It’s likely you’ve never heard of a company called Prolitec, but their work is as plain as the nose on your face. Literally. Prolitec designs fragrance systems and services for commercial environments including hotels, stores, malls, office buildings, airports, train stations and theaters. Prolitec’s press release boasts over 100,000 installations in 80 countries for “an estimated 20 million people daily.
Prolitec brings this technology into the home with Aera, a smartphone-enabled home fragrance system featuring scents created by perfume design experts. The Aera starter set retails for $189, which includes a choice one of six aromas. Each hypoallergenic fragrance capsule contains 25mL of fragrance, which the company claims last up to 60 days or 1,400 hours. There’s also good news for those who have already jumped on the smart home bandwagon; the company plans to implement full-feature NEST and Amazon Echo compatibility in early 2017.
But is the Aera worth the price? The device feels solidly made and has a small footprint (2.45 by 6.7 inches), which makes it easy to find a discreet home. The design is sleek, but the Aera is more of a functional object than a decorative one. Touch-button operation is simple: one ejects the capsule, another turns the device on, the remaining two adjust the fragrance potency from 1 to 10. There is a noticeable electrical hum when scent is dispersed, so placing it somewhere near a bed probably isn’t advisable for those sensitive to noise.
We had doubts initially about whether the app was truly necessary, but AeraforHome does allow users to make the most of the Aera. Compatible with iOS and Android, it’s easy to connect to a home WiFi network, allowing you to operate the Aera from anywhere and create an ongoing schedule. The app itself looks appealingly streamlined, runs smoothly and is simple to navigate. Multiple Aera units can be managed through the app at one time, and there’s always the option of activating the Aera(s) on the fly from a phone, in addition to any programmed schedule.
Aera’s biggest selling point is the quality of its fragrances. These are composed, intricately crafted scents, with much more in common with something you dab on your wrist at Sephora than your typical aromatic candle. There’s good reason for that: all of Aera’s fragrances have been designed by award-winning perfumers who have crafted scents for brands including Marc Jacobs, Estée Lauder, Tom Ford and Thierry Mugler, among others.
We sampled two “flavors”: Moondance (a warm floral with bergamot, iris and amber notes) and Zephyr (a crisp, springy scent with lotus petals, lily of the valley and sandalwood). Both were very accurate to the scent as presented on the sample card, which can be requested from the website for free. We enjoyed each of the scents, and found they distributed nicely throughout a compact city apartment. Cranking up the intensity on the Aera makes the fragrance much more apparent, but not cloying or overpowering. Still, we found it best for creating a subtle, lingering effect, rather than a flowerbomb.
The cartridges, though pricey, are long-lasting. Additional fragrances cost $47 each, and can be swapped out at any time. Over four weeks of consistent use (two to three hours per day at level 3-4) we saw one cartridge depleted by a mere 8 percent. Since we were testing the unit, we probably used the device more for “for kicks” than would a typical user. We tested the Aera in a small city apartment (500 sq. ft.) without central air. The scent was noticeably fainter in distant rooms, though still pleasantly present. The device claims a range of 2,000 square feet, which could be a stretch outside the most optimal conditions in terms of room layout and airflow.
We do have a couple caveats: judging from the two scents we tested and other fragrances on the enclosed sample card, the selection of fragrances tends to skew floral and feminine (with the possible exception of Odyssey, a woodsy citrus, which we did not test). We didn’t try the seasonal fragrances, though those might broaden the device’s appeal. It would also be nice to have a broader selection of fragrances and some variety in capsule size, allowing more freedom to change things up or try something new, while possibly taking some of the sting out of that $47 per refill.
No bones about it, not everyone is willing or able to spend $189 in one shot for a “smart home fragrance solution,” even if they'd spend $30-40 on a luxury candle every now and again. However, the Aera’s upscale build and distinctive, high-quality fragrances merit its upmarket price, especially if the selection of scents expands. This is one of those items that you might feel a bit guilty about buying for yourself, but would love to receive as a gift. If you’ve got a passion for Diptyque, Jo Malone, Cire Trudon and similar luxury home fragrance and scented candle brands, Aera is well worth a look.
You can find out more about Aera, or purchase a device and fragrances, here.
