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Appliances head-to-head

Honeywell HPA300vsMedify MA-40

Age hasn't cost the 2013 Honeywell HPA300 the lead: it averages 7.8 against 7.4 for the 2019 Medify MA-40, and takes Durability 8.4 to 6.6.

Honeywell HPA300

Honeywell

7.8

Brute-force air movement for a large room, and it is not remotely subtle about it.

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

Medify MA-40

Medify Air

7.4

H13 filtration and real throughput, undercut by a headline room figure and a loud lowest speed.

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 Durability, Honeywell HPA300 ahead 8.4 to 6.6. They come closest on Performance, 8.8 to 8.6. Left of center is Honeywell HPA300, right is Medify MA-40.

Honeywell HPA300 versus Medify MA-40 — axis scores out of 10Horizontal bar chart of editorial scores out of 10 across 5 axes. Bars for Honeywell HPA300 run left from the axis labels, bars for Medify MA-40 run right. Honeywell HPA300: Performance 8.8, Value 8.4, Durability 8.4, Ease of use 7.0, Quietness 6.4. Medify MA-40: Performance 8.6, Value 8.0, Durability 6.6, Ease of use 7.6, Quietness 6.2.Honeywell HPA300 (left)Medify MA-40 (right)PerformanceHoneywell HPA300 — Performance 8.8 out of 108.8Medify MA-40 — Performance 8.6 out of 108.6ValueHoneywell HPA300 — Value 8.4 out of 108.4Medify MA-40 — Value 8.0 out of 108.0DurabilityHoneywell HPA300 — Durability 8.4 out of 108.4Medify MA-40 — Durability 6.6 out of 106.6Ease of useHoneywell HPA300 — Ease of use 7.0 out of 107.0Medify MA-40 — Ease of use 7.6 out of 107.6QuietnessHoneywell HPA300 — Quietness 6.4 out of 106.4Medify MA-40 — Quietness 6.2 out of 106.2Editorial score out of 10 — higher is better

Which one to pick

Take the Honeywell HPA300

Leads on Performance, Value, Durability and Quietness.

  • Allergy season in a large room, where throughput beats finesse
  • You want mechanical controls that cannot lose firmware
  • Filters stocked in every hardware store

Take the Medify MA-40

Leads on Ease of use.

  • Smoke season, when you want throughput now and will tolerate the fan
  • A living room, an office, or a workshop rather than anywhere anyone sleeps
  • You want H13 filtration without paying what the boutique brands ask

What each one gets wrong

Honeywell HPA300

  • The unit will be anywhere near where someone sleeps
  • You want auto mode driven by a sensor

Medify MA-40

  • The lowest speed is rated at 46 dB — it never disappears into a quiet room
  • You read the room-size figure as comparable to a CADR-based rating
  • Registration inside ninety days and genuine filters are both warranty conditions

Specs, side by side

SpecHoneywell HPA300Medify MA-40
CoverageLarge roomsRated by Medify at 1,793 sq ft in one hour
FilterTrue HEPA plus carbon pre-filter—
ControlsMechanical buttons, four speeds—
Filtration—Three stages with an H13 HEPA layer
Noise—46 to 66 dB across four speeds
Filter life—About 3,000 hours, roughly six months of daily use

Rankings they both appear in

Questions

The Medify MA-40 is 6 years newer. Why does it score lower?
Because the axes didn't move the way the release dates suggest. The 2013 model takes Performance, Value, Durability and Quietness, widest on Durability at 8.4 to 6.6. Ease of use is where the 2019 model answers, and whether that is enough is the whole question.
What did the 2019 model improve?
Ease of use. Ease of use runs 7.6 to 7.0. That is not enough to move the average, which stays 7.8 to 7.4.
Which one ranks higher in "Throughput is cheap in a room nobody sleeps in"?
Honeywell HPA300 sits at #2 in "Throughput is cheap in a room nobody sleeps in", Medify MA-40 at #4.