Mighty2 (AP-1512N)	Mighty (AP-1512HH)
Room size	372 sq ft our math on Coway’s clean-air figure	361 sq ft Coway’s own figure
Ionizer	None	Yes, with an off button
Noise, Coway’s figures	19 to 50 dB	24 to 53 dB
Filters	One, changed once a year, about $70 at Coway	Two, at 6 months and a year, about $60 a set at Coway
At bedtime	Sleep mode on its own when the room goes dark, timer up to 12 hours	Eco mode rests the fan, timer of 1, 4 or 8 hours
Weight	15.2 lb	12.3 lb
Price at Coway	about $270	about $240
Buy	Mighty2 at Amazon or Coway	Mighty at Amazon or Coway

What size room are the Coway Mightys for?

You can put either one in a bedroom, or in a living room up to about 360 square feet.

We are buying a purifier for our own bedroom right now, to replace our Winix. The room is about 9 by 20 feet.

In 2021 we put a Levoit Core 300-P in there. Maybe it was alright for our room size, but we didn’t feel like it.

Either Mighty is rated for about twice our bedroom. A 15 by 20 living room is 300, and that still fits inside Coway’s figures for both.

Not sure of your room’s size? Our air purifier size guide has a calculator where you type in the length and the width or pick an example room, and a table of every purifier we review by room.

The Amazon titles say “up to 1,748” and “up to 1,800” square feet. Those are real, but they are rooms the purifier gets through only once an hour, so go by the smaller numbers in the table.

Nobody outside Coway has checked those smaller numbers, because the company is not in AHAM’s certification program. Still, the Mighty’s number lands right where AHAM’s own room-size formula puts it, and the Mighty2’s is that same formula, worked by us.

So go by them, and do not put either purifier in a room bigger than its number. If you want a room size someone outside the company has tested, buy the Levoit Vital 200S. AHAM certifies it for a room a little bigger than either Mighty’s.

In the right size room, either one is easy to live with. It sets its own speed, and the chore you will do most is rinsing the pre-filter.

What you get with the Mighty2

The Mighty2 is the Mighty made easier to live with. There is no ionizer to switch off, the low speed is quieter, and you change one filter instead of two.

At bedtime you do not have to touch it. Once the room has been dark for 3 minutes, its light sensor puts it into sleep mode. The timer runs up to 12 hours, long enough for a whole night, and you can mute the button sounds.

Press the Information button and it shows how much fine dust is in the air, which is nice if you like to see the purifier working.

Mighty2 specs16.9 x 17.9 x 9.3 in

Size

16.9 x 17.9 x 9.3 in

Noise

19 to 50 dB, Coway’s figures

CADR

240 smoke, 242 dust, 249 pollen, Coway’s figures

Timer

1 to 12 hours

Power

56 W

Warranty

3-year limited

Details

15.2 lb, Smart, Sleep and Turbo modes, laser dust sensor with a readout, No ionizer, Washable pre-filter that slides out of the side, One Max2 filter a year, No app, White or beige

Does the Coway Mighty have an ionizer, and how do you turn it off?

Yes, and one press of the IONIZER button turns it off. The ionizer light shows you which way it is set, so check it the first time you plug the purifier in.

Keep it to a quick press. Holding the same button for 3 seconds switches the air quality light instead.

Switch it off for a bedroom. The ionizer is why California lists the Mighty among purifiers that may give off some ozone. It has been tested to stay under the state’s limit, and the filters keep cleaning the air with it off.

The 200M has the same ionizer and the same button. The Mighty2 and the MightyS have none, so there is nothing to switch off, and California lists them as making no ozone or ions.

How quiet are the Coway Mightys?

Both are quiet enough to sleep next to on the lowest speed, and the Mighty2 is the quieter of the two there. You’ll still hear them. Shoppers say they barely notice the Mighty on low or eco.

At night on the Mighty, press the speed button until you reach eco. The fan stops by itself once the air has stayed clean for half an hour.

During the day, leave either one on auto. It moves between speeds on its own, going by what the dust sensor picks up. Save the top speed for when you’re out of the room, since the Mighty’s is loud.

Coway Mighty vs Mighty2 vs MightyS vs 200M: which one should you buy?

Get the Mighty2. At Coway it’s $30 more than the Mighty, and the extra buys you no ionizer, a quieter low speed and a sleep mode that comes on by itself.

When the older Mighty makes sense

If you’d rather keep the difference, go with the Mighty. It’s the model the Mighty2 grew out of, and Coway has made it for more than a decade. Two to five years in, owners say theirs are still going.

It is also 2.9 pounds lighter, which you will notice if you carry it from room to room.

Mighty specs16.8 x 18.3 x 9.6 in

Size

16.8 x 18.3 x 9.6 in

Noise

24 to 53 dB, Coway’s figures

Timer

1, 4 or 8 hours

Warranty

3-year warranty on motor and electronics

Details

12.3 lb, Auto mode with a dust sensor, 3 speeds plus eco mode, Ionizer with an on/off button, Washable pre-filter, No Wi-Fi, White, black or beige

Coway Mighty vs MightyS

The MightyS is the one to get if you want to run the purifier from your phone. It swaps the ionizer for Wi-Fi, Coway’s IoCare+ app and Alexa.

Coway sells it for under $300, the most of the four, and rates it for a slightly smaller room than the Mighty. If you can live without the app, the Mighty2 costs less and has no ionizer either.

Coway Mighty vs 200M

The 200M is the Mighty with a newer control panel, the same filters and the same ionizer. If you are buying at Coway, spend the extra $30 to $40 on the Mighty2 over either of them and leave the ionizer behind.

How often to change the Coway filters, and what they cost

At Coway, a genuine filter set for the Mighty costs a little less than the Mighty2’s Max2, under $60 against about $70. The Mighty2 is the easier one to keep up with, because it is one change a year instead of two.

On the Mighty2 that one filter, the Max2, holds the carbon and the HEPA layers together. When you put a new one in, hold the Information button for 3 seconds, or the display can show an E3 error.

The Mighty’s two filters wear out at different rates. The deodorization filter, which handles smells, is due every 6 months and the HEPA filter once a year, so write both months down when you set it up.

Both have a pre-filter you can wash. Clean the Mighty’s every 2 to 4 weeks with a vacuum or under the tap, and let it dry all the way before it goes back in. Never wet the filters behind it.

On the Mighty2 the pre-filter slides out of the right side of the unit, which makes the job easier. For the Mighty, Coway sells a spare pre-filter on its own, so you can swap in a dry one while the wet one dries.

Coway bases the Mighty’s schedule on 8 hours a day at top speed. In a home with pets, or one where it runs day and night, look at the filters each time you clean the pre-filter instead of going by the calendar.

Stick with the genuine filters. Other brands sell ones made to fit the Mighty, but I can’t tell you how well they fit or how well they filter.

The MightyS takes its own filter, changed once a year and about $70 at Coway, so buy the one named for your model.

Are the Coway Mightys good for allergies, asthma, pets and odors?

Yes, in a room their size. In a bedroom, they pull dust and pollen out of the air you breathe all night.

Shoppers with allergies say the Mighty helps. If someone in your room has them, leave it on auto overnight instead of eco, so it speeds up when the air gets dusty.

With a dog or a cat, the pre-filter catches the hair first. Clean it every 2 weeks, the short end of Coway’s range, because a clogged pre-filter slows the air down.

For smells, the carbon layer does the work. On the Mighty that is the deodorization filter, so if smells are why you are buying it, change that filter on time and do not stretch it.

Common problems and cons of the Coway Mightys

On the Mighty, the air quality light can sit on its cleanest reading when the air isn’t clean. Start by cleaning the sensor lens.

If the reading still never changes, hold the speed and IONIZER buttons together for 2 seconds to change how sensitive the sensor is. Pick Sensitive if it stays on the cleanest reading, and Insensitive if it stays on the worst.

If the air coming out feels weaker, or a bad smell comes out of the vent, a filter is due. If no air comes out at all, check that the front cover is shut properly.

For anything else, unplug it and contact Coway first. The warranty covers the motor and electronics for three years and the other parts inside for one, and it does not cover a repair someone else did.

Who should skip them

Look elsewhere for a room bigger than about 360 square feet. Whatever you buy, check that its certified room size is at least as big as your room.

And if you want to run it from your phone, get the MightyS. Neither the Mighty nor the Mighty2 has an app.

Levoit or Coway: which is better?

The Mighty2 and the Levoit Vital 200S both do the job in a bedroom, with room to spare. Neither has an ionizer, and each takes one new filter a year.

For a light sleeper, get the Mighty2. Both are quiet on their lowest speed, and the Mighty2 is a little quieter on paper, 19 dB against the Vital’s 23 by each brand’s own figures. It also shows the dust reading as a number, where the Vital shows a color.

If you sleep through anything, get the Vital 200S. It has the two things the Mighty2 lacks, a room size AHAM has certified and an app.

For a home office or a nursery, go smaller, with the Levoit Core 300, which AHAM certifies for a room up to 222 square feet. Ours moved to the home office.

Where to go next

Questions people ask

I sold contract-grade furniture from 2016. More about who runs it.