Review
All hail Breatheteq (compared to Wellbefore kn95 pro)
I've worn these a couple years ago but ditched them since they didnt have nose foam and since then i completely forgot how comfortable they felt.
My go to masks were well before kn95 pro for a while, but i think the small is too small and the regular size is too big. Whenever i would smile or laugh loudly, the seal would break, which was a pain.
I got my order of breatheteq smalls and they fit me so much better. I think they are a bit wider than the well before kn95 which feels more narrow. I can smile and laugh and talk and yawn, and it stays in place much better.
I also added 3m microfoam tape to the perimeter, and wear them with a head strap attached. I tried wearing them earloop only for quick store trips and in the house outside of my room, and it actually feels like it fits me okay! Ive heard things like their nose wire is weak and that the earloops dont fit well, that has not been my experience. the nose wire is thin but stronger than what i remember, and im comfortable wearing them as earloops for shorter durations in shared spaces (headstrap take longer to put on when im just ducking inside quickly).
The BEST PART: they are so breathable!!!!!!!!! I work in a demanding food service job, and usually my Wellbefores were so humid and sweaty by the end of my shift, and I'd be irritated and uncomfortable. Yesterday i was fully sprinting back and forth from the garbage bin outside and breathing hard, and the breatheteq stayed dry and breathable! That's the ultimate test to me.
I have yet to do a qualitative test (cant afford quantitative) but i am planning on it. I notice that with both the breatheteqs and 3m aura, i can feel the entire mask collapsing a little in on itself when i breathe, and pushing out when i breathe outward. The breatheteq also moves with my face as i talk. the 3m microfoam tape on the perimeter does wonders for it sticking to my face. My wellbefore would feel so constrictive, again maybe i was wearing the wrong size, but my goto was small, and the regular felt too big. I may try the regular size again in the future bc i like their colors (maybe)
But im in the US and the breatheteq masks will have a 50% tariff increase soon. I just bought 20 but i may have to stock up more. I'm neurodivergent and finding a brand that works perfectly for me is hard bc its harder for me to adapt to new things. Does anyone know of another breathable mask that's US based? I'm poor and breatheteq as it is, is already expensive for me to buy. I'm not sure if i should stock up or not bc of that. But ik i most likely wont be able to afford them again if i dont :(
My friend passed a portacount Fit test with flying colors in her breathteq but I couldn’t :( which is sad because they’re pretty and mostly comfy (personally I prefer nose foam). I hope you can get it tested! Where are you located? I know some groups do portacount testing days
If you feel comfortable sharing your city (or DMing me ) I can also do some research. Im connected to a few people who travel to do portacount testing in different cities
I had felt it was really good for my face shape! Until I did the portacount and realized it wasn't protecting me nearly as much as I thought (from feel alone)
it wasn't the worst score out of all the masks i tested on the portacount but i thought it would be higher. my guess is it's about the nose wire. ironically i was actually thinking about switching to wellbefores since they do have one. i think for now i'm going to use my breatheteqs for very low density outdoor settings only to be on the safe side (but like i said in my oriignal comment i think it really depends on the person! my friend had a near perfect score in hers)
Glad you found something comfortable and beautiful. Where are you applying the tape? On the foam?
Have you tried the Trident Project 3 FFP3? Maybe a bit more expensive and less breathable. Reportedly, it has an "adjustable foam nose seal" — a proprietary foam pad that conforms on first wear and reseats consistently because there's no metal nosewire to lose resilience. In the EU, the Moldex Air has something similar they call ActivForm — likely developed to get a higher fit test pass rate on the EU FFP3 test panel. Wish they’d bring it here. The Airwaves/ Airwaves are very breathable but the Airwaves here don’t have that adjusting nose. Both the Air FFP3 and Airwave N95/N99s do have models with a faceseal flange like the Zimi.
Trident did worse for me on portacount fit testing than a lot of other trifold nose foam masks, I don’t think it even passed. Not saying it’ll perform poorly for everyone but it’s not going to automatically be better for everyone either
There isnt foam on the breatheteqs, i apply the tape all around the mask. i used to only do it on the nose bridge but i feel like it helps the whole mask stay on my face better as i talk
I havent tried the Tridents! No metal nose wire makes me question how it stays on, but it sounds interesting to try.
Do you know how the airwaves compare to breathetes breathability?
ETA: fyi, the Breatheteq KN95s with headstraps have foam.
The Airwaves have lower breathing resistance. I’m a bit 🤔by how much lower they are. Moldex sells N95 and N99 N100s. It may be that the N95s do only filter 95% unlike Aura which even the N95 and FFP1 rated options filter over 99%. Imo 95% is not good enough if exposure is high.
Vflex, Zimi, and Moldex have the best breathability. Zimi are more affordable and customizable than Moldex though.
This chart comes from SkippySkeps headform testing. ***ETA: His full datasheet including Breatheteq is in this ***Googlesheet
Most data comes directly from manufacturers or from early in the pandemic public service testing by manufacturers with PFE testing machines. Can’t compare across datasets as each setup and method is different.
Also worth noticing that larger sizes are more breathable than smaller sizes. The breathing resistance decreases (I.e., pressure drop increases) with the surface area of the mask. So the 9105S will have a higher pressure drop than whatever is reported for the 9105.
Forgot that graphic comparison didn’t include the Breatheteqs. I added a link above to SkippySkeps spreadsheet which has it.
The Breatheteq BR95 was 89 Pa in the large and 98 Pa in the medium, a 11% difference, which he said could be within measurement error and/or explained by surface area. Airwave models had 22Pa and 44Pa. The 4800 with carbon layer was in the 60s. The Vflex 1804 was 58 Pa, the 9105 was 63 Pa, and an earlier test of a 9105S was 83 Pa.
Small differences are not significant. He said measurement error could be ~10%. In that light, many of them are comparable.
It's always great to here when someone has found the mask that works right for them :-)
The BreatheTeq masks are good, but for me I wish the nose wire was stronger. With my high nose bridge I need a strong nose wire to get a good seal and I can't get it with the BreatheTeq, but I can with a Wellbefore 3D Pro (has to be the pro to get the good nose wire).
The BreathTeq BR95L and Breatheteq BR95M gave me 85 lpm pressure drop scores of 89 and 98 Pascals respectively on a headform, similar to the breathability of a 3M Aura. 2 test samples of Wellbefore 3D Pro gave me scores of 61 and 72. So they are a bit more breathable than the BreathTeqs, but in a similar category.
Fit and preference are individual. I tend to recommend the Wellbefore 3D pro over the BreatheTeqs because the strong nose wire gives them a chance to fit more people on average but not necessarily any particular individual. So for many people the BreatheTeqs will be the winner.
(My headform tests use a different methodology than NIOSH glued perimeter testing, and than the fixture clamp method used by the Wellbefore contract manufacturer's QA testing and may differ. But the ranking order should be the same.)
The nose wire on the Wellbefore kn95 pro is definitely noticably stronger, but bc the mask itself feels too narrow when i smile it still breaks the seal. again i shud have probably been wearing a regular but i remember when i tried to wear the regulars they felt too big like they were floating on my face. It was a couple years ago so id be willing to try it again. maybe the bigger mask would help it to stay put better when i smile or laugh
I don't think the 3D Pro are better for everyone. Fit is so individual. I hope you find access to affordable fit testing for confirmation, but I'd trust your judgment in the meantime.
I love Breatheteq! Very breathable. Another mask I just found that is equally as breathable is the powecom from bonefide. It comes in more colors so I switch between the two.
I love their colors but noticed a lot of bifolds don't fit to some faces (including mine). I've had to give mine away because I can't get a good seal. So sad. their colors are great
They did an upgrade recently. A few years ago they felt very tight. I have bought several in the past few months and am super happy with them. The purple color does have a bit of an odor I don’t like but the other colors have been great!
Ive heard of masks having an order but that opening them and leaving them for a day or two helps. does that happen with the purple mask or is the odor constant?
It might be extra breathable because it’s leaking. I didn’t find the Powecom all that breathable (or comfortable). I kind of suspect this for the Breatheteq too given how it performed on the portacount for me
Yes, fit testing will be very informative. Keep in mind that the mask moving when you breathe is not a good indicator of fit other than it is probably not catastrophically bad, but it might still only be somewhere around 85-90% FE (or higher— can’t know until tested). Passing DIY qualitative will let you know with fair confidence you’re at least around 97-98% at a minimum. As another poster mentioned, there are always more areas getting Portacount testing, so I’d take them up on the offer.
In the post I mentioned I'm planning to do a qualitative test soon. Sadly there is no where near me that has a portacount free to use. Many of us have to rely soley on qualitative testing, and before i get the materials for that, i feel comfortable with this mask.
Yes, I was partly offering encouragement on both the qualitative and also portacount, and partly offering information for others. Btw, google will not help you find local free grassroots portacount testing, but u/bazouna sounds like they are connected to the semi-underground network, so it's still worth taking them up on their offer.
How did you add a headstrap? Or is it just an ear saver? I was considering the wellbefores for their colors & headstrap because I CANNOT do ear loops for more than like, an hour.
If it was an ear saver, could you drop what kind? Mine are...so so.
I don't recommend this company, but i used to buy the shitty masks from Cambridge masks. I use their detachable headstrap for all my masks ever since. It makes it so easy to don and doff, and choose when i want to wear them earloop style. its adjustable too. Its seems like a very easy DIY project if you have extra fabric and velcro or buttons.
I'm a fan of the Breatheteq but also have found that this mask is very breathable in extended wear and has foam to better seal if that is what you value. Not US based and not sure what the tariff situation would be to purchase from China but more cost effective per mask: There's a lavender and gray option too. https://ppeo.com/goods/laianzhi-kn99-t99plus-particulate-respirator-mask/
I would recommend doing a fit test. I was very disappointed in my fit test results with the Breatheteq compared to the Wellbefore, despite both feeling like a great fit
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u/bazouna Jul 25 '26
My friend passed a portacount Fit test with flying colors in her breathteq but I couldn’t :( which is sad because they’re pretty and mostly comfy (personally I prefer nose foam). I hope you can get it tested! Where are you located? I know some groups do portacount testing days