LEVOIT Core 300 HEPA Air Purifier

I just received this Levoit Core 300 air purifier today and I wanted to give my first impression. I've had it running a few hours and I am sad to say, disappointed. A little about me: I'm not an air quality expert, I just like clean air. I'm very sensitive to sound and light. I don't like white noise. I'm a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to machines or appliances, unless I've had a few drinks, then who cares ?! Unfortunately, I don't drink anymore. I live in Los Angeles and I am always concerned about air quality even though we use a whole house A/C with MPR 1900 filtrete filters that we change (haha who am i kidding-my husband changes them) every 2-4 weeks. I'm allergic to dust mites and our cat, and we have 3 fur and feathered pets in total. Husband sees an easy way to stop needing so many filters but the pets are staying, sorry. I get the South Coast AQMD Air Alerts emails because I have too much time on my hands I guess, and the outdoor air is almost never clean. Currently, during fire season, the air is unhealthy for everyone. When we open the door, smoke comes in. I have (3) Winix 5300-2 Air Purifiers with True HEPA, PlasmaWave and Odor Reducing Carbon Filter (I do not use the controversial PlasmaWave feature). I have them running 24/7. I also have (1) Hunter 30090 True HEPA Room Air Purifier with "Quiet Flow". I rarely use the Hunter anymore because it is so loud. For the record, Winix makes a fine machine and I shouldn't really try buying anything else except for a couple of things: They are not pretty and the damn light is on all of the time! (Unless its on sleep mode. But i'm not going to leave it on sleep mode during fire season). It wouldn't be fair to compare all of their features because they are very different in price, size and function. But they do have a few similar features that I want to compare. The reason I purchased the Levoit is because it is small, attractive, and i loved that you can turn the light off. I've been curious about the Levoit brand and wondering if they could be as good or better than my Winix. I was hoping they would impress me as I wanted them for each bedroom and my office. I knew I was buying a simpler product than the Winix, but because of the before mentioned features, and because it claimed to have the same 24db noise level as the Winix, i got it. I figured if I got this small entry level one and loved it I may upgrade to the larger sizes and maybe even replace the Winix. Doubtful, but I was open. Now that I've had it a few hours: Pros: Its small and pretty. It's light turns off. Yay!! Cons: It's too loud. Not as loud as the Hunter but much louder than the Winix. The sleep setting which should be silent is not silent. I wonder if I got a bad one? Level 1 is as loud as the level 3 setting on my Winix and yet not as much air is flowing. You will have to turn up the volume on your TV if you have this running in your room. For fun, I did a quick test with a blown out match just to see it gobble up the smoke. But I was shocked to see the smoke move around it slowly instead of directly into it. I didn't have another match to try it again, but I will try it again. If its true that it cannot eat smoke, it obviously will be returned. And yes, before you ask, I removed the plastic from the filter before running it. Air is flowing out of it, just not very much, considering the noise. Because of the failed smoke test, I give it 1 star only because I can't give it zero. I will update this review after I test it again. If it hadn't failed the smoke test and wasn't so loud, I would give it at least 4 stars for attractiveness and being able to turn off the light, easy functions, and easy enough filter change. It also has a decent price and the replacement filters are affordable.