Airthings Corentium Home Review – A Simple Yet Accurate Radon Monitor

As I’ve recently delved into the world of radon monitors (after years of reviewing air quality monitors), I decided that I should probably start with one of the most popular monitors on the market. After only a few minutes of research, I quickly found that the Corentium Home by Airthings is undoubtedly the most popular monitor out there. Curious to see what the fuss about this very simple (in Airthings’ own words) device is about, I decided to order one, and here I am, sharing my full thoughts on the device.

I’ve had my Airthings Corentium Home for about a month. I’ve been running it alongside a range of other popular radon monitors, such as the RadonEye, EcoQube, and Aranet Radon Plus. While full reviews of the former two are still coming (check back soon for those!), I’ve already spent extensive time not only with the Airthings device but also comparing it to these similarly-priced products.

I’m quite excited about this review because a few months ago, I reviewed the Airthings View Plus – a comprehensive air quality monitor that also uses Airthings’ own radon sensor. While I didn’t delve much into the radon accuracy in that post, as the topic was still quite new to me, I want to take a much deeper look today. While these devices are vastly different, I hope it will give me much more insight into the other products in the Airthings range.

Before going any further, it’s worth noting that this review will focus on the Airthings Corentium Home, which is not the far pricier but the NRPP-certified Corentium Pro. While the latter is aimed at radon professionals, the former is a consumer-grade and consumer-focused low-cost radon monitor designed for everyday usage around homes. In this review, I want to dive into the accuracy, usability, and competition of the Airthings Corentium Home and discover if it’s worthy of its popularity. With that said, let’s get started!

This post contains affiliate links. For more information, please refer to my affiliate disclaimer. I was NOT sent a product for review; I purchased this monitor myself. All opinions expressed in this post are my honest thoughts. I only recommend products that I believe in.

Information on this blog is for informational purposes only. Readers are encouraged to confirm the information herein with other sources. Furthermore, this information is not intended to replace medical advice from professionals. This website assumes no responsibility for the accuracy of the information, which is subject to change without notice. Devices mentioned on this website are not medical devices and do not guarantee protection.

Accuracy & Sensor

The Airthings Corentium Home uses a sensor developed by Airthings, which is also used in many of the other monitors within Airthings’ range. This surprisingly small sensor uses alpha spectrometry instead of an ionisation chamber (used by many other consumer-grade radon monitors), which allows it to be smaller than other monitors like the Aranet Radon Plus or RadonEye. Interestingly, this sensor type also comes with some other benefits.

Before going any further, I want to mention a couple of things. Firstly, without reference-grade equipment, it’s impossible to know exactly how accurate one of these devices is. Since I don’t have access to such equipment, I will largely rely on manufacturer specifications and studies for this section. While I generally don’t like to rely on manufacturer specifications (as manufacturers will always want to portray their devices in the best light possible), I also don’t want to mislead. As such, I will do my best to use third-party sources and to provide sources where applicable.

Furthermore, as with all consumer-grade radon monitors, this device is not intended to be a professional-grade monitor, and it’s not certified by any body such as NRPP. Many of these brands, Airthings included, have ‘Pro’ models of their radon monitors that are significantly more expensive but hold these certifications. While these monitors are handy for household use, if you believe you have a radon problem (perhaps identified using one of these devices), you should always confer with a radon professional or use a lab-grade test kit before making any decisions based on their measurements.

With that out of the way, I was curious about how accurate these household radon monitors are. Luckily, since the Corentium Home is such a widespread device, it’s been thoroughly tested and there is a lot of literature about the device on the internet. I quickly came across this report by the C-NRPP (Canadian National Proficiency Program), which you can view in full here.

In the image, a grade of A means the device had a measurement error of less than or equal to 10%, whereas a grade of B indicates more than 10% error but less than 20% and so on in 10% increments. Importantly, this test was carried out four times, each under different conditions (differing temperature and relative humidity levels and increasing radon concentrations). As you can see, the Corentium home had a mix of As and Bs and performed significantly better than the other Airthings monitors. However, it did get outperformed by similarly priced monitors such as the EcoCube, EcoCube Blue and RadonEye RD200.

Before we conclude that the other devices are more accurate, it’s worth noting that other studies have had different results. For example, this study (using the same grading criteria and scoring system) gave the Corentium Home A, B, A, A, making it the best-performing monitor in that test, which also included the RadonEye RD200 and RadonEye Plus. That particular study also noted that the acceptable range of error for professional-grade electronic radon monitors is 20%, and the Corentium Home had, at worst, 10-20% error (B), meaning it performed very well for a consumer-grade monitor.

So, if this monitor performs within the accepted range for a professional monitor, why wouldn’t you save some money and purchase the Corentium Home instead of a more pricey device like the Corentium Pro? Well, there are quite a few caveats to keep in mind. Firstly, professional-level devices undergo frequent quality control, ensuring they remain accurate – they also have extra features.

One of the required features of a professional-level radon monitor is the ability to be calibrated – something that these consumer-grade devices do not have. Ideally, professional radon monitors should be calibrated annually or whenever the trained professional believes it is required. Since radon monitors lose accuracy over time (which we will discuss in more detail soon), this is a very important feature for ensuring a monitor stays accurate over time.

With that thought in mind, let’s discuss long-term accuracy. It’s relatively common knowledge that, like many sensors, radon sensors lose accuracy over time. There are a few reasons for this, but they boil down to two key points. First, sensor drift can occur as the electronics inside the sensor degrade over time. Second, radon progeny can accumulate on the sensor, throwing off future readings.

At the simplest level, alpha spectrometry sensors monitor the radiation (alpha particles) emitted by radon. As radon hits the sensor, it creates decay products (progeny), which the sensor measures and records. Since progeny is made up of solid particles that can attach to aerosols and other particles, it contributes to most of the radiation dose we receive from radon exposure, which is why these sensors are designed to monitor it.

While many of the progeny have short half-lives (this quick decay is partially what makes our exposure to radon so harmful as it quickly exposes us to large doses of radiation), some of them have half-lives in the years or decades. This causes issues, as these elements can accumulate on the sensor and cause readings to become skewed over time. While there is, unfortunately, no way to determine how quickly a non-calibratable sensor will become completely unreliable, it largely depends on how much radon the sensor is exposed to over its life. If the radon concentration is low, the monitor will have a longer usable life than a monitor in a high-radon environment.

While we can’t define how much accuracy the Corentium Home will lose over its lifespan, another C-NRPP study has some interesting findings. These particular results (found here) show how the devices tested after three years of use. The two different groups are sorted by test conditions (details are lacking in the presentation, but presumably, the right group was exposed to significantly higher radon levels over their lifetime). As you can see, after three years at low radon concentrations, the Corentium Home’s accuracy degraded slightly but not too significantly. However, with higher exposures over those three years, the Corentium Home became very inaccurate (at least at higher humidities).

What I personally (please keep this in mind – these are only my thoughts) feel is that this shows the Corentium Home is probably accurate enough for around four to five years for most household use. If you have high radon concentrations in your home, this useable lifespan may be as little as two or three years (especially at higher humidities). However, for most people, this radon monitor should be useful for at least a few years.

To get the best performance out of your Airthings Corentium Home, you will want to ensure that it is located away from walls and (if possible) other electronic devices. In addition, while the monitor can provide ‘accurate’ readings within 24 hours, I would not rely on these. As with all radon monitors, the longer your sample is, the better. Airthings recommends at least a 30-day reading (C-NRPP recommends 90 days minimum) before considering the results reliable.

This is very important to remember as radon concentrations can vary greatly over time, and it’s the long-term exposures that are important. While it’s easy to get excited (or very worried) based on the initial readings from this monitor and other radon monitors, it’s important always to remember this. The longer you allow your monitor to record data, the better. If you see high concentrations after 90 days, it’s worth taking further action. It’s also worth noting that you shouldn’t move the monitor much (if at all) during this time, as radon concentrations in different rooms can vary greatly.

Overall, the Corentium Home is an accurate consumer-grade radon monitor that is one of the better performers compared to its peers. Interestingly, it also performs significantly better than the other Airthings monitors (which I guess is why this costs $150 when the far more feature-filled monitors are only a bit more expensive). However, remember to only consider the data conclusive after at minimum 30 days (and much better, 90 days) and that this monitor has a finite lifespan.

Design

The Airthings Corentium Home is an incredibly simple device – far and away the simplest radon monitor I’ve seen so far – with perhaps the exception of the EcoQube, which is also a very simple product that doesn’t house a screen. That said, the Corentium Home feels significantly simpler because it doesn’t feature any connectivity via WiFi or Bluetooth, and what you see is what you get.

I will admit right away that this is either a blessing or a curse – depending on how you want to use the device. On the one hand, if you want a very simple-to-use but accurate radon monitor, there really is no better device than this. There’s no need to download an app, which means you don’t need a smartphone to use this monitor. It’s ideally suited for being used as a standalone device that works, albeit with a very limited feature set.

On the other hand, at $150, this can feel like a bit of a steep price as this monitor is far simpler both in terms of design and features than the other Airthings monitors that come in at not that much more (I am thinking of the Wave Plus primarily). These devices don’t have a screen but offer app support with many more features. That said, we’ll discuss this in more detail in the ‘pricing’ section below. For now, I want to focus on design, and needless to say, this is a simple device.

The Airthings Corentium Home is quite compact and about the same size (at least in length and width) as an old iPhone. While phones have since become much larger, the size of this reminds me of the older iPhone 4 or 4s. In terms of height, it’s obviously a bit thicker than these old phones, and this is likely due to the fact that the radon sensor housed inside can only be so small.

The front of the device is dominated by a relatively large LCD panel that shows both the long-term and short-term averages. The reading at the top (the long-term average) is significantly larger, and it’s obvious that this is the reading that you should focus on. This makes a lot of sense, too, for reasons discussed in the accuracy section of this article. While I also appreciate having short-term readings, focusing on this large number is much more important.

This bottom number (the short-term average) will alternate between the 1-day average and the 7-day average, switching the display every five seconds. Finally, there is also a little dot that acts as a status indicator in the top-right of the display. This dot will appear whenever the monitor takes a reading, which it appears to do every second. Finally, there is also a battery indicator in the top-left corner of the screen, but this won’t appear until the batteries need replacing.

That’s all there is to the screen, and while I don’t mind it, I wish there was a way to toggle between units. Depending on which model you get (U.S. or non-U.S.), you will have to use Bq/m3 or pCi/L, and there is no option to change the reading. While this likely won’t matter to most people (U.S. models will get pCi/L, and everyone else will get Bq/m3), it is frustrating for people like me who purchased a U.S. monitor and are now stuck with the unfamiliar (for me) pCi/L measurements. It would have been so easy to add a button on the back of the device to toggle between these units, but I guess Airthings found it easier to have two separate devices for different markets.

While that’s all there is to the front of the monitor, Airthings also includes a small sticker with a brief explainer of radon levels that can be stuck to the front of the device. Basically, this sticker tells you at what levels you are safe and when to contact a radon professional. It also comes with a disclaimer regarding early data (provided in under 24 hours) from the device. This sticker isn’t stuck on the device by default, so it’s entirely up to you whether you choose to use it.

Turning the device around, we find a micro USB port on the right-hand side of the device. This port is very disappointing for a couple of reasons. Firstly, it’s a micro USB port in 2024. Yes, we are still dealing with these terrible cables. Luckily (I guess?), users can’t even use this USB port, and it’s only for use by the manufacturer. I’m very disappointed because when I first saw this port, I thought that perhaps, despite the lack of connectivity, I could at least export data from this device. Alas, it’s a useless USB port that can’t even be used to charge the device.

Continuing on to the back of the device, we have two buttons located near the top. One of these is the reset button, which resets all data on the device, and the second is the mode button, which tells you how long the device has been running. You will need a paper clip to press either of these buttons, but luckily, you shouldn’t need to very often. I don’t see why the mode button couldn’t have doubled as a button that changes the units the device measures in, but this device does aim to be as simple as possible.

A battery cover on the back of the device allows you to change the three AAA batteries (that come included). These batteries allow the device to stay powered for around two years (as claimed by Airthings, as I have not yet been able to test this), and they should probably only need to be replaced once or twice over the device’s lifespan. Finally, below the battery latch, you will find vents which allow air and, importantly, radon gas to enter the device and pass through the sensor.

There is also a hook mount on the back of the device, allowing you to place the monitor on the wall. I find this decision very odd as, after some research, it appears that radon monitors should be placed at least one foot away from a wall in a ‘lived-in’ room for the best results. I couldn’t find any note on this matter from Airthings, but since this applies to other radon monitors, I would assume the best practice is to place this device away from walls, too.

Airthings themselves advertise this as a simple device (in fact, it seems to be their key marketing term when it comes to this device), and this couldn’t be more true. If you want a simple device that can be left in a room to monitor radon without needing to check in on it regularly, this is the perfect device for you.

Pricing & Competition

It’s hard to truly know where the Airthings Corentium Home stands without also considering the other competing options available on the market. As such, I’ve come up with a few key competitors to this device that share a similar price. I may have missed a couple (please let me know if I have!), but these are the most popular alternatives at the moment.

As you can tell, the Corentium Home has quite some competition and sits in the middle of the pack regarding price. I find this quite interesting because, besides the EcoBlu, all of these other devices offer extra functionality through an accompanying app. While I don’t think an app is essential, I think it’s quite a big disadvantage for the Corentium Home when other monitors around the same price have one. Of course, if you’re looking for a standalone device, this will be an advantage, and the only other monitor you might like as an alternative is the EcoBlu.

Based on the studies I discussed in the accuracy section, the RadonEye, EcoQube and Ecoblu have similar performance and degradation over time. While the Corentium Home did retain accuracy better when exposed to low concentrations of radon, it also suffered more and lost accuracy more quickly when exposed to higher radon levels. As such, I would say more or less that all of these monitors perform similarly concerning accuracy.

While the Aranet Radon Plus does not yet have any third-party testing as it’s a new device, it offers a much more solid feature set at only $40 more, which makes it a tempting offer. However, the RadonEye and EcoQube both also offer more features (although not as many as the Aranet) and come with connectivity for a price that, at least in the EcoQube’s case, is almost identical to the Corentium Home.

That said, I believe I may be putting too much emphasis on the feature set of these devices. There’s a reason that the Corentium Home is the most popular radon monitor on the market, and I believe it’s because of the simplicity of using this device. While there are very few features (I am thinking of things like data graphing, exporting, changing units, smart home integration, etc.), perhaps I am one of a niche group of users who want these features, and the typical user doesn’t care much for them. This leads me to my conclusion.

Conclusion

The Airthings Corentium Home is a solid albeit unexciting device. However, I think it’s found its target market, and it’s a great device for users who want an accurate radon monitor that they can set up and forget. The device is extremely simple, but it has good accuracy and (depending on what it’s exposed to) will continue to be usable for at least three years. It also has fantastic battery life and will serve anyone looking for a high-quality radon monitor well.

That said, it’s not a device for power users. Perhaps this point is somewhat moot, as you shouldn’t be focusing on short-term radon trends anyway, but I would love to see some extra functionality, such as the ability to export data. More importantly, I wish you could change units on the device, as I’m sure some Americans would prefer to use Bq/m3 and vice-versa. I appreciate that Airthings aimed to simplify this device, but I wish they could’ve added just a few basic features.

If you want connectivity so you can view the device’s data from an app, you will need to look at other similarly priced monitors. However, most of these require cables, and they really aren’t portable. While the point of a radon monitor is not to move it frequently, I appreciate that the Corentium Home doesn’t need to remain plugged in and can quickly and easily be moved. More importantly, since you aren’t attached to a socket, you can place this device almost anywhere.

This leads me to a conclusion similar to what I had for the Airthings View Plus. Considering its feature set (and simplicity), it’s a pricey device for what it is. That said, many users want simplicity, and if you are after an accurate device with no additional features, this is it.

Please don’t get me wrong – I don’t think this is a bad device at all (actually, I think I prefer it to the RadonEye and EcoQube so far as I can’t even get them to work properly with my phone), but it is important to note that there are other devices at a similar price that offer a lot more functionality. Perhaps this is a me issue, though!

I would love to hear from you. Do you appreciate the simplicity of a device such as this, or would you prefer something with more features? Let me know in the comments! If you’ve tried this device yourself, please also feel free to let me know your thoughts.

Airthings Corentium Home Review - A Simple Yet Accurate Radon Monitor

The Airthings Corentium Home is an accurate, easy-to-use radon monitor for home safety. Compact and reliable, it is ideal for monitoring radon levels over time.

Product Brand: Airthings

Editor's Rating:
3.5

Pros

• Simple, user-friendly design without the need for app connectivity.
• Provides accurate long-term radon readings for household use.
• Compact and portable, allowing for flexible placement.
• Long battery life, lasting up to two years on three AAA batteries.
• Easy to set up and use without technical expertise.

Cons

• Lacks advanced features such as data export and smart home integration.
• No option to toggle between units (pCi/L and Bq/m3).
• Loses accuracy over time due to sensor drift and radon progeny accumulation.
• Micro USB port is non-functional for users and outdated.
• Higher price point compared to other similarly featured radon monitors.