Search for IQAir air purifier decibels and the answer is better than for most brands. IQAir prints a dB(A) figure for every fan speed on each purifier it sells in the US, next to the airflow at that speed, and on four models it says the figures are sound pressure measured at 3.3 ft. That lets you see what each step up costs in noise and what it buys in clean air.
We read the US product page and, where IQAir links one, the technical sheet and user manual for every purifier in IQAir's US range. Seven models for rooms or desks carry a figure for every speed: the Atem X, HealthPro Plus XE, HealthPro Compact XE, GC MultiGas XE, Atem Earth, Atem Eco and Atem Desk. This page lists all of them, explains what IQAir measured, and ranks each model only against others measured the same way, speed for comparable speed.
Our picks are listed above, with full specifications for each.
IQAir uses three different labels, and they are not interchangeable.
Sound pressure at 3.3 ft. The Atem X, HealthPro Plus XE, HealthPro Compact XE and GC MultiGas XE pages all say sound pressure "at 3.3 ft distance", which is 1 m. Sound pressure is the sound reaching a listener at that point, which is close to what you hear in the room. The HealthPro Plus XE page adds "** tolerance: ±3 dB(A)", and the GC MultiGas XE page says "per EN ISO 3741; tolerance ±2 dB(A)". The Atem X page states no tolerance.
Sound pressure with no distance. The Atem Earth and Atem Eco pages carry the footnote "Sound pressure level tested according to EN ISO 11201." Neither states a distance. Because the method and distance are not the same as the four models above, we keep these two in their own group.
Sound power. The Atem Desk technical sheet says "Sound power level, 3 default fan speeds 20, 27, 44 dBa". Sound power describes the machine itself, not what reaches your ear, and it reads higher than sound pressure for the same machine. The HealthPro Compact XE shows the gap: IQAir prints "Lp 25, 36, 44, 50, 54, 59 dB(A); Lw 35, 46, 54, 60, 64, 69 dB(A)", where Lp is sound pressure and Lw is sound power, 10 dB(A) apart at every speed. Our explainer on sound power vs sound pressure covers why one cannot be read as the other.
Speed numbers also differ. The HealthPro, GC and Atem Earth and Eco models have six speeds, the Atem X has eight, and the Atem Desk has three defaults. Speed 1 is always the lowest and the highest number is always the top, so we compare lowest with lowest and top with top across models. We compare the middle speeds only between models with the same number of speeds.
Sound pressure at 3.3 ft, quietest first
- Lowest speed: Atem X, 15 dB(A) on Speed 1 at 65 cfm of CADR; HealthPro Compact XE, 25 dB(A) at 40 cfm; HealthPro Plus XE and GC MultiGas XE, 27 dB(A) each at 40 cfm, a tie.
- Top speed: Atem X, 58 dB(A) on Speed 8 at 471 cfm of CADR; GC MultiGas XE, 58 dB(A) on Speed 6 at 275 cfm; HealthPro Plus XE, 59 dB(A) at 300 cfm; HealthPro Compact XE, 59 dB(A) at 330 cfm. All four are within 1 dB(A), a tie.
The three six-speed towers, speed by speed
- Speed 2: HealthPro Compact XE, 36 dB(A) at 75 cfm; GC MultiGas XE, 37 dB(A) at 75 cfm; HealthPro Plus XE, 38 dB(A) at 75 cfm.
- Speed 3: HealthPro Compact XE, 44 dB(A) at 140 cfm; HealthPro Plus XE, 45 dB(A) at 130 cfm; GC MultiGas XE, 46 dB(A) at 130 cfm.
- Speed 4: all three at 50 dB(A); the Compact XE moves 180 cfm, the other two 170 cfm.
- Speed 5: HealthPro Plus XE and GC MultiGas XE, 53 dB(A) at 200 cfm; HealthPro Compact XE, 54 dB(A) at 220 cfm.
Sound pressure to EN ISO 11201, no distance stated
- Atem Earth and Atem Eco: 16, 29, 37, 43, 48 and 56 for speeds 1 to 6, the same figures on both. Airflow is 60, 120 and 170 cfm on speeds 1 to 3 on both, then 220 and 275 cfm on the Earth against 225 and 280 cfm on the Eco, and 390 cfm on Speed 6 on both.
Sound power
- Atem Desk: 20, 27 and 44 dB(A) on its three default speeds, at 4.7, 8.8 and 18 cfm.
Two things stand out. Among the towers, the gaps are 1 or 2 dB(A), inside the ±2 or ±3 dB(A) tolerance IQAir prints, so the three are close to level at every speed. And the Atem X is not just low on Speed 1: on its own figures it is at 33 dB(A) on Speed 4 while delivering 206 cfm of CADR. Note that the Atem X page lists CADR, while the other pages list airflow, which IQAir does not define as CADR, so the cfm figures are not a strict like for like.
What the gaps mean
Decibels are logarithmic. Roughly every 10 dB sounds about twice as loud. The Atem X's step from 15 dB(A) on Speed 1 to 58 dB(A) on Speed 8 is 43 dB(A), so the top speed sounds roughly 20 times as loud as the bottom on that rule. On the towers, Speed 1 to Speed 2 is the biggest single step, 10 or 11 dB(A), about a doubling. A figure of 15 or 16 is very low; our decibel chart sets published appliance figures beside everyday sounds such as a whisper and a fridge.
What the room sizes mean
Most of IQAir's headline room sizes assume the top speed. The HealthPro Plus XE technical sheet gives 1,125 sq ft "Based on 2 air changes per hour, at fan speed 6", and 419 sq ft per AHAM AC-1-2020. The Atem X page describes up to two air cleaning cycles an hour in spaces as large as 1,650 sq ft at the highest fan speed. On those sizes, the purifier is running at 58 or 59 dB(A).
The Atem Earth and Eco pages are more useful, because they print a room size for every speed: 225, 450, 638, 825, 1,030 and 1,460 sq ft, at 2 air changes an hour and an 8 ft ceiling. So for a 225 sq ft bedroom, IQAir's own figures say Speed 1 is enough on either model. Two air changes an hour is a light sizing basis, and many buyers aim higher for allergies or smoke. Our large room air purifier guide works through sizing for quiet in bigger spaces.
IQAir's quiet features, by their real names
Smart mode. The HealthPro Series XE manual says "The smart mode automatically adjusts the purifier's fan speed according to the air quality." The Atem X, Atem Earth and Atem Eco have one too. Automatic control can raise the fan, and its noise, when the air gets worse.
Quiet mode (Atem X, Atem Earth, Atem Eco). One of three smart modes set in the app. The Atem X manual says "Quiet mode steadily controls fan speed and limits the maximum fan speed to level 5." The Atem E manual says it "limits the maximum fan speed to level 4", and the Atem Eco manual says "The fan speed is limited to level 4 and ensures particularly quiet operation." On the Atem Earth and Eco figures, level 4 is 43; on the Atem X, level 5 is 37 dB(A) at 3.3 ft. IQAir publishes no figure for the mode itself.
Light button. The HealthPro manual says to "Touch to turn the control panel lighting on or off." The Atem X manual describes the same light button.
BionicCore (Atem X). IQAir says its patented "BionicCore" architecture "allows for quieter and more energy-effective air purification."
Schedules. The HealthPro manual says you can "Create schedule(s) in the app to automatically turn the air purifier on for specific time slot(s)" and set the fan speed or smart mode for each slot.
IQAir's own claims are worth reading with the figures beside them. The HealthPro pages say "The HealthPro Series provides soft, low decibel sound across all fan speeds." The GC page says it "remains quieter than many comparable air purifiers". The Atem Earth page promises "Six fan speeds- from whisper quiet to maximum clean air delivery". The numbers above are the better guide.
GC MultiGas XE. The product page lists "27, 37, 46, 50, 53, 58 dB(A)" at 3.3 ft. IQAir's linked GC USA B2C Product Overview lists "Sound pressure (at 1m distance)" of 37, 46, 56, 60, 64 and 68 dB(A), both citing EN ISO 3741. That is about 10 dB(A) higher at every speed, and IQAir gives no reason. We rank on the product page, as we do for every model here, but we would not lean on the GC ranking.
Atem X. The US page lists sound pressure from 15 to 58 dB(A) at 3.3 ft. The data sheet IQAir links is a 200 to 240 VAC version that lists "Sound power level EN ISO 3741" from 26 to 65 dB(A), and CADR in m3/h. The page also says the Atem X can clean bedrooms up to 330 sq ft "on lower settings, maintaining a whisper-quiet operation level of merely 32 dB(A)", which matches none of its eight listed figures; Speed 4 is 33 dB(A).
HealthPro Plus XE. The page and technical sheet agree on all six noise figures. The sheet prints the airflow numbers, 40 to 300, with m3/h as the unit, where the page says cfm. The page tolerance is ±3 dB(A) and the sheet says ±2 dB(A).
HealthPro Compact XE. The technical sheet IQAir links is dated 2013 and describes the earlier NE model, though its noise and airflow figures match the current page.
Models we did not rank
The Atem Car is a vehicle purifier. IQAir lists "Sound power: 35, 45, 55 dB(A)" for its three speeds, at 7, 12 and 18 cfm. The PerfectPro Series is a whole-house system that fits into your HVAC ducts; IQAir says it is "Engineered specifically to run silently" but publishes no figure. The CleanZone SL, a commercial unit, was listed as sold out at $9,999.99 with no noise figure on its product page. We found no current US product page for the HealthPro 250.
How IQAir compares
This page ranks IQAir models only against each other. For how they sit among other brands, on each maker's own published figures, see our guide to the quietest air purifiers. IQAir's 3.3 ft distance is more than most makers state, but few others state one, so read our explainer on why decibel ratings rarely compare across brands before treating a gap between brands as real. For another maker that prints a figure for every speed, see our Medify air purifier decibels page, and for desk units such as the Atem Desk, our home office air purifier guide.
How we chose
We read IQAir's US air purifier range and opened the product page for every model, plus the technical sheet and user manual IQAir links where there was one. We recorded each noise figure in IQAir's words, with the speed, the quantity and the distance it describes, and noted where a page and its sheet disagree. We grouped models by what IQAir measured and ranked figures only within a group, lowest speed against lowest speed, top against top, and middle speeds only between models with the same number of speeds. Prices are IQAir's US list prices on iqair.com, which we last checked on October 6, 2026; the HealthPro Compact XE was on sale for $1,044.99 against a list price of $1,099.99.
We did not measure any of these purifiers. Every figure here is IQAir's own, from its product pages, technical sheets and manuals, and IQAir states the measuring distance on only four of the seven. Owners' rooms, floors and filters will change what they hear.
