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Appliances head-to-head

Blueair Blue Pure 211+vsWinix 5500-2

8.3 against 8.1 overall, which settles nothing. Winix 5500-2 takes Value 9.0 to 8.2, and that is the axis to decide on.

Blueair Blue Pure 211+

Blueair

8.3

Moves a large room's worth of air while staying quiet enough to forget about.

Price and availability change constantly, so we don't quote them here — the link opens the current Amazon listing.

Winix 5500-2

Winix

8.1

The default recommendation in owner forums: true HEPA plus carbon, and filters you can actually find.

Price and availability change constantly, so we don't quote them here — the link opens the current Amazon listing.

Where they diverge

The widest gap is Value, Winix 5500-2 ahead 9.0 to 8.2. They come closest on Performance, 8.4 to 8.2. Left of center is Blueair Blue Pure 211+, right is Winix 5500-2.

Blueair Blue Pure 211+ versus Winix 5500-2 — axis scores out of 10Horizontal bar chart of editorial scores out of 10 across 5 axes. Bars for Blueair Blue Pure 211+ run left from the axis labels, bars for Winix 5500-2 run right. Blueair Blue Pure 211+: Performance 8.4, Value 8.2, Durability 7.8, Ease of use 8.6, Quietness 8.6. Winix 5500-2: Performance 8.2, Value 9.0, Durability 7.6, Ease of use 7.8, Quietness 7.8.Blueair Blue Pure 211+ (left)Winix 5500-2 (right)PerformanceBlueair Blue Pure 211+ — Performance 8.4 out of 108.4Winix 5500-2 — Performance 8.2 out of 108.2ValueBlueair Blue Pure 211+ — Value 8.2 out of 108.2Winix 5500-2 — Value 9.0 out of 109.0DurabilityBlueair Blue Pure 211+ — Durability 7.8 out of 107.8Winix 5500-2 — Durability 7.6 out of 107.6Ease of useBlueair Blue Pure 211+ — Ease of use 8.6 out of 108.6Winix 5500-2 — Ease of use 7.8 out of 107.8QuietnessBlueair Blue Pure 211+ — Quietness 8.6 out of 108.6Winix 5500-2 — Quietness 7.8 out of 107.8Editorial score out of 10 — higher is better

Which one to pick

Take the Blueair Blue Pure 211+

Leads on Performance, Durability, Ease of use and Quietness.

  • An open-plan living space rather than a bedroom-sized box
  • You want one control and no app
  • The washable fabric sleeve catching pet hair appeals to you

Take the Winix 5500-2

Leads on Value.

  • Cooking smells and smoke, where the carbon stage earns its place
  • You want replacement filters from more than one supplier
  • Auto mode that responds to actual air quality

What each one gets wrong

Blueair Blue Pure 211+

  • Seeing a particulate number is part of trusting the machine
  • Carbon filtration for cooking smells is a priority

Winix 5500-2

  • You want the ionizer permanently gone rather than switched off each time
  • A visible control panel light in a dark bedroom bothers you

Specs, side by side

SpecBlueair Blue Pure 211+Winix 5500-2
CoverageLarge rooms—
FilterFabric pre-filter plus particle filterTrue HEPA plus washable carbon
ControlsOne button, three speeds—
Extra—PlasmaWave, switchable
Sensor—Auto mode with air quality light

Rankings they both appear in

Questions

Only 0.2 separates them. What breaks the tie?
Value does, at 9.0 against 8.2. That axis covers what the same money buys elsewhere. Blueair Blue Pure 211+ leads on Performance, Durability, Ease of use and Quietness. If Value matters more to you, take the Winix 5500-2 instead.
Why are the totals this close?
The total is the plain average of the 5 Appliances axes, so opposite results cancel. Blueair Blue Pure 211+ averages 8.3 and Winix 5500-2 averages 8.1, a gap of 0.2, while the individual axes run as far apart as 0.8.
Which one ranks higher in "Recompute a purifier's coverage and it shrinks"?
Blueair Blue Pure 211+ sits at #1 in "Recompute a purifier's coverage and it shrinks", Winix 5500-2 at #2.