Breathe Smart 2 is your compact companion to help you breathe cleaner air

How safe is the air you're breathing? Breathe Smart 2 is a clever little gadget to keep you informed of what's in the air around you. This super-compact, lightweight air quality monitor can be used in the home or carried with you wherever you go, to alert you of the air quality and help you adjust your lifestyle to keep your lungs healthy.

The Breathe Smart 2 measures Particulate Matter (PM 2.5) – the deadliest form of air pollution – using an accurate laser sensor. An easy to read screen displays real-time air pollution levels and PM 2.5 Concentration, and a history function stores data for up to 30 days to help identify pollution hotspots (if that's in the home, you can then invest in one of the best air purifiers to tackle the issue).

• Buy the Breathe Smart 2 on Amazon for £119

The gadget boasts accurate laser-based scattering technology that instantly detects harmful fine dust and cigarette smoke particles, and you can even set up an alarm to alert when air pollution rises past a chosen level. Setup is easy, with no companion app or subscription required.

Breathe Tech, the brand behind the gadget, says that "Studies have shown that you can reduce your exposure by as much as 50% simply by taking alternative routes", although we'd imagine that depends on where you live and where you need to be. Nevertheless, it's worth considering, especially given how the worrying stats around how much of the world's population lives in places where air quality is below the World Health Organisation's guideline limits.

The Breathe Smart 2 – at 70 x 46 x 27mm, the smallest monitor of it's kind around, we're told – was originally crowd funded, but has grown the Breathe Tech into a global brand. 

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