Many full-size canister vacuums come with a power nozzle that has a rotating brush to mimic that of an upright. We recommend this attachment if you prefer a canister and have deep pile carpets in, say, just the bedrooms. Otherwise, you’ll see a long flat attachment or brush that can be used on bare floors and low, flat rugs. Canisters can be heavy, too, but are easier to pick up and carry with two hands. Because the motor and canister can be placed out of the way, these vacuums are easier to maneuver into tight spaces and to use on stairs than uprights are. ✔️ Choose an upright vacuum cleaner if your home is mostly wall-to-wall carpeting and all on one floor.
The battery-powered model has an impressive runtime of 50 minutes, and in our testing, we found that it could often last more than an hour without losing suction. Its main cleaner head has a self-cleaning brushroll that prevents pet hair from getting tangled around it, and the vacuum also comes with a crevice tool and pet multi-tool that’s ideal for cleaning upholstery. However, the cleaner head works extremely well on hard floors, and its self-cleaning brushroll won’t get tangled with pet hair.
In our own emissions test, we also found that the Navigator Lift-Away released less than 2,000 particles sized 0.5 micron or larger per cubic foot. If you’re sensitive to dust and other allergens, you may want to consider a high-end bagged vacuum cleaner. We’ve updated this guide with several new upright and canister vacuums we are currently testing. Jodhaira (she/her) is a product reviews analyst at the Good Housekeeping Institute’s Home Care & Cleaning Lab, where she tests and writes about home appliances, cleaning products and cleaning tips.
Many can return to the home base for a recharge and then go back to cleaning wherever they left off. Robot vacuums are great maintenance cleaners, but won’t replace a full-size vacuum. They fit easily under most beds and furniture to clean the spots you likely skip. Allergy sufferers will love the high filtration bag and HEPA AirClean filter that prevents dust from being released back into the air. The power cord is retractable and all of the included tools can be stored in the canister. According to some reviewers online, its small wheels often get caught when pulling the vacuum along and it clocks in at over 20 pounds making lifting it up stairs difficult for some.
Shark only has two canister vacuums in its range and the Shark Vertex Bagless Corded Canister Vacuum with DuoClean Powerfins is the top-of-the-range option and as such it’s the more expensive of the two. But for that you’ll get all of Shark’s best design features bundled into one canister vacuum that offers top-notch performance. Pick-up on hard floors was impeccable and having the controls on the handle made it super easy to transition between different floor types as well as adjust the power if necessary. On carpet when we sprinkled oats near the baseboard, it wasn’t as effective at removing this debris and as such we’d say edge cleaning on carpet is one of its weaknesses. Though it’s better if you approach the baseboards with the side of the floorhead, as opposed to the front.
We use industry-standard rayon fibers to simulate pet hair that we evenly spread on a carpet’s surface to see how well each machine cleans it up. Using the same custom-built, automated machine we use for dirt removal testing, we measure how well each vacuum picks up “pet hair” from carpet. In our Lab tests, it beat 18 other handheld vacuums to earn the top overall score across tests for carpet, bare floor and pet hair pickup. Though we rated it highly across all of our testing categories, we did note that much of the pet hair we put down clung to the brush attachment. It has a very small dust cup so it’s not great for big messes, but it is bottom emptying with the click of one button.
Carolyn Forté has tested and reviewed hundreds of vacuum cleaners, carpet cleaners, mops and other major (and minor) home appliances as executive director of the Home Care Lab. She oversees all testing done in the Cleaning Lab and recently tested all of the handheld, stick, upright and canister vacuums that were submitted for consideration in the most recent Cleaning and Organizing Awards. She is an active member of the ASTM Committee shark canister vacuum on vacuum cleaners and chairman of the consumer information sub-committee. We put a wide range of Shark’s current vacuum models to the test over the course of several testing sessions, evaluating their performance both in our lab and in the homes of our testers. After assembling each vacuum, we used them to clean up several different types of debris, including large particles like dog kibble and cereal, as well as dirt and pet hair.
But it does have suction control so you can lessen suction to allow it to clean such. If a cordless vacuum is too limiting inside your home then this is a good alternative despite the cord. Since this is a bagless vacuum there is still exposure to dust and allergens. If you suffer some sort of allergy or really allergic to dust then go with a bagged canister like a Bissell Zing or Miele Compact C1.