Since they lack wheels, some cordless vacuum cleaners pose a challenge to those of us lacking body strength. The Good Housekeeping Institute Cleaning Lab is constantly testing vacuums of all makes and models, and because there are new ones coming to market all the time, we continually update our reviews. We’ve tested the best robot vacuums, vacuums for pet hair, budget-friendly vacuums under $100 and plenty of others. Add this to the hundreds of hours we’ve spent testing uprights, canisters, robots and more, and it’s safe to say we know our vacuums.
One final point in the Dyson’s favour is that it doesn’t rely on a filter that you have to clean (albeit, very infrequently) which the Shark does. Plus the open face on the Shark ensures you push dirt around the room less than with the Dyson. When it comes to quality and reliable household appliances, Bosch always delivers. The unlimited 7 comes with an impressive 10-year guarantee, which effectively means the price works out as £35 a year. Clean hard-to-reach areas and slim spaces with the included nozzles. Check out that docking station — your new buddy will be upright and ready to go anytime you need it.
Cordless stick vacuums dominate the market, but our exclusive member surveys found that more than 40 percent of battery-powered stick vacs developed problems with the battery within the first five years of ownership. Because of their low ratings for brand reliability, no cordless model earns a recommendation from CR despite scoring well in our performance tests. Ryobi’s three-year warranty on this model is longer than the coverage on most other stick vacuums, including Dyson’s. In suction and airflow, the Ryobi 18V One+ HP vacuum performs almost as well as its most powerful competitors. We tried it on rugs, bare floors, car seats, and upholstery, and it did an excellent job of picking up all kinds of debris.
The only thing that would have made it better was having a second charged battery waiting in the wings. The Shark Wandvac Self-Empty System comes bundled with an auto-emptying station, which in our testing failed to extract all of the debris from the vacuum’s teeny dustbin. This model’s 33-ounce dustbin is much larger than those of our picks. In our tests, we were able to vacuum a fur-ridden 650-square-foot space without having to empty the dustbin once.
Leslie Tam, a cofounder of the cleaning service UrbanMop, said it might be time to replace your vacuum once it shows a drastic reduction in suction. He recommended prolonging your vacuum’s life by performing regular maintenance, including cleaning the filter often, shark pet vacuum removing hairs and other debris from the brush roll, and emptying the dust bin before it gets too full. While I wasn’t expecting the powerful suction of a Dyson vacuum, I still looked for enough suction power to pick up dirt, debris, and dog hair from the floor.
Shark is a good household manufacturer that produces items like mops and irons alongside vacuums at different price points and styles. You can also use many Shark vacuums as handhelds, which is nice if you need to clean hard-to-reach places. If you want an easily portable model, Shark sells some cordless vacuums. However, the best cordless Shark vacuum models tend to have a few maintenance needs and can be a little more tricky to clean.
Look for a solid money-back guarantee to ensure you can return your vac if you’re unhappy with its performance. The Tineco Floor One S7 Pro is without a doubt expensive, but it reigns supreme with its excellent performance, auto dirt detection system, high-tech LCD screen with an assistant, and brushroll shark handheld vacuum drying capabilities. The Shark Stratos easily slides underneath low spots like the bed or sofa thanks to its bendable stick and swivel head design, which is very simple to maneuver. The R10 doesn’t pack the suction punch of our top dust buster, but it comes in at fraction of the price.