AiDot WELOV P200 Pro Air Purifier Review
It's the world's first Matter air purifier, but that doesn't mean much at the moment when the major players don't support the device type. Even so, it's a superb appliance that can operate completely autonomously until it's time to change the filter.
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Along with the Matter 1.2 specifications came a new device type—air purifiers—and the Welov P200 Pro from AiDot is the first ever Matter-enabled air purifier.
However, just because an air purifier supports Matter doesn’t mean your Matter smart home controller will support an air purifier (yet). But despite the questionable utility of the Matter integration, the Welov P200 Pro is a superb device, with automatic operating modes, an air quality sensor built in that sends notifications to your phone, and even a sleep mode that uses your sleep cycle data from Apple Health to align with your natural rhythm.
Who is AiDot?
AiDot has thrown a lot of weight behind the Matter standard, having officially joined the Connectivity Standards Alliance (that’s the organization that oversees the Matter standard) back in 2022—and they soon achieved their first certification for smart lighting.
In addition to the first ever Matter-compatible air purifier and smart lighting, they also offer Matter smart plugs, and dimmer switches, through their Linkind sub-brand. All the devices work through the overarching AiDot smartphone app, which is well-designed and easy to use.
Setting up the WELOV P200 Pro
Other than unboxing it, there’s just one thing to do when setting up the P200 Pro for the first time: remove the plastic bag around the filter. You can access the filter by turning the P200 Pro upside down and unscrewing the base.
Although not strictly necessary, as the P200 Pro can be operated entirely from the extensive button selection on top, to get the most from the P200 Pro, you’ll want to download the Aidot app.
The Welov P200 runs over your standard home Wi-Fi, so it doesn’t need a Thread Border Router to use on the Matter network, just your Wi-Fi credentials. I had no issues getting it connected to my dual-band home network.
PM2.5 air quality sensor
The P200 Pro includes an air quality sensor that measures PM2.5 particles. The top control panel displays a reading of 0 to 500, and the front has an LED bar for an at-a-glance indication.
Since I live in the middle of nowhere, I don’t have any air pollution, nor am I subjected to forest fires. However, I’m certain the sensor works because whenever I cook breakfast, I get a notification on my phone telling me to check what the problem is (a bit of a rude way to describe my cooking!)
If the P200 Pro is in auto mode, it’ll respond by going full speed in an attempt to clear the smoke.
The air quality reporting is limited to PM2.5-size particles, so it’s not as extensive as a dedicated air quality monitor. Still, it’s more than sufficient for the automatic operation of the Welov P200 Pro.
AiDot informs me that it can actually detect other sized particles, but that data isn’t displayed because users mostly care about PM2.5—take of that what you will, as I have no way to verify without access to that data.
The PM2.5 data is saved in the AiDot app, but there’s little you can do with it other than view past data day by day; up to a year is saved. It would be nice to see some sort of actionable analysis of the data, like “your air quality usually gets worse at 8:30 a.m.”
The P200 Pro can scrub up to around a 1600-square-foot area in an hour, and uses a HEPA filter to get 99.97% of particles out of the air. The filter is replaceable, and you can check on the status at any point through the app. When it’s time to replace, an indicator on top of the P200 Pro will also be lit.
In addition to a standard filter (as supplied) for common allergens and household pollutants, there are filters specifically for pet owners to neutralize doors and reduce dander and a “special toxin absorber filter” for VOCs and smoke.
Operating the P200 Pro
Auto mode is where the P200 Pro operates best, using the data from the air quality to ramp up or down the fan speed automatically.
But Sleep mode offers something unique. If you have an Apple Watch that records your sleep data, you can pull the data into the AiDot app, and it’ll adjust its activity through the night to avoid disturbing you. It’s a one-off import rather than a continuous monitoring, though: it doesn’t automatically shut off when it detects you’re falling asleep or waking. Rather, it uses your sleep trends to work out how long you usually sleep. However, you can reimport your new schedule if your sleep trends change.
If you don’t have an Apple Watch, you can either manually activate Sleep mode to run quietly all night, modify the default timings to account for how long you’ll probably be asleep, or schedule your usual sleep time. Combined, this is likely more configuration than you need anyway. Sleep mode also disables all the lighting on top (and optionally, the subtle white "night light" that emanates from underneath).
In Sleep mode the P200 Pro is whisper quiet at around 23dB. At full speed, it’s quite loud—I measured 70dB—but that’s to be expected. Unless you’re burning breakfast or having an impromptu dance party, you shouldn’t notice anything except the gloriously clean air. Speaking of which...
Performance Testing
To see just how good the P200 Pro was, I pulled out the smoke machine and threw an impromptu workshop party. I sealed all windows and doors and blasted so much smoke out that any unseasoned raver would have been on the floor in a coughing fit; the room is about 4 x 5m. The P200 Pro detected it within a few seconds and turned the fans on full.
Within five to ten minutes, all the fun had clearly been sucked out of the party, but it was twenty minutes before the P200 Pro determined it was safe enough, and the sensor began dropping again before giving the all-clear.
Suffice to say, the P200 Pro will not be invited next time. But this was an extreme test; the P200 Pro is very good at what it does.
P200 Pro + Matter
I tested on iOS with both Apple HomeKit and Google Home, and I had no issues getting it connected to HomeKit and then putting it back into pairing mode to pull into Google Home.
You’ll notice a big yellow warning sticker on the front of the P200 Pro explaining that Matter support is a little fundamental at the moment, which is an understatement. Despite being happily added to my Home, named and assigned to a room, you can’t actually control the P200 Pro because Apple has yet to roll out support for the capabilities of the Matter 1.2 standard or the new device types it enables.
This highlights that just because the Matter specification has an air purifier device type now, doesn’t necessarily mean smart home assistants actually support it yet. Our AiDot rep informed me that Apple is expected to add support in June.
Google Home offers a little more: a slider to control the fan speed.
But I’m not sure how much Matter support could add to the equation here. The Welov P200 Pro operates best when it’s completely autonomous. It would be nice to get the air quality sensor information into Matter to automate other devices that aren’t so smart, but in terms of remote control and automating the P200 Pro—it already does everything needed by itself.
Welov P200 Pro is the best kind of home appliance
Even though you can’t do much with the Matter integration at the moment, I can highly recommend the Welov P200 Pro. It’s the best kind of home appliance: one that you don’t need to touch again. Just leave it in auto mode, schedule your bedtime, and enjoy the clean air.
It’s powerful enough for a large space, with filters for more demanding needs, and you’ll get useful notifications if it detects something is wrong.
Buy the Welov P200 Pro on Amazon, or directly from AiDot.
