Briiv Air Purifier (Eco-Certified and WiFi-Enabled) review

Using an air purifier at home is a great way to keep your air clean and smelling fresh—but what if you could do all that and get an amazing decor piece out of it? And what if that decor piece was eco-friendly and largely compostable? That’s what the Briiv Eco-Certified Air Purifier sets out to do. This beautiful air purifier is an excellent example of both biomimetic (improving systems with technologies that work like nature) and biophilic (designed to compliment and include nature) design.

What’s in the box of the Briiv Eco-Certified Air Purifier?

in the box of the Briiv WiFi-Enabled Air Purifier, you’ll find the Briiv itself with all of the components it needs to run. That includes a 5-Volt USB adapter, a USB to micro USB cable, the Brivv’s base, its glass top, and three layers of filters: an activated carbon matrix filter, a coconut filter, and a reindeer moss filter. Micro USB isn’t super common anymore, but don’t fret; Briiv labels their cords so you know which side is up!

How is the Briiv different from other air purifiers?

Briiv’s air purifier is meant to clean the air in your home with as little energy and waste as possible. It’s a novel approach to air purification—and one that I think makes a lot of sense. As we focus more on sustainable ways to maintain our homes in the 2020s, our air and water purification methods should absolutely come along for the ride. I’ve noticed a big increase in natural swimming pools over the last decade as well. (Here in Edmonton, we even have a public pool that’s naturally filtered! It’s located in Borden Park. The pool uses granite rock layers, wetland beds, and sunlight to filter and clean its water during its recirculation.)

This air purifier takes a similar approach to a natural pool. Most air purifiers that I’ve reviewed use a large carbon or HEPA filter that needs to be replaced every 3-6 months. Over time, that leads to a lot of waste. On top of that, your standard air purifier is much larger than the Briiv, with a plastic casing that will, at the end of its life cycle, likely end up in a landfill.

What does the Briiv Air Purifier do?

Instead of relying on a large plastic casing and frequent, large air purifier replacement, Briiv uses a multi-layered approach—just like a natural swimming pool. It filters the bigger particles (PM 10) like pet dander and pollen out with reindeer moss, a living organism that you place gently into the top of the Briiv’s recyclable glass dome. Then, it catches the mid-size stuff (PM 5) with a pressed coconut moss filter. This moss looks like a giant scrubbing pad, and it catches particles from dust, dirt, and smoke. Finally, it uses a very small activated carbon matrix filter to catch VOCs and other fine particulates (PM 2.5).

These components will all need to be replaced over time, but they minimize the amount of material that ends up in a landfill. The moss and coconut fibre can go straight into your compost. The carbon filter, because it’s cleaning air that’s already been cleaned, only needs to be a fraction of the size of what you’d usually see in an air purifier. It’s even packaged in recyclable, recycled paper instead of a metal or plastic casing.

Briiv says their air purifier is as powerful at cleaning the air in your home as 3,043 medium size houseplants. (Despite common belief, houseplants are honestly not that good at cleaning the air. We need our big, old trees outside for that!) It cleans contaminants including allergens, cooking oil, smoke, dust, dust mites, fungal spores, lint, odours, pollen, pet dander, tobacco smoke, VOCs, and mould spores from the air. There’s also a Briiv app, which connects to the device via WiFi.

How big of a space can the Briiv WiFi-Enabled Air Purifier be used in?

All air purifiers have an upper recommended limit for the size of space they’re set in. For something this size, you’d generally expect a coverage of 300-600 sq ft. However, Briiv says it can be used in spaces of up to 1000 sq ft. It will clean the air of a 36m² (or about 380 sq ft) room in an hour, but left on for longer, it can tackle a much larger space than that.

So, do I still need to buy new filters for my Briiv Air Purifier?

Yes—but most of your old filter can be composted at home or in your city’s compost! Briiv’s natural filters (which are compost-friendly) need to be replaced annually and its small nano matrix filter needs to be replaced every 3 months.

Another great thing about the Briiv is that you can buy replacements for more than just the filters. Briiv offers their air purifier’s parts sold individually to prolong the life of your device. You can purchase their glass cover (recyclable), USB cable, and power supply independently if your air purifier needs maintenance. This helps extend the life of your device, significantly minimizing your air purifier’s environmental impact in the long run.

My experience with the Briiv Eco-Certified Air Purifier

With its spendy price tag, I was almost hoping I wouldn’t like the Briiv—but, of course, I really do. I think it’s a gorgeous air purifier; something that looks more like a statement piece than a household utility. It’s easy to use, turn on, and maintain. Unlike virtually every other air purifier on the market, the Briiv looks and feels more like a plant than an appliance. For me, that easily makes it worth its price tag.

The best parts of the Briiv

That being said: Like any product, this home air purifier has its pros and cons. Let’s start with what I really liked, like its eco-friendly design and gorgeous aesthetics. Then there’s the product’s power plug, which has an “UP” label printed onto it. (So simple, and yet no one else ever seems to do it!) I love the glass top, the rich green of the reindeer moss, and the fact that you can use this tiny air purifier for an entire 1000 sq ft space. I also love that this air purifier is whisper-quiet on its lowest settings—it’s very loud on its highest (as if you’ve turned on a white noise machine on maximum volume), but super quiet the rest of the time.

What to look out for in the Briiv

Next, the “medium” stuff. What I notice most about the Briiv air purifier is that it gets the air in my home clean and fresh, but not always odourless. It eliminates smelly odours from the air but leaves my home smelling a little… Biological, like a crisp forest. Everything smells a bit like coconut moss after I’ve had the Briiv on for a while. I really don’t mind it; I think it’s lovely and inviting, but it might not be to everyone’s preference.

Finally, the single con: The Briiv is laggy. Its app is slow to respond and the touch-sensitive surface on the device itself takes a few seconds to work as well. The app lets you set up schedules, control the product’s four speeds, turn on its “Boost” function, and check on the life of your filters, but you do have to give it a bit of time to signal the air purifier. That takes some getting used to, but for a product that’s excellent otherwise, I can’t say it’s a major complaint for me.

In conclusion

I loved the efficacy, low power consumption, and biophilic design of the Briiv Air Purifier. If you’re looking for a gorgeous, low-waste air purification system for your home, check out the Briiv Eco-Certified Air Purifier—available online at Best Buy now.