Dreame D9 Max Gen 2: two-minute review

The Dreame D9 Max Gen 2 is an entry-level robot vacuum designed for those seeking cleaning convenience on a budget. While it doesn't offer the same advanced features as the best robot vacuums on the market, it's a very capable cleaner that delivers good value for money. I'd definitely count it among the best budget robovacs I've tested.

This hybrid robot vacuum and mop is well built, if a little on the large side, with a compact charge-only dock. Set-up is straightforward, and I was impressed by its mapping and navigation, which was quick and painless (which isn't always the case with budget bots).

In terms of cleaning power, the D9 Max Gen 2 performed well in suction tests, tackling fine debris or chunkier spillages without issue. I was less enamored with its mopping skills, however. The design of the mop pad isn't the best and I'm not sure it's worth the effort, delivering only the lightest wipe-down of my lino floors. Another potential downside is the unreliable object avoidance; if you often have clutter on your floors and don't want to have to tidy before every vacuuming run, this isn't the robovac for you.

The app is well designed and intuitive. While you won't get the kind of granular control or automation offered by pricier bots, it covers the main bases. The only exception is that I couldn't see a way to set up a cleaning schedule or time a cleaning run.

For the price, then – which is solidly in the budget bracket – I think the D9 Max Gen 2 is a good buy. Dreame makes some of our favorite premium robot vacuums (including the excellent Dreame L40 Ultra), so I'm not surprised to find that its budget offering is of a high quality. I'd recommend it to anyone looking for a wallet-friendly, fuss-free robovac that navigates reliably well and helps you stay on top of your vacuuming. That's the short version; read on for my full Dreame D9 Max Gen 2 robot vacuum review.

Dreame D9 Max Gen 2 review: price & availability

• List price: $299.99 / £219 / AU$699
• Launched: Confirming
• Available: US, UK, Australia

In the US, at time of writing, the Dreame D9 Max Gen 2 is available direct from Dreame US or via Amazon, and has a list price of $299.99. In the UK, it has a list price of £219, and is available to buy direct from Dreame UK, as well as a range of third-party retailers such as Amazon, B&Q and Currys. In Australia, the robovac costs AU$699 at full price, but can be found discounted to AU$399 on the Dreame AU site at the time of writing. Note that I spotted the vacuum being offered at big discounts in all territories while writing this review.

Even at list price, this bot is firmly in the budget price bracket – we count any robot vacuum under $500 / £400 as budget at TechRadar. For that price, it feels very well-built, and the features are in line with what I'd expect.

• Value for money score: 4 out of 5

Dreame D9 Max Gen 2 specs

Dreame D9 Max Gen 2 review: design

• Hybrid robovac and mop with compact, charge-only dock
• Single rubber roller and one side brush
• Fixed, D-shaped mop pad with small integrated water tank

The Dreame D9 Max Gen 2 is a hybrid robotic vacuum and mop. It's sports the standard, round design with a raised navigation puck, and is available in black or white. Size-wise, it's at the larger end of the spectrum, measuring 13.8in / 35cm in diameter, and it features two physical buttons: Power and Home. However, for most controls you'll want to use the companion app.

This model uses LiDAR for navigation, hence the raised puck. This is the fastest and most accurate robot vacuum navigation technology, and widely used – but not always a given in budget-friendly models (some use the more basic vSLAM; see how the two compare in our LiDAR vs vSLAM explainer). There's also a camera at the front of the bot.

Flip it over and you'll find a single rotating side brush, a rubbery roller, two chunky wheels, and a smaller, third mini-wheel for balance. In general, I prefer rubbery rollers such as the one here over bristled brushrolls, since the latter tend to become tangled with hair. Some bots will have dual rollers (the main examples being Roborock and iRobot Roomba models); but in general, this looks like a pretty standard setup.

Slightly more unusual is the approach to the mop pad. Dreame has integrated a wide, very shallow water tank onto the underside of the D-shaped mop pad. Other robovacs will have a separate tank inside the bot itself, but that uses up valuable dust-storing space. Here, you're getting a slightly higher onboard dust cup capacity, but the bot won't hold much water.

The mop pad/water tank comes on and off using a combination of clips and magnets (not as complicated as it sounds!), so it doesn't need to be attached when you're just vacuuming.

This kind of fixed, D-shaped mop pad tends not to be as effective at scrubbing compared to the spinning, dual discs found on more advanced models. However, it's as I'd expect for a robot vacuum in this price bracket.

The mop pad also can't lift and lower to allow the bot to traverse over carpet without leaving damp patches, which is a feature also seen on pricier robot vacuums. In fact, more advanced Dreame bots can dock themselves and drop off their mop pads when they're not required – but again, you'd need to pay a fair bit more for that kind of functionality.

A hinged lid on top of the bot can be opened to reveal the onboard dust cup with integrated filter. This is very slightly fiddly to remove from the inside of the bot. There's also a brush and hair-cutter tool, for easier maintenance.

The dock is of the basic, charge-only type, rather than the kind that houses a larger dustbin into which the bot's smaller bin will automatically empty. That has the benefit of being far more compact – good news, if you have a small home. However, it also means you'll need to take care of emptying the bin manually, which will be annoying if you're regularly dealing with large volumes of dust or pet hair, for instance.

You'll also need to manually refill the bot's water tank, as well as clean and dry the mop pads. For a dock that can do this for you, you'd be looking in a significantly higher price bracket.

• Design score: 3.5 out of 5

Dreame D9 Max Gen 2 review: performance

• Good navigation, but unreliable object avoidance
• Vacuuming generally good, can struggle with larger debris
• Mopping okay, but just for very light cleans

The app walked me through the initial setup, which included linking the bot to my home Wi-Fi and connecting it to the app – all nice and straightforward.

On setup, it prompted me to do a fast mapping run, where the bot just creates a map of your space but doesn't clean. This took under five mins, and involved the bot meandering into each room and vaguely looking around. After that was complete, it created a very rough map of the space, without trying to separate rooms.

I then set it off on its first cleaning run. I was pretty impressed. The bot covered everything with minimal fuss, only getting slightly muddled when trying to traverse the slanting edges of some rooms. It also became stuck when it was making its way around the border of my low hearth – although did manage to escape on its own eventually.

With the first cleaning run complete, the app split the map into what it thought were rooms (mostly correct), and I tweaked and named each room. It is possible to create multiple maps, but I didn't do this as I live on a single floor.

Navigation & obstacle avoidance

In general, the Dreame Max Gen 2 navigates very well. I could see it adjusting its path when it was about to reach an obstruction, although at times it did also seem to find its way by bumping into things.

However, it isn't as reliable when it comes to obstacle avoidance. I ran TechRadar's standard tests using a shoe, sock and cable on my floor, and the Dreame failed to spot any of them, eating the cable, doing its best to eat the sock, and pushing the shoe around until I picked it up and took it away to safety. This bot probably isn't the best choice if you have a lot of clutter on your floors.

Suction performance

The Dreame D9 Max Gen 2 has four suction modes: Quiet, Standard, Strong and Turbo; and can be set to vacuum, mop, or both.

To assess cleaning power, I ran TechRadar's standard tests. I started by sprinkling tea and oats on separate patches of carpet. I bumped up the suction setting to Strong (it's Standard by default) and set the bot to vacuum that area.

It cleared most of the tea in one pass, and almost all of it in two. I then boosted suction up to Max, and remote-controlled the bot over the area to clear the final remnants.

I was impressed with how it handled the oat spillage, too. It cleared almost all of it first time and the rest on second pass, and it didn't ping them around, either.

However, in my general use of the vacuum on carpet, I had a few minor complaints. Occasionally, the bot would deposit larger debris – a tiny bit of leaf, for example – in another area of the room after initially seeming to have picked it up.

I also found it wasn't amazing at dealing with hair. I have long hair, and the bot would occasionally to roll it into clumps and leave it on the carpet rather than pick it up. However, there was hair in the bin when I came to empty it, and none wrapped around the brushroll, so it isn't a total fail on that front. (If you're looking for the best vacuum for pet hair, we have a separate guide that's worth consulting.)

I repeated my tea suction test on hard floor. On the first pass, the D9 Max Gen 2 seemed to just push the tea leaves around everywhere. On the second and third passes, though, it had gathered pretty much everything.

The oats were pinged around even more enthusiastically, however; but, again, almost all were sucked up eventually. Only a few escaped and that was because they'd bounced their way out of my set cleaning zone.

It's worth stating that robot vacuums are great for everyday maintenance cleans, but even the priciest models fall short of the results achieved with a decent manual vacuum. When I went to empty the Dreame's bin after use, it was packed full of dust and hair, so it certainly picked up plenty from my apartment; but following up with my Dyson Gen5detect saw even more dust collection.

Mopping performance

To mop, you need to clip on the full water tank with pre-dampened mop pad attached. I found filling the tank a little fiddly since it's so thin and the opening is small, and getting the wet mop pad back on proved a bit tricky, too. To Dreame's credit, the unit didn't leak at all while I was attaching it back onto the bot, as I had feared it might. There's no option to use this bot with a floor cleaner.

There are three water levels to choose from, and I selected the middle one for my mop tests. You can also choose from a couple of intensity settings: Daily mopping and Deep mopping (where the robot moves in "a dense Z-shaped pattern"). I opted for the latter, because the app warned there was a "risk of skidding" in this mode, which sounded exciting.

In fact, there was no skidding and I couldn't really see a difference in how it was moving compared to how it had previously navigated the rest of my apartment. However, it did an okay job of mopping, leaving a light, even sheen of water across the floor and clearing a wet spillage I'd introduced.

To see how it fared with trickier spillages, I smeared a tiny bit of ketchup on the floor. Unfortunately, it barely touched this at all, even after traversing the area three times. It seems that the vacuum isn't exerting enough pressure with its mop pad to clear anything other than surface dirt. That's not too surprising for a bot at this price point, but it's worth bearing in mind if mopping is a priority.

There's also some maintenance to be aware of. You'll need to remove and rinse the pad shortly after a mopping session (the app prompts you, which is helpful), as well as running it through the wash fairly regularly so it doesn't end up smelling. After my mopping session, there were bits of tea and oats on the pad along with the ketchup, even though I'd run the vacuuming tests separately, first. Next I drained the tank, although the placement of the inlet meant I couldn't empty it completely.

Since the D9 Max Gen 2 can't lift its mop pads, you'll ideally want to avoid situations where the wet mop is being dragged over a carpeted area. As such, this bot isn't ideal for apartments such as mine, where there's a big carpeted room meeting three rooms with lino.

In short, I'm not wholly convinced this machine is better off for having mopping capabilities, or that I'd end up using them often. If you really want hands-free mopping, I'd recommend investing more in a machine with spinning circular mop pads that are able to lift over carpet, and a dock that can clean them.

• Performance score: 4 out of 5

Dreame D9 Max Gen 2 review: app

• Nicely designed and easy to use
• Main functions covered, except you can't set a cleaning schedule
• Pricier options offer more granular control

The Dreame app is well-designed and intuitive. It doesn't offer tons of settings compared to more premium options, but most of the key ones are covered.

The map is clear, and you can follow the bot in real-time as it makes its way around the home. You can split and merge rooms, add "zones", and create no-go zones if there's something you know is going to cause problems.

There's also an area where you can adjust your suction and water settings. If you switch on "customized cleaning", you can set personalized suction power and water for each area. It's also possible to adjust the order in which the bot cleans you rooms. While you can launch the bot remotely, you can't set a regular cleaning schedule for it to follow.

• App score: 4 out of 5

Should you buy the Dreame D9 Max Gen 2?

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

How I tested the Dreame D9 Max Gen 2

I used the Dreame D9 Max Gen 2 as my main vacuum for a couple of weeks to get a feel for its general usability and performance. I also ran a series of suction tests to assess its cleaning power, asking it to pick up fine (tea) and chunky (oats) debris on hard floor as well as carpet. To test obstacle avoidance, I scattered common items you'd find around any home over my living room floor to see if it would bump into them or navigate around them. I also noted how effective it was at mopping, and whether it could cope with wet (water) and sticky (smeared ketchup) spillages.

During my review period, I assessed how easy it was to set up the D9 Max Gen 2, the accuracy of its navigation, and if it generally performed as I'd want it to. I compared my experience with other robot vacuums I've tested, both budget and premium models.

Read more about how we test robot vacuum cleaners.

• First reviewed March 2025

Eufy E20: two-minute review

The Eufy E20 is an ingenious piece of design. It's a self-emptying robotic vacuum that also doubles as both a stick and handheld vacuum, so when it's finished cleaning the floors, you can take over and vacuum the stairs, a sofa, or your car interior. It has strong suction (up to 30,000 Pa in handheld mode) and is more capable than some other robots at climbing over raised door thresholds and wading through thick rugs.

The setup process is quick and simple, and the Eufy app is easy to use, with plenty of options for adjusting settings, creating cleaning schedules and even driving the robot manually, if you prefer. The docking station is relatively compact and the crevice tool neatly stores inside the robot itself when not in use. And, while you'll need to find somewhere to store the stick attachment, it does at least stand up on its own.

I've tested some of the best robot vacuums on the market, and the E20's robo element holds up pretty well in comparison, although it's not quite perfect. Its cleaning powers was good and I was mostly impressed by its navigation skills, although during my review period it sometimes behaved erratically and was occasionally let down by imperfect obstacle avoidance. It frequently head-butted the (open) kitchen door and pushed shoes instead of driving cleanly around them. I also had to remove tangled hair from the roller brush more frequently than with some other robotic vacuums.

The manual vacuum works surprisingly well, and while it lacks the robust build quality and extra features found on today's best cordless vacuums, it was still capable enough to replace my regular Dyson for the duration of my review. If you don't already own a stick vacuum, or yours needs replacing, the E20 is an effective all-in-one solution that delivers strong value for money.

That's the short version; read on for my full Eufy E20 review.

Eufy E20 review: price & availability

• List price: $549.99 / £549
• Launched: February 2025
• Available: US / UK

The Eufy E20 was announced at CES 2025 – where it won the Best of Innovation in Home Appliances award – and went on sale earlier in February 2025. At list price, it costs $550 / £550 / AU$999, which makes it a mid-range robotic vacuum. At time of writing, Eufy's own website offered a $50 discount, so it looks like you'll be able to avoid paying full price if you're smart about when you buy.

However, the E20 isn't just a robot vacuum – it's also a cordless stick vacuum (which can be used as a handheld). This plausibly means customers could buy the E20 and do without any other form of vacuum for their entire home, since in stick and handheld mode it can handle the stairs, a sofa, your car interior and everywhere else unreachable by rival robots.

While this 3-in-1 design is unusual, it's not completely unique. Currently on the market is the Yeedi C12 Combo, which similarly bundles stick vac and robovac on the same docking station, although there the handheld doesn't sit inside the robot vacuum. That option is US-only, and costs $699.99 / (about £560 / AU$1,110).

There's also the Ecovacs Deebot T30S Combo, which has a handheld included (but no wand to turn it into a floor vac). Again, it's not available in the UK, but is significantly more expensive at $1,199.99 / AU$2,299 (about £950).

If we focus on Eufy's own range, and the robot vacuum-only options, the E20's price puts it roughly on par with the $650 Eufy Omni C20. However that self-emptying robot comes with a powered rotating mop, which the E20 lacks. Below both sits the $450 Eufy L60, which has the same self-emptying design but also lacks a mop.

Ultimately, the E20 is good value if you don't already own a handheld or stick vacuum, and if you're happy to mop the floors yourself. A good stick vacuum will typically cost £350 / $350 or more (although some are far pricier), so factoring that in, the Eufy E20 starts to make sense.

• Value for money score: 4 out of 5

Eufy E20 specs

Eufy E20 review: design

• Innovative 3-in-1 design can function as robovac, stick vac and handheld
• Robovac and handheld dock and empty into the same base
• No mopping capabilities

The Eufy E20's design is by far its most compelling attribute. This is a robotic vacuum that doubles as a handheld vacuum with both stick and brush attachments for cleaning floors, steps and sofas. Or, think of it as a handheld vacuum that can be docked into a robot, which then charges and empties its onboard dustbin via the included docking station.

It's a clever approach to the number one problem with robotic vacuums – that, no matter how intelligent and powerful they are, they cannot tackle the stairs, furniture or your car. With the E20, Eufy presents a machine that can handle just about everything, and means you don't need to purchase an additional handheld vacuum. All that's missing is a mop.

The motorized part of the robot looks much like other robotic vacuums, complete with wheels, roller brush and spinning side brush. But with the press of a big red button, the handheld element – which comprises the robot's suction system, dustbin and battery – detaches, ready to be used as a handheld. A stick attachment with powered roller brush for vacuuming the floor is included in the box, along with a crevice tool and a brush for vacuuming furniture. The stick doesn't come with a wall mount (as other handheld vacuums do), but can stand up on its own, making it easy to store without falling over, and the crevice tool handily tucks into a storage slot on the robot itself.

The robot measures 13.5 inches (34 cm) in diameter and is 5.5 inches (14 cm) tall. The base station is 10 inches (25.5cm) wide, 15.5 inches (39cm) tall and 6in (15cm) deep. When docked and charging, the total footprint of the robot and base station is 13.5in (34 cm) wide and 18in (46cm) deep.

The stick attachment for using the vacuum as a handheld is 34 inches (86cm) long. As ever with robotic vacuums, it is recommended that you leave plenty of space in front of, and to the side of, the docking station. This isn't entirely necessary, but bear in mind that if the dock is close to a wall the robot won't be able to reach that area of the floor.

The handheld section uses a bagless design and can be emptied manually. Or, you can place it back onto the robot and it'll then empty automatically into the charging dock, which uses a 3.5-liter dust bag that Eufy says needs replacing every 75 days. The robot empties itself when it sees fit, although you can have it empty on command with a press of a button.

Installing and setting up the Eufy E20 is easy. It connects to the Eufy app just like the company's other robotic vacuums, then drives around to create an editable map of your home. After that, you can task the robot with cleaning your entire property, or targeting one room or just a specific area of your choosing. There's also plenty of customization, with several suction strengths to pick from, but I'll come back to this in the performance section of the review.

Lastly, a strange quirk of the E20's design is how the robot's charge point is at the opposite side to the dust bin. This means the robot first parks at the docking station to empty its dust bin, then drives back out, turns around, and parks again, this time facing the opposite way so its charge point can connect to the dock.

• Design score: 4.5 out of 5

Eufy E20 review: performance

• Robovac mostly performs well on suction and object avoidance
• ... although some navigation issues and erratic behavior
• Manual vacuum surprisingly capable too, if a bit loud

The setup process took just a few minutes, with the robot successfully navigating its way around my apartment on its first attempt. It created a fairly accurate map, which I was able to quickly edit – changing a couple of room boundaries and naming each room – from the app with just a few taps. I also created a no-go zone to prevent the robot from driving under the living room sofa, as the amount of stuff under there meant it was bound to get stuck. Finally, I used the app to mark the bedroom floor as a medium pile carpet, and to plot the location of a high pile rug in the living room.

Right away, I was impressed by how the E20 clambered its way over a set of relatively high doorway thresholds without getting stuck. It even reversed then drove forward more quickly after failing on its first attempt. Some other Eufy robots, including the vastly more expensive Omni S1 Pro, have failed to reliably clear these thresholds. I asked Eufy about this but a spokesperson said there have been no changes to the robot's intelligence in this regard.

It also drove over a thick rug without getting stuck – also something pricier robots often fail to do – but got tangled up in some tassels at the end of the rug. This is understandable, and if you have such a rug you'll want to either mark it as a no-go zone in the app, or move it before each clean.

The robot mostly navigated very well, but on one occasion, after being untangled from the rug, it first said it "wasn't on the ground", when it was, then seemingly got lost despite saying it had correctly positioned itself. Another press of the home button fixed this, and after several minutes of exploration, it found its way back to the dock.

During daily use, I found the E20's navigation to be a little clumsy and inconsistent. Sometimes it would drive precisely along a wall, leaving the tiniest of gaps, while other times it would push shoes around instead of driving around them, and head-butt open doors. On one occasion, when tasked with vacuuming the bedroom, the robot arrived at the entrance to the room and cleaned for just a few moments, before declaring the task complete and returning to base. I tried again, but this time it failed to enter the room and instead drove off into the living room, before returning and successfully entering the bedroom.

Although I've highlighted a few unfortunate failings here, the E20 mostly performed well. I especially like how it drove more quickly at any raised thresholds it failed to clear at the first attempt, and how it cleaned in neat lines – and at a decent speed – when in a large, open space. Only in the more cluttered corners of my home, such as where doors can't be fully opened and access is restricted by relatively complex objects like a portable heater and an office chair, did the E20 struggle. In a larger home with more open space I can see if performing better.

Before I get to the specific cleaning challenges, I should talk about the E20's handheld function. This performs very well indeed, with the stick attachment easy to fit and remove, and the crevice tool handy for vacuuming furniture, a car interior, and other hard-to-reach areas. In handheld mode the E20 deploys its maximum 30,000 Pa of suction (compared to 8,000 Pa when used as a robot, as power is also needed for the motors and navigation system). It did a great job of cleaning hard floors, carpets, rugs and sofas, and entirely replaced my Dyson Cyclone V10 for the duration of the test.

There are four levels of suction power, selected by repeatedly pressing the power button and indicated by a light bar on the side of the vacuum. A long press of the same button turns the vacuum on and off.

Although the manual vacuum works well and has plenty of power, it is rather loud. I recorded a peak loudness of 92 dB at maximum suction (the same as the Dyson V10 at full power), but a more comfortable 82-85 dB at the Eufy's lower power settings.

Being able to use a robotic vacuum as a handheld is a bit of a game-changer, even if the robot isn't quite the smartest around. I can imagine scheduling the robot to clean every few days, then using the stick attachment for occasional top-ups – like tidying up crumbs after food prep – and picking the crevice tool for furniture.

All that's missing is a mop, but at this price point that omission is understandable. A static mopping pad could have been added, as with the SwitchBot K10+ Pro, but since that doesn't work too well, I prefer Eufy's approach of reducing complexity and going without.

Suction tests

Now for the specific tests, starting with how the E20 performs with fine dust, made from a mixture of flour and crushed digestives, on a hard floor. Since it's a small room, I set the robot to vacuum the entire floor once at its lowest power setting, called Quiet and with a loudness measured at 63 dB.

The results were impressive, with almost all evidence of the flour/crumb fix picked up on a single pass at the lowest suction level. I noticed how the E20 didn't flick debris all over the room with its spinning side brush, as other robotic vacuums are often guilty of. In this case, a second pass wasn't required.

I then repeated the test on carpet, and the results were less impressive. The E20 spilled some of its bin contents when clearing the doorway threshold (which sees it climb from exposed floorboards up to a carpet), then failed to lift all of the crumb mix on its first pass. I repeated the test using the next suction level, called Standard (measured at 65 dB), but the robot failed, stating: “Route unavailable. Unable to reach the target point.”

This error occurs when a custom cleaning zone includes an area beyond the confines of the map. Even if it just touches an object like your bed, for example, the task will fail, so you need to be extra careful when creating the custom zone.

Most of the crumb mix was picked up using Standard mode, but some still remained. A single pass on the next mode, called Turbo (66 dB), picked up all debris. After this, the robot emptied its dust bin (79 dB) and put itself on charge.

I then repeated the tests, but this time replaced the crumb mix with oats to see how the E20 performed with larger debris. On hard floor the lowest suction level is powerful enough to pick up the oats, but the robot flicked debris around the room with its spinning side brush and left quite a bit of mess behind, as most robotic vacuums do in this test.

Next, I upped the suction strength to Standard and switched to two passes instead of one, and the E20 did a fantastic job. The room was left almost spotless, with practically no debris missed at all. Impressive.

I repeated the oats test on carpet and found that two passes with Standard mode was the best option. The robot did a great job, picking up all debris save for just two stray oats.

Finally, obstacle avoidance. I used a sock, a shoe and a USB cable to test the E20's ability to spot objects and navigate around. It did a great job of avoiding both the shoe and sock, getting close (but not too close) to each, then continuing its cleaning routine.

Unfortunately, it didn't care for the USB cable, and ate it almost immediately. This wrapped around the roller brush, stopping the robot and causing it to ask for help. No damage was caused, but it was clearly a failure.

Eufy says the E20 uses LiDAR and 'dual laser sensors” to scan its environment and avoid obstacles over 15mm in size. The USB cable is less than 15mm wide, but is of course much longer than that. Eufy also says the roller brush rotates in reverse after cleaning and uses a built-in comb to dislodge hair, but when retrieving the cable I also had to remove a clump of hair that had tangled itself around the roller after just a handful of cleans.

• Performance score: 3.5 out of 5

Eufy E20 review: app

• Simple setup and use
• Highly configurable
• Easy to schedule and adjust settings

Eufy's app is a good one. Setting up the E20 is quick and easy – just as it is with Eufy's other robotic vacuums – and the app is responsive, stable and intuitive. Part of the setup process includes telling the robot to create a map by exploring your home. You can then use the app to name rooms and make edits, such as creating no-go zones, labelling where carpets are, and moving any boundaries the E20 might have got wrong. I wish there was an option to label raised thresholds, so that the robot would know to drive more quickly, or at an angle, to clear them reliably.

You can tell the robot to cover an area once or twice during each clean, and there are four suction strengths. You can also tell the E20 to vacuum the entire map, clean a single room, or draw a specific zone for it to target.

Head into the comprehensive settings page and there are options for creating a daily or weekly schedule, adjusting how often it self-empties into the docking station, setting a child lock, and even taking manual control to drive the robot yourself. There's also a handy page showing the remaining life of replaceable components like the filter, brushes and dust bag.

• App score: 4.5 out of 5

Should you buy the Eufy E20?

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

How I tested the Eufy E20

I set up the Eufy 20 in my home and used it as my only vacuum cleaner for a month. It entirely replaced my own handheld vacuum and was used to clean every room. This included hard floors and carpets, and I also used the E20 in handheld mode to clean a sofa and my car interior. After living with the E20 for a month, I completed a series of specific tests to discover exactly how well it performs.

Read more about how we test robot vacuum cleaners.

• First reviewed January 2025

ThisWorx Corded Car Vacuum Cleaner review

The ThisWorx Corded Car Vacuum Cleaner is a cable-powered and easy-to-wield handheld vacuum cleaner that comes with some helpful accessories and a storage bag. It has a list price of $36.99 at Amazon, and was available in the UK until recently, with no hint of when it may be back in stock. There’s a variety of budget handheld vacs available on Amazon, and results can be somewhat hit-and-miss, but in the case of the ThisWorx Corded Car Vacuum Cleaner, it’s a low-cost vacuum that’s worth the money.

I must admit, the ThisWorx Corded Car Vacuum Cleaner appealed to me straight out of the box simply because it has rose gold buttons on – clearly I’m easily pleased. Aside from this detail, I was happy with the overall aesthetic and the materials used. It mostly comprises not-too-cheap-looking matt black plastic, with a smoky black translucent dust cup that makes up the front end of the vacuum. ThisWorx hasn’t provided a capacity for the dust cup, but it doesn’t look much smaller than the dust cup of the Temola TS20BS Cordless Handheld Vacuum.

I liked how the air outlet vents have been somewhat made into a feature, as they’re fin-like and curved. The integrated handle is easy to hold and while at 2.4lbs / 1.1kg it’s not as light as other car vacuums I’ve tested, it’s still light enough and easy to wield. The rose-colored buttons are clearly differentiable and easy to use. There’s a simple slide switch engraved with a power button symbol and a rounded button that releases the catch holding the dust cup when pushed.

While many users prefer a wireless vacuum, I found the 16ft / 4.8m power cord offered plenty of length to vacuum my whole car. It plugged into my car's 12V outlet easily, and this constant power meant that I wasn’t limited to a 10-15 minute run time as many cordless of the best handheld vacuums are. The dimensions of the ThisWorx Corded Car Vacuum Cleaner are fairly average, measuring ‎13.4 x 3.9 x 4.3 inches / 340 x 102 x 109mm, so it was small enough to use in my footwells. For harder-to-reach areas, the extension tube and flathead nozzle came in handy, as this allowed me to get down the sides of the seats. This car vac also comes with a brush head, spare HEPA filter, filter cleaning brush, a storage bag, and a hanging car freshener, too.

I consider it a bonus when a handheld vacuum comes with a storage bag. The one that comes with the ThisWorx Corded Car Vacuum Cleaner could not only hold the vacuum and the accessories but it was easy to carry as well. The quality isn’t fantastic, I must say. The material is thin and looks like it could get easily torn, so I can’t speak of its longevity, but it was convenient over the week I tested this car vac.

Getting the ThisWorx Corded Car Vacuum Cleaner ready to rumble was pretty easy. There was no charging time to factor in thanks to its corded design, and I just needed to follow the instructions that stated I’d need to remove and reinsert the HEPA filter. The user manual stated this may be difficult to do at first, and they weren’t wrong, but after that point, it was easy to put back in place and remove. I liked that there was a plastic bar across the center of the filter, as this made life easier when it came to removing it, which is especially useful as the filter needed to be removed each time I needed to empty the dust cup.

Despite only having one power setting, the ThisWorx Corded Car Vacuum Cleaner had no issue vacuuming up the oats I’d spread over my car’s floor mat. It picked up basically everything in its path on the first pass, spare a couple of smaller particles, but it picked these up quickly when I went back over those spots. It performed well when vacuuming up the mixture of fine biscuit crumbs and flour, too, but there were some very fine particles within the pile that it wasn’t quite powerful enough to suck up.

This was the perfect opportunity to try out the extension tube and brush. Both ends of the hose look similar, but there’s a helpful arrow on the end that should be inserted into the vac. Both accessories were easy to fit in place, and the brush enabled me to clean up the finer particles, although it took a few passes, making it more effort to use than the Shark Ultracyclone Pet Pro Plus, the overall champion of our best car vacuum, but this is understandable considering the substantial price difference.

The position of the air outlets was good, as the fin-like vents were positioned on the sides of the vacuum and blew backward, so I didn’t have any issues with the stream of air shooting oats and biscuit crumbs around my car, as happened when I tested the Homekane Handheld Vacuum Cleaner Cordless.

I tested ThisWorx Corded Car Vacuum Cleaner in a full car clean, and my driver's footwell was no easy task. I was pleased to find the suction was strong enough to get small bits of leaf debris and gravel out of my car's carpeting, something weaker vacuums I’ve tested struggled with. This car vacuum tackled the leaves and bits of gravel well, although I needed to empty the dust cup halfway through as the one-inch leaves unavoidably covered the filter. It took a few minutes, and I needed to finish off with the brush to get the finer debris out of the carpet pile, but overall I was pleased with the results from the ThisWorx Corded Car Vacuum Cleaner.

In a nutshell, I’d happily spend $36.99 on this handheld vacuum cleaner. It looks nice, is easy to hold and, in my opinion, the corded power is a bonus as I don’t need to wait for it to recharge if I want to do a thorough clean. While the storage bag is a little on the cheap side, it still proved useful, and the accessories were a suitable quality for the price. If you’d prefer a named-brand vacuum, take a look at our selection of the best car vacuums, handheld vacuums, and cordless vacuums to learn about our favorites.

ThisWorx Corded Car Vacuum Cleaner specs

Should I buy the ThisWorx Corded Car Vacuum Cleaner?

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ThisWorx Corded Car Vacuum Cleaner review: also consider

How I tested the ThisWorx Corded Car Vacuum Cleaner

• I used the ThisWorx Corded Car Vacuum Cleaner to clean my car
• I assessed its ability to vacuum both large and fine debris
• I tested the included accessories

I took a close look at the design and materials used for the ThisWorx Corded Car Vacuum Cleaner. I put it through its paces against the TechRadar vacuum testing process in my car. This involves testing a vacuum's ability to pick up fine and coarse particles, namely oats, and a mixture of flour and fine biscuit crumbs.

I assessed the fit of the accessories and used each of them to see how effective they were. I also looked at how easy and efficient the dust cup emptying process was.

• First reviewed January 2025
• Read more about how we test vacuum cleaners

Ultenic U16 Flex Cordless: two-minute review

Ultenic has certainly upped the ante with the U16 Flex Cordless vacuum, launched in August 2024. As you may have already guessed from the name, the most notable feature is the U16 Flex’s flexibility. Thanks to a clever bendable elbow feature in its wand, this cool cordless does all the bending for you – making light work of pushing the floorhead deep under the furniture.

That's not the only feature borrowed from today's best cordless vacuums. The floorhead has 'GreenEye technology'; essentially bright green LED lights that help you track down less obvious dirt, dust and dander... as well as adding a bit of space-ship coolness. There’s a tangle-free roller brush that actually works, three power modes, six-layer HEPA filtration and a funky illuminated display panel that adds more spaceship vibes.

Operation is one-touch, by which I mean you don’t have to hold the power button in to keep it going, which is always a relief to my poor RSI-ridden hand. Ultenic promises the battery will last up to a full 60 minutes. I managed 54 in my tests, but that's still very respectable.

For all these features, you may well be expecting a price tag along Dyson lines, but perhaps the most astonishing aspect of the U16 Flex cordless is its price – if you shop smart, you can pick one of these little beauties up for under $200 / £200. It's absolutely one of the best budget vacuums I've tested.

I test it in out my four-bed home over the very busy Christmas and New Year holidays, and it did a sterling job on hard flooring (of which we have plenty). I loved how lightweight it was, and the power lasted plenty long enough to whip round downstairs before the next gaggle of guests descended.

However, there's one concession you'll need to make for that mind-blowingly bargain price. To get carpets clean, Normal mode won't cut it; you'll need to call on the maximum 'Turbo' mode. Unfortunately, the U16 can only manage 12 minutes of cleaning in this mode; not long enough to make it around my mostly-carpeted upstairs. So this one is only really suitable for people with mostly hard floors in their home.

Now you’ve read the short-and-sweet version, keep going to discover the full highs and lows of using this budget-friendly cordless in my full Ultenic U16 Flex Cordless review.

Ultenic U16 Flex Cordless review: price & availability

• List price: $219.99 / £219.99 (but discounted everywhere)
• Launched: August 2024
• Availability: US / UK

The Ultenic U16 Flex cordless vacuum is a straight-up bargain. If you’re on the hunt for a lightweight player without dropping a small fortune, this sleek little number is worth a look.

Officially, purchasing direct from Ultenic the list price is $219.99 / £219.99, which is in TechRadar's lower-mid price bracket for vacuums. However, at time of writing, it's discounted there and on Amazon, so you can expect to pay more like $150-$180 in the US, or £160-£170 in the UK. That's firmly in the budget bracket.

Sadly, Australians are out of luck because it’s not available there yet. But for everyone else, this vacuum delivers mid-range performance for a low-end price-tag. It’s got power, it’s lightweight, and it’s brilliant for getting into all those low-level nooks and crannies.

If you’re after a cordless vac that’s stylish, effective, and doesn’t leave you eating instant noodles for a month, the Ultenic U16 Flex has got your back.

• Value for money score: 5 out of 5

Ultenic U16 Flex Cordless specs

Ultenic U16 Flex Cordless review: design

• Lightweight, with flexible wand for getting under furniture
• Intuitive LED display and good bin capacity
• Slightly plasticky build quality

Landing on my doorstep in a compact box, with a fair number of plastic bags and foam padding, it wasn’t especially eco-friendly looking on the packaging front, but the Ultenic U16 Flex was very well protected. After pulling out and unwrapping all the elements, I found it was super easy to put together without any need to look at the quick setup instructions.

In red, black and a hint of purple, the Ultenic U16 Flex cordless vacuum gives me '80s throwback fear. The design has hints of early Dyson, too – that purple cyclone-like filter chamber looks very familiar. Overall, it's lightweight and easy to use; you won’t be breaking a sweat lugging it around.

The build quality feels a bit on the budget side – kind of plasticky and a bit clunky to connect the wand to the floorhead, but given the price that's not a dealbreaker. It's sturdy enough to get the job done without worrying it’ll collapse mid-clean.

The main design highlight for me was the flexible wand, which can be released to bend forwards. It's an idea borrowed from today's best Shark vacuums (like the PowerDetect Cordless), and a game-changer for reaching awkward spots – like under the couch where crumbs and dust bunnies love to party. It bends and twists like a pro, making those hard-to-reach areas not so hard-to-reach. Combined with the lightweight build and searing green LED lighting in the floorhead (this one inspired by the far-pricier Dyson V15 Detect and Gen5detect), it was perfect for quick zips around the house.

Oddly, the control panel isn’t nearly as sexy as the previous model, the slightly cheaper U12 Vesla (which I have also put through its paces) but it’s still nicely styled and techy-looking. There's one button for switching between power modes, so you don’t have to overthink anything while you're cleaning. Plus, the battery indicator is super clear – no guessing games about how much power you have left in the tank.

The main floorhead is solid enough, with decent swivel action that lets you glide around furniture. It's also shallow enough that it doesn’t get stuck under my sideboards, like competitors' models have. It only comes with one detachable crevice tool, but let’s face it, that’s the one we all use – I’ve got a cleaning cupboard full of weird and wonderful (and never used) nozzles from various ghosts of vacuums past. If you do need the gentler approach of a bristled nozzle, for furniture or upholstery etc, one slides out in handheld mode, which is handy because it’s always there, close to hand.

The Ultenic U16 Flex features a generous dustbin for the cordless sector, with a 95ml capacity. I could vacuum round our 4-bed home at least twice before needing to empty it, and given that we have two very hairy spaniels and two messy kids so that’s pretty impressive. When it’s time to dump the contents, the process is simple – just press the release button, and the lid flaps open. You can then empty it directly into the trash with minimal mess – and I never had to get my hands dirty digging out any stuck muck.

The Ultenic U16 Flex’s charging wall mount is space-saving and convenient. I didn’t fix it to my wall because it wasn’t staying, but I could check how well the vacuum slots in and out and always appreciate a mount where the charging is automatic once docked – no need to fiddle about manually inserting the charger port. If you prefer, you can also slide the battery out and charge it away from the vacuum, which would be handy if you don’t have a socket where you want to store your cleaner.

Overall, the U16 Flex is designed to offer everything you need, with a few cool extras on top. It might not feel as premium as some high-end brands, but nor do you have to sell a kidney to buy it.

• Design score: 3.5 out of 5

Ultenic U16 Flex Cordless review: performance

• Excellent maneuvering, and great on hard floors
• Easy to empty and clean
• Battery-sapping Turbo mode needed for carpets

Let me start by saying that the Ultenic U16 Flex cordless vacuum isn’t great on carpets. It’s not the worst I’ve tested, but if you have wall-to-wall carpets throughout and like to feel the power of dirt lifting through from the floorboards underneath, this is not the vacuum for you.

Those with mostly solid floors, like me, should keep reading, especially anyone who is really feeling the cost-of-living crisis right now (also me!). The Ultenic U16 Flex has three power levels: Eco, Normal (which is the default startup setting) and Turbo.

In Eco mode, which gives you the maximum battery life, it did a perfectly good job of sucking up dog hair, crumbs and small particles of dust/dirt from my solid floors (in the busiest rooms of our home: the open-plan kitchen, hallway and utility). However, it wasn’t great at dealing with bigger debris like hay and shavings (we have horses, and half the yard seems to come home via the kids’ socks). Normal was much better and so it was the mode I used most of the time on my hard floors.

On carpet I felt like I was wasting my time in Eco mode. Normal was okay, but I also had to call upon the battery-depleting Turbo mode for carpets. The vacuum only lasted around 12 minutes in Turbo mode. This was okay if I was only cleaning the downstairs, where there's just one room that's carpeted, and it's small. However, it wasn't long enough to clean the four carpeted bedrooms upstairs.

The Ultenic U16 Flex took a little longer than I’d expect to complete a full battery recharge – around four hours. I could have done with a spare battery to tackle upstairs though.

The real star of this vacuum, though, has to be the flexibility. The floorhead swivels and moves really smoothly and I can glide around my furniture without getting the floorhead stuck. I never felt like I was doing battle with the vacuum, and my hand/arm never ached, even when testing the battery to its maximum use in Eco mode (I clocked 52 minutes).

The flex wand is also a total game-changer. It bends low so I don’t have to, stretching under areas that I can normally only reach by getting down on my hands and knees. That almost never happens so it was quite satisfying/disturbing to see how full the bin got when I tackled under the island and kitchen sofa.

Plus, the attachments are really easy, if slightly clunky, to pop on and off. I’ve been using the crevice tool on the end of the long wand for the edges of my baseboards and getting cobwebs up high, and it worked perfectly – again without making my arm ache.

In handheld mode, the Ultenic U16 Flex really shines for quick and targeted cleaning jobs. It’s lightweight and easy to handle, making it perfect for tackling stairs, upholstery, or even light spills in your car (just don’t expect thorough detailing – for that you might need to invest in one of the best car vacuums).

With the crevice attachment, you can reach tight spots effortlessly, like between couch cushions or the corners of stair treads, without contorting into awkward angles or straining your wrists. In handheld mode, the suction is the best you’ll get from this cordless, easily picking up crumbs, and dust. I’d have like a mini upholstery head attachment, ideally with power brush, for really getting those deep-grained pet hairs out of my couch cushions though. TechRadar's best vacuum for pet hair list has some alternative suggestions here.

When it comes to noise, the Ultenic U16 is pretty average for cordless vacuums – not too loud but not super quiet either. In the lowest power it recorded 71 dB on my decibel meter app, in Normal it was 74 dB and in Turbo it went to 82 dB, which is comparable to a food processor or blender. It’s not silent, but it’s definitely quieter than I expected for the price. The good news was I could vacuum in Eco without making my spaniel bark his head off, which is a huge win and a rare feat. He still lost his cool when I dialed up to Turbo, though.

Suction tests

When I ran our standard vacuuming tests – one with flour to mimic fine debris, and another with oats for larger particles – the results were exactly as I’d anticipated. The Ultenic U16 did well on the hard floors and failed on carpets.

The flour test was completed on our engineered wood flooring, and I found I had to switch to Turbo mode to get the best results, but it only took two passes to achieve a clean strip of flooring.

Next came the oats test, again on engineered wood, and I was surprised to discover that I could get all the oats up as easily in Eco mode as I did in Turbo. In fact, the Ultenic U16 Flex made really light work of clearing away the entire spill, with a little help from the spaniels!

Moving into the snug to check out performance on carpet (a short-pile wool number), and the flour test was an absolute fail. Eco mode barely touched the flour and even in Turbo I had to do a bazillion passes and then call in the big guns (my Miele Duoflex cordless) to get the job done.

The oats test was a bit better on carpet, but I still had to spend a lot of time going back and forth over the same spots. Then I had to get the crevice nozzle out to suction up the strays that had snuck into the threshold joint. I nearly ran out of power before my carpet was clean again.

Maintenance

I found the Ultenic U16 easy to clean and maintain. The bin pops open really easily and empties straight out – no fishing about with sticks to unblock clogs. The HEPA filter is also simple to access, which is a bonus for those who hate vacuum maintenance.

You just detach the dustbin by pressing the release button and the filter is easy to spot and pull out. Wash it under a running tap and leave to dry – there’s a spare so you’ll always have a dry one to hand. Another bonus of this cordless is the hair-evading brush in the floorhead, which didn’t get wrapped in any hair, string or random threads during the entire test period.

• Performance score: 3.5 out of 5

Ultenic U16 Flex Cordless review: battery

• Battery lasts 12 mins in Turbo, 52 mins in Eco
• 4 hours to fully recharge the battery
• Removable and swappable battery

The Ultenic U16 Flex provides a practical balance between performance and battery life, especially in a home with mostly solid floors like ours. In Eco mode, the vacuum lasted a generous 52 minutes. That's not quite as long as the hour promised by Ultenic, but it's still plenty of time to tackle everyday messes in busy areas like my open-plan kitchen and hallway.

Most of today's best cordless stick vacuums will offer a maximum of 50 or 60 minutes' of cleaning (and a couple offer up to 70 minutes), although of course the suction in that mode will vary from model to model.

In Turbo mode the battery lasted just 12 minutes. It's not unusual for a stick vacuum's maximum suction mode to drain power that quickly, but the fact I had to use Turbo mode quite a lot when tackling carpets wasn't ideal.

Recharging takes around four hours. The U16's battery is removable and spares can be purchased if you want to extend the cleaning times further.

• Battery life score: 3.5 out of 5

Should you buy the Ultenic U16 Flex Cordless?

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How I tested the Ultenic U16 Flex Cordless

I tested the Ultenic U16 Flex cordless vacuum for four weeks during the festive season, during which we hosted far too many family gatherings than was good for our livers, and a child’s birthday, too. Our home is a Victorian, four-bed detached property that is mostly open-plan downstairs. We don’t have any thick-pile carpet, but we do have virtually every other type of flooring – porcelain, terracotta, luxury vinyl, engineered oaks, wool carpets and lots of flatweave rugs. I used this cordless as the only vacuum during the testing period, in every room and up the stairs, checking out the various attachments as I went. I also conducted controlled tests using flour and oats on hard floors and carpet, monitored the sound levels using an App on my iPhone and timed battery use and charging.

Read more about how we test vacuum cleaners.

First reviewed January 2025

• View at Dyson US / Dyson UK / Dyson AU

Dyson Car+Boat handheld vacuum: two-minute review

The Dyson Car+Boat is a handheld vacuum with suction and battery life that put other handhelds to shame. The reason for that is that it's not really a handheld at all; it's a V8 bundled with different attachments. At time of writing, it's the only handheld option in the Dyson lineup. I put it to the test to see how it compares to the rest of the best handheld vacuums on the market, and if it's worth the extra investment.

I'll start by making it clear that despite being called the Car+Boat, this is not a wet-dry vacuum – Dyson is just suggesting it would be well suited to that. I don't have a boat, so I tried it out on my Fiat Panda.

Overall, it fared well. The suction is powerful, picking up dust and mud with ease, and – if I unleashed Max mode – also sucking up the many little stones that had collected in my footwells. The dust cup is generously sized and you'll get three attachments bundled in. Of those, the most interesting is a small, motorized head that's perfect for tackling larger, relatively flat surfaces like seat cushions and car mats. The Crevice tool is also essential for getting into narrow gaps. Battery life is far longer than most handhelds, offering up to 50 minutes on a single charge.

The compromise you'll have to make for the extra suction and longer battery is that the Car+Boat is a little bulky and heavy compared to many of today's best car vacuums. I was also annoyed by the fact that the trigger must be continually compressed for use – this is tricky when you're trying to maneuver the vacuum into small, awkward spaces.

It's expensive, although that's partly justified by the excellent performance, and that you're getting the mechanics of a full-sized vacuum. You'll need to weigh up whether it's worth just paying a little more for a Dyson stick vacuum (which, after all, can easily be converted into handheld mode). Alternatively, for less intensive cleaning tasks, there are plenty of far cheaper handhelds on the market.

If you're looking for a more heavy-duty handheld, though, the Car+Boat is a strong choice. It's great for larger cleaning sessions, and I'd especially recommend it to pet owners who need that extra suction, and a dust cup that can handle plenty of hair. That's the short version; read on for my full Dyson Car+Boat review.

Dyson Car+Boat review: price & availability

• List price: $279.99 / £249.99 / AU$449
• Launched: February 2025

The Dyson Car+Boat was announced in late January 2025 and went on sale in the US, UK and Australia at the start of February. It's available direct from Dyson as well as via a selection of third-party retailers. At list price it costs $279.99 in the US, £249.99 in the UK, or AU$449 in Australia. That puts it in the premium price bracket for a handheld vacuum.

It's no surprise that this is an expensive option, but is it worth the extra outlay? It's certainly an excellent handheld. The specs are well above most handheld vacuums, and the design and build quality are high, too. If you're on a budget, there are certainly plenty of cheaper handheld vacuums to choose from. Rival vacuum brand Shark's top handheld model – the Shark UltraCyclone Pet Pro handheld vacuum – is a third of the price at $89.99 / £79.99 (about AU$150).

You'll need to factor in that the Car+Boat isn't really a handheld – it's a full stick vacuum, without its wand and floorhead. That means the mechanics are in line with what you'd get with a full-sized vacuum, and you'll also want to consider if you'd be better off just buying a stick vacuum, when it comes to value for money. The base model for this is the Dyson V8, and prices for that start at $349.99 / £329 / AU$799.

• Value for money score: 3.5 out of 5

Dyson Car+Boat specs

Dyson Car+Boat review: design

• Base model is a Dyson V8
• Crevice tool, Combination tool and new handheld tool included
• On the bulky / heavy side for a handheld vacuum

The base model for the Dyson Car+Boat is the Dyson V8 – the only difference is the attachments included. That model launched in 2016, and as a result, you're getting a slightly older configuration and motor here. There are cylones, the motor, dust cup, and removable battery, and the attachments can easily be swapped on and off. The motor spins at 110,000rpm, and there's a whole-vacuum filtration system that can capture 99.99% of particles as small as 0.3 microns.

Operation is via a trigger that needs to be continually depressed, and there are two suction modes (regular and Max), which you can toggle using a switch. The 0.54L dust cup is generous for a handheld, and empties by pulling the whole cyclone array upwards, at which point a flap at the base of the bin will drop open.

You get three attachments bundled in with the Car+Boat. Two are standard tools included with almost all other Dyson stick vacuums: a long, narrow Crevice tool for getting into tight spaces, and a Combination tool that looks like a wider nozzle with retractible brush surround. (More on these in my Dyson vacuum tools guide.)

The third looks like it's new to the Car+Boat, and it's a small motorized head for cleaning relatively flat surfaces like car seats, boat cushions and car mats. It includes a brushroll, and a cover that will move to sit flush with the surface as you clean, to maintain suction.

It probably goes without saying, but there's no long wand or full-sized floorheads, as you'd get with the regular V8.

Dyson stick vacuum comparison

Because the Car+Boat is essentially a V8, and because all of Dyson's stick vacuums can be used as handheld models, it makes sense to briefly cover how the Car+Boat compares.

The V8 was released in 2016, and at time the launch of the Car+Boat, there are three newer vacuums in the lineup – the Dyson V11, the V15 Detect and Gen5detect – all of which have more powerful motors and longer battery life. There are further design differences: all have a more suction-efficient in-line configuration of bin, wand and motor, all have useful LCD screens to provide information, and all have a slightly simpler and more efficient bin-empty mechanism.

Although the V8 isn't the best Dyson vacuum by specs, it is perhaps the best option for handheld use. It's lighter than all the newer models (considerably so, in some cases), and more compact.

• Design score: 4 out of 5

Dyson Car+Boat review: performance

• Excellent suction and tools work very well
• Slightly bulky in small spaces
• Awkward to keep the trigger compressed in use

I used the Dyson Car+Boat to clean my embarrassingly dirty Fiat Panda, and overall I was impressed. The suction is excellent, picking up mud and dust easily, and even pulling up various small stones that had collected on the carpets. I found the Max mode useful for tackling tougher, more ingrained dirt.

The attachments are useful and, for the most part, very well designed. The Crevice tool is long enough to get right into small gaps like down the side of the seats, and the new motorized tool great for larger, flatter areas. The rotating cover works well to maintain a 'seal' around the roller and maximize suction efficiency. I found myself using the Combination tool the least, but it's still useful to have as an option.

All of these tools are well designed, although not quite perfect. The brushroll can be prone to getting tangled with hair, which isn't a massive issue but is something Dyson has addressed elsewhere – its Hair Screw tool has a conical brushroll that directs hair straight into the dust cup. I think you could use a Hair Screw tool as an effective alternative to this new attachment. I also found the button that locks the brush surround on the Crevice tool into place could be a little fiddly.

The Car+Boat is on the chunky side for a handheld vacuum, and could be awkward for getting into tight spaces. I couldn't use it to dust my dash, for instance, because the motor wouldn't fit far enough under the windscreen, and it was a little tricky to maneuver under the seats, too.

My main complaint is that the trigger must be continually pressed in when using the vacuum – there's no clip or switch for continuous running. That's annoying even on a floor vacuum, but doubly so here, where you're trying to shift it at awkward angles spaces. (Dyson has upgraded this to a button on the newest Gen5detect, but none of the others.)

The design is excellent for larger, flatter spaces, however. I also think it'd be a great choice for pet owners, because the suction is powerful enough to handle pet hair, and the dust cup large enough to hold relatively large volumes of it (especially compared to other handhelds). The battery life is also outstanding, but I'll get to that in a second.

• Performance score: 4 out of 5

Dyson Car+Boat review: battery life

• Up to a quoted 50 minutes on one charge; less in Max mode
• Far longer runtimes than the majority of handheld vacuums
• Battery removable and swappable

Battery life is one of the areas where the Car+Boat really stands out from competitors. Dyson quotes a maximum of 50 minutes cleaning on a single charge. That's way above average – most cordless handheld vacuums offer a maximum of 30 minutes of cleaning, but sometimes it's more like 15 minutes. 50 is in line with some of today's best cordless vacuums. Note that Max mode will bleed the battery much faster, but that's to be expected – this mode is really only for tough spot cleans.

On test, I really appreciated this longer runtime. Cleaning cars and furniture is fiddly – it takes time to do it properly, and there's nothing worse than running out of battery halfway through the job, once you've wedged yourself into a footwell. I imagine it's the same with boats.

The battery is removable and swappable, so theoretically if you wanted to extend runtimes further, then you could purchase a spare.

• Battery life score: 5 out of 5

Should you buy the Dyson Car+Boat?

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

How I tested the Dyson Car+Boat

I used the Dyson Car+Boat to clean my Fiat Panda, including seats, carpets, footwells and as many nooks and crannies as I could get into. I also tested it on furniture in my home. I used all the various attachments, and compared it to other vacuums I've tested out in terms of both specs and usability.

Read more about how we test vacuum cleaners

• First reviewed February 2025

Dreame R20 cordless vacuum: two-minute review

The Dreame R20 is a sterling lightweight compact cordless stick vac that delivers exceptional cleaning performance at a very competitive price. Its exceedingly powerful suction, useful blue light dust detection, superb manoeuvrability and user-friendly design make it a very strong contender against expensive premium brands like Dyson and Miele.

A sub brand of the massive Xiaomi empire, Dreame (pronounced Dreamy) is fast becoming a lead player in the arena of innovative floor cleaning products. Whether it's stick vacs, robot vacs or wet and dry hard floor cleaners, it seems the Chinese company has a product to suit all pockets and applications.

At 2.7 kilos, the R20 also one of the lightest stick vacs currently on the market, and that's not something to be sniffed at. Some of the best cordless vacuums on the market are notoriously heavy in the hand and therefore tiring to use for long periods of time.

Despite one minor anomaly – namely the over-sensitive on/off trigger – the R20 is a joy to use (if vacuuming could every be considered a joy). If you're in the market for a highly accomplished cordless stick vac that costs a fraction of the price of a Dyson and even some Shark models, step right this way. This is one of the very best budget vacuums I've tested. Read on for my full Dreame R20 cordless stick vacuum review.

Dreame R20 review: price & availability

• List price: $449.99 / £279
• Available: UK, US, various other territories (not Australia)

Those living in the US can head straight to the US Dreame store where it has a list price of $449.99, but is currently selling for just $269.99. Amazon also lists the R20 though it's currently unavailable on its website.

If you live in the UK, the list price is £279, discounted (very slightly!) to £259 when shopping direct at the UK Dreame store. Alternatively, it's stocked at a range of third party retailers, including Amazon, Currys and B&Q.

Incidentally, the Dreame website lists 27 countries in all – including most European territories – so head there if you have trouble sourcing this product in your country. Although Dreame does have a presence in Australia, the R20 isn't currently available there.

In the US and UK, the Dreame R20 sits near the bottom of the mid-range price bracket, and offers excellent value for that price, competing exceedingly well with premium brands like Dyson and Miele in terms of features and performance. In fact, it's become my new favourite vac, beating the excellent Halo Capsule X for size and storability and the Dyson Gen5detect for price and weight. It also ships with a wide range of accessories, including a short bendy suction tube for reaching deep under beds and sofas.

• Value for money score: 5 out of 5

Dreame R20 cordless vacuum specs

Dreame R20 review: design

• Compact cordless, bagless stick vacuum
• Light in the hand and very easy to maneuver
• Overly sensitive power trigger, easily accidentally activated

Although I've only reviewed two Dreame products to date – this mid-size cordless stick and the excellent Dreame L40 Ultra robot vac and mop – I have to say that I'm suitably impressed by what I've seen so far, at least when compared to some of the competition.

This model arrived in a larger box than the norm but that's only because it ships with a multitude of attachments, including two main floorheads for hard floor and carpet, a mini motorized head for upholstery and carpeted staircases, a ridiculously lightweight carbon fibre suction tube, a short Shark-like articulating suction tube that bends forwards 90 degrees for reaching under beds and sofas, plus the obligatory crevice tool with pull-down brush for cleaning hard-to-reach areas and along skirting boards and, to top it all off, a rectangular dusting brush for shelves and around the fireplace.

It also came with a Dyson-style wall-mounted charger that is thankfully far less fiddly to fit, and a power plug that looks identical to those provided by Dyson. A lot of Dyson-esque stuff, in other words. (See how it compares to those brands' top offerings in TechRadar's guides to the best Shark vacuums and the best Dyson vacuums.)

The Dreame R20 weighs in at 6 lbs / 2.7kg – almost a kilo lighter than my (admittedly very weighty) Dyson Gen5detect, and 26g lighter than the comparable Dyson V15 Detect. I put much of this lower weight down to the R20's featherweight carbon fibre suction tube (a paltry 205g against the Dyson Gen5's 387g) and the smaller size of its handheld motor and bin housing. Believe me, you'll come to appreciate this model's lower weight when it comes to a full clean of the home; it not only makes the R20 easy to push but also just as easy to carry from room to room, and especially up a flight of stairs.

The Dreame R20 wins no awards for unique design innovation since it adopts the same motor housing and bin configuration as the vast majority of other manufacturers, Dyson notwithstanding. Nevertheless, the hand unit feels comfortable enough to hold when being used, though the jury's out on the position and sensitively of the on/off trigger. It's not a major bind but I found that my index finger inadvertently set it off when carrying it from one part of a room to another.

I'm also not too enamored with the flat finger guard below the trigger, which feels a bit uncomfortable at times. There is, thankfully, a little button on the rear of the housing that engages the motor for continual running but even this handy feature is spoiled by the fact that you need to hover the index finger above the trigger or you might mistakenly turn it off again. In truth I'd prefer to have seen a system like that used on some of Dyson's most recent products where there's a single on/off button on the rear and no trigger whatsoever.

While we're discussing the hand unit, I should also mention the cute little elliptically-shaped LCD interface on the back. This provides battery information in percentage terms and a pretty butterfly icon that indicates which suction mode is in use.

There are two main modes – Standard (which lights up green) and Boost (which shows up blue/white). You can switch between the two manually by simply tapping a small button just below the rear interface. However, the vacuum also contains sensors that mean it'll automatically ramp up from Standard to Boost mode if there's a lot of dust about. This works really well – I used the vacuum to sweep my fire log shelf and it switched in and out of Boost on a regular basis. There's also a supercharged mode for when the sensor detects a really filthy section (the butterfly icon turns red for this).

Most modern stick vacuums will have a low-powered mode to extend the battery life when dealing with light cleaning tasks, but that's missing here. However, runtimes are still exceptional (more on this in the Battery section).

Before we look at the floorhead setup, let's take a tour of the R20's bagless dust bin. The bin itself has a 0.6-litre capacity which is about 0.2-liters less than much of the competition. This means the bin will fill faster and perhaps require an extra trip to the dustbin to empty it, especially if you have a household of shedding pets. It also means that this model may not be suitable for a larger house, unless you have one on every floor.

Like a lot of stick vacs, the R20's bin-emptying system is a basic affair comprising a simple latch that opens the bottom flap to eject the debris. When it's full of general detritus like dust, crumbs and the like, this system works perfectly well. But when it's full of mostly pet hair you will almost certainly need to reach into the canister with your fingers or tweezers to extricate the clumps. This isn't a slight on the product, mind, because it's the method used by the vast majority of vacuum manufacturers – an exception being Dyson. Besides, pet hair is one of the most obstreperous forms of debris found in the home and the nemesis of most vacuum cleaners.

One of the R20's standout features is its exceptional suction power. Equipped with a 190 Air Watt motor, it effortlessly tackles dust, debris, pet hair and even larger particles like puffer rice cereal and biscuit crumbs on both hard floors and carpets. However, the motor does produce an annoying high-pitched whine in both power settings.

It's not the worst I've ever heard and you'll soon get used to it, but it's also a bit of an irritant when vacuuming with someone else in the room. Dreame lists it at 85dB but I measured a more reasonable 75.4dB in Boost mode at head height.

In terms of filtration, the blurb says the R20 has a five-stage filtration system that supposedly deals with 99.9% of particles. All I can say is that it does indeed seem to effectively trap dust and allergens, ensuring cleaner air in the home. Cleaning the filter is a doddle and simply involves pressing a latch and removing the main cyclone housing, which you then rinse under a tap along with its small circular cloth filter. Just be sure that both parts are thoroughly dry before refitting, or you'll end up with a vacuum cleaner that smells.

Okay, let's get down to floor level and the business end of this model. The Dreame R20 ships with two main floorheads: a motorised 22.5cm roller fitted with hard plastic ribs and two curvy bristle brushes that's been designed for carpet use; and a 21.5cm bristle-coated head for hard floors. The ribbed head can also be used on hard floors if you can't be bothered to keep swapping heads though I have to say that the hard floor-specific roller is more efficient on wooden and tile flooring. And besides, it buffs up the flooring in the process. Both heads swivel at a near 90-degree angle for Dyson-like manoeuvrability.

Like many modern stick vacs, this model's carpet floorhead is also fitted with two bright blue LEDs that project onto the floor, illuminating hidden dust and debris that might otherwise go unnoticed. No, it's not as effective as Dyson's innovative laser light system but it's arguably better than much of the remaining competition.

Overall construction of the R20 seems very good, and the smooth shiny plastics used appear to be very robust, too. I especially like the look and feel of the carbon fibre suction tube, which adds a touch of class while dramatically reducing the weight of the whole package. However, I'm not sure the carbon tube would survive the weight of a misjudged foot were the unit lying on the floor – let's just say that it has a little more flex in it than I would expect from carbon fibre. At least I'm presuming it's authentic carbon fibre, given that it's mentioned on the Dreame website.

• Design score: 4.5 out of 5

Dreame R20 review: performance

• Excellent suction performance on hard floor and carpet
• Superb manoeuvrability
• Light in weight

On test, the Dreame R20 delivered exceptional suction power for its compact size and I've been extremely impressed by its floorheads' ability to steer around chair legs and swivel at almost 90 so they can reach into the tightest of spaces. Top marks in this respect.

However, the high suction combined with the design of the main carpet-specific floorhead means that it's difficult to push the R20 on medium- and deep-pile carpet. I really needed to put my shoulder into it – a bit of a workout, in other words. But wait, I lie, because I subsequently found a small, almost invisible sliding air intake that improved carpet resistance immeasurably without affecting the R20's cleaning power. Just wish Dreame hadn't disguised it so well.

This model generally feels remarkably light in use and it's amazingly manoeuvrable – as easy to steer as any Dyson I've tested, I'd say. The flexible hose attachment further enhances its versatility, allowing for convenient cleaning under furniture and beds.

For my tests I stuck to the usual TechRadar remit and scattered a mixture of oats, flour and crushed digestives on both my wooden kitchen floor and medium-pile rug. I also scattered some Coco Pops for good measure (no, I haven't grown up yet).

I was frankly blown away by the R20's performance in the hard floor test because, as soon as its 'intelligent dirt detection' system kicked in, the motor ramped up to Boost and everything disappeared up the tube and into the bin, leaving a clear path with zero evidence of any flour remaining in the wooden floor's grooves. Yes, it scattered a couple of pieces of rice cereal up against the skirting board, but I simply aimed the front end at them and they were easily snatched by the fast revolving bristle head. Top marks again.

I then performed the same task on my pet hair-strewn medium pile carpet rug and it sailed through the test collecting almost every last scrap in a single pass. Again, it flung some large biscuit crumbs and a few Coco Pops to the fore but these were easily collected with a second pass.

I was also amazed at the huge volume of dog and cat hair it collected at the same time with no evidence of tangles on the floorhead. And that just goes to prove that this model handles pet hair with aplomb – I'd rate it amongst the best vacuum cleaners for pet hair. However, you may need to visit the kitchen dust bin more often because, as mentioned above, the R20's 0.6-litre dust container is a bit smaller than many of its competitors.

I had zero issues using the controls other than accidentally pressing the trigger when carrying it. In fact, I found this one to be one of the easiest interfaces I've used. I also liked the way the digital display provided real-time feedback on both battery life and colourful info relating to its intelligent dirt detection.

I also gave it a whizz in handheld mode, using the long suction tube and rectangular detail brush to sweep the shelves, and it didn't feel too heavy in the hand. I also gave the mini motorized upholstery attachment a whirl on the dogs' bed; it worked a treat though I did need to apply some vigorous back and forth movements.

My final thoughts? As close to full marks as you can get, especially given the generally low asking price. Yes, I might suggest a model with a larger bin if being used in a three story house but for everyone else, the Dreame R20 will suffice just fine.

• Performance score: 4.5 out of 5

Dreame R20 review: battery life

• Maximum runtime is 90 minutes (well above average)
• Expect shorter runtimes if the floor is dirty
• Recharge is also fast, at around 2 hours

According to the manufacturer, the R20’s maximum running time is a well-above-average 90 minutes. I suspect this figure applies more to laboratory conditions than the real world, but it's still incredibly impressive. To put that in context, most cordless stick vacuums offer 40 minutes to an hour, and prior to testing this model, the longest maximum battery life I'd seen was offered by the far more expensive Dyson Gen5detect, with up to 70 minutes.

In my hard floor test I managed to eke 84 minutes out of the battery in standard mode with no automatic boost kicking in (I started by vacuuming, then propped the vacuum up with suction lock on, and timed how long the R20 lasted before running out of juice).

If used to clean for the whole time, I suspect the runtime would be closer 75 minutes if used on a dusty hard floor and quite a lot less (between 45 and 60 minutes) when used on medium-pile carpet, which adds much more friction to the roller brushes. To be honest, I don’t know anyone capable of vacuuming for more than 40 minutes in any one session without an arm falling off, so these figures are more than sufficient in my opinion. Since the battery is removable, you could also purchase a spare to swap in, if you need even longer than that.

At this juncture I should also point out that the juice-hungry Boost mode is almost too powerful for use in any scenario other than cleaning hard-to-reach areas of the car because the battery percentage drops by almost one percentage point every five seconds or so. And that means Boost mode won’t get you much more than about seven minutes of use out of it. (It's not unusual for a vacuum's maximum suction mode to bleed the battery very quickly.)

• Battery life score: 5 out of 5

Should you buy the Dreame R20?

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

How I tested the Dreame R20 cordless vacuum

TechRadar adopts a strict testing regime for all its products so potential buyers know exactly what they're getting. As usual I stuck to the remit and lived with the machine for a couple of weeks before putting it through some rigorous carpet and hard floor tests using a variety of obstreperous ingredients, including flour and raw oats. I also considered the unit's ergonomics, overall design and experience of using it before alighting on my final verdict.

Read more about how we test vacuum cleaners

• First reviewed January 2025

Yeedi C12 Combo: two-minute review

The Yeedi C12 Combo is an everything-but-the-kitchen-sink solution to vacuuming. The base station matches that of the Yeedi C12 Pro Plus, but with the more basic, mopless C12 robot vacuum, along with a cordless stick vacuum that can also mop, and accessories that can be added to the cordless vacuum for use as a handheld. It's quite the all-in-one tool.

The idea is fairly unique at time of writing, and its execution is perfectly decent but not amazing – don't expect the bot's performance to match that of the best robot vacuums nor the manual stick vac to be as powerful as today's best cordless vacuums.

Both the robot vacuum and stick vacuum have plenty of suction to do the job, and the robot vacuum's mapping and object avoidance are good. Mopping is also fine, although I don't love the way it's implemented here – the way the mop attachment fits on the wand makes the vacuum harder to push, and the mop pad takes a while to soak through properly. Perhaps more of an issue is that the mopping is manual at all, especially because most modern robovacs (even cheap ones) tend include an automatic mopping function. I also had a few niggles with the build quality: the latch that connects the handheld portion of the stick vacuum to the telescopic tube doesn't seem to work well.

However, none of these compromises are deal-breakers for me. Thanks to the relatively affordable price, its shortcomings are worth overlooking considering the savings you'll make compared to purchasing each vacuum type individually. That's the short version; read on for my full Yeedi C12 Combo review.

Yeedi C12 Combo review: price & availability

• Launched: September 2024
• List price: $699.99 / (about £560 / AU$1,110)
• Available: US only

The Yeedi C12 Combo launched in September 2024 and is only currently available in the US.

For a price tag of $699.99 / (about £560 / AU$1,110), you're getting quite a lot with the Yeedi C12 Combo. For that price, you're getting a robot vacuum (albeit a fairly basic one with no mopping capabilities), a cordless stick vacuum that can also mop, and comes with accessory tools to use as a handheld, and a base station that auto-empties the dust cups of both vacuums.

TechRadar's price bands are different for manual and robotic vacuums. For a manual vacuum the mid-range is $250-$500 (above that is premium, below is budget), whereas for robovacs mid-range is $400-$800. Considering you're getting two appliances included here, it's averaging out at very decent value for money – it averages out at mid-range or budget for both parts.

At time of writing, the closest that I've seen to the Yeedi C12 Combo all-in-one system is the Ecovacs Deebot T30S Combo, which has a much higher MSRP of $1,199.99 / AU$2,299 (about £950), and only has a handheld vacuum as opposed to a stick vacuum. For that, there is the Ecovacs Deebot T30S Combo Complete for $200 more. Since we haven't reviewed that configuration, I can't speak to how good the stick vacuum is, but it's worth highlighting that it's double the price of the Yeedi C12 Combo reviewed here.

Now, most people already have a vacuum of some sort in their home, so an all-in-one system might not be as appealing. That is, unless you really want everything you clean up to auto-empty into the same place to only be emptied into the trash every couple months. If you already have a stick or upright vacuum that you like, the Yeedi C12 Pro Plus might serve you better. It's priced just a little lower at $599.99 (about £470 / AU$900) and allows for the robot vacuum to handle the mopping.

• Value for money score: 4 out of 5

Yeedi C12 Combo specs

Yeedi C12 Combo review: design

• Robot vacuum relatively basic in design (no mopping)
• Manual vacuum comprises telescopic wand, handheld vacuum, mop and other attachments
• Large base station docks both parts, and auto-empties the bins of both

The Yeedi C12 Combo comes in all black except for some splashes of red, most notably the HEPA filters visible through the clear dustbins in the base station and stick vacuum, and the silver telescopic tube of the stick vacuum. It's attractive and a bit more striking than most robot vacuum setups.

Both the stick vacuum and robot vacuum auto-empty into the somewhat sizable base station, which has to be pretty big as it also cradles the handheld portion of the stick vacuum as well as hiding the accessory tools in a compartment below it. (In fact, the dock dustbin is relatively small, compared to the market standard.) My only real complaint with the dock design is that the tools compartment doesn't clip back into place all that easily when putting the accessory tools back.

The robot vacuum itself is fairly basic. It has one side brush and a v-shaped anti-tangle brushroll with a lid held on magnetically to hide a pairing button and the small dustbin inside. It's probably the most basic part of this whole thing. There are three uncovered buttons visible through the lid: return home, power, and XXX. All basic stuff.

As far as the cordless stick vacuum goes, it's composed of two major components. The telescopic tube and the handheld vacuum. The telescopic wand and the floorhead are attached as one piece – this is a little unusual; generally you'd be able to swap detail tools onto the end of a stick vacuum's wand for cleaning up high. It's worth noting that the floorhead, which has a v-shaped brushroll like the robot vacuum, features headlamps to illuminate dirt and debris in front of it.

This cordless stick vacuum transforms into a mop – albeit in a much simpler way than most of today's best wet-dry vacuums. The attachment for mopping goes under the vac's wheels and covers them so you have to push a little harder to move the vacuum. The attachment is a small clean water reservoir with a mop pad that attaches via velcro to the bottom of it that needs to be dampened before use.

The telescopic tube, which clips into the side of the base station when the handheld is sitting in the base station to empty and charge, has one glaring issue and that's the fact that the latch to connect or remove the tube from the handheld feels very flimsy. It doesn't clip very easily into place when placing the handheld into it, and it doesn't easily disengage when pressed to pull the handheld out.

On the bright side, the two accessory tools clip in nicely. And since the handheld portion of the stick vacuum isn't too heavy, using it to clean higher-up areas or upholstery is not fatiguing.

• Design score: 3.5 out of 5

Yeedi C12 Combo review: performance

• Robot vacuum has powerful suction
• Robot vacuum is loud in operation
• Stick vacuum is powerful, but has some issues with mopping

I was surprised to find that the robot vacuum portion of the Yeedi C12 Combo did not do mopping – most robovacs these days have mopping abilities; even the cheap ones. While there's a lot going on with this all-in-one package, robo-mopping is definitely a crucial feature when striving for convenience.

That said, the robot vacuum does a fairly good job at what it's tasked to do. It has quite good suction as I was able to test with some cereal, granulated sugar, and flour, which it mostly scooped up in one pass (there was a little residual sugar left over). After all, it does have a powerful 10,000Pa of suction on tap.

The robovac's object avoidance is decent as well; it danced around most objects fairly deftly. I'm hesitant to say it's amazing since there were instances, mainly with the dog dishes, where the vacuum would push something around for a second before backing off and going around. However, it didn't get stuck on anything other than cables (the regular enemy of robot vacuums).

The robovac's brushroll is anti-tangle, so I didn't have to worry about hair getting wrapped around it. Strangely, the robot vacuum is really quite loud in operation at the highest setting (there are three), measuring a whopping 68 dB.

Stick vacuum

Moving on to the stick vacuum. This also has three settings, and performed well in TechRadar's suction tests. I did the same cereal, sugar, flour test with it and got everything up in one go. And it was easy to move around and use without the mopping attachment.

Overall, I'm not a huge fan of the way the mopping is implemented here. With the mopping attachment, the manual vacuum requires a bit more pushing as the main two wheels are covered by the attachment. You also have to wet the mop pad before use, so that the water soaks through efficiently.

Unsurprisingly at this price, there's no automatic washing and drying of the mop pad, as you'll find on pricier hybrid robovac docks. That means you'll need to remember to clean it or you'll end up with a moldy mop pad, and by extension, potentially also moldy smelling floors.

Regarding the actual performance of the mopping attachment, it did seem a little streaky with the first few pushes, so I had to do a second pass on the first areas that I cleaned. But once I got going, it did a decent job of mopping.

Lastly, I do want to mention that both the robot vacuum and stick vacuum did well on carpet, especially the latter which I only needed to do one pass around the litter box to clean up some escaped litter.

• Performance score: 4 out of 5

Yeedi C12 Combo review: app

• Mapping is easy to edit
• App is straightforward and easy to use
• Somewhat limited features

When I reviewed my first Yeedi product, I had issues with the company's app in regards to limitations on map editing. That's no longer the case. From accurately mapping my space to allowing me to divide and combine rooms the way I need, I find the current app straightforward and hassle-free. It can even save up to three maps.

In fact, I would describe the whole app that way. It's easy to navigate and manipulate. Not only can I schedule cleanings, but I can create the order in which rooms are addressed. Of course, the reason it's so easy to use is partly because the robot vacuum itself is somewhat basic. There's no voice assistant support, so you won't be connecting this to Alexa or Google Home, for instance. And since there's no mopping capability on the robot vacuum, you don't have to deal with any of the related controls that pop up in the app on those models.

• App score: 4 out of 5

Should you buy the Yeedi C12 Combo?

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

Yeedi C12 Combo review: alternatives to consider

How I tested the Yeedi C12 Combo

To test the Yeedi C12 Combo, I used it for a week to vacuum and mop the hardwood floors and a bath mat (to simulate carpeting) in my house. I ran TechRadar's standard suction tests, using fine debris and bigger debris. I also tested all the features listed in the app, particularly its mapping. I took note of how well the vacuum cleaned the edges of a room as well as around obstacles.

Read more about how we test robot vacuum cleaners.

• First reviewed December 2024

Miele Blizzard CX1: two-minute review

The Miele Blizzard CX1 is a bagless cylinder vacuum that plugs in via a power cable for endless vacuuming time. It offers four suction levels and four vacuuming accessories in addition to the main floorhead.

Miele is a German brand with a reputation for quality across many appliance categories. And since it's been making vacuums for around 100 years, it knows a thing or two about designing the best vacuum cleaners. Miele offers two distinct ranges of bagless plug-in cylinder vacuums, the Miele Blizzard CX1 range and the Miele Boost CX1 range.

There are a few different CX1 options which use the same base model but have different tools and accessories. For this review, I tested the CX1 Flex.

On the whole, its size, coupled with features like its large dust canister make it well suited to larger homes. And while performance was good, it's not the best I've tried on carpet and it isn't suited to homes with pets either. But it's quiet and easy to use, plus the super long flexible crevice nozzle allows you to clean those awkward, tight spaces between your large appliances and the wall.

Miele Blizzard CX1 review: price & availability

• Various options in Blizzard CX1 range, depending on territory
• Price: $479-$999 / £429-£499 / AU$849

The Miele Blizzard CX1 range is available in multiple territories, but exactly which models you can get depends on where you live.

For this review, I tested the Miele Blizzard CX1 Flex, which is only available in the UK, and costs £429. It can be bought directly from Miele, or via large electrical retailers such as Currys or Hughes. In the UK there are four Miele Blizzard CX1 vacuums ranging from £429 to £499 and at the time of writing some of them were available at a discounted price, so it's worth shopping around, especially around the time of seasonal sales.

In the US there are three Miele Blizzard CX1 models, which have the same main vacuum as the one I tested, but different accessories and floorheads. They range in price from $479 to $999.

In Australia there's one model available, it's the Miele Blizzard CX1 Cat & Dog Powerline and it'll set you back AU$849. Take a look at the Miele website in your country, for more details on the models available.

No matter which model you go for, the Blizzard CX1 is in the premium price bracket, and while that's not unexpected for this brand, I think it's a little overpriced given the overall performance.

• Value for money score: 3.5 out of 5

Miele Blizzard CX1 specs

Miele Blizzard CX1 review: design

• Big and bulky for a cylinder vacuum
• Not all tools stored on board
• Good size dust canister

When I first removed the Miele Blizzard CX1 Flex from its box I was surprised at how chunky it felt. And maybe that is in part because I've just reviewed the super compact Miele Boost CX1, nevertheless it's worth checking out the dimensions if you're short on storage space.

The cylinder itself measures 51.5 x 31 x 29cm/ 20.3 x 12.2 x 11.4 inches (h x w x d) when stood upright on its end. The advantage of a larger vacuum is usually a larger dust canister and the Miele Blizzard CX1 has an ample 2 liter bagless canister. Though I would argue that its 7.5 meter/ 24.6ft power cord is on the short side.

This particular model comes with an upholstery nozzle and crevice tool, both of which are stored on board the vacuum, at the back. There's also a dusting brush, which frustratingly isn't stored on the vacuum. And lastly, there's an extra long and bendy crevice nozzle that's ideal for reaching down the sides of large appliances such as a fridge or dryer.

The crevice nozzle is what makes this the Flex model, the standard UK Miele Blizzard CX1 is exactly the same but without the flexible crevice nozzle. Other models in the range include different floorhead types such as parquet floorhead for very delicate hard floors, or a motorized floorhead for optimized pet hair pickup.

The floorhead included with this model is called an EcoTeQ floorhead and Miele describes it as being designed for energy efficient vacuuming with maximum cleaning. For the best performance cleaning carpet and collecting pet hair, you'll need to fork out for the top-of-the-range Miele Blizzard CX1 Cat & Dog model which comes with the motorized floorhead.

The controls are very simple, there are just two buttons and a dial on the body of the vacuum. The power button and the cord rewind button can both be foot operated to avoid the need to bend down. But when you want to switch between the four suction levels you will have to bend down to adjust the dial.

The only other control is the foot pedal located on the floorhead. The position of this switch dictates the position of the brushes on the underside of the floorhead, and you have to adjust it depending on whether you're vacuuming carpet or hard floors.

Between the floorhead and the handle is a telescopic wand, which is an adjustable height tube. That means you can adjust it to suit your height, or, if you're trying to reach under furniture, you can extend it to lengthen the reach.

The dust canister lifts straight up and out of the vacuum simply by grabbing its handle and pulling upwards. Then it's easily emptied by pressing the bright yellow release button which flips open the bottom of the dust canister, allowing all the dirt and debris to fall directly into your bin.

Once the dust canister has been removed and emptied, there are two filters inside it that can be cleaned periodically. The filter frame slides out from inside the canister and the pre-filter can be found at the back of the canister. Both should be cleaned when obviously dirty by removing dust and rinsing.

The main fine dust filter can be removed and cleaned manually in water. But it also has a handy self clean function called ComfortClean. When it reaches a specified degree of soiling, the vacuum will switch off for around 20 seconds and carry out this cleaning process. Or, you can start the ComfortClean process simply by pressing the ComfortClean button.

• Design score: 4 out of 5

Miele Blizzard CX1 review: performance

• Quiet in use
• Not effective at hair pick up on carpet
• Excellent edge cleaning

In general I found the suction to be effective on all hard floors and was particularly impressed when I tested the pickup at the sides of the floorhead. I did this by sprinkling flour along baseboards and no matter which side of the floorhead I vacuumed with, the results were flawless and no flour was left lingering at the edges of the room.

Due to there being no brushes at the front of the floorhead, it does feel like it clatters along on my uneven, rustic slate tiled floors as opposed to gliding smoothly. And if I had very expensive or delicate hard floors, this might concern me more. On my wood floors, which are flat and not uneven, it glides more smoothly.

To test the performance on very fine particles I dusted flour onto my hard floors and vacuumed it back up again. For the most part it collected the flour in one sweep. On wood floors it collected all the flour that had settled into the grooves between the boards but I could see that some flour was still embedded into the wood grain and this took a couple of sweeps to remove.

Depending on the direction I vacuumed towards the flour it did sometimes push a small pile of flour out in front of the floorhead. It was swiftly and easily sucked up by approaching it from a different angle, but I'd prefer this didn't happen in the first place.

Overall pickup on carpet was good, but it wasn't faultless. I've got both a wool carpet and a synthetic carpet. On the synthetic carpet the suction felt really strong and I had to turn it down in order to actually be able to vacuum the room. It left the floors looking very clean.

On the less fluffy wool carpet, suction was fairly decent and having just reviewed the Miele Boost CX1, I do think the Blizzard CX1 offers better suction on carpet. But it still didn't feel like it was giving the carpet a thorough clean; I'd much prefer a motorized floorhead.

Picking up hair was effortless on hard floors, but on carpet, the hair got dragged around and clumped up before eventually being sucked into the vacuum after several passes. If you've got pets and carpet, you'll find models better suited to your needs in TechRadar's guide to the best vacuums for pet hair.

The body of the vacuum could just about balance on a step when vacuuming stairs, but it hangs over the edge of the step. So in all honesty it's a bit too big, and I didn't feel confident that it wouldn't topple. I found it best to move it up with me one step at a time and position my body in front of it, so it could only tilt into me and not fall.

By attaching the main floorhead directly to the handle, I found vacuuming stairs to be pretty quick and easy. When needed I could grab the crevice tool from its position onboard the vacuum to easily get into corners and edges.

I like the long crevice nozzle that gave me the opportunity to vacuum some areas that I can't normally get to with most vacuums. Awkward thin gaps like down the sides of my washing machine were finally within reach. Admittedly, I couldn't easily see how well it was doing, but I could hear debris being sucked up the pipe so it's safe to assume these areas were left cleaner than they started.

The upholstery tool is a bit basic in my opinion and it's also very small. And I found it frustrating that unless I remembered to push it very firmly into place, it would end up falling off mid-use. Having said all that, it works fine for sprucing up sofas and chairs.

The dusting brush is good and effective. I like that by twisting it, the angle of the brush adjusts, so you can set it up perfectly for the job at hand. It made short work of dusting a huge shelving unit in my living room.

Overall, in my small home with its cottage proportions, this cylinder vacuum was quite simply too bulky. In tight spaces it can feel like the vacuum itself is always in the way. It was much more at home and user-friendly in larger, more open spaces.

In the car I was able to use the main floorhead to clean the boot, but had to switch to the upholstery tool for most other jobs including the seats, mats, and carpet. The issue is that it's a very basic and small upholstery tool, so this took a bit of time.

The crevice nozzle was able to reach down most of the awkward gaps. For the really hard-to-reach spots, I got out the long bendy nozzle and it managed to reach some areas down the sides of the seats that have long been neglected. The dusting brush was useful for the dashboard and other hard surfaces.

Even on maximum suction, this is a quiet vacuum. On carpet it averaged 70-75dB and it was slightly louder on hard floors at 75-80dB. The noise level decreases as you decrease the suction, so even though it's not particularly loud, you can still make it quieter.

In practice, emptying the dirt was straightforward, though when the base of the canister flipped open, it often didn't open up as wide as it could, and in these instances some dust and debris would settle on it and need a quick shake to remove.

• Performance score: 3.5 out of 5

Should you buy the Miele Blizzard CX1?

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How I tested the Miele Blizzard CX1

In my career testing and reviewing home appliances I've tried out well in excess of a hundred vacuums. This gives me a pretty good understanding of what makes a good vacuum and what features and design details will quickly become annoying.

I set up this vacuum in my own home and used it for my regular cleaning tasks. Not only that, but I cleaned my car with it, and set up some tests to see how well it performed very specific tasks such as cleaning right up to the edges of a room.

I also checked the noise level, maneuverability and comfort in use. Furthermore I checked that any maintenance wouldn't be too complicated or overwhelming, and that emptying out the dirt would be easy and mess-free.

Read more about how we test vacuum cleaners.

• First reviewed November 2024