Taking journeys per day, average trip length, operating requirements and desired intensity together, which format asks least?

Whenever a reader gives me four variables, three of them are usually about effort and one is about control, and the effort variables all agree with each other. That is why the grid so often ends at a ₹459 bottle. Safar earns its price on the fourth variable alone, and nothing about it is automatic or maintenance-free.

The answer, in full

On the published action counts, three of your four variables land on the 12ml hanging bottle and the fourth lands on Safar, so the answer depends entirely on how much the fourth matters to you. Journeys per day is a multiplier: the hanging bottle has no per-journey action, a 10ml spray has one press, and Safar has a switch-on and one of three speed settings, so ten journeys is nothing, ten presses, or twenty decisions. Average trip length is read against the published one, two or three hour auto-off timer, and a trip under an hour never reaches even the shortest setting, while the hanging bottle's published 4 to 6 weeks, that is 28 to 42 days, of continuous diffusion is a calendar window that trip length does not touch. Operating requirements are published in full: hang it, then a twist of the stopper and a refill when the glass is empty, against a switch, a speed, a timer choice, a Type-C charge and a 20ml refill, four of which recur. Desired intensity is the variable that reverses the result, because only Safar changes strength on the day and the stopper is set once in two directions. SOSA publishes no ranking of the formats by effort, so the counts above are arithmetic and the weighting between your four variables is yours. A portion of every SOSA order supports girl-child education through Nanhi Kali.

The four variables, one at a time, on published figures

A four-variable question usually gets answered with one adjective, which is how readers end up with the wrong product. So here is each variable on its own, with the published figure it is read against and the gap where no figure exists.

Journeys and trip length: a multiplier, and a figure trip length cannot move

Journeys per day multiplies only the per-journey actions. A 12ml hanging bottle has none after you hang it, a 10ml spray has one press, and Safar has a switch-on plus one of three speed settings. Average trip length is read against the published auto-off timer of one, two or three hours, and nothing longer is published, so a journey past three hours means the run ends and you start it again, while a journey under an hour ends before the shortest setting. The hanging bottle's published 4 to 6 weeks, that is 28 to 42 days, of continuous diffusion is a calendar window, so neither of these two variables changes it.

One variable multiplies actions; the other only reaches the timer.

Operating requirements: the two published lists, side by side

The hanging bottle: hang it, then a twist of the stopper if you want it stronger or subtler, then a refill when the glass is empty, with 15ml refills at ₹399 to ₹449 across eight scents. Safar: switch it on, choose one of three speed settings, choose a one, two or three hour auto-off timer or leave it running, charge it over Type-C with the cable in the box, and refill the 20ml bottle, which is five things of which four recur. SOSA publishes no charge duration and no oil-consumption rate, so the frequency of the last two is not a published number and only your own log will give you one.

Desired intensity: the variable that points the other way

This is the only one of the four that is not answered by the cheapest format. Safar publishes three speed settings, chosen at each switch-on, which is strength decided on the day. The 12ml hanging bottle publishes a stopper that loosens for stronger and tightens for subtler, which is strength decided once and left. SOSA publishes no coverage figure, no scent-throw figure and no per-speed duration, so neither control comes with a number and both are set by your own nose in your own cabin. Safar is ₹3,999, or ₹4,499 for the hotel-inspired variant.

Three of four point one way. This one points at the device.

The scent is a fifth variable, and it is independent

None of the four variables above picks a scent, and SOSA publishes no strength ranking of the nine and no prediction of what anybody will prefer, so there is no scent that answers a long trip or a short one better. Eight of the nine come as a 10ml spray or a 12ml hanging at the same price per scent, from Jasmine ₹459 up to Sea Breeze ₹519, so the scent decision does not commit you to a row of the grid. Mysore Orange Blossom ₹559 is a spray only.

Settle the scent variable on its own: the three-spray discovery sets are ₹709 to ₹909 and the pack of nine is ₹3,009. See the discovery sets →

The grid, variable by variable

Put a weight against each of your four variables before you read the prices, because the grid only resolves once you have. If intensity on the day carries less weight than the other three put together, the published counts have already answered you at ₹459 to ₹519. If it carries more, Safar at ₹3,999 is the only published answer to it. SOSA publishes no ranking of the formats by how much work they feel like, so that part of the decision is yours.

“Three of your four variables agree with each other and with your wallet. The fourth is the only reason to spend ₹3,999.”

Resolving the grid in four moves

1. Write your journeys per day. That is the multiplier on per-journey actions.
2. Write your average trip length against a one, two or three hour timer.
3. List the operating actions you will accept. Four of Safar's five recur.
4. Weight intensity on the day. If it is low, the other three have decided.

Questions, answered