Stocking up on disposable pads is a must, and also very easy to forget about, in our experience. Plus additional pad packs only come with 10 pads, so it’s almost worth adding multiple to your cart at a time. The battery life lasts up to 15 minutes, which might not sound like a lot but gets us through all short bursts of cleaning, which is what handheld vacuums are best for. It feels like three vacuums in one—but even if you’re not interested in the different modes, it excels in the upright setting, too. The C3 is light and, unlike the accident-prone Henry, smoothly follows you around on its castors.
The Ryobi 18V One+ HP vacuum easily transforms into a handheld vacuum, and its attachments are versatile and better designed than those of other models we’ve tested. This Ryobi vacuum also includes a micro crevice tool with thin, flexible straws that we found ideal for cleaning the interior of a dusty sewing machine and a dryer vent. It has a decent warranty, and its battery and many of its parts are replaceable.
Robot vacuums are good for regular cleans, however with suction that can’t match the best cordless vacuums they’re not suitable for a deep clean, and struggle to suck up dust embedded in carpets. When testing, we also didn’t like its weight or floor-drying mode that didn’t seem to actually do what it’s supposed to. However, we found the Dyad Pro easy to use and easy to clean, leaving our floors spotless even if we have to wait a little bit for them to dry. We also appreciated its decent battery life, though you probably won’t be able to cover a large space on a single charge.
There’s a lot to love about Hizero Bionic Hard Floor Cleaner, starting with the fact that it was, by far, the easiest mop vac to clean. It’s also super quiet, even on max cleaning mode, because it doesn’t use suction to collect debris. Instead of a brush roll, the Hizero has a soft polymer roller that’s supposed to mimic the way a dog shark stick vacuum licks things off the floor. It’s pretty cool technology but it wasn’t great at cleaning my textured kitchen floor (to be fair, the product description does state that it performs best on “leveled” floors). If you have the benefit of perfectly flat floors this could work—especially if you’re in an apartment and worry about noise.
The SEBO Airbelt K3 Premium is our top-performing canister vacuum, combining excellent cleaning power and filtration with comfortable handling and thoughtful design. Corded vacuums tend to be smaller, lighter and more manoeuvrable than their corded counterparts. This makes them easier to use, carry and store, and better for jobs such as stairs or cleaning the car.
Only a powerful plug-in upright or canister vacuum can take on all of the above, making your home sweet home cleaner and less crawly. The best ones work on different types of floors, filter allergens and pollutants, and last for years. Some models are suitable for all floor types (and many come with pet attachments). Newer machines are more intelligent, too, with some automatically adapting to the type of surface you’re cleaning.
And inevitably, I’m also asked my opinion of two very specific and very popular vacuum cleaner brands, Shark and Dyson. 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, shark pet vacuum including cleaning the filter often, removing hairs and other debris from the brush roll, and emptying the dust bin before it gets too full. Tineco leads the way with its collection of cordless wet-dry vacuums. It also has a long 40-minute runtime and a clean water tank large enough to keep you from stopping to refill every 10 minutes.