I was given the opportunity to review the brand new Laser Egg + CO2 monitor which is a new addition into the family of Kaiterra domestic air quality monitors.

This product is designed for those who work or stay lots of hours indoors and pay attention to how Carbon Dioxide CO2 can decrease our cognitive ability. The correlation between CO2 and productivity has been studied a lot for over 50 years by many academics.

Interesting facts, surprisingly, the design standard for CO2 levels in most buildings is 1000ppm but the recommended concentration is below 700ppm. In one of the studies, Harvard researchers have found significant negative impact at 930 ppm.

Technical Specifications

• LCD Colour Display 2.6″
• PM2.5 Laser-based light scattering (MIE) >Range: 1-999μg/m3
• CO2 Range: 400-5000ppm
• Temperature Range: -20°C – 100°C | -4°F – 212°F
• Relative Humidity Range: 0-99% RH
• AQIs Supported: USA | China | India
• Micro-USB Charging Port | Power Adapter
• Lithium Battery 2200mAh approximately 8 hours
• Wi-Fi 2.4Ghz

Hardware

Below you can see the main electronic board of the device, which hosts the communication module and the main processor aka brain of the device.

The PM2.5 sensor is made by Plantower and it is a variation of the PMS3003 because it has the Kaiterra logo on it, so I guess they have done some customization to it.

The CO2 sensor is made by SenseAir and it is either the S8 or LP8, I am not very sure which one. However, both are equally good with a difference that the LP8 is designed for battery-powered applications.

Temperature and Humidity sensor is made by Sensirion and it is a variation of the SHT3x. It is very well placed at the back of the device where it is isolated by the internal temperature of the electronic components. This way it measures accurately the room’s conditions.

The brightness of the display is adjustable and there is an option to turn it off but actually, it doesn’t turn off completely, it is only dimmed and the image is inverted to black. The Zoom function permits those who can see far away to distingue the readings a bit better, but I think there is room for even bigger and bolder numbers and text.

Software

The app is designed to contrast the outdoor air quality and indoor air quality. You can use the app without having a device in your possession because the app primally focuses on the outdoor AQ as it takes more space on your phone’s screen. The UI (user interface) and UX (user experience) provide great navigation and understanding of the AQ. There are two main tabs My Air and Settings. You can see the outdoor AQ on top of the screen and the Laser Egg appears below it. When you select your device then you can see all the environmental parameters that the device measures and here is a cool trick you can export all the measurements by selecting the duration and email address where you want the data to be sent.

You can also access the web Kaiterra Dashboard from any web navigator – currently under beta. There you can evaluate your data and a cool trick that definitely makes my life a bit easier is that you can have two graphs one on top of the other, this way you can compare, for example, how the humidity affects the PM2.5 measurements overtime or any other combination you desire.

Last but not least the device support Apple HomeKit, Siri and IFTTT applets or actions. If you are a pro-Apple user and you want to take advantage of Siri then easily you can set up the device and ask Siri about the air quality in your house or the temperature or humidity from across all your Apple devices, thanks to iCloud services, as a result your Mac or iPad can benefit from it. IFTTT applets allow iOS and Android users to create applets based on events, for example, I have set up an applet to run each time the air quality is depleted, then my LIFX light bulbs blink twice with a red color. This way I know something is wrong quietly from anywhere in my house. Both HomeKit and IFTTT are very customizable.

My Experience

The device is actually very small, it looks big on the pictures but it is an illusion of the shape, “eggish”.

I really really like that they have added HomeKit support, I think it is one of the few AQ manufacture that supports it, I find it very useful to be able to ask Siri about the indoor AQ, temperature, etc and to be able to access the information across all my devices. Apple isn’t as good as Alexa but there are more devices with Siri out there and you definitely enrich your personal experience by adding such a device.

The Kaiterra Dashboard eliminates the need to export and import data to a different application for further analysis. Simply, I was able to see the air quality for the duration I wanted and for the sensors that mattered to me.

There aren’t outdoor AQ stations everywhere in the world and obviously, if your city isn’t included in their database then you stuck with the AQ info from a different place like in my case I had to add an AQ station from Barcelona which is 788Km away from me. Currently, it is mandatory to add an outdoor station but I believe they should change that.

The fan from the PM2.5 sensor is a bit noisy in my opinion, which was strange at first because from experience the PMS3003 isn’t that noisy, as it turned out, I came to the conclusion that the shape of the monitor “eggish” amplifies the sound of the little fan and this is the reason it sounds louder than normal. I wouldn’t put the device on top of my nightstand for sure and the display needs some extra settings in order to be able to automatically turn off at night during sleep time, right now you have to do it manually.

Conclusion

If your life unfolds around the Apple ecosystem and you are looking to purchase an air quality monitor then Laser Egg + CO2 is the right choice for you, it will definitely enrich the whole Siri expire and will make your life easier. The sensors and the build quality are nice, some improvements will come over time with software updates.

For those who are interested in purchasing the monitor use the promo code SEETHEAIR15 with an exclusive 15% discount on the Laser Egg+ CO2 until November 30.