Philips 2000 series 3-in-1 purifier, fan and heater AMF220 review: Did this all-rounder blow us away?

Many of us turn to air purifiers during the summer months, as they can help alleviate allergy symptoms by removing pollen from the air in our homes. And given that they produce a cool breeze as they cleanse the air, they can also double up as a fan in hot weather.

In winter, these devices can be equally helpful, especially for those with asthma, as pollution levels are often higher when it’s cold.

This is because in cooler months, we are more likely to experience incidences of temperature inversion – this is basically when a layer of warm air covers the cooler air below like a blanket. When temperature inversion happens, all the pollutants that would normally get blown away by the wind would become trapped until it rains or snows. This in turn reduces air quality both outside and inside our homes.

Traditionally, air purifiers will only produce cool air, which is not ideal when you’ve got the heating on. But now there are a handful of devices capable of pumping out hot air, too – perfect if you need an air purifier for year-round use.

One of these is the Philips 2000 series 3-in-1 purifier, fan and heater. It gives you a choice of hot and cool air at three different fan speeds and, like other high-tech air purifiers, it’s fitted with a HEPA (high efficiency particulate air) filter to remove close to 100 per cent of pollutants from the air, including bacteria and viruses. Plus it’s lightweight and quiet, too.

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We tested the Philips 3-in-1 purifier in a range of different settings, from the kitchen to the bedroom. As well as trying out the different functions, we wanted to see exactly how well it performed and whether we might be able to replace a fan and an electric heater with this one device.

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The Philips 3-in-1 purifier is pretty compact at 59cm tall, coming up to about the same height as our sofa. And at 25cm at its widest point, it doesn’t take up much floor space either. The whole thing resembles a 3D keyhole, all made in moulded, metallic black plastic, which blends nicely into the background.

The cone-shaped base is perforated to allow air to be drawn into the HEPA filter inside, which is accessible via a discreet door at the back. To change the filter, you just have to pull out the existing one using the ribbons on the front and push the new one in, a process that takes a matter of seconds.

On the front of the base, there’s a colour LED panel that displays the temperature, air quality, PM2.5 count (fine particles closely associated with lung and heart diseases), child lock status and whether you need to replace your filter.

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On top of the cone is a dome that’s flattened on one side for the air outlet; around this is an LED ring that lights up to show air quality at a glance, and whether your device is set to hot or cold. Five touch-sensitive buttons over the top allow you to set the timer, oscillation, fan speed, temperature and to switch the device on and off. At the back, there’s also a magnetised nook for storing the remote control.

The Philips 3-in-1 purifier is designed for rooms of up to 42sqm, which is fairly substantial considering the average living room in the UK is only 17.09sqm. For the average household, this is more than enough.

As an air purifier, its number one feature is of course the filter. The cylindrical one in this device integrates three different layers: a pre-filter, a HEPA filter and an activated carbon filter.

According to results from independent testing, it can remove 99.95 per cent of particles that are 0.003 µm (a unit of measurement equalling 0.001 mm) or bigger, 98.5 per cent of viruses and 99 per cent of bacteria. In other words, it’s seriously effective at removing pollutants, bacteria and viruses, allergens and bad smells from the air in your home.

It’s not proven to protect against Covid-19 – unlike the Blueair healthprotect 7470i – although air purifiers like it “can be part of a plan to protect yourself and your family,” according to the US Environmental Protection Agency.

What makes this device a year-round option is that it’s able to produce a hot or cold breeze as it purifies the air in your home, potentially replacing a fan in the summer and an electric heater in the winter. And each mode has three different fan settings, so you can adjust how much heating or cooling you need.

On the cooling mode, it’s super energy efficient, using just 25W on the highest setting. There’s no active cooling, so while it creates a breeze in the room, which will help to lower temperatures, it doesn’t operate as an air conditioner.

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When you switch to hot air mode, the energy usage shoots up to 2200W on the highest setting, although this is comparable with other fan heaters. There’s no temperature control on this though, only fan speed. However, as the detailed LED display on the front tells you what temperature your room is at, you can easily adjust the device accordingly.

Parents will love that the device comes with a child safety lock, and it’s a bladeless fan so there’s no danger of trapped fingers or clothes. You can also switch all of the displays and lights off on sleep mode, which is useful if you’re planning to use it in the bedroom - although it’s not as quiet as we’d like it to be – we talk more on that below.

The feature we really loved was the oscillation, as you have three different options to choose from: 60 degrees, 120 degrees or 350 degrees. At 350 degrees, you can cover every corner of the room, which really helps to disperse the heat quickly when you have the heat setting on, but it’s equally effective for cooling a room.

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We tested the Philips 3-in-1 purifier in a range of different settings, from the kitchen to the bedroom, and we were really impressed with the results. After grilling on the hob, for example, the device took just 20 minutes to get those cooking smells under control and within an hour the display was showing normal air quality levels.

But what really impressed us was the heating function. Warm air started flowing as soon as we switched on heat mode and within a couple of minutes the probe showed the room was a degree warmer. After about 10 minutes, we felt toasty enough to switch the heating off.

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We also liked that the filter (£56.99, Philips.co.uk) was relatively affordable. The RRP is £56.99, but each filter lasts for up to 24 months, which is significantly longer than some of the competitors we’ve tested in the past. And the device is equipped with a countdown timer that you reset each time you change the filter, so you know exactly when you need to change it.

The one downside we found was the noise level. This ranges between 47-61 dB(A), which is quiet enough to secure it a Quiet Mark certificate. But for us, while it was quiet enough to work through, we think it would be too noisy for light sleepers. It was also noticeably noisier than some of the other devices we’ve tested.

If your main concern is removing pollen during the summer months, there are much more affordable air purifiers you can buy, like the ultra-portable BlueAir blue 3210, (£159, Blueair.com). But for those who want to maintain the air quality in their home year-round, we couldn’t recommend the Philips 3-in-1 purifier enough.

Its size and the efficiency at which it can clean the air in your home makes it an ideal choice for families. And thanks to the heating function, you can warm up a room quickly while filtering out pollutants and nasty viruses and bacteria at the same time.

We also liked that it’s a fairly affordable device to run, especially as you only need to change the filter every two years. In the summer months the energy consumption is minimal, while in winter, the heating costs shouldn’t be any more than using an electric fan heater – the caveat being that you would use it for a burst of heat, rather than having it on all day, as your radiator or a storage heater might be more energy efficient.