A few weeks ago, I received a review unit of a device that looked like it was straight out of Doctor Who — it quite literally looked like a Dalek, except it didn't have arms, or those brassy knobs, or yell "Exterminate" at me. If you're not a Whovian, look up a Dalek. It'll be worth your time.
The device I got was, in fact, the Meditate air purifier by Havells — a piece of kit that screams space-age tech. It's a silver-plastic cylinder that wouldn't look out of place on one of Elon Musk's SpaceX Rockets.
And it works just as well.
I have never used an air purifier before, leave alone review one. However, I was curious to see if I'd be even able differentiate the before and after experiences. And I'm happy to report that I could — my nose was less congested at night, and my sleep was better. The relative lack of pollutants entering my lungs probably helped.
Meditate comes in compact packaging and, despite its size, the unit is relatively light, and can be easily lifted out of the box by one adult. It is accompanied by a circular disc which acts as a wireless remote.
The setup process is ridiculously simple — you download the Havells Sync app, connect the air purifier to your home WiFi network, follow a couple of on-screen steps, and lo and behold, your air purifier is good to go.
The one thing that immediately caught my fancy was that the wireless remote can be charged using a wired charger, as well as wirelessly. How wirelessly Simple, by plonking it on top of the air purifier. That's right, the flat, top surface of the air purifier, which sports a polished wood finish, is also a wireless charger. If not the remote, you can also place a supported smartphone on it and it'll start charging. I thought it was absolutely wild.
The experience itself
Now, as I mentioned before, I'm no expert on air purifiers, but I am, first and foremost, a consumer. So, if I were to buy an air purifier, this would have been my experience.
It is quiet: The fan does a great job of sucking air in, which is then cleaned by the filters at the base before being sent back out. But you won't hear a thing. It is the opposite of my PlayStation 5 which, after more than a year of usage, sounds like a jetliner about to take off. This ensures your sleep is uninterrupted.
As for the purifying part, I'll have to assume it worked because I literally have been breathing easy at night, and that made a lot of difference to the quality of sleep, and my productivity the next day.
The internet tells me that at an MRP of Rs 49,999 (MSRP Rs 54,999), the Meditate is at the higher end of the spectrum, but considering it's literally aimed at making life easy for your lungs, why skimp? Might as well get one of these and prevent any chance of wheezing like Darth Vader a few years down the line.
My three weeks or so with the Meditate have been positive — I've never had difficulty making it work. It rarely — if ever — disconnected — and the remote makes it a breeze (no pun intended) to operate, without your having to get off the bed to tweak the settings.
All in all, this is an impressive feat of engineering.
