Flow, the Personal Air Quality Sensor by Plume Labs - Mobile, Bluetooth Connection, measures PM2.5 / PM10 / NO2 / VOC Indoors and Outdoors

Accuracy not rated asI have nothing to compare it with. However the readings do give a very useful guide to where and when I encounter pollution. I expected new refurbished buildings to give raised VOC and shore enough, my doctor has recently extended and refurbished, it smells of new paint and registered the highest pollution in my home town (Eastbourne , East Sussex) . It could be stressed the daily average here is "low" but when we visit London it shoots up to Moderate or High [Especially on the tube! No surprise but it confirmed my prejudice. The battery only runs for about 24 hours so I have to remember to charge it at least once a day. A disciplines I can put up with as clearly a larger battery would make the device heavier and as made it is very easy to tether it , usually on my belt and get a good reading wherever I am. I am not a great "gadget" fan but this is as I have said surprisingly useful.

I waited with excitement for this product after reading its glowing review in Which magazine. If it did as the hype claimed, this would be revolutionary.I am sorry to say, that the product is not quite there yet and it is still going through its debugging stage.The negative aspects of this product:a) the instructions on how it works are almost non-existant. I had to spend quite a bit of time going through its website to get some clarity.b) there is little or no technical support from Plume Labs.c) I still cannot get the GPS part of the mobile app to work. The pollutions level part works, but not the GPS. I have tried to contact Plume Labs, but to no avail.d) you can not download or backup the pollution level data - if you want to interrogate the pollution level data, so you can break it down into the different types of air pollution, forget it. It can't be done.e) you can view the data on your PC. You would have thought that it would be possible to view the data on a website, since your data is actually beamed back to Plume Labs. You can't do this.After a week of trying to get my Flow working and attempting to contact Plume Lab, I am sadly having to return this gadget. One day, Google or Apple will buy this company and get this gadget working correctly and then it will transform things.

So, let's start with the hardwareI can't say you can fault it, bar battery life. It can hardly do a day after fully charged. Regarding its readings--When I put it next to my PM2.5 Philips Air Purifier, they both got red/purple at same time, which suggests the readings are reliable.The app, however, is a totally different story. So much so, that it feels as if it were an after thought and does get in the way of getting much more from this equipment. A bit more detail;- It says be part of a 'community', but don't get your hopes up because you are not. Unlike other equipment apps which let you publish your readings and get others' in return (NetAtmo is first that comes to mind), you have only your data with Flow. I don't feel part of this 'exclusive club'.- Its reporting is extremely poor. Although Flow reads PM2.5, PM10, NO2 and VOC, you cannot get those separately. So, when I walk through Hyde Park and it's purple, I don't know if that is high pollen count or NO2 coming all the way from traffic. Same goes for when you cook at home, and it goes nuts. The AMQ is the highest of the four I listed above and the colours (green, yellow, red, purple) reflect just that. AutoSleep, HeartWatch are but a few of the apps which give you so much more reporting and even allows you to export. Those should be the target level for Flow.- It will drain your phone's battery. Flow App asks you give nonstop GPS tracking access as well as keep background app refresh on. As such, Flow app appears almost always in my top three of battery drainers. A 'low battery usage' should be an option. Until such addition is in place, I'd say turn GPS and background app refresh options off while you are indoors.Final Verdict-- I bought this, because I live in Central London and have a two year old, whom I would want to keep away from polluted areas. It does the job, and despite all written above, I would buy it still; that is, in the absence of an alternative. I sincerely hope the makers of Flow ramp up the app, as with a decent UI and reporting, this may be a 'must buy'.

Quite an amazing development. Have been using it for a few days and the information generated has been an eye-opener. My neighbours wood-burners generate lots of PM10 so it means the bedroom windows have to stay closed at night, the local sports park cafe is up in the 100+ range for NO2 because the doors onto the terrace let in all the crud from the nearby A road etc. Plume seem to get criticised over accuracy (some people compare the results with kit from their local air quality centre where the equipment is probably much more expensive and you probably couldn't clip it on your bag/bicycle) but as a personal, portable air monitor I think it's superb. Battery life means it lasts all day and needs charging every night...like a heavy-use big-screen phone.