Short answer
Choose the Levoit Core 300S for a bedroom or study of about 20 m² if you want voice control and a choice of pet or smoke filters, and don’t mind a new filter every six to eight months. Choose the Philips AC2220 for a living room or a larger bedroom: it has the bigger CADR (420 against 258 m³/h), a filter Philips rates for about three years and lower quoted noise. If you’re not sure how big the room is, the Philips covers more of them.
Levoit is the brand named most often in the UK forum threads we read about air purifiers, and the Philips PureProtect Quiet 2200 (AC2220) is our best overall pick, so the two often end up on the same shortlist. They aren’t the same size of machine. The Philips moves more clean air, keeps its filter far longer and quotes less noise. The Levoit is smaller, has voice control and takes three kinds of filter. Room size usually decides it. We compared the makers’ manuals, spec pages and filter pages; both are in our comparison of every air purifier we track.
Room size (CADR)
258 m³/h: about 21 m² on our rule
420 m³/h: about 35 m² on our rule
Noise on low
24 dB in the manual, method not stated
13 dB, sound pressure at 1.5 m
Filter life
Every 6 to 8 months
About 3 years (Philips’ average)
Filter options
Original, pet allergy or toxin absorber
One filter, the FY2200/30
App and voice
VeSync app and voice control
Air+ app with schedules
Size and weight
36 cm tall, 2.7 kg
4.1 kg; height not clearly stated
Choose the Levoit Core 300S if the room is about 20 m² and you want voice control or a pet or smoke filter.
Choose the Philips PureProtect Quiet 2200 Series (AC2220/10) if it’s a living room or big bedroom and you want fewer filter changes.
Room size and CADR
Philips states a CADR of 420 m³/h for the AC2220 and names its test standard, GB/T 18801-2022. Levoit’s UK manual gives the Core 300S 258 m³/h but names no standard. On our rule of thumb (CADR ÷ 12, about five air changes an hour under a 2.4 m ceiling), the Philips suits a room of about 35 m² and the Levoit about 21 m². The bigger box figures assume far less cleaning: Levoit’s 54 m² is based on two air changes an hour, and Philips’ 109 m² on the NRCC-54013 method, fewer still. The Philips wins; our guide to sizing an air purifier shows the sums.
Noise and lights at night
Philips quotes 13 dB on the AC2220’s lowest setting and 45 dB at the top, as sound pressure 1.5 m away. Levoit’s manual gives 24 to 56 dB for the 300S (its UK page says 22 dB in sleep mode) without saying how it measured. So the figures compare only loosely, but the Philips quotes less at both ends. For context, a comparison cited in the UK’s SAGE-EMG paper measured six HEPA purifiers at 27 to 35 dBA on their lowest flow. Both can go dark: the Philips has a light sensor that dims its panel and a button that turns every light off, and the Levoit has a display-off button, while its sleep mode turns the display off too.
Filter life
This is the biggest everyday difference. Philips rates the AC2220’s FY2200/30 filter for about three years, an average that dirtier air and longer running shorten. Levoit says to change the Core 300S filter every six to eight months, and its check-filter light counts running time rather than measuring the filter. Over three years that is five or six Levoit filters for every Philips one, so the Levoit only works out cheaper to keep filtered if its filter costs less than about a fifth as much. One catch on the Philips: ignore its red replacement alert and it stops, locked until a new filter is fitted and the counter reset. Part numbers for both are in our guide to replacement filters.
Filter options
Here the Levoit wins. Its Core 300-RF filter comes in three versions on Levoit’s UK store: the original, a pet allergy version (Core 300-RF-PA) with a stronger carbon layer aimed at pet and cooking smells, and a toxin absorber (Core 300-RF-TX) with stronger carbon aimed at smoke, fumes and VOCs. The UK manual lists a fourth, for mould and bacteria, which wasn’t on the store when we checked. The Philips takes one filter, the FY2200, which combines a pre-filter, a HEPA layer and activated carbon. Neither maker gives its HEPA layer a class: Levoit quotes 99.97% for particles of 0.1 to 0.3 µm, and Philips names none.
A purifier only catches dander while it is in the air; the US EPA notes that pet dander and pollen mostly settle on surfaces. If a pet sets off asthma, Asthma + Lung UK’s advice on pets starts with keeping the pet out of some rooms and cleaning with a HEPA vacuum, and a pharmacist or GP can help with symptoms. For pet homes, see our best air purifiers for pets.
App and voice control
Both run an auto mode from a particle sensor and connect to an app over 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi only; neither joins a network with a sign-in web page. Levoit’s VeSync app adds voice control and two more auto modes: Quiet Auto, which never uses top speed, and Efficient Auto, which runs on high until a room of the size you set is clean. Philips’ Air+ app gives schedules and resets the cleaning timer; the Philips material we read lists no voice assistant. For upkeep, vacuum the Levoit’s laser sensor openings every three months, but swab the Philips sensor every two months and never vacuum it. Both sensors read particles, not smells. The Levoit wins.
Size and weight
The Levoit is a 36 cm cylinder weighing 2.7 kg, small enough for a bedside table or a shelf. The Philips weighs 4.1 kg, and Philips lists it as 28 × 48.6 × 28 cm without saying which figure is the height, so allow up to 49 cm. Clearance favours the Philips: it needs at least 20 cm around it and 30 cm above, while Levoit asks for 38 cm on every side, on a flat, stable surface away from curtains, damp and heat. In a small bedroom that space can matter as much as the purifier’s own size. The Levoit wins on size, as long as you can give it room.
Running costs
Electricity is modest for both. At top speed the Levoit is rated at 39 W and the Philips at 28 W, so eight hours flat out is about 0.3 kWh for the Levoit and about 0.2 kWh for the Philips; multiply by your own tariff. On lower speeds both draw less, but neither maker gives a low-speed figure. Per watt, the Philips delivers more than twice as much clean air at top speed: 420 m³/h from 28 W, against 258 m³/h from 39 W. Filter changes, covered above, are the other running cost. Our explainer on what an air purifier costs to run sets out the sums for every model we track.
Warranty, where to buy and owner reports
Both come with a two-year warranty. Levoit’s excludes filters, repairs with non-Levoit parts and units bought from unauthorised sellers. Philips’ cover comes from Versuni, its licensee, and excludes faults from incorrect use or poor maintenance. The only UK retailer we can track for the 300S is Levoit’s own store, while the AC2220 is at Philips and John Lewis; current prices are in the boxes above. Owner evidence is thin for both. Levoit’s UK store, the only place we could read reviews of the 300S, shows only 4- and 5-star ones; of the 15 we read, one owner reports the white casing slowly turning yellow. We found no owner reviews of the AC2220 that we could read.
Which should you choose?
For a living room up to about 35 m², or a bedroom you want as quiet as possible, the Philips AC2220 is the better buy: more clean air, less quoted noise and one filter in about three years. The Levoit Core 300S makes sense in a smaller room, if you want voice control or a pet or smoke filter, and if you’re happy to change the filter twice a year. Both are among our best air purifiers in the UK.
Choose the Levoit Core 300S if…
- The room is a bedroom or study of about 20 m²
- You want voice control and two extra auto modes in the app
- You want a pet allergy or toxin absorber filter for smells or smoke
Choose the Philips AC2220 if…
- The room is a living room or large bedroom of up to about 35 m²
- You’d rather change the filter about every three years than twice a year
- Low noise on the quietest setting matters most
Neither quite right? For a room over 35 m², the Levoit Core 600S keeps Levoit’s app in a bigger body, or see every purifier we track for large rooms. For a bedroom, compare the best air purifiers for bedrooms.
How we compared them
- Read each maker’s UK manual, product page and filter pages, and Levoit’s UK warranty policy.
- Compared the published figures side by side: CADR and its standard, noise, power, filter life, size and clearances.
- Read the owner reviews we could reach, and noted what owners reported.
- Checked prices at the retailers we track, and show the date we checked.
What we don’t do: lab-test purifiers or measure their noise ourselves. Noise and CADR figures are the makers’ own.
Levoit vs Philips questions
Is the Philips AC2220 better than the Levoit Core 300S?
For a living room, yes. The Philips states a higher CADR (420 against 258 m³/h), quotes less noise and keeps its filter for about three years instead of six to eight months. The Levoit is the better fit for a smaller room if you want voice control or a pet or smoke filter. Check the room size first: on our rule the Levoit suits about 21 m², the Philips about 35 m².
Can I use cheaper compatible filters in either?
You can buy them, but both makers advise against it. Philips says to use only original Philips filters made for the purifier. Levoit says its filter-life tracking is designed around genuine filters, and that others may lower air quality and damage the motor; its warranty excludes repairs with non-Levoit parts. AHAM also warns that unverified compatible filters may not match the original for airflow or particle removal.
Why has my Philips AC2220 stopped running?
Most likely the filter lock. When the FY2200 is due, the replacement alert lights red, and if it is ignored the purifier stops until a new filter is fitted and the counter reset. To reset after a change, hold the two filter-reset buttons together for three seconds, or use the Air+ app. If the screen shows E1, that is a motor fault: contact Philips Consumer Care.
How do I reset the filter light on the Levoit Core 300S?
Hold the sleep mode button for three seconds until the check-filter light goes out. The same press works if you changed the filter before the light came on. The light is a reminder based on running time, usually after six to eight months, so it can come on later in a lightly used room and sooner with heavy use.
Do the Levoit Core 300S or Philips AC2220 have an ioniser?
No. Levoit states that its air purifiers use no UV-C lights and no negative ions, and the AC2220 manual’s list of controls includes no ioniser function. Both clean the air by drawing it through a filter alone: a pre-filter, a fine particle layer and activated carbon. So there is no ion mode to switch off on either.
