LG's colorful air purifier doubles as a side table

LG’s latest smart home tech is a cute and quirky air-purifying table that blends right in with your furniture. LG’s new PuriCare Objet Aero Furniture collection “blurs the line between beautiful furniture and advanced air purifier,” the company said in a press release.

Most air purifiers look out of place with your home decor — other than something like the infamous Dyson fan, for example, which looks straight from the future. LG wants to shift smart home tech in a more aesthetically pleasing direction.

The Aero table is high-tech, yes, but its look is perhaps its best feature. Appearing as a fun mid-century piece, the table has a mushroom-like base and a flat tabletop in a round or oval shape. Consumers can choose from Crème Rose, Crème Yellow, or Crème Gray color options to best match their home’s interior.

Breathe easy — The PuriCare Objet Aero’s base offers 360-degree air purification capabilities thanks to three filters: one for overall purifying, one for dust, and one for deodorization. LG’s UVnano tech allows the purifier to kill 99.99 percent of bacteria and viruses on or around the fan.

But it doesn’t just help you breathe better — the table also boosts your mood and productivity. A wireless charger is built into the tabletop to give your phone or earbuds a charge, and it also provides some mood lighting that can be controlled through the LG ThinQ app.

Form vs. function — The Aero table is functional as a statement tabletop but cute enough to go unnoticed as an air purifier, but there could be some issues with marrying form and function. The 360-degree purifying action could easily be blocked if the table is placed against a wall — or even if someone is sitting too close to its base.

Ikea released a similar concept last year with its side table air purifier, while another from the Swedish company offers no table space but is at least pretty enough to leave out all the time. LG has tested the air purifying tech on other pieces, too, and the company has managed other feats of smart tech decor with its lineup of strange TVs.

Pricing and a wide release have yet to be announced; the table will be on display next week at IFA 2022 in Berlin.