Scandinavian air quality specialists, Airthings, have announced the View Plus smart air monitor which senses over half-a-dozen air quality metrics: particulate matter (PM), carbon dioxide (CO2), radon gas (Rn), temperature, humidity and air pressure. Designed to help create a healthy home, air quality has become all the more important during the pandemic lockdowns with people remaining in their houses to keep themselves and their loved ones safe.
The World Health Organisation estimates that over 4 million people die every year from air pollution, so it’s a very real problem. While generally air quality is poorer indoors compared with outdoors, it varies greatly from place to place and it can sometimes be hard to tell if there’s a problem. For example, radon gas is naturally found in many areas but it’s odourless and invisible. If you are interested in radon exposure and you’re in the UK, Public Health England has a handy interactive map.
“Since the beginning of the pandemic, we’ve seen the levels of awareness about air quality increase dramatically,” said Oyvind Birkenes, CEO of Airthings. “We decided to develop View Plus to help people everywhere understand that they have more control over their air quality than they might think. Our mission at Airthings has always been to educate people and foster constructive conversation about how air quality can impact their health and daily lives. With View Plus, we can empower people to learn about the air quality in their homes in a way that is constructive and easy to understand.”
It’s back to the old business aphorism: you can’t manage what you don’t measure but unlike many smart home gadgets, Airthings have gone to considerable lengths to ensure that the View Plus works for the family and not just for the “geek in charge”. To start with, the View Plus looks good with a sleek minimalistic design, and recognising that smartphones apps aren’t always convenient, the View Plus offers a customisable display showing the current air quality status. Of course, the View Plus does have wireless connectivity (WiFi and Bluetooth) and there is full integration with Airthings smartphone app and web dashboard, plus IFTTT, Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa support.
The View Plus has a battery life of more than two years allowing it to be placed wherever convenient, but if it can be plugged in via USB C, the View Plus has built-in hub functionality, so owners can expand their system and bring together other Airthings devices.
Airthings View Plus is now available for pre-order beginning on Airthings.com with a special10% off pre-launch discount before the end of March 2021. The product will start shipping to customers this June for £259 / $299 USD inc VAT.