Mr. Ben Franklin once wrote in his Poor Richard’s Almanack (1736), “Guests, like fish, begin to smell after three days.” He was a pretty smart guy, though I think many people might contend that three days is very generous.

Still, let’s fast forward three weeks. Imagine trying to contain yourself and continually forcing that smile as the fish stench has now escalated to rotten beached whale proportions. While on the internet looking for this particular “pest control” solution, you stumble across this very review you are reading right here: “The Dreame AirPursue PM20 – Make Your Home Sweet Home Smell That Way”. It is this very moment that you realize that there is a God and there indeed is now a light at the end of Mario’s sewer tunnel.

Are the guest going to finally leave? Uh, no. BUT… we can take care of those noxious fumes that now emanate from them. Perhaps you can finally begin to smile a real smile again.

Meet Your Savior From All Things Stinky

The very first thing you can’t help but notice about Dreame’s AirPursue PM20 (that’s a mouthful – let’s call it the PM20 for now on, m’kay?) is it’s retro-sci-fi design. It looks like something you’d expect to see delivering mail in a 1970s era futurist film about what life will be like in the year 2025. Put a couple little arms on this thing and you’ve got yourself the flying droid EVE from Pixar’s Wall-E with a little junk in the trunk. Seriously. Tell me I’m wrong.

To each his own, the design is growing on me. The more I learn about it, the more I use it – I’m just so impressed with this Mother Of All Air Filters (MOAAF). I own two other high-end systems – neither come close in functionality, effectiveness, personality, or even intelligence.

Mine needs a name. Hmmm… In honor of EVE, I shall officially dub thee “stEVE”.

Let’s Clear the Air

Taking the title of MOAAF is no small feat and isn’t a title I hand out lightly. Claiming that it is far superior to my other two systems is also not something I take lightly. However, the PM20 (“stEVE”) is like that hot girl in the Distracted Boyfriend meme. I’m the distracted boyfriend. And the jealous girlfriend? That would be my current air filters. Get the point? I’ll just say this: Get over the initial design that made me tilt my head at first glance when I unpacked it and took a step back and you’ll fall head over heels with this hottie.

Now this fancy shmancy air filter has some really cool features that we’ll go into. Before we go through the bells and whistles, let’s cover the actual air filtering capabilities of Dreame’s AirPursue PM20.

An Air Purifier with OCD

When it comes to the air you breath, do you really want to settle for anything less than the best? This is truly an obsessive compulsive air purifier, ready to get every particle of VOC, dander, and overstaying guest stank out of the your air supply. Even without considering the design and all the extra features, the PM20 stands alone among air filtration systems. It certainly makes my other systems I own feel a little self-conscious.

Dreame boasts a CADR rate of 400 m3/hr for the PM20. CADR stands for “Clean Air Delivery Rate” and this basically represents the amount of air this machine can purify in an hour. This CADR of about 235 cubic feet per minute means that it can take care of a living space of about
1,076 square feet. It’s really fast and efficient in cleaning the air, allergens, odors, and pollutants in this large an area.

It does so effectively because of its very effective 4-layer filtration system:

1. Magnetic Housing – the big stuff ain’t getting in. Pet hair, debris, etc. won’t even make it to the other 3 filters.
2. High-Efficiency Composite Filter – with the big stuff outta the way, we start filtering out all of the nitty gritty microscopic particles, all the way down to 0.3 microns, which includes allergens and even viruses. (Interesting side note, while Dreame’s website refers to the HEPA standard .3 microns, their Amazon listing mentions .1 microns.)
3. Activated Carbon Layer – it’s not just about dust. Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are a source of many health problems. Unless you’re extremely careful of what you buy, your household products such as your mattress are emanating these 24/7. This will soak up those dangerous VOCs such as formaldehyde, toluene, and TVOCs with a CTC (Concentration Tolerance Capacity) of over 80%. In other words, the PM20 is very effective at pulling in those gas pollutants.
4. Formaldehyde-Cata Filter – this is the star of the show. It uses MnO₂ (manganese dioxide) as a catalyst to chemically break down formaldehyde into harmless compounds such as water and carbon dioxide. Formaldehyde is a notable indoor pollutant and off-gasses from furniture, paint, cleaning products, carpet, and very likely any houseguest past the three day mark (kidding, of course). What’s so cool about this is, you’re not just capturing the formaldehyde, you’re decomposing it.

When it comes to filtering your air, the Dreame PM20 is king. Yes, you CAN survive another month or three with those fishy guests of yours. Still, Dreame didn’t stop there…

Every Breath You Take, Every Move You Make, I’ll Be Watching You

Imagine this: Your guest still hasn’t left. The stench has become unbearable. What the guest needs now is a good solid hint. stEVE to the rescue.

With the PM20’s Enviro Detect Directional Air Delivery enabled, whenever said guest walks into the room, it will detect the source of the fishy stench, turn on, and point its air filtering fan at him. How’s that for a hint? Perhaps NOW, he’ll think to himself, “Wait. I smell? I stink so bad that I’m making an air filter blow directly on me no matter where I walk in the room?”

This follow mode feature is something I’ve never seen before in any household appliance I’ve owned, let alone in an air purifier. But it’s genius. Jokes aside, if you’re one who is sensitive to allergens (or fishy houseguests) or whose health simply demands cleaner air, the PM20 shrouds you constantly with fresh purified air as you move about within its range. Why, you can be 16 feet away and it’ll still sense you with its built-in RADAR system. Move to the left. Move to the right. Wherever you go, fresh air.

Now, if you walk into the room following your houseguest, at that point, the follow mode will simply oscillate back and forth like a high-powered fan. So you can get your breathable non-houseguest air and, hopefully, he’ll get his hint.

Quite honestly, this is my favorite feature that Dreame’s PM20 offers.

Oh, and by the way, Dreame also provides DualFlow Modulation, which basically shoots the very welcome clean air in two general directions: upward and outward, maximizing room circulation.

Let’s Heat Things Up

Not to be outdone, the feature that sets the PM20 from its identical twin, the PM10, is the heater. While both can replace your old tower fan that has been struggling to keep you cool lately, the PM20 provides an awesome integrated heater function that’ll blast hot air.

That’s right, this is a big mama heater for those frigid rancid fish-smell nights. The Positive Temperature Coefficient (PTC) ceramic heating module delivers quick and efficient warmth, heating up the air, adjustable to around 104 °F (40 °C), in about three seconds.

Keep in mind, this provides targeted warmth. So, in the houseguest scenario, imagine the possibilities… if it’s summer and you live in a tropical climate, you could basically weaponize your air purifier to, not just give him a hint that he stinks and needs to go away, but blast heat at him to passive aggressively bombard him with heat. (Of course, this may backfire on you, as sweat does compound the fish smell. Frustrating, huh?)

Is This Thing On?

Unlike your houseguest from Hades, the Dreame PM20 air purifier is the quietest air purifier I’ve ever tested (~30 dB on low, ~64 dB on max). I’m telling you: when I say quiet, I mean QUIET.

A couple times, and I’m not kidding, I’ve literally put my ear right beside this. wondering if it was even on. It was every single time. Even on high, you’ll know it’s there, but definitely at a comfortable volume.

Oh What Little Eyes You Have

I will admit that it has a quirky design. This was definitely made to be seen. What’s ironic is that you would think that the big bulbous head of this was also a sizable display. It’s like that kid you went to school with that had that huge face with tiny, itty, bitty, little beady eyes.

Seriously, this is the smallest display I’ve ever seen on just about anything. It’s about an inch square. Yup. Smaller than your Apple watch. I’ve gotta admit, I’m scratching my head about this. There’s soooo much room on this “head” part. I really expected the whole thing to sort of with some glorious splendor. But no. For tired eyes like mine, unless you’re right up close, it’s very hard to see.

Still, all the cool controls are available through the mobile app, which we’ll touch on next.

Don’t Worry, Be Appy

While the PM20 comes with a handy dandy remote, Dreame does one better and offers a fully featured mobile app as well. allowing you to easy activate and control it. With it, you can manage the power, modes (Auto, Comfort, Pet), fan speeds, and even turn on/off the heating and cooling functions.

Additionally, the app allows you to monitor pollutant levels (such as HCHO (formaldehyde), air quality status, and even the temperature and humidity of the room. You can also schedule when it runs – for example, you can set it to turn on 15 minutes before you come home from work or shut off at bedtime. Sorry, you can’t make it kick your guest out though.

Overall Impression & Last Words

Now that our houseguest has finally pulled up his roots and left and we can say “mission accomplished”. Before finally call it a day wrap up this review, a couple of final candid observations and thoughts to round off the discussion.

Observations

I only have two issues that I was personally disappointed about:

First, the tiny display. Yes, you do have the app (which will lead me to my next point), so you can do everything there. But for older eyes such as mine, I’m simply not going to be as likely to interface with this. For me then, I’ll probably end up doing the set-it-and-forget-it thing except when the need calls for it. I hope that Dreame will at least double the size in future iterations (even that might not be enough old farts like me). What would be awesome is if they made most or all of the entire glass “face” area one big screen.

Second, to be honest, I was not able to successfully use the app. I was able to connect to the router but not Dreame’s network. When I clicked on the support link in the app, it also failed. No matter; Set-it-and-forget-it, here I come.

Wrapping It Up

Overall, I’m very impressed with the PM20. It does its job and it does it well. The fact that it can, not just remove VOCs from the air, but actually neutralize the harmful formaldehyde, pushes it over the top. The follow me feature is genius (remember, it’s a fan too, not just an air purifier) and, if you live in a place that gets cold, it’s worth it to upgrade from the lower-end PM10.

You can purchase it from their official website or, if you’re an Amazon addict, their official Amazon store. Click this link to get it… it’s currently on sale for a significant savings, so move quickly. (Especially if you know if anyone is planning to visit you soon. You know, “just for a few days.”)

Approaching this objectively, you really can’t beat the Dreame PM20. I have to say, I’m quite impressed. When you’re able to inhale fresh, clean air despite who’s visiting, you’ll be a fan too.