Although theyre quite light, their trigger-style power switch can feel uncomfortable because you need to keep it squeezed constantly to make your vacuum run. We independently review everything we recommend. Dysons entry-level sticks, including any variants from the V8 series, are the most affordable cordless vacuums with enough power to dig clingy dust and hair out of most rugs. Cordless But the Tineco simply feels lighter than other sticks while youre using it. We cover it in greater depth in our guide to hard-floor vacuums, but in a nutshell, we just didnt find it to be very comfortable to use or very good at cleaning bare floors. That comb is nothing sophisticatedjust some rough plastic teeth at the back of the headbut it passively shreds any hair that gets tangled around the roller, so you shouldnt have to cut the hair away by hand as often. The Miele Triflex HX1 was an upgrade pick in this guide from late 2020 through late 2021, but we had to demote it because we identified in customer reviews a high rate of battery defects and a pattern of poor customer service. (A Dyson engineer we spoke with said that having a full dust bin or clogged filters can make the vacuum work harder, which can shorten the batterys lifespan, but that the bin being full doesnt otherwise affect the battery.) (The Triflex is still pretty new, so we wouldnt expect to see too many refurbished units out in the world yet.). The laser really does do a better job of illuminating debris in brighter rooms and on lighter-colored floors than the LED headlights weve used. A $30 plug-in stick vacuum should work about as well as a $100 cordless vac, while a great $150 corded upright should clean like an elite $500 battery-powered stick. Best Budget: INSE Corded 3-in-1 18 KPA Vacuum Cleaner. Samsung sells a few other variants of the Jet sticks, but the main differences are the suction levels and accessory kits. For Bare Floors. (Our upgrade pick has it, but thats a $700 vacuum.) (I still dont know what youd actually do with this info.) If you want a long-lasting vacuum thats likely to give you more years of service for your money, your safest bet is to get a plug-in model. Farrell, Dyson Stick Vacuums Lose CR Recommendation Over Reliability Issues, Consumer Reports, March 28, 2019, Mary H.J. We keep an eye out for notable deals on such models, and generally we recommend only those units that have been refurbished by the manufacturer (unless they come from sellers weve found to be reliable), have a minimum 90-day warranty, and can be returned for free (weve written elsewhere about our criteria for refurbished products in general). Wed previously written that we doubted that Dysons reliability was really as bad relative to other brands as some sources had claimed, most notably Consumer Reports. You might be reasonably happy with one when its brand-new, but were confident that none of them will last, so weve decided not to waste any more of anybodys time trying to figure out which $100 Dyson knockoff might pick up a few extra grains of sand before it heads to the landfill in a year. If you can find the top-of-the-line S12 for $350, thats worth it. In its traditional upright configuration, the Triflex is the most balanced, comfortable, sturdy-feeling cordless vac weve ever used. It doesnt convert to a handheld vacuum, and the handling is stiffthough not top-heavy, as with most other cordless sticks. Most importantly maybe for some, it has a button, as opposed to a trigger. Its built-in LED floor headlights are also convenient for helping you see debris on the floor and clean underneath furniture. We had written off the CordZero in previous versions of this guide as an overpriced Dyson wannabe. Weve tested more than 25 current cordless vacuums priced from $100 up to nearly $1,000, and dozens more since 2014. You can find some reasonably priced models with long run times, but they tend to be too weak to work well on rugs. And because cordless vacuums are compact and often packaged with either wall-mountable charging docks or a floor stand, its common to store them in plain sight. But the trade-off is that theyre awkwardly bulky.). This Black+Decker is a surprisingly adept carpet cleaner for the price. Dyson It also felt heavier in the hand than most models and was otherwise unremarkable. (Contrary to popular belief, built-in packs are usually replaceable with the help of a screwdriver.). Click-in packs give you the flexibility to extend the run time as long as you want and to charge packs separately from the vacuum. The V15 model also uses swappable, click-in batteries, so you can buy spare packs to extend the run time if you think youll need it. It also has a built-in display with the remaining battery percentage and a few indicators that can help you troubleshoot problems such as a clog or tangle. This Cyber Monday, sales on Dyson products are harder than usual to find. One time I caught 1.2 billion tiny particles, sick! But up until a few years ago, they were all weak cleaners meant for easy tasks like sucking a few crumbs or a tuft of hair off a bare floor. The carpet-cleaning head also has adjustable gates, which give you a little more control over the cleaning performance. We evaluated vacuums on how comfortable they were to handle and maneuver in tight spaces. The V8 also uses built-in battery packs, so when the vacuum is out of juice, youre done cleaning for a few hours. Its also got that HEPA filter in it that apparently is super important. We asked representatives of Lupe to describe why its vacuum is more durable, and they didnt provide any specific details that we found convincing. The V15 Detect is so strong that it essentially defeated our controlled rug-cleaning tests. However, in real-world testing, it failed to dig up nearly as much embedded hair and dust as the V8particularly on its default, battery-saving suction setting, where it was notably weak. Our take: Cordless vacuum cleaners, in general, are not long-lasting products. And, yes, the V15 is wildly expensive. Unlike a normal vacuum that uses bags or a canister to collect debris, this one actually stores crumbs in Its particularly great on rugs, landing between the Dyson V8 and V11 in our test results. Now we know. It makes the V15 excellent on bare floors, rather than merely very good, as it would be with the default carpet-cleaning head. And based on an AI-assisted analysis of customer reviews, weve found that most S11 owners are perfectly satisfied with its cleaning power. Fine, clingy dust is one example. Its a satisfying visual cue for you to spend extra time on areas that you cant tell are dirty by sight alone (as on some rugs) and to quickly move on from areas that are clean. We found that using the bag chokes the suction a bit but otherwise seems to work wellyoull just have to replace the tiny bags pretty frequently. Realistically, you can probably expect 25 to 30 minutes of cleaning time on a single charge. Most cordless models are skinny, lightweight, stick-style vacuums that many people find to be comfortable to use, even on stairs or in cramped spaces. (The Lupe reps told us that the company would sell replacements for those parts and provide installation instructions upon request, though they dont currently anticipate demand for those components.) By the end of a long cleaning session, that combination can be uncomfortable for anyone, and it can be especially painful for people with chronic wrist, hand, or forearm pain. Despite its modest suction and short battery life by the standards of the past few years, it was unusually sturdy for a battery-powered appliance. 2) The Tineco is 100% cordless, making it easy to clean those hard-to-reach places. (Dont forget about robot vacuums, which are even more convenient than cordless sticks and are often in the same price range.). You can close the gates to increase the cleaning power, open them to allow big debris like breakfast cereal under the head (preventing snowplowing), or set them in between. Thanks for the memories! Dyson The main one is that the V15 is an exceptionally expensive vacuum cleaners. Although the Black+Decker PowerSeries Extreme doesnt seem to have much suction, the cleaning head feels like it hugs the ground in a way thats uncommon among stick vacuums, and this helps it perform unusually well for the price. Theres even a built-in dust-particle counter, which is a feat of engineering and also kind of a gimmick. From there, each part is cleaned, tested, and inspected. Weve tested a handful of similar Tineco vacuums. In the meantime, the filtration tests in Vacuum Warss video reviews are worth checking out. Dysons official replacements are expensive and not always in stock, but thats also true of most other reputable brands spare packs. (It began as a Kickstarter project by some former Dyson engineers, and it actually came to fruitiongood for them.) by INSE. WebShop for the INSE Cordless Vacuum, 12KPa Powerful Vacuum Cleaner with 160W Motor, 4-in-1 Stick Vacuum, Rechargeable Handheld Vacuum Cleaner for Home Hard Floor Carpet Pet Hair-N6 at the Amazon Home & Kitchen Store. All of that lowers the barrier to actually using your vacuum, so you might find yourself cleaning more oftenand living with fresher air, tidier floors, and cleaner feet as a result. Since Dysons sticks are exclusively cordless, the company had a huge disadvantage against brands that sold a mix of styles or exclusively plug-in models. The most common complaint we hear is that new cordless vacuum owners expected better suction or cleaning power for their money. Its been available for more than a year at this point, and our analysis of customer reviews did not turn up any evidence of widespread defects or design problems (apart from the obnoxious dustbin). On its Max setting, the V8 even outperformed some models that are significantly more expensive, too. But theres nothing like a real-world mess, so I also let the rugs around my house (a mix of all types) get dirty for a few weeks (lots of long cat and human hair, plus toddler crumbs) before a big batch of testing. You need to squeeze it constantly to keep the machine running. Weve even interviewed Sir James Dyson himself. The Dyson V15 is actually better than lots of plug-in vacuums at cleaning rugs. The V15 Detect is particularly excellent. Its a marginally stronger cleaner than the S11, and its battery life is a little longer (10 minutes extra on default, about two minutes extra on high suction). Weve found that a headlight really helps with the flour pickup in this test, as well as with other dusty debris and hair in general, simply because we can see it, so were less likely to accidentally skip over it. But the V8 really stood out in our real-world, around-the-house testing, where it consistently dredged up more hair and dust than its closest competitors. On the other hand, the Ryobi One+ EverCharge is one of our least-favorite stick vacuums weve ever used, with terrible top-heavy handling and mediocre cleaning performance. We think thats partly because it has two big wheels on its cleaning head that help distribute the weight a bit, as well as better weight distribution in the main unit (the part you hold in your hand). Another useful feature on the V15 is Auto mode, which automatically adjusts the suction level depending on the situation to maximize the cleaning ability while preserving battery life when possible. But its one more chore, and youll probably have to do it more frequently with this vacuum than with most others. WebThe Dyson Cyclone V10 Absolute Cord-Free Vacuum has a 40% bigger bin than our previous Dyson V8 Absolute Vacuum for the big cleans. Try to wait for a sale, when it costs less than $400. If youre looking for an even-cheaper stick that you can use for quick cleanups, you can pick pretty much anything. Dyson also sells certified refurbished stick vacuums. In our tests, we always struggled to reattach it because it offered no tactile cues for where to line it up and no audible click when it slotted into place. We can give you two options that we feel the best about: The first is the Hoover OnePwr Evolve Pet, which is sort of an updated version of the Linx available for a similar price ($150-ish). The company has done a better job in 2021 than in previous years of keeping spare parts in stock, but thats a low bar. Its priced like a Dyson but cleans like a cheap vacuum. The Tineco S11 is one of the lightest, most comfortable-to-use vacuums that also have enough cleaning power to work pretty well on most rugs (though its not quite the best weve tested). Its also hit-or-miss as to whether a model will reliably clean up powdery debris, particularly when the stuff is stuck in gaps between floorboards. The other feature that makes it a true pleasure to use the V15 and a few other high-end variants is the LCD screen. This vac also runs on the same batteries as a lot of Black+Decker power tools, so spares are plentiful and affordable. Dyson and Tineco have powerful flagship models as well as budget machines with less Beyond the superb cleaning performance, its packed with features that make it a treat to use, including a real-time battery-life countdown, suction that automatically increases when it senses dirt, a comb built into the carpet-cleaning brush that shreds hair tangles, a second cleaning head with a soft-fabric brush for bare floors, a laser headlight to illuminate dust and other hard-to-see debris, and animated maintenance reminders and troubleshooting tips right on the vacuum display. We still think the Triflex is a wonderful vacuum in a lot of important ways. WebINSE M500 Cordless Bagless Stick Vacuum. However, the Dyson V8 in particular seems to be prone to battery failures within the first few years of ownership. The price of lithium batteries (which power most cordless vacuums) has fallen but is still high, and you can easily overpay for extra minutes youll rarely use. Spare batteries cost $90 from Tineco at this writing. Realistically, Im going to spend at least an extra $1,000 on vacuums over the next few decades than I would if I had just stuck with something sensible like a Shark Navigator plug-in. And if you want, you can swap out the H7s cyclonic filter and pop in a vacuum bag instead for easier dirt disposal. Most models in the range of $150 havent been out long enough for us to know one way or the other, and those that have been out for a while dont have as good of a track record as the Linx did. According to publicly available import records (subscription required), EcoVacs has also manufactured vacuums for Shark (including newer versions of the beloved Navigator line of plug-ins) and Bissell. Wayfair But new names like Inse, Nequare, Toppin, and Wowgo have popped up to take their place, often selling vacuums that look suspiciously similar to the ones sold by the blacklisted brands. At the very least, it means plenty of spare batteries should be available for several years. The Tineco S11 also uses a click-in, swappable battery pack, so the only limit on its run time is how much youre willing to spend on spare batteries (though, as weve argued, extra battery life tends to be overrated). So with all that in mind, we dont think there are any diamonds in the rough to be found at this price. Dyson The trigger-style power switch can get uncomfortable to squeeze during long sessions, too, and were not confident that the V15 is more reliable than cheaper sticks from Dyson or any other brand. Our objection was that Dyson looked worse than it deserved because CR had lumped the data for cordless stick vacs and plug-in stick vacs into the same pool. The expensive Bissell ICONpet Pro (now discontinued) was just okay on rugs and not great on bare floors. A Roborock representative also told us that the company doesnt yet have plans to sell replacement batteries and expects owners to move on to a new vacuum every three years or so. The V15s extra bulk and wide snout also make it unwieldy as a handheld vacuumit cant reach into super-tight spaces very well. Best Cordless Stick Vacuum The difference was especially noticeable on thicker rugs, where it completely outclassed other sticks at this price (and many beyond it). We nearly made the cheapest version of the LG CordZero the runner-up pick in this guide, and buying this vacuum instead of a Tineco S11 or a Dyson V8 is a reasonable choice. One downside to the Fluffy head is that it is not effective on rugsit was terrible in our tests in that regardbut thats not what its meant for. Snowplowingwhen big debris, like Cheerios or mulch, gets pushed around by a low-riding cleaning headis a common problem at every price. In addition to our own testing, weve talked with dozens of real-life cordless-vacuum owners who live in all kinds of homes; read feedback from our readers about our picks; analyzed thousands of customer reviews on Amazon using an artificial-intelligence-driven tool called FindOurView; compared our findings with those of other reviews from sources such as CNET, Consumer Reports, Vacuum Wars (video), and Good Housekeeping; and talked with representatives from several notable cordless-vacuum brands, including Hoover, LG, Miele, and Roborock. Most and Least Reliable Vacuum Cleaners INSE N6 is a full-featured cordless vacuum cleaner, with a built-in powerful motor, and cutting-edge technologies that work together for fast and effective suction of dirt and hairs. Ryobi 18V ONE+ HP Cordless Pet Stick Vac Kit with Dual-Roller Bar, Cordless vs. corded vacuums: The downsides of going cord-free, Budget pick: Black+Decker Powerseries Extreme. The electrical wiring that runs through the wand, to connect the cleaning head to the main vacuum unit, seems like it wears out much more frequently than on other vacuums. All that said, now that weve done a thorough analysis of customer reviews, it sure looks like the Dyson V8 has a higher rate of premature battery failure than the average cordless vacuum. Its especially handy if you need to carry your vacuum between different levels (and to clean the stairs in between), or if you have a tight floor plan with a lot of walls and furniture (as many small apartments do). On the other hand, this LG models regular on/off power toggle is much more comfortable than the Dyson V8s, but this vacuum doesnt clean rugs quite as well. Several brands that sell cordless power tools also sell stick vacuums that use the same battery packs. It sort of wins by default, because every other cordless stick vac with a similar battery life and cleaning ability has some kind of serious downside. Cordless vacuums are so impressively convenient that they can feel almost fun to use. The V15 Fluffy also has a headlighta green laser headlight. In our tests it was a decent carpet cleaner, though not quite as strong as the similarly priced Tineco S11 or Dyson V8. This model has a long track record of okay reliability, but its suction is weak. Dyson sticks arent particularly durable, long-lasting, or affordable to repair. We tested that top-of-the-line, floor-stand All in One Auto Empty model, and although its impressively convenient, the eye-watering $1,000 price tag is hard to get past, especially when its cleaning power is only as strong as that of the $280 version of the CordZero. You may find yourself trying to choose between built-in (or screw-in) battery packs and click-in (or swappable) battery packs. (That said, we think the V15 is actually more comfortable than the cheaper Dyson models because its trigger doesnt need to be squeezed so hard and its overall weight distribution is better.) One of the most common complaints about Dyson stick vacuums, including the V8, concerns the trigger-style power switch. On bare floors, we test each stick to see how well it does with Cheerios, cat litter, and a thin layer of flour. We did try a couple of the cheapest, best-selling models from Amazon back in 2020, sold under the Aposen and Moosoo names. It also has a headlight, which is always helpful for spotting fine debris, though this lamp isnt very bright. Dysons V vacuum series, which has made appearances across our archives, wins the most mentioned title. It cant convert into a handheld vacuum, but it does have a flexible hose that mostly accomplishes the same thing. we can point you toward a couple that might work, a vacuum that collects debris in a self-sealing, disposable bag, Knockoffs are available, but buyer beware, updated the way that it rates cordless vacuums, customer service recommended not using Max power, Dyson Stick Vacuums Lose CR Recommendation Over Reliability Issues, The 25+ Best Cyber Monday Vacuum Deals from Shark, Miele, Roomba, Eufy and More, This Rare Dyson Vacuum Cyber Monday Deal Is Available Now, Mini motorized brush, filter cleaning tool, Mini motorized brush, bare-floor cleaning head, Dust sensor, bare-floor laser head, battery timer, Two batteries, battery timer, XL bin, extra-wide brush, Two batteries, battery timer, XL bin, extra-wide brush, bare-floor laser head, Laser Slim Fluffy cleaner head, dust sensor, battery timer, button. (For those who might be keeping track: This is an updated version of the Shark Ion F80, which we recommended in this guide a few years ago.).