Shark NeverChange Air Purifier Max review: Built for large spaces with a unique long-lasting filter design

The Shark NeverChange Air Purifier Max promises its filter lasts up to five years, cutting down on recurring replacement costs. Here's our review.

When you buy through our links, Business Insider may earn an affiliate commission. Learn more

I can always tell when there's an excess of dust, pet hair, and pollen floating around my home when I find myself reaching for tissues repeatedly throughout the day. I own a few air purifiers that I keep in the busiest areas of the house, but I'll admit I don't change their filters as often as recommended—mostly because I don't want to spend $50 on a replacement every three months. 

Because my main complaint about air purifiers is the high cost of replacement filters, the Shark NeverChange Air Purifier Max caught my eye. The brand claims this oversize air purifier only needs its filter changed once every five years and is powerful enough to be used in rooms up to 1,400 square feet. They also released a version for smaller rooms up to 650 square feet.  To see if it's worth the hype, I put the NeverChange Max to the test in my multi-pet household for several weeks, evaluating its ease of use, air purifying abilities, noise level, and more. Here's how it stacked up against the best air purifiers we've tested.

Set up and design 

The Shark NeverChange Air Purifier Max took less than 5 minutes to unbox and get running. After taking the unit out of its packaging, I only needed to remove a few pieces of plastic. The hardest part (which really wasn't hard at all) was flipping the air purifier over and removing its HEPA filter, which is located inside the base. 

The filter comes wrapped in plastic, and there are several stickers on the machine that remind you to remove the wrapping before turning on the air purifier. It did take me a few tries to reattach the base properly, but it didn't take long to figure out. 

In addition to the inner HEPA filter, the air purifier has two pre-filters located on each side of the body. These help to catch larger particles like pet hair to prevent them from clogging up the main filter. There's also an activated carbon filter layer that helps reduce odors. 

This air purifier comes with an odor-neutralizing cartridge that slots into the top of the machine—it's actually the same one that the brand uses in the floorhead of its Stratos Upright Vacuum. You can twist the cartridge to release more or less scent, but honestly, I was never able to detect any smell coming from the air purifier and wouldn't bother to replace these cartridges since they don't seem to do much. 

Our review of the Shark NeverChange™ Air Purifier MAX

Ease of Use

The NeverChange Air Purifier is a set-it-and-forget-it device, perfect for busy households like mine. I set the unit up in my living room, where my family and pets spend most of our time, and I simply turned it on Auto mode. You can adjust the fan level manually using the digital control panel on top of the machine, selecting from four speeds, but I found it easiest to let the air purifier adjust its own speed based on the real-time air quality. This air purifier has no smart features or app connectivity, so all adjustments must be done on the unit.

The control panel offers a few other options, as well. You can adjust the display's brightness to three levels and toggle through several options for the display on the front of the unit. You can set it to show the clean air percentage, the cleanliness level of the pre-filters, or real-time particle count, which includes three particle sizes: PM1, PM2.5, and PM10. 

For testing, I let the air purifier run 24/7, and it spent most of its time on the lowest setting. Over the course of a few weeks, its energy usage averaged around 0.08 kWh per day and 0.46 kWh a week. My electricity currently costs around $0.18 per kWh, so it only costs me $0.08 to run the air purifier for a week. Not bad at all! 

Performance

The whole purpose of an air purifier is to help improve air quality, so how well and quickly it can clean the air is a major part of the design. "There is no question that poor indoor air quality can significantly and adversely affect our health," says Dr. Philip M. Tierno Jr., professor of microbiology and pathology at NYU Grossman School of Medicine & NYU Langone Medical Center. Dr. Tierno notes that poor indoor air quality can be caused by "gasses such as carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide; volatile organic compounds; microbes including bacteria, viruses, and mold fungi; particulates; allergens; and odors." 

To test the effectiveness of the Shark NeverChange Air Purifier Max at improving air quality, I burned a stick of incense in a 200-square-foot room with the air purifier on its Auto setting. I used an air quality monitor to measure the particulate matter (PM) in the air every 15 minutes to see how quickly the unit could clear the smoke and other irritants from the air. 

I burned the incense stick for around 45 minutes, and during that time, the Shark Air Purifier automatically turned to its highest speed setting. The PM readings peaked at the 30-minute mark of the test, reaching a high of 334 PM, but after the stick stopped burning, it only took the air purifier 15 minutes to bring the air quality back down to under 30 PM — likely because it's designed for much larger spaces. Still, I was impressed at how quickly the unit improved the air quality. 

I also used the air purifier in a larger room in my house for a few weeks. The space is roughly 400 square feet and has 16-foot ceilings. During this time, I noticed that the air purifier often kicked onto a higher fan speed when I burned a candle in the room — its digital display would show the clean air around 70%. After blowing out the candle, the air purifier generally only needed 10 to 15 minutes to get the air quality back over 90%. 

Noise

On its lowest setting, the NeverChange air purifier is virtually silent. If the display wasn't lit up, I wouldn't have even been able to tell that it was on, so it's a good choice if you're looking for an extra-quiet air purifier. 

When the unit is on its highest setting, it's more audible but still not terribly disruptive. From 6 feet away, the noise level rating was around 46 decibels. It sounds similar to a tower or window fan, but I could still watch TV in the same room without needing to crank up the volume. 

Maintenance

The main selling point of this air purifier is that its main HEPA filter only needs to be replaced every five years. The brand claims it lasts much longer than other filters thanks to a special protective layer around the HEPA filter, which helps prevent it from getting clogged up with debris. However, the filter's actual lifespan could vary based off the air quality and actual room size. A look at the fine print says the five-year figure comes from a 300 square foot room with 12 hour daily operation on the highest speed. The replacement filters cost around $90, but if you split the cost across five years, it shakes out to $18 a year—much cheaper than most air purifiers, which generally need new filters twice a year. 

The two pre-filters on the sides of the air purifier need to be cleaned periodically, especially if, like me, you have lots of pet hair floating around your home. The display screen will tell you when the filters need cleaning, but you can also check their cleanliness manually. A button on the control panel looks like a rectangle with three squiggly lines running through it shows a percentage of the filters' cleanness. (After a month of use, mine was still at 70%.) When cleaning the filters, just pull them out and wipe or vacuum off any dirt, dust, and hair. You can also rinse them in the sink if needed.

Cons to consider

The biggest downside to the Shark NeverChange Air Purifier has to be its size. It's more than 22 inches tall and 13 inches in diameter, and it's twice the size of other air purifiers I've used. Its oversize design isn't something you can discreetly tuck into a corner of the room — no matter what you do, it will be a noticeable part of your decor. 

The other thing that I found strange was that the remote control for this air purifier isn't included. If you want to control the unit from across the room, you have to purchase the remote control separately from Shark. It's only $14.99, but I found it strange that the brand wouldn't include it, especially since the air purifier is on the more expensive side. It also has no WiFi-enabled or smart features that let you control the device from your phone or track air quality over time. 

What are your alternatives?

Shark offers a few other air purifiers, all with a similar design to the NeverChange. The Shark Air Purifier MAX is roughly the same size and suited for spaces up to 1,200 square feet, but its filters must be changed every six to 12 months. There's also the Shark Air Purifier 3-in-1, which doubles as a tower fan and heater but only recommended for rooms up to 500 square feet. 

If you're open to other brands, one of the best air purifiers we've tested is the Honeywell HPA300 True HEPA Air Purifier. It's ideal for spaces up to 581 square feet and was highly effective at removing particulate matter from the air during our tests. If you're looking for a smaller option, we also liked the Levoit 300S Air Purifier, which has a compact form and connects to your smartphone for smart functionality. 

The bottom line

The Shark NeverChange Air Purifier Max is a worthwhile option that requires minimal maintenance and covers large rooms. Its main filter only needs to be replaced once every five years, saving you time and money on maintenance, yet the unit is still powerful enough to clean the air in large spaces. It's easy to set up and operate, and it's quiet enough that it won't disturb your day-to-day activities, no matter where you set it up in your home.