to four weeks. You can vacuum it, rinse it under the tap and let it dry. By the way, you should also clean the Levoit filter’s infrared dust sensor with a cotton swab about every two months. You’ll know when it’s time if the air quality indicator lights up red more often than usual.
The activated carbon filter absorbs smoke, odours and fumes. These include, among other things, ammonia and hydrogen sulphide from cat faeces.
The main filter removes (like the Petair) airborne particles as small as 0.3 micrometres, such as dust mites, pet dander and pollen. It needs to be replaced about once a year. So that’s half the number of times than needed for the Petair filter. But it costs about twice as much. I suppose that’s what it comes down to.
Smarter and quieter – except…
Enough about the inner parts. Now I want to know what these filters can do. I turned the Levoit on using the main button in the middle of the display. The device began to hum almost inaudibly. I had to hold my hand over the airflow to check if it was even working. If I stand in front of it, I measure a volume of 33 decibels in both sleep and automatic modes. That’s 15 decibels quieter than the Petair. Nevertheless, it delivers 131 m³/h more clean air. For that alone, the air filter gets double points from me.
I also connected the Levoit filter to its app; this one’s called VeSync. It’s more user-friendly than the Petair Tuya app. I was able to track the cleaning performance over several weeks and via Wi-Fi while I was out. And you have more options overall. In addition to the timer, auto, sleep and pet modes, there are four different cleaning intensities. Whether that many are necessary is a matter of opinion. The volume increases across the four settings from 37 to 43, 50, and finally 64 decibels (which also corresponds to the pet setting and the loudest Petair setting).
So pet mode isn’t exactly quiet. Why’s that? Jeremy Fuchs of oneten brand development AG, which provided me with the Levoit filter, explains:
«Pet mode is intentionally set to a higher level. Pet hair, dander and odours are larger and heavier than fine dust and require a higher airflow rate to be reliably captured.»
However, according to Jeremy Fuchs, automatic mode or level 2 is usually more than enough. He recommends using pet mode selectively, for example after brushing, going for a walk or when the dog or cat has been in the same room for a while. And yes, I can confirm that the automatic mode effectively reduced odours in my utility. When that isn’t enough, it automatically switches to a higher level.
More power, similar power consumption
But how much power do all these smart modes use? In automatic mode, the filter draws 15 watts (10 watts more than the Petair). At level four, which runs briefly after using the restroom, 47 watts (17 watts more than the Petair). That works out to about 0.19 kilowatt-hours per day – assuming the filter runs for about eight to ten hours. For comparison, that’s 0.09 kilowatt-hours more than the Petair. So the difference is marginal, despite significantly greater filtering performance. I can get on board with that.
The stench has cleared
My impression after two weeks? I’m impressed with the performance of the Levoit air purifier. Just like with Petair, I can tell as soon as I walk into my apartment whether it’s been on or not. The fact that, unlike the Petair, it draws in air from only one side isn’t bad. In the living room, I place it right up against the wall without risking the performance. In the utility room, I just have to place it with the right side – that is, the Levoit logo – facing the litter tray.
By the way, it’s not just my subjective opinion that the filtering performance is great. It’s proven by a fine matter measurement taken with an external monitoring device. The levels drop from 12 to 0 µg/m³ within a few minutes. It’s difficult to objectively measure how effectively odours are reduced. VOC sensors (for volatile organic compounds) have limited detection capabilities for many types of vapours. So I mainly have to rely on my sense of smell.
Finally, there’s one more thing worth mentioning that the Petair had but the Levoit filter lacks: built-in toy balls. My cats and I thought they were unnecessary, though. We’re more than happy that the air purifier simply does what it’s supposed to do: filter air. And it’s so quiet that we hardly notice it.
In a nutshell
A really powerful air filter for pet households
The Levoit Vital 200S Pro efficiently removes pet hair, odours and fine dust from rooms up to 88 square metres in size. In addition to its many modes and a well-designed app, it’s surprisingly quiet – despite its powerful filtration performance. With its sleek design and single-sided air intake, you can place it directly against a wall in living spaces. The replacement filters aren’t cheap, but they’re within the usual price range for similar filters. One bonus is the washable pre-filter.
Pro
- Aesthetically pleasing
- One-sided
- Powerful filtering performance
- Quiet
- Washable pre-filter
- Intuitive app
Contra
- Replacement filter quite expensive
Darina Schweizer
Senior Editor
Darina.Schweizer@digitecgalaxus.chI love everything with four legs or roots – especially my rescue cats Jasper and Joy and my collection of succulents. I’m happiest following the scent of stories about police dogs and cat groomers – or cultivating thoughtful tales in garden flea markets and Japanese gardens.
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