AirPop Active+ Smart Face Mask Review: The Best Mask For Staying Fit

Who Is The AirPop Active+ Smart Face Mask For?

• The AirPop Active+ smart face mask is ideal for those who want to exercise while keeping safe from airborne pathogens and contaminants
• The AirPop Active+ is also an easy-to-use face mask for anyone who wants to keep safe during the pandemic
• The Active+ mask has a Halo sensor which feeds data to a connected app

While face masks have been a must when going outside for over a year now, AirPop has been in the mask-making business for several years. The company's latest offering, the Active+, is their most ambitious mask yet, as it combines health-conscious technology with a smart sensor and connected app. Although the AirPop Active+ was designed with athletes in mind, it's a great mask for anybody right now.

More Than A Piece Of Fabric

From the outside, the AirPop Active+ may look like a standard, if a little bit sleek, face mask. However, the Active+ is much more than its looks. For starters, there are two layers of protection once the mask is fully set up. The first is a somewhat thin outer layer, and the second is a much more beefy PM 2.5-rated disposable inner mask.

This disposable inner mask also offers more than any other comparable product. There are silicone strips built all around the mask to ensure a tight and comfortable fit. The disposable masks also come with notches cut out of them that are used to attach the inner layer of the mask to the outer layer, and keep the inner layer in place.

While the outer layer of the Active+ is made of fabric, it is stiff and maintains its shape. This is perfect for the inner layer, as the inner layer is then forced to keep its shape as well when attached properly. This is a great way to keep the mask out of a wearer's mouth and to keep all built-up condensation away from a wearer's face.

Comfortable For A Mask

The Active+ face mask is ultimately a comfortable face mask option, but there are a few caveats there. The mask uses plastic tips to allow the wearer to adjust the tightness around their ears. That's always a nice touch for easy comfort adjustments, and AirPop even includes another set of tips if one breaks or gets lost somehow.

The outer layer of the mask is a little rough to the touch, but seeing as how your face doesn't touch the outer layer at all, that's fine. The outer layer is also stiff, which allows for the mask to both hold its shape and keep the inner layer held in place. However, this stiffness means it can't be easily moved around if you happen to wear glasses. Expect to have this mask pop up under your frames frequently.

Speaking of glasses, the Active+ does do a pretty solid job of keeping my lenses fog-free. This is mostly thanks to the inner layer, which has a silicone border built into it. This border allows the inner layer of the mask to hug tightly to faces and keep condensation in. Even better, there are two layers of silicone on the border. The gap between the layers of silicone seemed to act as a channel for condensation to pool up, keeping it off my face.

The Active+ is a great option for long-term use thanks to the comfort it provides and the 40 hours of protection each inner layer offers. When compared to other high-end masks like the UVMask, the Active+ is much easier to quickly throw on and is more comfortable.

The one downside for the Active+ when compared to the UVMask is that the Active+ doesn't give me the same sense of protection that the UVMask offers. I do feel perfectly safe wearing the Active+ mask, it's just that the Active+ feels comparable to my standard going-out setup of wearing a disposable face mask with a cloth mask over it. I obviously can't quantify my sense of protection, however.

The big advantage the Active+ has over the UVMask is that the Active+ is much easier to breathe in. The UVMask can sometimes feel a little constrained, especially if the filter isn't running. The Active+ is better than a standard disposable mask and cloth mask combo in that the rigid body keeps the mask away from your mouth. This helps air draw in much easier when working out or simply walking around.

Halo Sensor

While the double layered mask is fine as it is, the Active+ mask gets even more impressive with the addition of the Halo sensor. This sensor connects to the AirPop app and provides a wide range of feedback on air quality, user breathing and much more. We'll go into more detail on the app later in the review.

The Halo sensor features an LED ring light on it. The color of the ring light can be modified on the Active+ app, with around five or six color options to pick from. The sensor runs on a button battery, which lasts a long time, but isn't exactly ideal in terms of being able to quickly and easily replace it. That said, the sensor is too small for any other kind of battery, including a rechargeable one.

Active+ App

The AirPop app is where the Active+ mask goes from a decent face mask to a smart mask. This app tracks a number of aspects and provides data clearly and easily. The tracking starts with something that could be great for Californians if wildfires continue to be an issue: a live feed of the air quality around the filter. Users can track air quality and make plans based around when air quality is improved.

The Active+ app also tracks a user's breath count and gives feedback on the amount of particles that have been filtered out. This is presented both in measurements and in ways that make those measurements easier to understand. For example, after wearing the mask for a few minutes the app told me I had filtered out 5.97 micrograms of particulate matter, or the equivalent of a third of a cigarette.

The disposable inner layer face masks all come in separate bags that have their own QR codes on them. Once a new inner layer has been inserted, the app can scan that mask's QR code and start a timer. Each inner layer can be used for 40 hours, and the app informs users when to swap to a new mask.

Since the Active+ mask was designed for athletes, the app also has a number of fitness features built into it. Users pick if they are walking, running or biking and can turn on Active Mode to track their time spent working out, breaths taken while exercising and more.

The only downside to the app is that it isn't available on Android devices as of right now. That said, Android users don't have to wait too long as the AirPop app should be available for everyone by the end of the month.

Final Thoughts

The AirPop Active+ smart face mask is the best mask around for those who want to work out and stay safe. It's also a phenomenal mask for anyone who wants something that will hold its shape, keep condensation away from their face and is pretty good at not fogging up glasses. Add in the Halo sensor and the information provided by the AirPop app, and the Active+ really shows itself as a great option.

The Active+ comes with four inner masks, allowing for 160 hours of use before needing a refill. As of right now, the Active+ is only available through the AirPop website for $150, but expect it to pop up on sites like Amazon in the future. Refill packs are also available through the AirPop website and come in packs of four for $25.