Dreo Macro Max S Smart Air Purifier with support for Google/Alexa

When it comes to air purifiers, nothing beats the convenience of having a connected solution that automatically handles the air quality within your home without you having to intervene. Something that Dreo Macro Max S Smart Air Purifier does a pretty solid job at.

This has been one of our pet peeves for any model we come across since it only makes sense.  An air purifier should react to your environment like your AC or heater. Otherwise, it will become just one more thing sitting around the house that you may or may not use from time to time (and that kind of defeats the purpose of owning one).

Thankfully, it is pretty simple for a company to make this happen. All they have to do is make sure the device has the basics of connectivity. Wi-Fi, with a little integration with things like Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant. That alone sets the building blocks for the most common automations. For advanced users that now how to bridge ecosystems, things become limited to only a person’s imagination.

Since Dreo seems to have nailed this simple process, our experience with this purifier has been pretty positive over the last week or so that we have been testing it out. It started off here at the office and then made its way to one of our homes where it has been working at maintaining the air quality on its own.

The product comes neatly packed away into its box, surrounded by a soft bag with handles, making it easy to lift the purifier out of the box (always a nice touch).

Like most air purifiers, there is nothing to it outside of some instructions. No remote or anything as everything can be handled via the app. Then again, you shouldn’t have to worry about that as it should be able to maintain itself (or you can trigger it via voice using your digital assistants).

It features a fun mix between modern and unique. Setting itself apart from other companies just enough to stand out as something different. While also looking good in almost any home environment. It has a multi-tone gray and silver theme throughout with soft LED lighting.

If you absolutely have to have some manual control, everything can be handled from the top of the unit via touch-sensitive buttons. This includes (in clockwise order starting at the top):

• A power button
• Timer function (this also trigger Wi-Fi connect during the pairing process)
• Auto Mode: this will auto adjust the speed and state of the fan based on its built-in air quality sensor. No need to connect it to your Wi-Fi or the app for this to work.
• Fan Speed (four modes to choose from, including turbo)
• Sleep Mode
• Info Display; this will cycle the information displayed on the front (air quality, filter life, etc). This also resets the filter counter when you’ve replaced it.

As for the soft LED lighting, it contains a nice LED light toward the bottom. A bar-size light that changes color depending on the air quality. Blue means excellent, green is good, orange is moderate, and red means run like hell (or you simply have a lot of purifying to do in your home).

In most cases, you won’t see the latter unless you just burned something in the kitchen or caused anything else that could temporarily effect the air quality in your home to such a degree. I have seen a purifier flip to poor condition only once ever and that was during construction happening inside with drywall that kicked dust everywhere (it was a mess).

Once you have initially turned it on and download the Dreo app, it only takes moments for it to find the purifier and start the pairing process. It quickly walks you through registering for an account and getting it connected with your Wi-Fi network.

We didn’t run into any issues during this process and we were up and running in not time. From there, we added it to Amazon Alexa so that it can be controlled via any Alexa speaker. It can be added to Google Assistant as well if you opt for Google over Alexa (or happen to use both).

From this point, we were ready to control it manually via the touch-controls, from the app using any mobile device, or via voice using Alexa (or Google if we chose to add it). Already, it is standing by and ready to be automated and forgotten so that we could move on with our lives.

Of course, we are nerds, so it didn’t just end there. Using Alexa as a bridge we were easily able to integrate it with other hubs/ecosystems like Z-Wave and Home Assistant. This wouldn’t be considered a native feature since Dreo doesn’t offer API access to the device, but for those knowledgeable about bridging these ecosystems, its incredibly easy to pull off. At this point, there isn’t anything we can’t do when it comes to devices interacting with the purifier.

Through these integrations, we can trigger it to clean the air through so many scenarios throughout the home. All because it has access to either Alexa or Google Assistant.

We found that its response time to instructions is on the dot and that air quality measurements are perfect for what the average home needs. It is capable of cleaning a relatively large amount of space and it does it without being a distraction. The sound of the purifier is smooth and relaxing and can be adjusted based on the speed/mode you choose. The light can also be turned off so that it isn’t a distraction if used in the bedroom while sleeping.

While at the same time, the amount of air is is able to process is notable and great for large rooms. Great for larger rooms like the living room or a combination of the dining and kitchen (if combined/open) as it could help if you find that things get left in the toaster a little longer than they should.

As for the filter, it uses a 3-stage, active filtration system. Inside is a H13 true HEPA electrostatic filter that is capable of trapping 99.985% of particles as small as 0.3 microns. Resulting in a pretty effective scrubbing process.

It is tucked inside like most purifiers. A cylindrical filter that easily slides in and out of the unit using built-in tabs. The filter can cleaned, prolonging its lifespan. They recommend cleaning it every 2-4 weeks. This can be done by taking it out and brushing it lightly with a soft brush and vacuuming the inside of the unit. They also recommend hitting its sensor with a vacuum once in a while as well so it doesn’t experience any blockage. All of this is clearly defined in the instructions.

The back cover pops on and off using magnets, making it easy to work with so that no tools are ever required.

Our Conclusion

We found that this makes for an excellent solution for any home looking to maintain their air quality. Especially, for big cities where this can be an issue. It’s responsiveness and multiple ways of automating its use is incredibly handy and it isn’t distracting in any way (both visually or noise levels). It is incredibly user-friendly and can be integrated in so many ways depending on how deep the user wants to go down the smart home rabbit hole. So far, there really isn’t anything it has failed to achieve that needs to be pointed out.

The only thing missing is API access so it can be directly integrated with other ecosystems. However, we can’t hold that against it that much since the average consumer wouldn’t care. This would be the most serious of smart home users.

We have actually become quite the fan of Dreo products. This company typically manufactures a reliable product that both looks nice and functions smoothly. It’s tower fans are fantastic when compared to brands like Lasko. Now, they just need to make those tower fans as smart connected as this purifier!

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Are you a manufacturer or distributor that would like us to test something out for review? Contact us and we can let you know where to send the product and we will try it out.