It’s also better built, more effective on carpeted surfaces, and superior when capturing fine allergens, which is a handy addition for pet owners. Meanwhile, the BISSELL is superior when cleaning large areas of bare floor, as its corded design gives you an effectively unlimited runtime. Price is important too, but since most units are fairly affordable, the real talents of each vacuum are what matter. Under the spice cabinet was that beige, battery-powered wedge of a vacuum that everyone in America bought starting in 1979. Black & Decker made the cordless handheld vacuum a commodity, and in turn, made cleaning up small messes and hard-to-reach areas that much easier.
Its crevice tool was too narrow to pick up larger debris, and its motorized brush was significantly inferior to that of our also-great pick. One drawback is that it comes with only one clip-on crevice tool, which makes it useless on fur; in our tests, it picked up clumps but left all other fur stuck to the carpet. At this writing, you have the option to buy the vacuum alone for $35 or in a kit with a charger and battery for $70.
Customers praise the slim design and its ability to fit into small spaces. This vacuum has a very small dirt compartment, even for a handheld model. While it’s made of transparent plastic, there’s no max fill line to give you a quick indication of how full it is.
At 75 dB, it is also quieter than the majority of the vacuums we assessed. Almost any handheld vacuum can pick up visible crumbs and dirt. Especially strong handhelds can also suck up some fine dust, as well as larger, heavier pebbles or chunks of food. This Ryobi model runs for a respectable 18 minutes and recharges in under an hour—faster than any of the other handheld vacs we tried.
The Shark WANDVAC is decent for clearing away debris on high-pile carpet. While it struggles somewhat to clear fine and large debris, it can easily suck up pet hair. It’s also easy to carry wherever you need it in your home, thanks to its lightweight design. That said, some debris can get past its pre-filter and stick to the fabric filter, requiring you to clean it after use.
Unless you pay a detail shop to vacuum your interior on a regular basis, a handheld cordless vacuum is an inexpensive and easy way to keep your fabrics and plastics looking neat. Featuring an innovative nozzle to clean up high, down low, and in tight spots, this pivot vac offers strong suction and fade-free power. A 3-stage filtration system helps prevent clogs and improves air exhaust. We appreciate the inclusion of the multi-purpose pet tool, which impressed with its wide-head brush and the flat head options. Both sucked so much dust from our dusty dining chair that it actually changed the color of the upholstery to a whiter white.
How long that takes depends on how and how often the vacuum is used. Shark has a couple of different setups for charging its handheld vacuums. Handheld vacuums are small, so they don’t take up a lot of space.
If you regularly clean up after fur-shedding pets, the Black+Decker Dustbuster AdvancedClean+ HHVK515JP07 is uniquely designed to help you fight that battle. Staff writer Sabine Heinlein has been a journalist for over two decades. With a menagerie of rabbits and cats, she obsesses over how different types of fur adhere to shark stick vacuum upholstery and how best to remove hairballs from heirloom rugs. How long, rounded to the nearest half-minute, the vacuum can run on one battery charge in its highest-power mode. Clean hard-to-reach areas and slim spaces with the included nozzles. Some shoppers say they’d hoped for a longer run time from this little vac.
Check your vacuum’s owner manual for specific instructions on cleaning the filter, and do this task as often as the manual recommends (PDF). In all of our picks, the filters (PDF) are washable (PDF). “Remember that the motor is trying to draw air to breathe through the filter. Clean the filters often, like at least every other shark handheld vacuum use,” said Tom Gasko, vacuum-cleaner collector and repair specialist and owner of Mid Missouri Vacuum. We also had difficulties opening the dustbin during our testing and ended up showered with glitter. This vacuum does not come with a purpose-built pet-hair tool, but in our tests, its wiry brush tool did the job just fine.