Charm is not something I’ve come to expect from minor smart home devices like air purifiers. Sure, most are designed to be sleek. They might blend in with your modern decor or complement your choice of wall paint nicely. But what I’m getting at is that they’re more functional and homely. However, the Rabbit Air A3 is a thing of beauty.

Whether freestanding neatly in a corner or nook, mounted high on the wall, or resting atop a table or surface, the A3 cuts an attractive figure. The built-in lighting shifts subtly to set the mood. You can let it cycle through colors or pick a specific color if you have a favorite. The fan and system inside quietly churn out fresh air. In a private lounge or office, it stands out. In a living room, it makes for an excellent conversation starter.

It’s not small by any means, but it does have a relatively slim profile. 

Rabbit Air is proud of its design, as it should be, and offers models with fine art or unique designs. You can order a case with cherry blossoms painted on the outside, Vincent Van Gogh’s Irises, Jan Davidsz. De Heem’s Vase of Flowers, Katsushika Hokusai’s The Great Wave, and more. With virtually any other modern gadget, these adornments would look out of place, tacky even, but here they certainly elevate the look of the system.

It’s clear, at least to me, that when they designed the visuals of this purifier, they wanted it to take center stage. It would be an absolute shame to tuck it away, hide it behind a couch, desk or shelf. It deserves to sit in the open for all to see, whether mounted or placed. And yeah, that’s a weird thing to say about an air purifier, but it’s true.

As all devices go, it’s not just about how it looks, but how well it works. Is the Rabbit Air A3 worth the cost? Does it provide a cleaner, more satisfying experience? Can it remove foul or offensive odors as the brand promises?

Take a seat, grab a drink or snack, and let’s find out.

What is the Rabbit Air A3?

The Rabbit Air A3 (SPA-1000N) is the latest air purifier from the brand, a company well known for its commercial-grade products. The A3 is no different. It’s professional or commercial-grade, with lots of power and capabilities tucked inside, built specifically for the home. 

What do I mean by that? 

This is not comparable to your average air purifier you can buy on Amazon. Some shops and lounges actually use Rabbit Air systems to remove cigar smoke and freshen up the air.

It covers up to 1,070 square feet of space through a uniquely efficient process. It can clean 8,560 cubic feet of air in just 30 minutes. Six-stage filtration both deodorizes the air, removing odors and smells, while pushing it through the BioGS HEPA filter, targeting the smallest and dirtiest particles contained within it. It traps over 99% of particles less than 0.1 microns in size.

Inside, the proprietary Dual Hive AC filter uses a geometric lattice design, in honeycomb shapes, with dual activated charcoal layers to boost the air-to-carbon contact. In simple terms, the air flowing through gets more exposure to the filter and it delivers superior absorption for odors, chemicals and VOCs — Volatile Organic Compounds. Dual Hive can filter out chemicals like ammonia, formaldehyde, acetic acid, acetaldehyde, toluene, and so much more. Odor-wise, it can kill or reduce general odors, pet allergens, cooking odors, exhaust fumes, and tobacco smoke.

It really cleans, boss

What you really need to know is that air flows in, it’s filtered and cleaned, and fresh air flows out. It works remarkably well, and while I’m no scientist with dials, meters, or measuring tools, I can attest to its power, and I’ll explain why a bit later.

The A3 is also a smart home device, meaning you can sync and connect using a compatible smart home app on your phone. While you can forego that entirely if you only want to physically interact with the system — it has a top-mounted touch control panel — it’s super convenient that you can adjust settings remotely. When the top control panel turns on, or you interact with it, such as through the mobile app, it delivers satisfying beeps — which you can turn off at any time.

Moreover, one of the biggest differences between Rabbit Air’s products and those of the outside variety is that it offers unprecedented longevity and support. For example, the A3 is ridiculously low-maintenance. A single replacement filter can last for an entire year, even with the system running 24/7, thanks to its efficient design. The system also comes with a five-year warranty through Rabbit Air should anything untoward happen.

Multi-tier testing in a single-family home

I’m approaching the Rabbit Air A3 from two separate angles. Here, at Techigar, I’ll be reviewing the system from a smart home lens, and for the average person. At The BS Lounge, I’ll be reviewing the Rabbit Air A3 as a cigar aficionado for a private lounge or indoor smoking room. You see, I live in Florida, where it’s hot and humid. Some days or nights, it’s way too hot to smoke outdoors. But I have always been averse to smoking indoors.

While I enjoy cigars, I don’t walk around smelling like smoke and I don’t want my home to smell like it either. The smoke can be thick, pungent, and permeating for fabrics and everything else. It’s not exactly the best for electronics either.

But one of the Rabbit Air A3’s strengths is filtering out tobacco smoke, including fumes and odors. Which brings us to the next section of this review and how I know the A3 works and does as promised.

I placed the Rabbit Air A3 in my home office at the front of the house. Here’s why that matters. First, I’ll be using this room to smoke, occasionally, mostly to see how the air filtration works. Second, we have two cats, so we have two cat boxes, one in the garage and the other is — you guessed it — in my office. I clean it regularly, but if you have ever been around cats, you know both their pee and their poop can smell. Even in a concealed box, cleaned regularly, there’s an odor. It’s not bad when I have the office open and air circulates in and out, but as soon as I seal it off, the pleasantries start to fade.

Time to freshen up the air

The Rabbit Air A3 completely removes all odors associated with these two particularly smelly things. The cat box doesn’t smell, the office doesn’t stink like ammonia or cat pee, and when they do their other business, smells fade quickly if they show up at all. 

While smoking, as long as the office is sealed off from the rest of the house, it doesn’t spread. More importantly, if you clean up any leftover ash and don’t leave dried ash in the ashtray, there are no smells of smoke, ash, or cigars lingering behind.

It 100% unequivocally works as I hoped it would. 

It also filters smoke openly and quickly, meaning when you blow it out, or the cigar lets it off, it’s not floating around the room getting into your electronics. As far as I can tell, my office gear doesn’t have any smoke, gunk, or nasty residues you’d normally see when it’s exposed to something like that. I will say that I’ve only been smoking inside intermittently and for a few months, as opposed to years, so it’s possible those nasties haven’t built up yet. But compared to what would happen without the A3 there — and I’ve seen how quickly that happens — it’s doing a good job.

The air quality improved considerably

When I first plugged in the A3, synced the mobile app, and started fiddling with the settings, I noticed the air quality was “not good.” A meter in the mobile app tells you the quality and cleanup progress. Even after letting it sit for a while, the air quality stayed where it was, which meant, before the A3, the air was probably not even close to ideal in my office.

After a few weeks, the progress bar is up and it reads “excellent.” There’s a measurable difference to my lungs and nose. It feels cleaner. It smells cleaner. And although it may be a placebo, I feel much better after being in my office for a long time, nearly all day, most days. When I tested smoking a cigar in the office, the air quality went back down to “not good,” while the smoke was lingering. That tells me the sensor works pretty good, and the A3 uses a balance of air quality monitoring and odor sensing to detect cleaning performance.

My office is at the front of the house and surrounded by three bay windows. In a different state, that might be desirable. I’m sure I would have those glass windows open to let in lots of sunlight. In Florida, it just makes things really fucking hot. So, I have them covered with blackout curtains. Warmth still gets through because the house was built in 2006, and the insulation is likely wearing down. That heat can make odors worse. And with the blackout curtains turning the room into a dank dungeon, that doesn’t bode well for odors or smells. The A3 eliminates that problem.

There’s bad stuff in the air

Americans, on average, spend about 90 percent of their time indoors. At the risk of repeating, here in Florida, where it’s hot as the devil’s taint, that’s definitely true. But that’s a problem because the concentrations of some pollutants can be 2 to 5 times higher indoors than out. Needless to say, a lot of nasty stuff makes its way inside and gets trapped in there.

Air purifiers like the Rabbit Air A3 can help remove it. In my experience, that’s certainly the case; it doesn’t just remove odors but helps eliminate other contaminants, and, while this statement still needs to be assessed by three-letter agencies, I’m sure, it makes it healthier inside. Take this as you will, but my lungs feel better, my nose is happy, and I enjoy spending time in my office again. Those smells were really getting to me.

Other smells I’ve noticed that the A3 filters include the lingering smells of cooking, like meats, eggs and bacon, chlorine or chemical smells, bleach, wet dog, dirt or mud, and mildewy odors. I know the average person doesn’t smoke cigars, but the rest of those smells you’re likely to encounter.

Rabbit Air A3 smart app features

After booting up the system for the first time, which is super simple, because you just plug it in, you can sync the mobile app via WiFi. Per usual, you have to make sure the A3 and your phone are connected to the same WiFi network. It’s all intuitive and easy to set up, and you’re guided through the entire process.

It also syncs with Alexa so you can issue voice commands if you have an Echo device in your home. First, you have to download the associated Alexa skill and then you’re good to go. You can turn the system on or off, adjust fan speeds, or set modes using your voice.

Here’s a quick rundown of what you can change in the app:

• Power on or off
• Check air quality, odor, and particle filtration
• Adjust fan speed
• Enable “auto mode”
• Adjust the LED mood lighting
• Turn all lights off or enable the “night light”
• Enable or disable negative ions
• Set a timer
• Set a cleaning schedule
• Enable or disable the child lock
• Check the filter lifecycle
• Enable or disable system sounds

You can also order replacement filters right from within the app. There are several kinds. I chose the odor remover filter to match my cigar testing. You can also select a pet allergy filter, germ defense filter, toxin absorber, and a green tea filter.

The filters are easy to change

The front of the A3 easily snaps off, the cover is held on with magnets, and you slide out the old filter elements and put the new ones in place. When you first unbox the A3, you need to unwrap the filters inside. It’s pretty common stuff, but it’s also worth noting just how painfully simple the entire process is.

It also means that, eventually, when I need to swap out the active filter, I can do it in mere minutes, seconds, even.

What’s the verdict, and the price?

This is where I might lose some people. The base A3 costs $750, with various additions increasing the price. For example, if you want one of the artistic models, the cost is a little higher. It doesn’t cost anything extra to choose one of the filter types, and when you order, you pick one of the four options.

To those browsing air purifiers on Amazon or retail sites, that cost may seem high. Comparably, it’s not. Ignoring the beautiful design of the A3, the six-stage filtration, and the high efficiency, it works. I do have other air purifiers, and while they make a slight difference, absolutely nothing is on the same level as the Rabbit Air. It’s not a stretch to say that’s because of the brand’s commercial tendrils. These are high-grade systems available to us, the average consumer. They filter a ton of odors and contaminants, including dust mites, mold, fungi, pet dander, pollen, VOCs, and many bacteria and particles that carry viruses.

If you have pets, smoke, or live in a humid area, the Rabbit Air A3 is going to make a huge difference in the air quality and experience you have indoors. Where you might pay $200 or $300 for a low-end purifier, you’re more likely throwing your money away there. I know because I’ve done precisely that. I’d recommend waiting, saving up a little, and springing for one of Rabbit Air’s systems instead.

• Recommended Buy: Yes, for all. But definitely for pet owners and smokers.
• For Who: If you’re sick of odors, human smells, pet smells, and other poor indoor air quality, this will do the trick.
• Alternative: Rabbit Air MinusA2
• MSRP: From $750