Praan Hive air purifier review: Clean air meets luxurious design

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₹54,999), and while it’s all about achieving near-pristine air quality levels, it’s also the most refreshing take on air purifier design I’ve seen in a long while. Call it a homage or inspired design, the Hive takes several cues from the ‘Aluminum era’ industrial design of Apple products, most notably the ‘cheese grater’ Mac Pro – the use of aircraft grade aluminum in a familiar space gray color, for instance. It’s a gorgeous piece of kit, looking quite at home in my living room, although it may be too industrial for classic/vintage home décor.

The multitudinous holes on the front serve as the air intake, with clear air vented out from the sides, so it’s advisable to place Hive in a spot where it isn’t sticking to other pieces of furniture for clean air to circulate properly. A thin OLED display on the right alerts you to metrics. Very demure, very mindful.

Word of caution, though. Pulling the nearly 70-cm tall Hive out of its sustainable packaging and setting it up requires a fair bit of elbow grease and heavy lifting, and you could throw your back out if you’re not careful. You can choose to wall mount the Hive, either vertically or horizontally, much like the indoor unit of a split air conditioner, which by itself is a rarity in air purifiers.

If you prefer a floor standing unit, you’ll need to buy the matte-black steel floor stand at an additional ₹7,999. While it does give you the ability to move the Hive from room to room, bear in mind that together, the Hive and the floor stand tip the scales at 14 kg. Setup and control is via the Praan Hive app, where you can start cleaning modes or set up cleaning schedules, or choose what is displayed on the device display.