The Fellowes AeraMax DX55 is already assembled in the box. All that is needed is to remove the outer plastic bag, peel the protective sticker from the control panel, and remove the plastic bag around the filters. Once the filters are unwrapped and placed in the vertical sliding tray just flip the switch on the back and the unit takes a sample measurement of your air quality and starts in auto mode.
The purification technology is great and all, but one of the things that make this unit attractive is its touch-sensitive control panel on the right front side of the unit (similar to the technology used in the Fellowes PowerShred reviewed here). The panel can be set to auto mode or you can toggle one of four fan settings, the first one which is nearly silent.
The unit also creates an ion field, which in theory attaches to dust particles, making them heavier and bringing them to the floor. While this may make the unit more effective at clearing dust, the resulting ozone is a known respiratory irritant. Thankfully the ionizer can be turned off by pressing and holding the ionozer icon for a few seconds.
Auto mode can be toggled off by pressing the Fan icon, which switches between one of four levels (low, medium, high, and ultra). Pressing the “double airflow” icon (looks like a plus), auto mode is toggled back on and the airflow is doubled based on what the sensor believes the setting to be. If Auto has the fans set at Low level, then pressing the Plus icon will change to Medium. You cannot set the unit to High or Ultra and get double airflow on top of that. Honestly the only way I was able to get into High or Ultra modes was to use the manual fan settings.
We tested the Fellowes AeraMax DX55 with another mid-range air purifierwith our trusty Radio Shack Noise Level meter and Kill-A-Watt electricity meter. Below are the results:
| low | med | high | ultra | |
| Fellowes AeraMax DX55 | 4W | 10W | 15W | 53W |
| AeraMax noise | < 50dB | 58dB | 62dB | 73dB |
| Holmes HAP9422 | N/A | 43W | 54W | 66W |
| HAP9422 noise | N/A | 66dB | 72dB | 74dB |
Our Radio Shack meter can only detect down to 50 decibels, and the Fellowes AeraMax was undetectable even when we tested each unit at 12-inches away. Of course, we made sure we did not point the microphone directly in the airflow, which would artificially inflate the noise level.
Both the AeraMax and the Holmes units were both equally loud at their highest settings, and the Holmes unit uses a lot of electricity even at its lowest setting. The AeraMax barely sips electricity at its lowest setting, and is actually undetectable in an average room (the room is probably louder than the air purifier). Electricity doesn’t change much even at its high setting. When set to Ultra, the unit jumps up from 15 to 53 watts!
It must be noted that turning the ionizer on added about .5 watts at each setting for both units.
