They offer a diverse selection of vacuum cleaners, ranging from compact handheld cordless vacuums to bulky corded uprights and everything in between. Most of their offerings are somewhat budget-friendly and use bagless designs, meaning that recurring costs tend to be pretty low. That said, quite a few of their more compact offerings struggle with clearing bulky debris, while their bigger corded uprights generally feel somewhat cheap. Get in all those hard-to-reach places that probably haven’t seen a good clean in longer than you’d like to admit with this handheld vacuum.
Large wheels on the canister make the vacuum easy to pull along as you clean, too. Credit to Dyson for pioneering the cordless vacuum category with a series of capable — yet pricey — Cyclone bissell vacuum cleaner V series stick vacs. Many years and many models later, Dyson remains a fixture of the category in 2023, but it’s not quite as dominant in our cleaning tests as it was five or 10 years ago.
Eureka and BISSELL vacuums occupy a similar budget-friendly niche, and offerings from each brand tend to have strengths. When comparing like-for-like models, BISSELLs usually have a wider array of convenience features, while Eurekas offer superior debris pickup performance. Dyson vacuums tend to occupy a much higher price point than BISSELL’s offerings, which is reflected in generally superior performance and better build quality. That said, BISSELL’s selection of corded models is far more extensive than what Dyson offers. Tangle-free brush
Pet hair is one thing, but long (human) hair is a whole new ballgame. Bissell’s patented Tangle-Free Brush Roll is amazing and prevents hair from wrapping around the brush.
While it didn’t live up to my expectations on the carpet, this cordless vacuum is perfect for hardwood and area rugs. The Bissell AirRam scores great in the convenience category with a weight of less than eight pounds. It also boasts 40 minutes of battery life, and has a collapsible handle for easy storage. This cordless vacuum even has LED headlights to illuminate any dirt or debris on the floor, and can be angled to pick up dirt in nearly any corner. Interestingly, that shortlist of perfect-rated cleaners includes two of our value picks, the Shark Rocket Pet Pro and the Moosoo XL-618. Neither one was a standout with sand (in fact, the Moosoo model was among the worst in those tests), but with larger crumbs at least, both are perfectly capable.
To measure the results, we weigh the vacuum’s dust bin both before and after each run. The Pure One S11’s black-and-white build is perhaps a bit bland, and we wish that it offered a bit more than 40 minutes of runtime under optimal conditions. Still, those are fair trade-offs at this price, especially considering how well it cleans. At $400 or less, it’s the first cordless vacuum we’d recommend for just about anyone in need of a new one. Head to the end of this guide to get some more information on how we test vacuum cleaners and why you can trust Good Housekeeping.
That means we are giving you more decision points to help you choose whether you want a stick vac or a full-sized vacuum. As a result of these changes, our pet hair tests are a bit more challenging and we now embed dirt in the carpeting instead of scattering it on the surface as we used to do. And for bare floor testing, instead of combining all the debris into a messy array of cereal, sand, and rice, we vacuum up each type separately. All in all, we’ve made our stick vacuum tests better reflect real-world situations. The Bissell ICONpet model is a clear winner when it comes to the best vacuums for pet hair. Powerful suction traps pet hair and dander, notably great for those with allergies.
You also don’t have to change bags, though the dust bin is smaller than some other models’. Less convenient is the fairly short cord, which you’ll likely have to unplug and move between outlets if you’re working with a larger space. But the three-in-one design means you can restructure it to work as a full-height floor vacuum, hand vacuum with crevice tool, or stair vacuum (the hand vac setup, but with a floor nozzle rather than crevice tool).
BISSELL vacuums tend to be affordably priced and use bagless designs that keep recurring costs down. Unfortunately, they aren’t usually the best choice for all-out cleaning performance and can feel cheaply made. I would say that the battery life on this vacuum is about what I would expect from a cordless vacuum. This vacuum does allow you to adjust the suction to 3 different levels (which means 3 different levels of power used). When I use the vacuum it lasts much longer for me because I do adjust it when I’m on the hard floor surfaces as opposed to the carpet where it needs to be on full power. When my younger kids are using it, they don’t really remember to adjust for this feature yet.
Designed for hard flooring, it shines a green laser out onto the floor as you clean, making it easy to see dust and other small bits of debris otherwise hard to spot with the naked eye. It isn’t much help under strong indoor lighting or sunlight, but it’s still a nice, unique feature that we found helpful as we cleaned. Also interesting is the readout on the back of the vacuum, which lists the ratio of dirt collected by particle size. Our picks for the best cordless vacuums are listed below — and keep checking back, because we’ll update this list periodically whenever new models make their way through our lab.