If you have serious allergies or asthma, you’re better off with a vacuum that collects debris in a self-sealing, disposable bag. We’ve tested all 10 of the featured cordless vacuum cleaners in this guide to challenge them for dirt pick-up, battery runtime and versatility across various surfaces throughout the home. This isn’t a low-budget vacuum; it’s a reasonably priced model that offers a lot of bang for your buck. It comes with all the features you need, but it’s still half the price of the premium brands. However it’s much better on hard floors than it is on carpets and there’s no upholstery tool or mini turbo brush.
Be warned that battery life will weaken over time, so it’s best to err on the side of more battery life to start. If you have pets, or someone with longer hair lives with you, the brush design does help avoid tangling, but the vacuum struggles a bit to get all of the pet dander out of the carpets. Priced at $1,600 (currently on sale for $1,400), the Roborock S8 Pro Ultra is the most expensive product on this list.
This robot vacuum model doesn’t just have a comparatively low price. It demonstrated performance more in line with what we expect from pricey machines. It pulled 78.9% of test sand from hardwood floors, which was on par with more expensive models. However, the Lubluelu 009 cordless bagless vacuum is a powerful budget device that is sure to impress, especially considering its low price. Despite costing much less than competing cordless vacuum cleaner options, the Lubluelu 009 holds its own. It’s designed specifically for hard flooring and shines a green laser out onto the floor ahead as you clean.
In order to get the HEPA label, a vacuum air filter must remove at least 99.7% of pollen, dust, bacteria, and any other airborne particles (0.3 microns in size). With carpet, we found that the trick is to put the vacuum directly over clumps of hair for the most effective results. We loved the swivel steer design of the Shark SV1106 Navigator Freestyle Upright Bagless Cordless Stick Vacuum, which made it easy to move and maneuver around the floor. It held up well over the course of six months and even replaced the vacuum we were using previously.
But the most noticeable difference was how much better the anti hair wrap function is. Both my flatmate and I have long hair which, previously, shark handheld vacuum we’d have to cut out from the brush head every few uses. The Stratos sucked it up straight into the dust bucket with no issue.
We tested the Dyson Gen5detect and have added our thoughts to this guide. Plug the charger into the port on vacuum, usually located at the top near the handle. Due to its contents, this product cannot be shipped via our Priority Service or sent to Alaska, Hawaii, P.O. Her work shark handheld vacuum has previously been published by The New York Times, The Guardian, Psychology Today, and many other publications. When she is not following her dream of an immaculate home and a flood-proof basement, she is taking care of her menagerie and creating magical animal quilts.
While the dust brush attachment isn’t the best at picking up dust, that’s a minor drawback that is easy to forgive. This proven bagged model has great suction power and excels on bare floors and (most) area rugs. The Halo capsule X cordless vacuum boasts an impressive combination of power and lightness. Thanks to its carbon fibre construction, it weighs a mere 2.6kg, making manoeuvring a breeze.
We also conducted a ‘flour test’ on a grey rug, spilling flour and then hoovering it up to test performance (you can see one result above). It’s also worth bearing in mind any extra features you want – we consider extra tools, such as a dust brush and crevice tool, to be essential. And, as you’ll see, some models offer light-up floor heads and other extras to make cleaning easier than ever before. Predicted brand reliability is based on estimated problem rates for newly purchased cordless stick vacuums, not covered by an extended warranty or service contract, within the first five years of ownership.
An extension hose also provides almost 11 feet of reach and makes it easy to clean drapes, stairs, or cobwebs without lugging the entire unit with you. It’s in the same line as our best overall pick, so there are some similarities, but this model is a bit more pared down in design and features to warrant a smaller price tag. For starters, it still has a HEPA filter, swivel steering, consistently strong suction across multiple surfaces, and the same cord length (25 feet) to clean rooms and hallways without an outlet switch.
On test, it offered powerful suction that whipped away discarded biscuit crumbs, ground-in dirt, cereal and cat biscuits almost instantly. However, we found the larger size made the vacuum cumbersome to use in handheld mode. Performance is top-notch but it’s also the most expensive vacuum we’ve tested, putting it out of reach of some.