The dust canister is a breeze to empty, the motorised brush can be turned off when vacuuming delicate floors and the boost mode wowed us with its excellent pick-up on all surfaces. It manoeuvres well as a stick but the handheld unit proved trickier in tight spaces. Designed specifically for pet owners, this cordless Vax comes with all the necessary bits and bobs to keep your home fur-free. The main floorhead collected all dirt in one swipe, leaving our carpets looking spick and span, while the mini motorised pet brush proved similarly effective.
If you live in a small house or apartment, it could be the only vacuum you need. When used in its traditional upright configuration, it can only run for about 40 minutes, so it isn’t as well-suited to cleaning large areas as corded models. However, the flip side of its cordless design is that you can easily clean areas far from any electrical outlets. It also delivers exceptional performance on bare floors and clears away an impressive amount of debris on low and high-pile carpets. Unfortunately, this primary floorhead isn’t removable, making it hard to remove any tangled hair. Its ‘Lift-Away’ design lets you pick up and carry its canister body separately from its floorhead, so you can easily clean under tables and chairs.
We’re not confident enough in any of these cheaper vacuums to make one an official Wirecutter pick, but we can point you toward a couple that might work. Dyson’s top-of-the-line models all clean better than any other cordless vacuum we’ve tested. They actually work better than a bunch of the plug-in vacuums we’ve tested, too. If you want a cordless vacuum that can actually deep-clean your rugs, the dyson robot vacuum cheapest Dyson V7 or V8 that you can find will come the closest to doing the job for less than $500. The thicker the rug and the clingier the debris, the bigger the advantage Dyson has over any other competitor at this price. Officially, Dyson’s lowest-cost base model is now the Dyson V8 Animal, but you might be able to find the older Dyson V7 Motorhead or some other variant for a lower price.
The Shark Vertex DuoClean PowerFins Cordless Stick Vacuum was the clear winner in our search for the best Shark vacuum—and best vacuum in general. Although we recently tested the bissell crosswave cordless Pro with Clean Sense IQ, the newest model in this specific line, it did not compare in suction capability or ease of use to the older PowerFins model. The Shark Vertex PowerFins Vacuum features powerful suction on all surfaces, a storage-friendly handle, and generally quiet operation. As we discovered in The Lab, it has the power you need to leave your carpets deeply clean and your hardwood floors sparkling.
There’s a model for all households and budgets in our top 15. Most Shark stick vacuums have one mode for carpet and one mode for hard floors. In the carpet mode, suction is increased and the bristled brush roll rotates to clean deep into the pile. It’s even lighter than most conventional stick vacuums, making it very maneuverable, and delivers good performance on a mix of surfaces. However, its dirt compartment is tiny, and it can only run for just over 15 minutes in its most energy-efficient mode. On bare floors and low-pile carpet, but falls slightly short on high-pile carpeting.
You can see a detailed breakdown of the questions we ask and why in oursustainability info page. As part of this mission, whenever we review a product we send the company a series of questions to help us gauge and make transparent the impact the device has on the environment. Image Credit There are two batteries in the box, both of which fit into the same charger simultaneously. That’s well thought out, as it means that you can top up both batteries simultaneously and know that they’re both ready to go.
As a corded, upright model, you won’t have to worry about running out of battery power with this pick by your side. The 25-foot cord gives plenty of reach and the lift-away canister is useful for accessing hard-to-reach areas. Our tester did find the canister was best used from the ground. In addition, the hair easily collected in the stationary brush roll in our testing on hardwood floors, which blocked the vacuum from picking up debris very effectively. The model tended to push around heavier materials like popcorn kernels.
Recategorized Shark Vertex Pro as ‘Best Shark Stick Vacuum’. Added Shark Rotator Lift-Away ADV as ‘Best Corded Shark Vacuum’. Added Shark UltraCyclone Pet Pro+ as ‘Best Handheld Shark Vacuum’. Removed Shark APEX Upright Vacuum and Shark Rocket Pet Pro with MultiFlex IZ163H from main recommendations. Your browser is not supported or outdated so some features of the site might not be available.