The 12 Best Air Purifiers for Travel in 2024 [Portable, Wearable]

Air purifiers are used to remove contaminants from the air around you to improve the overall quality of the air you breathe.

Featuring internal filter components that draw in unwanted odors, dust particles, pet dander, pollen, and other contaminants, they are incredibly beneficial for individuals suffering from asthma or allergies and can help to protect you from catching airborne viruses in public spaces.

Things To Consider With a Travel Air Purifier

Size and Weight

The air purifier you use at home needs to have enough output to handle the square footage of the room you want to purify. When you are traveling, you want to focus instead on air purifying devices that work well while still being portable enough to set up in your hotel room, in your car, or even to protect you from germs on public transport or in crowded places.

Most portable air purifiers are compact enough to place on your hotel nightstand and can be powered using a regular outlet or by using batteries alone. Wearable air purifiers need to be even smaller and lightweight enough to wear around your neck or possibly across your face.

Noise

Nobody wants an appliance that keeps them awake at night, so the quieter your air purifier is, the better it will suit your lifestyle. While the air purifier industry does not have any standards for sound emissions, some are noisier than others.

Most models will emit more sound at higher speeds, so ensure that the output is right for your room to avoid having to make your machine work too hard and create more sound.

Bottom Line: Due to their compact dimensions, travel air purifiers are designed to be mostly silent, and with the fan-less, filter-less operation, they will usually emit no more than a gentle hum.

Filters

The filters in your air purifier are what make it work so efficiently. These fine sieves trap particles and remove small-sized pollution such as dust, smoke, chemicals, asbestos, pollen, and pet dander to clean the air you breathe. Over time, these filters will need replacing to ensure that your purifier works as well as it should do.

High-Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filters are the benchmark for air purifier filters, and as a rule, they should only need replacing once a year or so. Carbon filters use activated carbon to absorb pollutants and will need replacing every 6 months, while pre-filters remove larger particles, and as such, they are likely to need replacing much more frequently.

Many portable air purifiers offer a 3-filter system that utilizes the benefits of all of the above, and some even operate using ultraviolet light (UV-C light) to inactivate airborne pathogens and microorganisms, meaning you only need to replace the bulb as and when it fails.

Uses

Your air purifier is designed to sanitize the air around you by removing unwanted pollutants, allergens, and toxins. They are most commonly used to alleviate asthma symptoms that can be caused by pet dander that is accumulated when your cat or dog sheds its fur, when they scratch, or even just when they exist in the same space as you.

Air purifiers will also help to alleviate pollen particles that flow in through open windows or stick to your clothes when you go outside, as well as help to dissipate unwanted odors from pets, chemicals, and even cooking.

Out in the open, personal travel air filters can help to protect you from airborne viruses such as flu and the common cold.

Application Area

While larger units are designed to be used in 1 specific area of the home, personal travel purifiers are compact and lightweight enough to be moved around with you.

Choose to set up your purifier to enjoy fresh, clean air in your bedroom, hotel room, bathroom, kitchen, or laundry room. The quiet and effective operation also makes it suitable for use in nurseries, children’s bedrooms, and even small spaces such as your car or on your desk at work.

Some air purifiers are designed to be worn about your person and come built into face masks or with a lanyard to hang around your neck. These highly personal devices will filter the air around your immediate vicinity and offer an excellent level of protection in public spaces.

The 8 Best Travel Air Purifiers

Keeping a travel air purifier close at hand will ensure that you can always breathe fresh and clean air, even on the go. Highly portable, incredibly compact, and in some cases even wearable, these devices help to eliminate pollutants in the air you breathe.

1. Portable Air Purifier for Every Room

Check on Home Depot

Germ Guardian Pluggable Air Purifier & Sanitizer

Highly portable and perfect for use in all areas of your home, this compact air purifier simply needs to be plugged into a power outlet to provide clean air in the immediate vicinity. Designed to reduce airborne germs, filter out irritants such as pet dander and pollen, and reduce household odors caused by bacteria and cooking fumes, this is an excellent alternative to bigger units.

Measuring just 7 inches high, this device is discreet enough to be used in your kitchen, bedroom, or children’s bedrooms, and it can even be placed directly next to your cat litter box or dog bed to catch odors and irritants at their source.

Using a UV-C light, this model can also help to kill airborne viruses such as influenza, staph, and rhinovirus. The titanium dioxide antimicrobial coating helps reduce the presence of volatile organic compounds and chemicals.

Containing just a single GermGuardian UV-C light bulb that only needs to be replaced every 10 to 12 months or so, this is an energy-efficient air purifier that negates the need for filter replacement, and its compact dimensions make it suitable for use both at home and when you are traveling.

What We Like

• Easy to plug in for use

What We Don’t Like

• The fan is quite noisy

2. Compact HEPA Air Purifier

Check on Walmart

MOOKA Air Purifier

With the ability to filter out dust, pollen, mold spores, and pet dander, this discreet and compact air filter will keep the air in your home or hotel room feeling fresh and clean. Perfectly safe for use around children and pets, this air purifier can clean up to 55 cubic meters of air per hour when operating in its normal mode.

Featuring a 3-stage filtration system that includes a pre-filter, a HEPA filter, and a carbon filter, this purifier can effectively remove odors while also eliminating the presence of unwanted pollutants in the air. With a 360-degree air intake and outlet, this model will maximize the amount of fresh air that is circulated in all directions back out into your environment.

Easy to use with a single press of a button, this little beauty contains a cutting-edge noise-reducing fan that will keep the operating noise to a minimum, and with a rated power of just 8 watts, it is energy-efficient, making it affordable enough to run all day.

With a minimalist and unobtrusive design, this air filter will not only help you to live cleaner and alleviate the symptoms of asthma and allergies, but it will also look great in any area of your home.

What We Like

• Perfect for a nightstand with a night light

What We Don’t Like

• Replacement filters are a bit pricey

3. Super-silent Air Purifier

JINPUS Air Purifier

This incredibly quiet air purifier only emits 24 decibels of operating sound, making it perfect for use even when you sleep. Featuring new KEPA-tech technology, it offers high-performance filtration that can easily trap smoke, pollen, and odors. With the ability to alleviate the presence of dust particles as small as 0.3 microns, this is a highly-effective model that is compact and discreet enough to be used when you travel.

Perfect for use in the bedroom, it also features an LED night light that glows softly in the dark, and with a 5-foot long power cord, it can easily be placed in convenient spaces and moved around as necessary.

For increased performance, the pre-filter and HEPA filter work seamlessly together to ensure that your indoor air is always fresh and clean, and with a built-in negative ion generator, it can quickly illuminate unwanted odors, too.

With a clean, modern design, this little air purifier is discreet, effective, and safe enough to be used even in your baby’s bedroom. The super-quiet operation is designed to provide clean air without interrupting your sleep.

What We Like

• Quiet to run

What We Don’t Like

• Has a consistent blue light when in use

4. Air Purifier With a Built-in Timer

Potulas Air Purifier

This compact but incredibly powerful air purifier can clean up to 85 cubic feet per minute and runs quietly in the background with a sound output of fewer than 30 decibels. Perfect for use in your bedroom, kitchen, or other small spaces, it is incredibly easy to use with a selection of settings.

Featuring a 3 stage filtration system, this model includes a pre-filter, a HEPA filter, and an activated carbon filter to ensure that it can efficiently eliminate odors, pollen, mold spores, and pet dander, and the inner ionizer releases a high concentration of anions to keep the air in your home feeling nice and fresh.

With the ability to trap particles as small as 0.3 microns and larger air pollution of PM 2.5, this model may be small in stature, but it is a highly efficient addition to your home or hotel room.

With a soft blue LED light, this quiet air filter is perfect for use while you are sleeping, and the different timer settings allow the user to choose from 30-minute to 5-hour intervals of purifying before it quietly switches itself off. With a filter replacement light that informs you when the filters need replacing, this is an excellent choice for anyone looking for efficient and fuss-free air purification every day.

What We Like

• Has 3 speed and 5 timer settings

What We Don’t Like

• The power cord is quite short

5. Air Filter for Better Health

Check on Best Buy

GermGuardian Elite Air Purifier

Perfect for use in kitchens, bathrooms, laundry rooms, or even next to your pet’s litter box, this pluggable air sanitizer quickly and efficiently cleans the air around you. With the ability to reduce airborne germs’ presence and eliminate household odors caused by bacteria, pets, and cooking fumes, you can enjoy fresh, clean air in all areas of your home, RV, or hotel room.

Featuring a UV-C light that helps to kill airborne viruses such as influenza, staph, and rhinovirus, this little air purifier also features an antimicrobial titanium dioxide coating on the filters to reduce volatile organic compounds and chemicals in the home. Standing at just 7 inches high, this model is discreet enough to be used virtually anywhere and safe enough for use in your children’s bedroom.

With a single GermGuardian UV-C lightbulb, it is also an efficient alternative to traditional filter models, and the bulb should only need replacing around every 10 to 12 months. Affordable, energy-efficient, and easy to use, this compact air purifier will help to protect your environment from unwanted odors and allergens for safer, cleaner air every time.

What We Like

• Plugs directly into the wall

What We Don’t Like

• The fan is quite loud

6. Air Purifier for Your Car

Wynd Essential Personal Mini Air Purifier

Enjoy clean air wherever you go with this portable air purifier. Weighing less than a pound and small enough to fit into your cup holder, this model is suitable for use in your home, in your car, on your desk, or even when traveling, allowing you to enjoy fresh, clean air all day, every day.

Offering an impressive purification rate to size ratio, this model has an 8-hour battery life and a filter that lasts up to 3 months, and it works efficiently to trap particulates such as pollen, pet dander, bacteria, brush fire smoke, and industrial pollution.

With multiple settings, this little device can automatically adjust itself to clean the air fast or slow based on the air quality in your direct vicinity, and you can control the settings from afar while you check the local air quality. Also featuring a silver-infused mesh particulate filter, this model kills germs to help you stay well, even when traveling.

What We Like

• App compatible to check insights on your air quality

What We Don’t Like

• Replacement filters are a bit pricey

7. Efficient Air Sterilizer for Your Home

Clarifion — Negative Ion Generator

Perfect for use in communal areas such as kitchens, hallways, lounge rooms, RVs, hotel rooms, and staircases, this discreet-looking air purifier removes bacteria and viruses to create safer, cleaner air. Despite its compact dimensions, it is also highly efficient at eliminating dust, smog, smoke, pollen, and pet dander to alleviate the symptoms of asthma and allergies.

Equipped with a built-in sterilization function, this negative ion generator works by diffusing the negative ions that cling to pollutants in the air, making them heavy enough to fall to the floor where they can be vacuumed up and easily disposed of. With a negative ion output of up to 10 million pcs/cm^3, this device is easy to use and lights up blue when operating.

With a low-noise output, the Clarifion works quietly in the background to keep the air around you fresh and pure, and without the need for filter changes or regular maintenance, this is a fuss-free, energy-efficient alternative to traditional air purifiers.

What We Like

• No replacement filters required

What We Don’t Like

• Blue light is quite bright

8. Air Sterilizer for Super-clean Air

IonPacific Ionbox Negative Ion Generator

This tiny air ionizer is capable of emitting up to 20 million negative ions per second, making it one of the most efficient travel models available. With a built-in dual voltage power supply, this negative ion generator is perfect for use when traveling, and its compact dimensions ensure that it is compact enough to place almost anywhere in your home or at the office.

Running at an ultra-low 1.5 watts, it is incredibly energy-efficient and cheap to operate, while the 500 square foot output can clean the air in as little as 30 minutes. Remove tobacco smoke and odor, airborne bacteria, allergens, pollen, dust, pet odors, and pet dander from your immediate vicinity with this tiny portable device that works just as well as larger models.

Featuring a specially-designed fan and a non-standard negative ionizer, you can be assured that this model will not leave a residue of black soot on the walls as it works, and with a super-quiet operating noise, it is perfect for use while you sleep.

What We Like

• Dual voltage

What We Don’t Like

• A bit pricey

The 4 Best Wearable and Personal Air Purifiers

1. Pendant Air Purifier

AirTamer Personal Air Purifier

Protect yourself from exposure to flu, colds, and other viruses with this personal air purifier. Perfect for use on planes, trains, buses, and in crowded public areas, this compact and wearable device lets you breathe cleaner, healthier air everywhere you go.

With the silent operation, this device uses state-of-the-art electrostatic purification technology that emits a constant stream of healthy negative ions to force airborne pollutants out of your personal space creating a 3-foot radius of clean air in all directions.

Without the need for filter replacement and with power boost technology that offers up to 9 times more cleaning power than standard air purifiers, this is an excellent choice for travelers worried about becoming ill.

Powered by just 2 lithium coin cell batteries, this device provides up to 7 days of continual power and comes complete with a superstrong, adjustable lanyard and its very own travel case.

What We Like

• Great for air purification on the go

What We Don’t Like

• The lanyard is not the most comfortable to wear

2. Ultra-lightweight Air Purifier

Wein Minimate Personal Air Purifier

Ultra-lightweight and incredibly compact, this wearable air purifier propels fresh, clean air into your breathing zone. Perfect for use when traveling, this tiny device will ensure that you can breathe more easily while traveling on trains, buses, and airplanes, as well as in crowded areas such as movie theaters, waiting rooms, or other confined spaces.

Designed to be exceptionally useful for allergy and asthma sufferers, this device will last 28 hours on a single charge.

Offering an impressive amount of personal air purifier ion wind output, this model operates silently and utilizes fan-less, filter-less, and maintenance-free technology, as well as a discreet breakaway strap for enhanced user safety, even on the go.

What We Like

• Small and lightweight to wear

What We Don’t Like

• Not the most durable air purifier

3. Rechargeable Portable Air Purifier

Check on Walmart

AirTamer A310 Personal Rechargeable Portable Air Purifier

Breathe clean air at all times with this rechargeable personal air purifier. Featuring state-of-the-art technology, this little device radiates a 3-foot orbit of safer air in any direction to create a sphere of protection against harmful pollutants. The capability to emit millions of negative ions into the air will force dangerous pollutants, allergens, and even unwanted odors away from you as you travel.

With the ability to run for up to 150 hours on a single charge, you can rely on this personal air purifier to keep you safe throughout the flu season, and the power boost technology offers up to 9 times more effective cleaning power than regular models to let you breathe in air that is up to 875% cleaner than unfiltered air.

Without the need for noisy fans or motors, you can enjoy silent operation, and with no filters to change, this is a fuss-free, easy-to-use personal device that is suitable for use when traveling.

Featuring a proprietary conductive lanyard that can be easily adjusted to suit your needs, as well as a breakaway connector for safer use, this little device offers excellent protection on planes, trains, buses, and in crowded indoor areas.

What We Like

• It’s rechargeable

What We Don’t Like

• Some airlines don’t allow personal air purifiers

4. Mask With a Personal Air Filter

Rsenr Personal Wearable Air Filter

Featuring a built-in and rechargeable 650 mAh lithium polymer battery, this mask with a built-in filter can offer up to 5 to 6 hours of personal protection when fully charged. Designed to be worn directly on the face, this personal wearable air filter offers up to 99% multi-layer protection against airborne viruses.

With a replaceable filter element, you can enjoy between 7 to 15 days of wear depending on the environment, and weighing under 75 grams, this is one of the most lightweight and instant ways to protect yourself from unwanted germs. Incredibly efficient, this face mask filter offers 4 layers of filtration to protect your health, and the lightweight polyester material mask is comfortable to wear even for longer periods.

Easy to wear over the ears and across the face, this sleek-looking mask offers a superior level of protection compared to medical-grade, filter-less face masks, and with its own storage bag and washable polyester surround, it is a practical alternative to lanyard air purifiers that offers instant protection.

What We Like

• Comes with a USB cable to recharge

What We Don’t Like

• Only 1 size, so won’t fit comfortably for everyone

Final Thoughts

Travel cleaner with a portable air purifier or negative ion generator to help eliminate or reduce the risks associated with airborne allergens and pollutants.

From fully-booked airplanes to musty hotel rooms, your portable air purifier will help to alleviate your asthma symptoms, reduce the irritation of allergies, and ensure that the air you breathe is always fresh, clean, and germ and odor-free.

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