Unless you've been living under a rock, you'll have noticed that the humble vacuum has been the subject of some serious tech updates in recent years.
The two most significant developments with vacuum tech have come in the form of cordless handheld vacuum cleaners, and robotic vacuum cleaners. With James Dyson announcing earlier in the year that Dyson would no longer develop corded vacuums, we thought that it would be a great time to have a look at what's out there.
We've scoured online marketplaces, catalogues and social media to bring you the definitive list of the best cordless vacuums out there.
The budget cordless
For our pick of the budget cordless, we've gone for the ONEDAY 6 in 1 cordless vacuum. Admittedly, we'd never heard of ONEDAY before, but we've read some really good stuff about this piece of kit. 80% of Amazon reviews for this product are 5-star, and the average rating is 4.4-star. Coming in at less than £60, we think this is an absolute bargain. When it comes to cordless vacuums, battery life is a common complaint amongst users. The ONEDAY 6 in 1 claims to have a 35 minute battery life which, although not being the longest, should give you a thorough vacuum of a decent sized property. It's also lightweight, coming in at little more than 1kg, and is boxed with a selection of accessories and extensions. If you're looking for your first cordless, and you're on a tighter budget, we think this is well worth the investment.
The pinnacle of cordless
The top dog of cordless tech... the modestly named "Dyson V10 absolute" claims to be the absolute pinnacle of cordless tech. Capable of the "deep" clean that handhelds have traditionally faltered with, this is the vacuum that pushes the potential of cordless vacuum tech. Google shopping had collected nearly 2000 consumer reviews of this product at the time of our writing, with an impressive average of 4.6-stars.
Easy extensions allow you to quickly alter the purpose of the vacuum, and it can be used as anything from a handheld car vacuum to that which is essentially a fully functional upright vacuum. Dyson claim an impressive battery life of 60 minutes, with no decrease in suction during that period. In practice, this probably means that you'll get two thorough vacuums of your property from the V10.
It's a little heavier than others to carry around, coming in at closer to 3kg than ONEDAY's 1kg handheld. That being said, this extra weight is no doubt due to superior build quality and, by all accounts, the Dyson really feels the part.
So what's the downside? Well, it doesn't come cheap... it's not cheap at all....
Coming in at around £450 this is no toy. Reviews suggest though that the quality is there and this isn't something that's gonna break on you out of the blue. If you buy direct from Dyson there's also a 35 day money back guarantee if you're not satisfied, and you'll be covered by a 2 year warranty, which may make you feel a little more comfortable about that monster price tag.
The all-round cordless
So you're looking for something a little more upmarket than ONEDAY's budget cordless, but you don't fancy spending a whopping four-fifty! That's okay - you probably represent the vast majority of people in the market for a cordless vacuum, on the hunt for a quality product at a competitive rate.
In light of this, we're looking for the 'all-rounder': the cordless vacuum with the best value for money.
For our affordable, all-round cordless, we've opted for Hoover's Freedom FD22G model. Priced at a competitive £109.99, this model offers a 25 minute run time (enough for most houses once over) at great market value! A couple of downsides come in the form of a 6 hour charge time and, as mentioned, the run-time is significantly less than that of Dyson's top models. All consumer reviews for this product suggest, however, that it delivers where most similarly priced ocmpetitor models do not.
Consumers are particularly happy with the Hoover's lightweight feel, which is great for getting up and down stairs, as well as for general maneuverability while cleaning. Some consumers mention that the single cleaning setting does bring limitations, but generally this product has unanimously positive reviews.
Available at Curry's PC World, £109.99
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