Shark NeverChange Air Purifier

The average Dyson Air Purifier is a tower, and that's no exaggeration. They are gigantic. Dyson itself says that this is because HEPA filtration is advanced, the water tank must be a certain size, and the air ducts through which the cool, moist air flows out should also be large.

However, this turns out to be far from a universal truth, as Shark can now offer something much cheaper and much more space-saving. The new NeverChange Air Purifier (yes, that's what it's called) will set you back around £250 and offers many of the same features.

First and foremost, at the risk of repeating myself, it is quite small. We are talking 30x23x23 centimetres and a fighting weight of just two kilos. This makes it easy to move around, but perhaps more importantly, it can also be placed somewhere in the home where it makes sense without attracting much attention. Several times, guests at our house mistook it for a small air fryer, which is perhaps very apt since we placed it primarily in the kitchen.

It's not exactly pretty. There are two openings on each side that create an unnecessary futuristic look, and although the matte white is quite appealing and the display is fairly subtle, there is a large brass-like strip at the bottom that says "Clean Sense IQ", which is as tacky as anything can be.

That said, its placement in the kitchen meant that we got rid of everything a NanoSeal HEPA filter is designed to remove. We're talking dust and smoke, but especially odours, which can linger in the air long after the food has been cooked. This is where we saw a noticeable difference.

The installed filter can last up to five years and, according to a slightly skewed test on Shark's website, captures 99.97% of all allergens and irritating particles. However, the test is conducted in a room measuring just four square metres, with the fan speed set to MAX, which is quite noisy. We therefore assume that the efficiency is lower, and the problem is that no matter what, you cannot directly feel whether the air you breathe has been purified of such particles, especially not over a short test period of a few weeks.

However, we can say that the built-in filters, DebrisDefence, Medium Particle, Activated Carbon, and the aforementioned HEPA filter have a proven effect on the quality of the air you breathe in your home, and you can see for yourself on the display what NeverChange thinks about your air measured in percent. Yes, it seemed to be slightly optimistic, but as it started working, the percentage rose steadily.

Noise is generally a problem, however, as on Auto it often kicks into second gear, causing a noticeable change in the sound signature. We're talking 45dB, and a full 56dB on Fan Speed 3.

The Shark NeverChange Air Purifier is well built, compact, and relatively competitive in terms of price. There are just a few areas where its effectiveness is a little disappointing.