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Purify the air your baby breathes with the iBaby Air

Between two-way audio, air quality monitoring, a full RGB night light, and more, the iBaby Air stands out.

David Priest Former editor
David Priest is an award-winning writer and editor who formerly covered home security for CNET.
David Priest
2 min read

I love raising my baby in a city, if only because I'm able to maintain a life without too much trouble. But with cities often comes pollution, and air-quality problems have been linked to major long-term health concerns -- especially for young children. It's not just an outdoor problem, either. Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) are commonly found indoors, including carbon monoxide, methane, ammonia, and plenty of others.

But now iBaby, a company that's built a name as a popular developer of baby monitors, has a solution: a smart air-quality monitor and purifier called the iBaby Air. The device just reached full funding on Indiegogo, but I got my hands on one before it launches later this year. Here are four things you need to know about iBaby Air.

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iBaby's tiny new air purifier packs a punch

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It does something few other devices do

Sure, plenty of gadgets monitor your home for carbon monoxide or smoke. Some even track dust, pollen, and CO2 levels. But few devices offer the sort of all inclusive air-quality monitoring that iBaby says it does. Of course, how well it tracks VOCs still has to be tested. But it's at least trying something few consumer devices in the past have done.

The iBaby Air has some legit smarts

Aside from tracking air quality in the moment, the iBaby Air maps your home's air quality over time, letting you see improvements as you make them. While another recent crowdfunding project called Wynd is doing something similar, iBaby Air sweetens the deal with a speaker for music and two-way audio, a full RGB color nightlight and other features in the app.

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Chris Monroe/CNET

The iBaby Air is small, portable and sleek

The white finish looks fine, and the additional optional wood finishes will fit nicely with different home aesthetics. Plus, unlike those conventional air purifiers that take up a whole corner of your house, the 6-inch-tall iBaby Air can just perch on a mantle, out of the way.

The iBaby Air costs $150

That's not expensive, but it's not cheap either. Standard air ionizers cost around $60 to $80. The iBaby Air adds a lot of smarts to the package, but whether that merits the extra 70 or 80 bucks will depend on what users are looking for.