Original review: https://homekit.blog.com/r/HomeKit/comments/bwxw3t/brid_air_purifier/

Hey people. A colleague of Redditor reached out and asked me to update my thoughts on Brid Air Purifier, a HomeKit air purifier. Here are my updated thoughts:

Brid works well with HomeKit. It is easy to associate and also easy to reset and start. I've done the process about 100 times while developing integrations for Brid with HomeAssistant, which is another home automation platform. That being said, I'm fighting Brid for several reasons, and I probably wouldn't recommend him. Here's why:

1. From a HomeKit perspective, it works just as well as I said. However, if you use HomeKit open source software libraries, you may find that Brid advertises additional features for HomeKit accessories, but does so in a way that is outside of the HomeKit accessory protocol (HAP). Therefore, features such as filter lifespan are not exposed to HomeKit, although technically it could be if Brid firmware developers could figure it out.

2. Brid has 4 modes - Off, Smart, Boost, Night. These do not translate into HomeKit which has only On and Off modes. I think when you start Brid in HomeKit, it resumes the previous mode.

3. None of the air quality sensor data is accessible unless Brid is in operation (for example, it is not in 'off' mode). This is extremely frustrating, as you would probably want to create an automation that activates the Brid when the air quality is poor and stops the Brid when the air quality is good / excellent. Unfortunately, you can't do this unless you have a third-party air quality sensor near Brid. Also, when you activate the Brid, it usually indicates a low air quality for about 2 seconds, then ALWAYS jumps immediately to "Excellent". Either the air quality in my house is really always "excellent", or Brid simply sucks. I don't know which is true, but it makes me doubt the Brid (or at least the sensors ... see below for more on temperature).

4. The temperature sensor is always tilted 3 degrees Fahrenheit. When I wrote the integrations in HomeAssistant I created the possibility to adjust the temperature of the Brid ratios by a few degrees to correct it. It still seems silly to me that I should do this.

5. Coincidentally, several times a week, the Bride will start screaming fast for about 10 seconds and then go on a loud "beep" constantly for another 5 seconds. I don't understand why or what he's trying to communicate, but he does.

6. Both the application and the firmware had a few updates. Most recently, the app has been updated with new images, but practically the same, with no new features or usability. Firmware updates do not come with a change log, so it is not known what is fixed and what is still broken.

7. The application itself generates. Find for Brid operation, but air quality reporting etc. it is impossible to do. I don't know if this is an issue with the app or Brid, but the fact that the air quality sensors don't work unless Brid works means that any historical information the app might provide isn't correct (or even available). unless Brid is running 24/7.

8. While exploring the Brid while developing HomeAssistant integration, I discovered that you can operate the device remotely without associating it with HomeKit. There is an unencrypted HTTP server running on it and you can issue raw / static HTTP commands without authentication or encryption at all, and Brid will respond. I used Charles Proxy to intercept and display all API calls made by the Brid app to find out this and everything it can do. Maybe it's good, maybe it's bad. The lack of encryption and authentication I think is bad, but the fact that you can interact with Brid without using HomeKit I think is a plus.

In short, I was quite sour for this product. I look at Brid, what's inside her, how it works and how I feel about it and I don't see the value and I probably regret spending the money on it, even though my intentions were good. I really have no idea how well it works as an air purifier, but as a "smart" device, I really don't like it.