This is the only electronic fragrance diffuser that I’m including on the list, because its in a league of its own. I’ve had lots of mist diffusers in my life and while I’ve enjoyed them, they always left the air feeling a little stale and they easily overwhelm a space which can give some folks headaches.
This smart diffuser doesn’t require water refills, and instead comes with fragrance capsules that you slot into the top of your diffuser. The device releases a burst of scent every few minutes keeping the fragrance steady.
You can control how often and how strong the scent will be by choosing a setting between one and 10, which is a huge range. Each capsule is good for at least 60 days of continuous use on a middle setting, but I can tell you that for a small apartment, I rarely keep mine at over the second setting and after several months my capsule is still at over 90% full.
How do I know that? The Aera has an app because this is a smart diffuser. I have an app on my phone that lets me name my device and senses what fragrance I have inserted and lets me know how full the capsule is.
It also lets me turn my device on and off, set and change the fragrance strength, and create schedules so I can have the device turn on and off at certain times of the day, certain days of the week. I love being able to turn my Aera on from my phone on my way back home after being away on a trip and knowing that when I get there it will smell fresh and clean even after being shut up for a week–without having to waste fragrance on a place I’m not in like if I had a reed diffuser going.
I absolutely love that these scents aren’t perfumey. I tend to get headaches when scents are very artificial and this has never been an issue with any Aera scents. There are a wide range of fragrance pods that you can buy with a device or separately including Indigo (citrus and sandalwood) which I’m using now and Moondance (bergamot and amber).
Aera recently sent me the pods from their Simplicity Collection with fragrances like Cherry Blossom and Sandalwood. Aera has really elevated these classic scents. They’re bright but still create a soothing, spa-like atmosphere.
It’s good for up to 2000 square feet, but the strength levels means you can dial it back to whatever size you’re in. It’s a small, unobtrusive device and the packaging is high end looking, making it a really great gift.
I was sent a sample Aera device along with some fragrance samples to try out, and I’m still using it over a year later.