You may have seen or heard about Coway’s Airmega Mighty AP-1512HH air purifier before. It’s the company’s most popular air purifier, thanks to its compact and attractive design. In lab testing, it stood out for its quiet fan and fairly quick particle removal (with an average T90 of 2 minutes and 13 seconds), earning an honorable mention — even if it didn’t crack our top 10. We were more impressed by the larger Airmega 400S for its superior particle removal.
I spent several weeks testing its successor, the $270 Airmega Mighty2 AP-1512N, in my home. I’m still withholding a score because we’re planning to test the Mighty2 in our lab in Louisville, Kentucky, to see how it fares in our smoke chamber test and other challenges. But in the meantime, here are some of my key takeaways.
The Mighty2 is still stylish and fairly compact
At first glance, the Mighty2 resembles the AP-1512HH in overall design. It has a similar square, modern design with a circular accent on the front that catches the eye. It’s not as pronounced as its predecessor, which has a more 3D shape, but it looks more modern and stylish than many air purifiers I’ve tested, including the GermGuardian AC4825, which resembles a tower fan. The Mighty2 also comes in a new beige color option, though I opted for white because it works better with my space. That said, it doesn’t quite double as a functional piece of furniture like the Blueair Blue Signature.
The good news is that it didn’t look out of place in my living room. In terms of footprint, it’s shorter and slightly wider than the Winix 5510 at 17.9×16.9×9.3 inches (HWD). During most of my testing, I placed it in my entry foyer, which connects to the living room, dining room, kitchen and main hallways, giving it strong airflow from multiple directions. More on that below.
Quiet and consistent performance
With air purifiers, the two big things I’m looking for are reliable air cleaning and quiet performance. The Mighty2 did a great job of delivering both. Even on its second fan setting, it was notably quieter than my Levoit Core 300 while also moving a ton of air. The noise level is usually between 19 to 50.9 A-weighted decibels, depending on the setting and fan speed, according to Coway.
I didn’t have a noise meter on hand, but even at the second fan setting, the Mighty2 was nearly silent unless I stood right next to it, though the airflow was noticeable. It also stayed quiet enough not to interfere with the TV in the living room, unlike the smaller, noisier Core 300.
To put my needs and air purifier setup into perspective, I live in a 1,300-square-foot prewar apartment with three bedrooms. It’s one of those classic layouts with a formal entry hallway and foyer designed for receiving guests.
The foyer, in particular, acts as a central mixing point for air throughout the apartment. Since it sits right next to the kitchen, it’s constantly exposed to cooking fumes and odors. With three cats and four litter boxes, the area also has no shortages of pet-related smells to deal with.
Lately, I’ve also been dealing with cigarette smoke from a neighbor downstairs. Some of it seeps through gaps in the parquet flooring in my hallway. My smaller Levoit Core 300 hasn’t been able to do much; it just doesn’t circulate enough air, and even with an activated carbon smoke filter, it falls short on odor control.
Placing the Mighty2 there made a substantial difference. The air purifier should cover a space of up to 1,800 square feet and is rated for a clean air delivery rate — or CADR — of 240 for smoke, 242 for dust and 249 for pollen. While initially registering a particle count of 40-80 PM 2.5 at first placement, over the course of an hour or so, it brought the number down into the single digits and kept it there.
By contrast, the compact Levoit Core 300 I had in the same location is rated at only 143 CADR and never fully cleared the smell from the area. To put it in perspective, the Mighty2 provides more than double the air changes of the smaller Core 300, though the Winix 5510 compares more favorably with a 252 CADR for smoke, 253 for dust and 253 for pollen.
That said, it’s important to note that this is a subjective test and not comparable to CNET’s smoke bomb test, which uses controlled smoke to measure an air purifier’s particle filtration performance.
Quality of life features at a reasonable price
The Mighty2 lacks app control and voice assistant support; you’ll need to step up to a higher-end Coway model for those features. But it still offers plenty of thoughtful conveniences.
On the top panel, you’ll find touch controls for fan speed (levels one through three) and smart modes (Auto, Eco, Turbo and Sleep). The standout feature is the integrated particle sensor, which provides real-time readings for PM1.0 (aerosols, microplastics, VOCs), PM2.5 (fumes, wildfire smoke, fine dust, allergens) and PM10 (dust, pollen, pet dander, mold spores). Plus, a color-coded light makes it easy to gauge air quality instantly, shifting from blue (good) to red (unhealthy).
This is a notable improvement over the previous model, which included an air quality indicator but didn’t provide an exact particle count. While you may not be as obsessive about checking air quality as I am, it did give me substantial peace of mind to know that the smaller particles of smoke and odor were being adequately filtered. It also lets you know when the prefilter needs cleaning. Fortunately, the prefilter is washable and can be vacuumed — something I found necessary after just a couple of weeks with three cats. The unit alerts you when the carbon and HEPA filters need replacing as well, which is typically around once a year.
It’s worth noting that the HEPA and carbon filters are combined, so you have to replace both at once. That’s different from the Winix 5510 — which I prefer — because most people who aren’t tackling smoke or VOCs won’t need to replace the carbon filter nearly as often.
Particle monitoring aside, the Mighty2 also has a smart mode that adjusts the fan speed based on air quality and automatically enters sleep mode if it detects no light in the room for 3 minutes. It also offers timer settings from one to 12 hours for automatic operation, but I usually leave it running continuously on fan level one or two.
Price and availability
The Coway Airmega Might2 — available starting March 19 — will cost you $270 on Coway and Amazon. It’s on the more expensive side compared to the $180 Winix 5510, which offers similar performance and comes with app support and separate HEPA and carbon filters, but it offers significantly better performance than the $100 Levoit Core 300. We’re currently testing it in CNET’s Louisville lab and will soon have the results that’ll provide a clearer picture of performance, noise and energy efficiency.
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