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These vacuum cleaners suck, but in the best way possible.
The greatest thing to ever happen to vacuum cleaners was tossing away the cord, making them slimmer and trimming the fat. Dyson may have revolutionized cordless stick vacuums, but the manufacturer is no longer the de facto brand when it comes to getting a good stick vac. Nearly every home appliance brand has a line of cordless stick vacuums these days, and it's easy to see why everyone loves them — they're lightweight, convenient and efficient.
While cordless stick vacs tend to be fairly expensive, we've found that the pros outweigh the cons. A good stick vacuum, like any good vacuum cleaner in general, should be able to work efficiently across multiple surface types and, of course, it should a really good job at sucking up dirt, dust, hair and whatever grime is in your home. To help you find the best vacuum cleaner for yourself, we did some early spring cleaning to help you find the 10 best models worth your time and money.
Battery Life: Arguably the most important thing to look for in a stick vacuum is its runtime. You should know, however, that the runtime denoted actually applies to the vacuum when used at its lowest speed setting. Choose a stick vacuum with a battery life that will accommodate the size of your home. Vacuums can have a runtime as short as 20 minutes, while others can last for a couple hours. If you live in a studio apartment, those short-running vacuums will do you just fine, but that same vacuum probably won't do you any good if you live in a huge home. Another thing to note is that some vacuums will also come with an interchangeable battery, essentially doubling its runtime but adding extra stuff you need to store.
Dust Bin Capacity: Every stick vacuum has a different dust bin capacity, which can influence which stick vacuum you buy. For fewer trips to the trash bin, opt for a dust bin with a greater volume. Smaller dust bins are fine if you have less area to vacuum, but it will be annoying to frequently empty the bin when you live in a larger space.
Attachments: Pretty much every stick vacuum will come with additional attachments whether it's to use on furniture or to turn the stick vacuum into a handheld vacuum. Go through the attachments that come with the stick vacuum you want to make sure they'll actually be of use to you. Otherwise, you're paying for bells and whistles and nothing more.
Of course the best cordless stick vacuum cleaner has to come from Dyson, which continues to innovate its vacuums year after year. However, the one that offers the most bang for buck is the V8 (and opt for the Absolute, which provides a variety of attachments to get a truly deep clean). While the Dyson V6 and V7 are great cleaners in their own right, the V8 has the best wide appeal. You get up to 40 minutes of runtime, a washable filter and powerful suction. Dyson's older models, which includes the V8, are constantly on sale, so it's easy to scoop a good deal on this model. And if you're looking for an even greater deal, go refurbished — Dyson refurbs are certified to run good as new, and you'll save yourself a nice chunk of change.
The V15 Detect is Dyson's latest cordless stick vac, and also its most extra. The thing has a laser in its head. The Laser Slim Fluffy cleaner head uses a green light to illuminate dust particles, as small as the size of human red blood cells, that are naked to the human eye. Watching those tiny particles get sucked up make vacuuming incredibly satisfying, like an IRL version of Space Invaders. To further let you know it's doing its job, the V15 Detect uses something called an acoustic piezo sensor, which turns the vibrations of dust being sucked up into electric signals, which help the V15 relay just how many particles you've vacuumed. It's then displayed to you through the LCD display. We told you this thing was extra.
Tineco's entry-level vacuum offers just about everything you need from a vacuum: it's one of the lightest models we tested (a little under three pounds), high-powered and easy to clean. The motor is also supremely quiet, though our tester mentions that the wheels of the brush head make a notable sound against hard floors. The design of the vacuum means it won't lie flat against the floor, so you can get completely under furniture, but our tester said it worked well on his hardwood and linoleum floors, as well as his rugs.
Samsung's cordless stick vacuums are recent additions to the product category, and its Jet 90 is a worthy competitor to high-end stick vacs, like those from Dyson. As our tester says, it has "good suction, including multiple power levels and many different attachments [that] make it easy to clean just about any surface in the house." The battery has a 60-minute runtime, and purchasing a spare battery means you can charge one while still vacuuming to essentially doubling your runtime. It has a decently sized dust bin, with almost a three-and-a-half cup capacity, plus it's moderately lightweight — just six pounds — so you can reduce arm fatigue while vacuuming, and reaching high surfaces is a little less strenuous.
This lightweight, compact stick vacuum offers pretty good suction for its size. It has a "Star Trek design," as our tester noted, and it certainly is sleek with a retro sci-fi look. Seamlessly transition between carpets and hard floor thanks to Shark's PowerFins technology, which is also just really good for picking up all types of crap. The only problem with this vacuum its its tiny dust bin, which has a half-cup capacity. If you're an everyday vacuumer, you may find that's ample dust storage, but if you're vacuuming only when "the color of the carpet has started to shift," as our tester says, you'll be running to the trash bin more often than you'd like.
Dyson's Omni-glide is the first vacuum from the brand to eschew the trigger for a push button, which already makes this vacuum easier to use. The brush head swivels 360 degrees, and it sucks up dirt in all directions. The dual soft brush rollers are super slick on hard floors, and the vacuum itself glides on hard floors like it's on skates. Converting the vacuum into a handheld vacuum is incredibly simple, and we're a big fan of how the vacuum can get parallel to the floor for reaching under furniture. The Omni-glide is no good for use on carpets or rugs, so don't get this if you live in a home that's mostly carpeted.
Black+Decker's power tools are still the brand's cream of the crop, but its Powerseries Extreme vacuum is worthy of a purchase. It has a pretty decent battery life, clocking in at 55 minutes, and can transition from hard floors to carpets almost seamlessly. Its LED brush head lights aren't particularly special because they don't illuminate naked-to-the-eye particles like the Dyson V15 does. We do appreciate that the vacuum is self-standing, which is convenient for storage and for those who don't want a charging dock that screws into the wall. And if you're a Black+Decker fan, all of the batteries are interchangeable if that does anything to influence your purchase.
Tineco's Pure One lines of vacuums are its line of stick vacuums, and the Pure One X is a surprisingly affordable option for its functionality. The Pure One X can sense what it's suctioning and adjust its power to ensure everything is getting picked up. To ensure that you know it's doing its job, the main body features an LED ring to communicate when it's suctioning (a red ring) and when the area is cleared (a blue ring). Sync up your vacuum to the Tineco app to get realtime performance monitoring, cleaning reports, maintenance reminders and customer support. We especially like that Tineco offers the option to lock the trigger button so you don't have to continually squeeze to vacuum, which is how Dyson's stick vacuums operate. It means you won't get fatigued from having to constantly keep the trigger depressed.
The Orfeld stick vacuum is super affordable, but it doesn't skimp on features. It has fairly decent suction, considering the price, and also converts between a conventional stick vacuum into a handheld vacuum with ease. A folding handle design makes it easy for the user to get under hard-to-reach places with minimal effort, and it stands on its own so you don't have to worry about it toppling over. It picks up all types of debris, with a motor that doesn't exceed 65 decibels.
Miele has an old-school cool feel to it mainly because it feels like the vacuum brand your grandparents (or great-grandparents) had. In 2021, its cordless stick vac makes it a worthwhile purchase for those who want consistently good vacuuming abilities and a better-than-most customer service line. The Triflex HX1 has a gimmicky self park feature, which basically inches itself against a wall to prevent scuffs and scratches. The power hub can be configured to different uses, whether you need to vacuum upright, above the head or stick-less (for cramped spaces like your car's interior). The dust bin is a bit finicky, but a minor pain point.
Clean air, full lungs, can't lose.