Gtech Orca cordless hard floor cleaner: two-minute review

UK-founded Gtech produces a range of excellent cordless products, from power tools and garden gear to vacuum cleaners and, in this instance, the company’s first ever cordless wet-and-dry hard floor cleaner.

The Gtech Orca Hard Floor Cleaner is only available in white and it’s the perfect partner to the superb Gtech AirRAM 3 cordless upright vacuum cleaner I have already reviewed. With its neat styling and very discrete charging base/self-cleaning plinth, the Orca looks smart enough to be stored somewhere practical rather than having to be hidden away behind closed doors.

Like many of today's best wet-dry vacuum cleaners, the Orca offers a balance of wet mopping and light vacuuming, making it a very decent choice for households with extensive hard flooring. While it might not be as thorough as a standard mop and bucket or have as many bells-and-whistles as some premium models on the market, I can guarantee that it will save you loads of time and hassle when it comes to disappearing large liquid spills of almost any variety, including the kind of stuff you would absolutely not want to tackle with a roll of paper towels.

Granted, there are one or two design anomalies that I would like to see improved on subsequent models but when it comes to performance, this one is well up there with the best of the competition. If you’re looking for an efficient hard floor cleaner that saves a ton of time and effort, the Gtech Orca is well worth a punt.

Gtech Orca review: price & availability

• Price: £349.99
• Launched: June 2024
• Available: UK only

The Gtech Orca’s £350 price tag comfortably reflects its slew of features like cordless operation, dual water tanks and motorised roller for scrubbing. That said, it is quite expensive when compared to products like the lower-priced Vax ONEPWR Glide 2 (£250) or new Bissell HF3 (£300).

In fact, its pricing is almost in line with a premium model like the Tineco Floor One S5 (£399.99) which has far more smarts on board, including automatic adjustment of cleaning based on how dirty the floor is. Although it's nowhere near as pricey as the Dyson WashG1, nor the Tineco Floor One S7 Pro.

Sadly I’ve found no evidence of the Gtech Orca on sale in the US but it’s available at plenty of online stores in the UK. If you fancy joining the Gtech bandwagon, consider buying yourself an Orca direct from Gtech, Amazon, B&Q, AO or Wilko.

• Value for money score: 3.5 out of 5

Gtech Orca hard floor cleaner specs

Gtech Orca review: design

• Decent water tank sizes
• Efficient self cleaning
• Poorly positioned on/off trigger

Manually mopping floors is a very messy and extremely energy- and time-intensive household chore, not to mention ineffective at tackling large liquid spillages. The Gtech Orca is here to solve both of those problems.

Like other similarly-styled cordless hard floor cleaners on the market, the Orca serves as both a wet mop and light-duty vacuum cleaner that uses the combination of a revolving towel brush and a mix of fresh sanitised water with floor-cleaning solution to perform a range of hard floor cleaning duties, from general spruce-ups and stain removal to collecting large liquid spills of almost any variety.

And because it includes a vacuum feature, any excess water on the floor is sucked into a dirty water tank, which you then empty down the toilet or sink. When it comes to 21st Century mopping, there’s nothing like having one of these revolutionary machines to hand.

So what’s so special about the Orca? Truth is it’s no better or worse than much of the competition when it comes to cleaning performance, though I have to say it’s a much better looker than most others on the market (bar, perhaps, Tineco, which is arguably the most popular of hard floor cleaner brands).

In fact, I’m rather liking the Orca’s sleek, modern and compact aesthetic. It blends well with most household interiors without sticking out like a sore thumb. Put another way, I have no problem sitting this machine within easy reach rather than tucking it away under the stairs.

However, there are a few design anomalies I’m not that keen on. I’ll start at the very top – the handle and interface. Most hard floor cleaners have a finger trigger under the push handle, which is designed to boost water levels to the brush head for deeper cleaning of ingrained stains. By contrast, the Orca’s trigger is used solely for turning it on and off, and this poses an issue when in use because the trigger is positioned in such a way that one’s finger accidentally rests on it while pushing and pulling.

The result? It turns the machine off on a regular basis. The solution? Make sure to grip the handle further back or remember to keep your finger away from the trigger.

Actually, I’m surprised that this model has only one level of water dispensation because there may be times when you want more aqua to hand. As it stands, the small LCD screen on top of the handle provides just three options – ‘Sterilising Water’, ‘Eco Vacuum’ and ‘Max Vacuum’. Confusingly, the first option is actually the main cleaning mode, where water is dispensed and collected via the vacuum function.

According to the blurb, the Gtech Orca ‘generates sanitised water eliminating bacteria, viruses and spores, as well as odours for a hygienic clean’. I’ll take that, whatever it means.

The other two options are simply different levels of vacuum where no water is dispensed. I should add at this juncture that this machine isn’t a bona fide dry-work vacuum cleaner, although it will devour most things in its path. It'll need to be supplemented with a dedicated vacuum (head to TechRadar's best cordless vacuum guide for some recommendations there).

Heading downwards, you’ll find the 700ml dirty water tank and, just behind it on the other side of the unit, the 800ml clean water tank. This latter tank is actually quite a bit bigger than the competition and that means fewer trips to the tap for refills.

This brings me to another design fault. Since the filler cap for the water tank is positioned on the back of the tank, with the filler marks on the front, it’s very difficult to fill this thing to the right level without causing splashback all over the sink.

While Gtech provides 300ml of its own hard floor solution with the package (about £5 for a replacement), the Orca doesn’t come with a separate solution reservoir like some models, so you need to add a few capfuls to the main tank. Both tanks are easy to fit, though you do need to give them a really firm press until you hear a reassuring click. If you don’t, chances are one of the tanks will pop off while in use.

Like the vast majority of hard floor cleaners, the Orca is equipped with a single 24.5cm towelling roller that spins at a decent rate of knots, sucking up all manner of detritus in the process. And because the roller is almost flush to one side of the unit, this model is very good at edge cleaning, too.

One of the very best things about this new generation of hard floor cleaners is the way they’re able to self clean their brush rollers and internal piping. Simply drop the Orca on its small 30cm x 28cm cleaning plinth and tap the ‘self clean’ button located at the very top of the handle.

You have two levels of self cleaning at your disposal: 85 seconds for Standard and 125 seconds for Deep Clean. And by clean I mean really clean – as if the brush roller had never seen a dirty floor. Top marks here.

Naturally there will be some matted hair deposits and other gunk under the roller’s magnetic protective cover, but this can be easily removed for a quick rinse under a tap. Likewise, the roller itself can also be removed for easy access to the main suction tube. To be honest you will only need to engage in this type of maintenance once every week or so and it’s not too messy a business.

At 4.1 kilos, the Orca feels pretty light to carry and its motorised head articulates at a very wide angle to make manoeuvrability a cinch when cleaning along edges and around furniture. At 115cm in height, 28.5cm in width and 23cm in depth, it’s a great size for all users and its overall construction feels sturdy and durable, too.

In terms of running time, the battery provided about 20 minutes of wet mopping before needing a recharge, and between 20 and 40 minutes of vacuuming depending on whether it was set to 'Max Vacuum’ or 'Eco Vacuum' mode. However, it should be noted that the brush roller will always be damp so, as alluded to above, the vacuum modes are essentially for collecting large liquid spills and not for general vacuuming duties.

A row of green charging LEDs kept me in the loop and when finished I simply plonked the Orca on its charging plinth, tapped the self-clean button and left it to recharge for just under five hours.

• Design score: 3.5 out of 5

Gtech Orca review: performance

• Excellent mopping performance
• Great suction on bigger spills
• Easy to manoeuvre

Before I get into the Gtech Orca’s performance ratings, I should first mention the types of flooring this model and others like it are suitable for. Clearly, well-sealed materials like linoleum and tile are perfect for a model like the Orca, but bear in mind that the stiff roller will unlikely reach any recessed grouting.

When it comes to wooden floors, you can happily use the Orca on thicker engineered flooring, but I would be careful with standard laminate since the water dispensed will inevitably find its way into the cracks and possibly cause noticeable expansion in the joints. The secret for all hard floors is to not spend too much time in one spot and switch to the vacuum mode to suck up as much remaining moisture as possible. (Here's more on how to clean a hardwood floor.)

Also be mindful if using this machine on polished concrete flooring and do not use anything other than plain water in the tank. This is because concrete is a calcium-based product, so it can be easily damaged by acidic or alkaline cleaning solutions.

Before I get to my official tests, a quick shout out to the developers for making this model so easy to push, pull and steer. It really is a very pleasant thing to use and, at just 73 decibels, it’s remarkably quiet, too.

My first test involved the removal of dried soy sauce and honey on my utility room’s tiled flooring. It removed all visible traces in one forward sweep but I still had to perform another three sweeps to remove any invisible sticky residue.

I should also add that most cordless hard floor cleaners struggle with cleaning up heavily ingrained stains. In this instance the best course of action is a bowl of hot water, a scrubbing brush and a pair of knees.

Test two required a mashed-up cocktail of various food ingredients that no-one in their right mind would wish to encounter on any given day – a broken egg, a squirt of brown sauce and a sprinkling of raw oats and Crunchy Nut cereal. I didn’t hold out much hope for this test, but strike me down with a feather if it didn’t remove 80 per cent of the offending matter – including most of the eggshell – in one forward push, and the rest of it after a couple more forward and backward motions.

Test three wasn’t an official test, in fact it was a pet accident. Nevertheless, I feel the urge to include it because this type of real-world scenario is exactly what a machine like this was designed for. Before reading the following I would refrain from eating anything because it might not stay down.

In a nutshell, one of my lovely Labradors had been eating grass on the way back from a run and then drank copious amounts of water on our return. You can guess what’s coming but thankfully it was completely clear apart from a few blades of grass. There was a huge amount of it on my wooden floor and, worst of all, it was extraordinarily slimy. Normally I would reach for 10 sheets of Blitz – the only paper towel to have in the home if you’re a pet owner – or, disgustingly, a squeegee and dustpan. But not this time.

Thankfully the Orca arrived partly charged so I steered it over to the offending mess, turned it on and – mind blown – the whole lot disappeared with a strangely satisfying but slightly wretch-inducing whoomph. And that was that. All I had to do was head over to the loo and pour the offending matter down the bowl before putting the whole unit on its cleaning base and selecting its most intensive clean. As revolting as this sounds, I can tell you that, from my own experience, every other alternative cleaning method in a worst-case scenario like this would be, well, infinitely worse.

Right, you can get back to your lunch now because that’s all I have to report. Should you buy the Gtech Orca despite some of its irritating design traits? I’d say a resounding yes. It’s simple to manoeuvre, light in the hand, super easy to store and, above all, it performs exceedingly well in pretty much all hard floor cleaning disciplines.

• Performance score: 4.5 out of 5

Should I buy the Gtech Orca?

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

How I tested the Gtech Orca

I’m personally a big fan of cordless hard floor cleaners, mostly because I’ve endured quite a few spillage and pet-induced scenarios and all of them have been dealt with swiftly and efficiently.

I’ve been using the Orca for general cleaning of my kitchen, dining room and utility room and it’s been a pretty effortless experience. I know it’s working well simply by the brown colour of the water in its container. It also leaves far less moisture behind than a mop and bucket.

However, I was most surprised by how amazingly well the Orca dealt with collecting the large pieces of broken eggshell in my main spillage test. I was also gobsmacked – and rather relieved – by the efficiency with which it collected my dog’s regurgitated watery mix. This event alone was more than enough of a success to give it 4.5 stars out of five for overall performance.

• First reviewed: October 2024

Samsung Bespoke Jet Bot Combo AI: two-minute review

Samsung has come out swinging with its Bespoke Jet Bot Combo AI robot vacuum and mop. It comes packed with cutting-edge, onboard intelligence tech for navigation, obstacle detection and identification, as well as some upgraded hardware and a self-cleaning base station.

I've been eagerly awaiting the Samsung Bespoke Jet Bot Combo AI ever since it was first announced, hoping its highly commended on-board intelligence might provide a serious challenge to the likes of iRobot.

Having tested the robot vacuum for three weeks on a variety of floor types and against a litany of obstacles and messes, I, unfortunately, don't think it's quite the best robot vacuum on the market – though I do think it has the potential to shake things up.

I actually had to call in a second unit for review, as the issues I had with the original unit I tested (randomly dropping and abandoning its mop pads, not being able to detect them in the cleaning station, navigation issues and refusing to let me access the live monitoring, being among the most problematic). Largely, I couldn't replicate these issues in my replacement model, so definitely do reach out to Samsung if you spot any major problems after purchasing. My review below reflects my experience with the second, replacement model.

The Samsung Bespoke Jet Bot Combo AI's greatest enemy is its own software, with some in-app faults and missing features that lead to a frustrating user experience and unfinished cleans (although, in fairness, throughout my testing, many of these bugs seemed to resolve themselves). My overall impression was that of a fairly accomplished, albeit occasionally buggy, robot vacuum that can deliver a competent clean despite slightly lower-than-average suction power for its price point. That's not to say it's lacking in power, mind you – it's still very much capable, and performed fairly well in both its vacuuming and mopping tests.

What you're really paying for is Samsung's on-board intelligence and native compatibility with the wider SmartThings ecosystem, which is a real boon if you own some of Samsung's large appliances and other home products. This sucker's smarts are pretty impressive, especially when it comes to object avoidance, mapping and value-adding features like pet and home monitoring – though unfortunately, my second review unit still wouldn't let me use this feature in iOS.

It's hard to settle on a score for the Samsung Bespoke Jet Bot Combo AI. If I was to judge on raw potential, assuming every software feature was behaving properly, I'd say it was a brilliant robot vacuum, with its only real weaknesses being its suction power and edge cleaning. However, the difficulties I've had with software have been a little off-putting. Still, it's worth highlighting that throughout my testing many of these bugs have been fixed, and I imagine the remaining issues will continue to be ironed out. Read on for my full Samsung Bespoke Jet Bot Combo AI review.

Samsung Bespoke Jet Bot Combo AI review: price & availability

• List price: $1,699.99 / £1,299
• Launched: July 2024

Samsung's Bespoke Jet Bot Combo AI robot vacuum sells for $1,699.99 / £1,299, and is available directly from Samsung as well as third-party retailers like Amazon. Even though that's very much in the premium price bracket, it's actually more affordable than I'd expect – in the UK at least – for a combination robot vacuum and mop with so many next-generation features. Compare this price to, for example, the Roomba Combo 10 Max, which launched in August 2024 at a list price of $1,399 / £1,499.

It's unfortunately quite pricey in the US right now, but it does offer some attractive features above and beyond much of its competition, such as mop pad steam sterilization, stain detection, pet care and a roller brush featuring Samsung's patented Hair Grinder technology. It also offers great specs, as well as easy integration into SmartThings ecosystems – and even onboard Bixby functionality.

Samsung often runs some pretty appealing deals, and especially during major sales events. However, I wouldn't put money on this particular robovac featuring in the 2024 winter sales, given how close its release date is to the start of the Black Friday sales.

• Value for money score: 3.5 out of 5

Samsung Bespoke Jet Bot Combo AI specs

Samsung Bespoke Jet Bot Combo AI review: design

• Modern, minimalist and sophisticated design
• Rather a large dock with water tanks and dust bin
• Camera isn't recessed, risking damage

Clad in all-greige, the Samsung Bespoke Jet Bot Combo AI and its self-emptying, self-cleaning base make for a modern and slick-looking package that keeps things simple with its design.

On top of the vacuum is the dToF (direct time of flight) LiDAR scanner, a raised ovoid that increases the height of the robovac by 0.6 inches / 15mm, as well as two touch controls. The first commands the vacuum to return to its base, and the other begins or pauses its cleaning cycle. These are only really necessary in an emergency where you don't have your phone or a smart home controller handy. You can lift the rear half of the robot vacuum to reveal the onboard dust bin, reset button and the QR code you'll use for setup. It's unlikely you'll need to remove the dust bin unless there's something stuck, given the clean station automatically empties dirt when the robovac docks.

The front of the Bespoke Jet Bot Combo AI houses its two 3D depth cameras and its main camera, as well as the built-in microphone for controlling Bixby and detecting sounds around the home. It's worth highlighting these are all active by default, and the vacuum won't work without the cameras, so for those privacy-conscious users, you'll need to manually switch off the microphone. There's also a status light indicator on the top of the robovac's face, as well as another smaller light strip below the camera to help the robot illuminate dark spaces.

On the rear of the vacuum you'll find the chutes for emptying the water and dust bins, and on its underside are the roller brush, side brush, two circular mop pads and its wheels. The roller brush is secured with an easily removable casing and is made of plastic with coiling rubber wings and soft brushes. The mop pads are fabric and attach magnetically to the robot vacuum. However, unfortunately after just a few uses, the right rondel magnet on my first review unit jammed, abandoning a mop pad mid-clean. Thankfully, simply replacing the mop pad in the cleaning station and commanding the robot vacuum to clean its pads seemed to fix the issue.

When in use, the mop pads can rotate at 170rpm. Overall, I prefer this rotating mop solution over the static mop pad strips found in many Roomba and Roborock devices – the latter can't polish out tough stains as well as rotating rondels can.

To avoid cross-contamination and stinky carpet, the robot vacuum will intelligently lift them when transitioning from hard floors to carpets, or, if you're not mopping at all, the vacuum will discard its mop pads into the base. The latter is a pretty rare feature, but a welcome one, if you want to remove all danger of damp carpets.

The Bespoke Jet Bot Combo AI's side brush is made from individual bristles rather than the rubber material found in many robot vacuums. Personally, I prefer this, finding bristles far less prone to flicking debris. However, they are far more easily damaged and tangled with hair, especially on wet floors after the vacuum has made its mopping rounds. The side brush does not extend to reach tougher spots, but the vacuum is, broadly speaking, intelligent enough to hunt down any wayward messes.

This robovac is also equipped with cliff sensors, surface detectors, stain detectors, and dirt detectors, which it uses to intelligently navigate and thoroughly clean your home without damaging any surfaces.

The dock is a bit of a behemoth at 17.5 x 21.5 x 20.1" / 44.4 x 54.7 x 51 cm, but given that it's basically the robot vacuum equivalent of a car wash, I can understand why. It houses three containers; an 88oz / 2.5L dust bin, a 106oz / 3L water tank and a 127oz / 3.6L dirty water tank in the main body of the base, from which the robot vacuum is emptied and refilled when docked. These are easily removed: simply grip the lid, pull them out, and unclip the tank's lid to empty or refill the water tanks, or remove the lid and slide out the full dust bag.

The vacuum itself ascends a small ramp into a neat little alcove in the dock, at the base of which are the washing plates. After a mopping session, the base station will steam clean the mop pads with high-pressure steam, before drying them with hot air. On the rear of the base you'll find the port for the power supply, which is 59 inches / 1.5m long. You'll need to clear as much space as possible to the sides of the machine to ensure the robovac's navigation is unhindered.

• Design score: 4 out of 5

Samsung Bespoke Jet Bot Combo AI review: performance

• Let down by app software
• Decent suction, excellent mopping
• Obstacle detection and onboard intelligence are great

Samsung's Bespoke Jet Bot Combo AI positions itself as a high-spec, high-performance automated home cleaner, but does it fit the bill? Well, kind of – with some software updates, it certainly would, but at the moment it's slightly impeded by its beautiful-looking but semi-functional in-app experience and dodgy mop pad connectors.

Once paired, I was very impressed by the app's design and wide array of features, which I'll talk a little more about later in the review, but I was less pleased with the default settings. For some reason, the robot vacuum by default is set to continually clean until it runs out of battery, which led to an admittedly hilarious but confusing first clean for me. I always run my standardized pickup tests in the smallest room in my home, and asked the Bespoke Jet Bot Combo AI to just clean that 6.5 x 6.5-foot / 2x2m space. Two hours of solid cleaning later, I realized something was up.

For the avoidance of hilarity/frustration, I'd definitely recommend poring through Samsung's extensive list of settings and options before your first clean. Otherwise, the robovac's first pass around my home to map the layout was broadly a success, with the app creating a fairly accurate floor plan.

Onto vacuuming performance. The Bespoke Jet Bot Combo AI isn't the most powerful sucker on the market, offering 6,000Pa of suction. Today's most powerful models can achieve almost double that (for example, the Deebot T30S Combo has 11,000Pa on max mode, $1,199.99 or about £950 / AU$1,800). In contrast, Samsung's robot vacuum sits in the comfortable mid-range overall, and while its pricing doesn't necessarily reflect that, its onboard intelligence carries the brunt of the value.

Despite this lower suction, it delivers a great clean. A litany of onboard sensors help the vacuum not only to identify different floor types and obstacles but also spot dirtier areas – whether that's due to stains and spillages or dust and debris – and adjust its cleaning accordingly. The Bespoke Jet Bot Combo AI will also lift and lower its mop pads based on the surface area it's cleaning, which I found worked perfectly throughout my testing.

I sprinkled cornflour on my hard floors and low-pile carpet to see how well the Bespoke Jet Bot Combo AI could pick up fine debris, treading in some of it to create more real-world scenarios. On hard flooring, the Bespoke Jet Bot Combo AI performed well, collecting a majority of the fine powder. On carpet, however, with its first pass, Samsung's newest robovac didn't really impress me, leaving about 80% of the cornflour on the carpet, even when the machine amped up its suction to tackle the issue.

However, it's a stubborn bot with solid dirt detection technology, and throughout the rest of its clean returned to the fine powder to have another go. After about three attempts during one cleaning job, it did manage to clean up a vast majority of the powder, leaving roughly 20% behind.

On the other hand, the oats I sprinkled to test larger debris pickup on hard flooring were almost entirely suctioned by the robot vacuum in its first pass, including some of the grains closer to the obstacles I had set up for the vacuum to avoid. Thicker-pile carpets present more of a challenge; my rug was left with a fair amount of large and fine debris still in situ.

Its bristled side brushes are far superior to the more commonly utilized rubber side brush arms, at least in my opinion, and proved very efficient at sweeping lighter debris straight into the mouth of the robot vacuum. However, they don't offer a great edge clean. It would have been good to see Samsung incorporate an extending side arm to help in this area – a feature offered by a few rival models in this premium price bracket.

As for the hair-grinding technology, I was fairly impressed, but not quite awestruck by the Bespoke Jet Bot Combo AI. Samsung promises an 880% improvement compared to “a brush without a hair grinder” based on its internal testing, but it's worth highlighting we don't know enough about the brush it was compared to validate that claim, and it really is quite the claim.

That being said, I was very pleased with how few of my long hairs tangled around the roller's brushes. They did, however, wrap around the midsection of the roller (which is usually covered by its casing and therefore wouldn't impact the cleaning), and my hair also made a right mess of the side brush, leaving some of the brush strands permanently bent out of place. For pet owners, however, I imagine the Samsung Bespoke Jet Bot Combo AI could just be one of the best robot vacuums for pet hair, as shorter hair is far less likely to tangle up either brush.

The onboard dust bin is a little small, so expect your vacuum to regularly empty itself at the base if you're cleaning larger spaces or dealing with higher levels of dirt and debris – thankfully, the battery life is above average for its price, so that will save some time from the cleaning cycle.

On the other hand, the Samsung Bespoke Jet Bot Combo AI's mopping performance is most impressive, with its rotating rondels making quick work of wet spills (coffee), dry spills (also coffee) and sticky spills (dried fruit juice). Plus, thanks to the bot's stain detection, there was scarcely a mark left on my floors after it made its rounds – although the dried-on and sticky spills did take a few laps. Once the robovac has completed its cleaning mission, it returns to the base to have its mop pads steamed, removed, and dried in a two hour-long cycle that leaves them good as new.

I was very impressed with the Samsung Jet Bot AI Combo's navigation system, which deftly avoided all obstacles while still making its way into and around some tight spots to give the most thorough clean it could muster. That includes the fake dog poop I placed on the floor; pet owners will be pleased to learn that this robovac never so much as nudged it. When you first map your home, however, it's important to have floors as clear as possible, as the bot will assume even the smallest obstacle is, in fact, a wall.

Its onboard intelligence can identify a variety of household objects (though Samsung doesn't seem to list these anywhere), both in terms of obstacles and furnishings, which proved to be impressively accurate when I checked in the app.

Object avoidance is a real highlight for the Bespoke Jet Bot Combo AI. As well as identifying the obstacle, it's pretty clever when it comes to cleaning around it, managing to poke itself in and around non-hazardous obstacles like the cable and sock I left on my multicolored carpet. Broadly speaking, it was capable of recognizing each specific obstacle, though it did repeatedly identify a non-existent plate on my floor. I guess the local ghosts are having a tea party without me…

• Performance score: 4 out of 5

Samsung Bespoke Jet Bot Combo AI review: app

• Managed through the very well-designed Samsung SmartThings app
• Lots of customization options, but a few too many bugs at time of writing
• Samsung Bixby voice assistant built in, but no list of supported commands

This presents a good opportunity to pivot to discussing the app, which is a bit of a beautiful mess. I've tested a fair few robot vacuums, but Samsung's SmartThings app is by far the best designed and offers plenty of easy ways to set up your robovac and customize it just to your liking. That is, of course, provided the in-app features are working, and as of writing this review, many of them aren't.

Let's start with the positives. You can also take more control of your cleaning by adjusting the in-app settings, manually selecting the suction power, cleaning type, driving mode, and water level to ensure your floors are sparkling by the time the Bespoke Jet Bot Combo AI is done. For instance, you might prefer that your robovac cleans the main part of the room then the edges (or the 'walls' as they're referred to in the Samsung app), or vice versa, or instead focus on quick cleaning in a zig-zag fashion. You can also opt for vacuuming and mopping to occur simultaneously, or instead ask the bot to vacuum first, then come back to mop the room.

Using the map function, you can also set specific settings for different rooms, identify key pieces of furniture and adjust how the vacuum approaches these, highlight areas where the vacuum may need to breach a raised surface and set up no-go zones. When I first began my testing, sometimes editing the map at all would cause it to crash, but thankfully as of writing, it seems to have been fixed. It will, however, room-shame you if you have a smaller area you want to zone – such is the case with my kitchen, which the app won't recognize as a room.

You can also download extension packages to the app to allow pet monitoring and more advanced smart home features. The pet monitoring in particular is pretty useful, allowing you to hunt down your furry friends remotely, instruct the bot to listen out for barks and even play calming music to assuage rowdy pups. I tried this using recordings of dogs barking, which worked well, but when I forgot to switch off the pet detection mode, it continued to alert me that my 'dog' was barking for hours every night.

Similarly, you can program the Bespoke Jet Bot Combo AI to monitor your home or family when you're away. There's an area in-app where you can also manually control your robot vacuum and view a live stream, too, but in my experience, this works very sporadically at least on iOS, and rarely when you're dialing in on a different Wi-Fi network or using mobile data.

Samsung's Bixby voice assistant is also built into the Bespoke Jet Bot Combo AI, meaning you can command your robovac with relative ease. There's no list of commands provided, so it's a little hit or miss whether it will understand your instructions. I found being very direct and simple with my wording helped massively, though I'd probably sooner use the app than my voice.

• App score: 3.5 out of 5

Should you buy the Samsung Bespoke Jet Bot Combo AI?

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

How I tested the Samsung Bespoke Jet Bot Combo AI

• I used this as my main vacuum for 3 weeks
• I tested all the different modes and features
• I ran specific cleaning tests using different types of spillages

For my Samsung Bespoke Jet Bot Combo AI review, I used the device as my main vacuum cleaner for three weeks in order to assess how it lives up to its specs and marketing, including its suction power, mopping capability and onboard intelligence.

I tested various substances and stains (cornflour, oats, dried-on and wet messes) as well as obstacles (socks, bags, wires) to see how well its AI features detect and treat different obstacles, and also used the app to try its various intelligent features like home and pet monitoring.

For comparison, I used my experience testing robot vacuums like the iRobot Roomba Combo J7+ and other TechRadar reviews to judge how well it lives up to its price tag and Samsung's own claims about its performance.

Read more about how we test

First reviewed October 2024

Gtech AirRam 3: two-minute review

Based on the concept of the old fashioned push-and-pull carpet sweeper – you know, like the one your grandma used to have – the Gtech AirRam 3 adopts the same upright design principles of its predecessors but adds a lot more suction power and a revolutionary pair of spinning side brushes that collect every last speck of dust along skirting boards and in the tightest of corners. To my knowledge, there's nothing else like this on the market. While it won't be for everyone, to me it's pretty much the best cordless vacuum around.

I've always been a fan of Gtech's AirRam concept, and for several reasons. First and foremost, all the weight is at ground level and this low center of gravity makes it easy to use for much longer periods than your average stick vac, which has all the weight in the handle area. Secondly, it stands up on its own on a charging plinth, so it's a breeze to just grab and use when the need arises. And thirdly, it has one of the best bin-emptying systems in the business.

It's a pared-back option. There's only one suction mode, although that setting proved very effective, performing well on both hard floors and carpet, and acing all the cleaning tasks I put to it. There's no option to add detail cleaning tools, and you can't turn it into a handheld, either. That doesn't bother me, but might be a downside for someone looking for a vacuum with more versatility. The Gtech AirRam 3 is designed to do one thing – clean your floor – and do it well. 

If you're fed up with grappling with an ungainly stick vac, are perhaps not quite as strong and spritely as you used to be, or have had enough of picking clumps of hair out of a stick vac bin, this svelte and very aesthetically pleasing upright vacuum may revolutionize your carpet and hard floor sweeping days and put a big smile on your face. Read on for my full Gtech AirRam 3 review.

Gtech AirRam 3 review: price & availability

• List price: $449.99 / £399.99 
• Launched: July 2024 
• Available: US and UK

If you're shopping in the UK, you can buy the AirRam 3 direct from Gtech, priced at £399.99. It's also now becoming available at third-party retailers like Amazon, Argos and Lakeland. Gtech products aren't widely available in the US but this model is on sale at Amazon, priced $449.99.

At that price, the AirRam 3 sits at the top of TechRadar's mid-range price bracket, moving towards premium. There are plenty of cheap vacuums around for less, and it's pricier than your average Shark or lower-specced Tineco. However, the Gtech AirRAM 3’s build quality and use of high-end materials justify its price to some degree. And although it doesn’t come with any tool attachments, the practicality and convenience of having an upright vac that can be grabbed and used at a moment's notice should not be underestimated.

Shopping events like the Black Friday sales can often be a good time to shop for deals on vacuum cleaners, as well as other home appliances. 

• Value for money score: 4 out of 5

Gtech AirRam 3 specs

Gtech AirRam 3 review: design

• Height-adjustable handle
• Practical upright design with weight low to the ground
• Spinning edge brushes

It's always a pleasure when you come across a product that trounces much of the opposition by dint of some simple but clever tech and a smorgasbord of sensational design flourishes. That's the Gtech AirRam 3 in a nutshell.

I'm personally a fan of Gtech products in general and have been impressed by all the UK company's previous AirRams, as well as its nifty ProLite handheld vac. Clearly modeled to some degree on the old fashioned mechanical push-and-pull floor sweeper that, believe it or not, some manufacturers still produce, the new Gtech AirRam 3 is a one-of-a-kind cordless vacuum cleaner that stands alone amidst a sea of stick vacs. And yet, when it comes to the nitty gritty of sweeping a floor – whether it's hard or carpeted – it's more than a match for the majority of the competition. 

One of the very best things about this vac is that its motor housing, battery and bagless dustbin are all located at floor level. Since pretty much all stick vacs, bar the Miele Triflex HX2 Pro, have all their operational bits stacked around the handle, adding a whopping amount of weight and awkward discomfort, it's a wonderful thing to be able to perform the unenviable task of vacuuming without one's arm falling off after 10 minutes on the pile. Moreover, because this model's tangle-free brush bar is set close to the floor, its rotating action actually helps pull the unit in a forward direction.

The AirRam 3's push handle is stupendously comfy and, in a nod to the automotive industry, stitched in faux leather, just like a steering wheel. A similar faux leather-covered carrying handle can be found several inches below. The main shaft, too, is well thought out and perfect for all heights of user, because it can be extended from an eminently storable 85cm right up to 113cm. 

The first part of the extension takes the handle to 104cm, but then it can be extended by just under a centimeter at a time until  it reaches its fullest height. If you were looking to get your kids doing some household chores, this is the model for you. 

Admittedly, one of the not so great things about previous AirRam incarnations was their relative inability to steer around tight corners. While the new model can't beat the Dyson V15 Detect for dragonfly-like maneuverability, it's loads better than before and no worse than the majority of stick vacs I've reviewed. 

Moreover, the shaft can be lowered to the floor to reach under any furniture that's more than 10cm above the ground. (Those looking for ultimate comfort in getting under furniture though, should consider a Shark – many of the best Shark vacuums have a wand that can bend forwards to 90-degrees, so you can reach the back of the sofa with the floorhead while standing basically upright.)

The Gtech AirRam 3 doesn't have any suction power controls or fancy dirt-detecting sensors (as per like the likes of the Dyson V15 Detect or Samsung Bespoke Jet AI). Instead, you get one full-blown level of suction, which is just the right level of power so as not to cause the floorhead to feel too resistant when used on deeper carpet. I like this simplicity, but others may prefer to have a little more control. It can be useful, sometimes, to have the option to go for a lower-powered mode that won't sap battery for light cleaning, or a boost mode to dislodge ground-in dirt.

Before looking at the business end of this model, I should add that you don't get any detail tools whatsoever with this vac and no means to fit any. Again, that's something I consider a bonus because I personally hardly ever use hand tools and, besides, I've never been a fan of products that come with a whole bunch of bolt-on accessories that I know I'll lose or never use. 

If you want to do any detail cleaning, like shelves and down the side of the sofa, most of today's best vacuum cleaners come with some kind tools included, or at least compatible to buy, so you have plenty of other options. Alternatively, you could tackle those tasks with a handheld vacuum, like the Shark Classic Handheld Pet Vacuum (called the UltraCyclone Pet Pro Cordless in the US). 

Let’s look at the base of the unit, which contains the brush head, motor, bagless dustbin, battery housing and foot-operated on/off switch. Gtech doesn't advertise any power stats on its website but take it from me that the AirRAM 3's motor is plenty powerful enough for all household cleaning scenarios. And since there are no fancy cyclonic systems between the suction intake and the 0.8-litre bagless dustbin, all dust and debris is sucked directly into the bin, bypassing any elongated routes and extra filters.

I admit that 0.8 liters doesn't sound like a lot of bin space but, on the plus side, the AirRam 3's suction force does an amazing job of compressing all dust, hair and debris into a tight bundle. Which leads me to one of the best things about the entire AirRam range – their simple but effective bin-emptying systems. 

Many stick vacs occasionally require some finger work to extricate trapped clumps of hair from the bin, but the AirRam 3's dust container is equipped with a sliding latch that automatically opens the end of the unit. To empty, simply grab the leatherette handle on the dust container and pull it off the unit, then slide the latch from one side to the other and everything is ejected in one go. The filter system, too, is a stroke of genius because it is kept clean with regular blasts of air. And anyone who has ever owned a normal bagless stick vac will know how often their filters need to be cleaned and rinsed.

Heading beneath the floor head you'll find a 23cm bristle brush bar with Anti Hair-wrap comb for tangle-free use. This brush does a sterling job of sweeping hard floors and digging down into even the deepest of pile without bogging down. For those darker recesses of the home, this model is equipped with a row of very bright LED headlights.

That's not all – Gtech's R&D department has almost certainly looked at robot vacs and particularly their spinning side brushes that normally do a great job of collecting dust along skirting boards and in corners. As a consequence, this vac comes with two spinning side brushes – one on either side of the front corners – and they work wonders at removing every last speck from the edges and corners of a room. Why no-one thought of adding spinning side brushes before is frankly dumbfounding but you can be sure other manufacturers will gradually follow suit. 

• Design score: 4.5 out of 5

Gtech AirRam 3 review: performance

• Excellent cleaning performance
• Lightweight to use
• Extremely practical

I've been extremely impressed by this vacuum cleaner's performance on both hard floors and carpet. But then that's been the case with pretty much every iteration in Gtech's AirRam range.

Before I get down to the results of the AirRam 3's sweeping performance, I must reiterate some of the main reasons why many users might prefer this type of model over a conventional stick vac. Because it stands up on its own, there's no need to hunt around for somewhere to rest it while you move pieces of furniture around. In a race from storage area to vacuuming a space, I guarantee that this model would win hands-down. 

There's no wrestling with suction tubes and ungainly motor housings; instead, you just grab it using the handle or wheel it to its place of work. And the fact the weight is concentrated at floor level makes a huge difference to how easy it is to push about.

Granted, while the nature of the spinning floor head helps draw the AirRam 3 across hard floors under its own power (Gtech calls it 'Forward Inertia Drive'), it does add some resistance to reverse passes when used on medium to deep pile carpet. But not to the extent that it requires any more energy than your standard stick vac.

Using TechRadar's usual method of assessment, I performed a series of separate tests using flour, crushed digestive biscuits and raw porridge oats. I also added my own cornflake test because, well, some vacs simply don't like them.

Tests one and two involved flour/crumbs and oats on both hard floor and carpet and I'm pleased to say there was absolutely no snow ploughing of ingredients on either flooring – the AirRam 3 dutifully collected everything in a couple of passes, including flour caught between the floorboard's cracks. However, as expected, the spinning side brushes did scatter some pieces to the left and right and this added a little bit of extra work. 

Nevertheless, I don't consider this a strike against it because, in my skirting board test, the side brushes collected up every last crumb (albeit after a couple of sweeps), and they really proved themselves when cleaning the edge of my inherited beige hall carpet, which was looking grubby with dust and pet hair before the AirRam 3 came to the rescue.

I then brought the average stick vacs' arch nemesis into the hard floor arena – Crunchy Nut cornflakes (a kind of frosted breakfast cereal, for those not in the know) – and this proved quite amusing because, as I was fiddling with my camera, I accidentally nudged the vac forward a few inches and everything simply disappeared. This flummoxed me because there's a soft rubber flap at the very front of the suction area and I was pretty sure it would cause the vac to snowplough such large, obstreperous ingredients. Of all the vacuum cleaners I've tested, I can't ever remember having had such a successful cornflake test on hard flooring. So I'm giving Gtech a free tag line – ‘Gtech AirRam 3: the best Crunchy Nut sucker in the business!'.

Although this vac's sound levels average out at an acceptable 71.3dB at ear level, the higher frequency of its motor makes it sound very shrill. However, I did get used to the noise fairly quickly.

Final thoughts? Aside from some flinging of detritus by the spinning side brushes, I am struggling to find anything truly negative to say about this vac. It collects pet hair like a maestro, doesn't snag on the edges of rugs or bog down in deep pile carpet, and I love the bin-emptying method and filter system that requires no maintenance. I also don't mind the fact that this vac doesn't feature any hand tools because I'm lucky enough to own a Dyson Gen5 Detect and Halo Capsule X. However, I can see how the lack of hand tools may sway some prospective owners towards a standard stick vac.

• Performance score: 4.5 out of 5

Gtech AirRam 3 review: battery

• Maximum runtime of 30 minutes
• Charging takes 3 hours
• Batteries can be swapped

Unlike its predecessors, which required removing their batteries for recharging, this model comes with a slim, unobtrusive docking strip that charges the battery on the unit. It works splendidly well. 

Depending on the power setting, most cordless stick vacs have an operating time of between 15 and 60 minutes. This one carries on cleaning for a shade under 30 minutes which equates to a very decent amount of floorspace. Half an hour is actually about average for a vacuum's 'middle' setting, but competitor models have the benefit of a lower-suction mode that lasts longer. 

The battery, which can be removed, takes about three hours to fully charge. When available, expect to pay around £70 for an extra battery.

• Battery life score: 4 out of 5

Should you buy the Gtech AirRam 3?

Buy it if…

Don't buy it if…

How I tested the Gtech AirRam 3

As per usual, I first examined the design of the Gtech AirRam 3, highlighting any USPs and also any concerns. I then noted down the experience of using it – how heavy it felt, how easy it was to use and how practical it was for day-to-day cleaning. I then put it through its paces on different flooring – hardwood, medium pile rug and deep pile bedroom carpet – and made notes on its effectiveness at collecting crumbs, flakes, dust and hair. 

First reviewed: August 2024

Dyson Ball Animal review: two-minute review

The Dyson Ball Animal is an upright, corded vacuum that prioritizes suction power and dust capacity over a lightweight form factor. Once upon a time there were two camps of vacuum buyer – the upright evangelists versus the cylinder snobs, and never the twain did meet. Nowadays most people have converted to cordless stick vacuums, and never looked back. But clearly there are a few lingering souls who remain loyal to corded vacuums and, for those wedded to the corded upright in particular, Dyson's Ball Animal remains king.

I tried one out to see how it compares to the rest of today's best upright vacuums, and if it's worth considering over one of the best cordless vacuums on the market. This generation launched in 2022 and is an update on the Ball Animal 2 – although generally it's just referred to as the Ball Animal, no number, aside from in the US, where they typically put a 3 on there. 

The Ball Animal boasts multiple filtration systems (with lots of engineering jargon to make them sound extra whizzy) that make it popular with allergy sufferers. There’s no doubt it is incredibly sucky and drags dust from the very core of carpets, and I also appreciated the massive bin capacity, which felt like a treat after the daily emptying demanded by most cordless vacuums.

At times the suction power can make it a tough ride – you need Popeye-grade muscles to push this vacuum along a deep-pile carpet – and the pull-out hose is a little stiff and unwieldy. Then there’s the cord. Once you’ve gone cordless, it really is hard to tolerate this annoying trip hazard.

Disclaimer: I have never owned (or wanted to own) an upright vacuum in my 40+ years on this planet but in the interests of fairness to those who want a new one, I've tried really hard to ignore my prejudices when testing this vacuum in my four-bed Victorian family home. Instead, I focused on the genuine pros and cons of the Dyson Ball Animal vacuum to suss out it if could be considered the best Dyson vacuum for anyone. Read on for my full review.

Dyson Ball Animal review: price & availability

• List price: from $499.99 / £279.99 / AU$599
• Launched: 2022
• Prices vary for different iterations (with different tools)

As with all Dyson vacuums, there are a few different variations available, just to keep buyers on their toes. Generally speaking, the difference is just the selection of tools included – the actual vacuum is the same. There are also slightly different naming conventions in different parts of the world. To get a general picture of how much you can expect to pay for a Ball Animal, I'll base this section on availability and pricing when you buy direct from Dyson, but be aware there will likely be more options, and different deals available via third party retailers. 

In the US, it's a little tricky to figure out which models are gen 2 and which are gen 3. After some sleuthing, it looks like the two third-gen models are the Ball Animal 3 Extra for $499.99 or the Ball Animal 3 Complete for $549.99. You can still get the Ball Animal 2, in various iterations, in some places, too. 

In the UK, it's the regular Ball Animal for £279.99, the Ball Animal Origin for £329.99 (down to £229.99 at time of writing), the Ball Animal Multi-floor for £379.99 (this is the version I tested) or the Ball Animal Complete for £429.99.

In Australia, you'll find the Dyson Ball Animal Origin for AU$599, down to AU$449 at time of checking. 

All that means that generally speaking, the Ball Animal sits in the mid-range bracket, based on TechRadar's price bands for vacuums. It's also typically the cheapest Dyson you can get – and much more affordable than any of the cordless models. The Dyson V8 (the oldest and cheapest model in the current lineup at time of writing) is around $470 / £330 / AU$800. In short, the price of the Ball Animal upright is incredibly reasonable and you’re getting a lot of machine and power for your money.

As with all home appliances, shopping events like the Black Friday sales tend to be a good time to snag a Dyson vacuum deal.

• Value for money score: 4 out of 5

Dyson Ball Animal specs

Dyson Ball Animal review: design

• Upright corded vacuum with ball that allows floorhead to pivot
• Wand can be extended on flexible hose for harder-to-reach areas
• Solidly built, but bulky and heavy compared to stick vacs

There’s no denying the Dyson Ball Animal Multi-floor has an exciting design, almost futuristic, and I love the vibrant copper and red colorway of my review model. That said, I’d want to store it in a utility room or similar, as it’s too big and out-there – 42.13 x 11.10 x 15.24" / 106.5 x 28 x 39cm (H x W x D) – to sit quietly in corner of the kitchen or living room.  

Unboxing was easy and I appreciated the thought that had gone into the packaging on the eco front; the components were all securely contained in recyclable cardboard rather than yards of plastic. 

You have to download the full instruction manual (another saving of resources) but a handy fold-out leaflet illustrated how to assemble. The hardest part was clicking the main roller head on, but only because the vacuum is heavy. Then it was just a case of clicking various pipes together in three steps, and then loading on the attachments. Three of attachments have a permanent home on the vacuum, which means they’re close to hand when you need them.

This vacuum isn’t terribly futuristic on the user tech front. There are no complicated LED displays or program menus to master, just a solid red on/off switch and another next to it to turn the electric roller brush bar on/off. Dyson recommends turning the brush off when vacuuming hard floors, and I later explain why.  

Emptying the bin is super easy, you just unclip the bin, carry it to your trash can and then press a button to release the flap at the bottom. I was less impressed by the cable tidy, which is manual and tedious. Not least because there’s 10m of cable to wind and unwind from the two clips at the back. It’s good exercise though!

There are two ways to clean with the Ball Animal: the main method is with the upright unit and its massive floorhead, which is supported by a large ball in an attempt to make it easier to maneuver and twist around corners. Then there’s the high-reach wand that pulls out with the handle and has a 4m flexible hose that’s aimed at getting into the corners of ceilings, under furniture and up the stairs. The handle is hinged to make the hose more flexible, and it almost works like a traditional cylinder vacuum if you attach the flat floor head. In theory, anyway.

One of the main downsides I immediately noticed with the Ball Animal is that it’s just so cumbersome. Perhaps it's because I am not used to uprights but I just found it heavy, and not in a good way. The upside is that with this weight comes durability and a sense of robustness. 

The other thing I spotted is that, while the attachments do clip on at various points of the main build, they’re not terribly easy to get on and off but this might improve with time and use as the connections soften. The lowest attachment is clipped the wrong way for easy access when vacuuming. 

• Design score: 3 out of 5

Dyson Ball Animal review: performance

• Extraordinarily powerful
• Best on carpets
• Big and noisy

My first foray with the Dyson Ball Animal involved tackling the carpets upstairs – four bedrooms (approx. 4m sq each) and a generous landing to be precise. It’s hard to beat any Dyson on carpet-cleaning power and I was excited (sad, I know) to see just how much dirt it would suction up.

Our carpets are less than six months old, and the upstairs is vacuumed once a week. No dogs are allowed upstairs and only three days had passed since the last clean, but the Dyson Ball Animal still managed to half-fill its 1.8L capacity bin. Kinda grim, but it did look like a lot of the load was carpet fibers, which was slightly worrying!

The Ball Animal’s impressive suction can create problems with maneuverability and, unless you are quick to adjust the suction at the floor head (with the slider control), it will drag carpets along or just prove impossible to push. This slider has three settings, one for deep and medium pile carpets, one for low pile and large debris and one for hard floors and ground in dirt. 

It is definitely worth figuring out which suction setting is best for your different floor types as soon as possible, but you do need to bend down to the floor to move the slider. Upstairs I didn’t have to move it once set, but as I have three types of flooring downstairs there was a lot of stopping and bending down to adjust the suction. I didn’t really mind, apart from the disruption (at 46 years old I can still bend down without effort), but maybe not so fine for elderly or infirm users. Many modern vacuum cleaners, especially cordless models, adjust the suction automatically and, frankly, Dyson needs to get with the program! 

As I’ve said, moving the Ball Animal around the floors isn’t very easy and although it does corner well, it is heavy to move about and you can’t get it under any furniture. The cable is a complete pain in the rear and made me a bit sweary on several occasions. It’s 14m, which is handy in terms of not needing to move the plug to different sockets, but it just gets in the way. All the time. 

I found pulling out the hose, to vacuum up high and underneath the furniture, awkward and tricky. Perhaps the hose will soften eventually but it was really hard to stretch it to its full reach and it just didn’t flex well at all. I vacuumed our home throughout around 14 times during testing and had to take my sweater off every time because I worked up a sweat. I am pretty fit and healthy but using the Ball Animal was like an extra little workout that I really didn’t want or need!

Saying all this, I can’t deny the Ball Animal did a great job at cleaning my home, especially on the pet hair front. We have two crazy-hairy spaniels and also had a heavily moulting labrador for a sleepover one weekend (how she had any hair to go home with I do not know). The tangle-free turbine tool was absolutely epic on our sofas and cushions and the main motor-driven floor brush lived up to its tangle-free promise, too. The bin was 99% dog hair after doing all three sofas and the main kitchen rug on one day.  

The results of our two standard controlled tests – one with flour and one with porridge oats (to mimic bigger debris), on both hard flooring and carpet – were interesting. On carpet, I couldn’t fault the Ball Animal, it cleared everything, thoroughly, in a single pass, but on the hard flooring (engineered oak), it left streaks of flour behind and required several passes. Oats on hard flooring was also problematic. The brush head seemed to ping them about, so I turned it off, which stopped that nonsense, but it still took several passes to get all the oats up.

If, like me, you are noise intolerant, you will seriously not enjoy how loud the Ball Animal is. That's perhaps to be expected given the power levels going on, but my Decibel Meter recorded at 81dB, which is louder than most vacuum cleaners and closer to a busy food blender. As this vacuum is big, and the cord winding so annoying, I only really used it for thorough, whole house cleans (rather than a quick whip round with a cordless), so its noisiness was not appreciated. I couldn’t hear my audiobook, even with my EarPods in.  

Maintenance

Cleaning the Dyson Ball Animal is mostly easy. The roller brush pulls out at one side of the floor head (and didn’t require any scissor work to release hairs) and the filter in the main cylinder is the same as those in Dyson’s cordless vacuums – a long, sock-like thing that you wash under a tap. There’s a second filter in the Ball, which was harder to release (you have to lie the vacuum on its side, unscrew the ball and then do a hard twist and turn action to pull the filter out) and also washes under the tap. Dyson recommends both filters are cleaned once a month to maintain efficiency, but I’d bet my left foot that most people don’t. 

I have to admit I missed my light and nimble cordless vacuum many times during the two weeks I spent testing the Ball Animal and my previous conviction that uprights are impossibly cumbersome was not overturned. Sorry, Dyson. 

• Performance score: 3 out of 5

Should I buy a Dyson Ball Animal?

The cleaning performance was very impressive on carpets and decent on hard floors, but I found it hard work to use.

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

How I tested the Dyson Ball Animal Multi-floor vacuum

• I used this vacuum in my own home for two weeks
• I vacuumed carpets, hard flooring, and upholstery
• I recorded the sound levels using a decibel meter app

I used the Dyson Ball Animal to clean our four-bed family home for a couple of weeks, using it every day on all our floors, which include terracotta and porcelain tiles, engineered timber, vinyl laminate, carpet and several rugs. 

I also road-tested all five attachments (the upholstery one was my fave), vacuumed up the staircase and all three sofas. I took both brush heads apart to clean the rollers, cleaned both filters, and emptied the bin several times. I also cleaned the dog’s beds and had a go at the blinds with the softest brush attachment.

During testing, I used the decibel meter on my iPhone to monitor noise levels and conducted two specific tests to see how the vacuum dealt with flour and oats on carpet and hard flooring. 

As part of my job as a journalist specialising in kitchens and bathrooms, I’ve been reviewing vacuum cleaners for publication both online and in print for several years now. I take testing very seriously and feel a real responsibility to provide honest, accurate feedback that’s (hopefully) useful and not biased in any way. 

Read more about how we test

First reviewed July 2024

Halo Capsule X Pet Max vacuum cleaner two-minute review

I’ve reviewed many of the best cordless vacuum cleaners over the years and the quirky home-grown Halo Capsule X is a sterling contender that thoroughly impresses on both carpet and hard floor. In fact I was amazed at how thoroughly it sailed through all my tests.

There are no fancy interfaces to get your head around, it’s comfortable in the hand despite the protruding motor and battery housing and, given the bulbous shape and size of its larger-than-average two-liter carbon-fiber bin assembly, it’s much lighter than you’d expect, too.

I personally love the fact that Halo has stuck to the good old-fashioned bagged system because it means far fewer trips to the kitchen bin and zero dust up the nose when emptying. It also means you can vacuum up the finest particles like fireplace ash and powdered sawdust without destroying the motor. The fact that the bags are comprised of compostable cardboard and brown paper means it’s good for the environment, too.

In some ways I think I prefer the earlier rear-handle design of its predecessor, the standard Halo Capsule, but given this vac’s remarkable pick-up performance on both hard and soft floors, its excellent maneuverability, decent battery life, huge two-liter bagged bin and current discounted price, I have no compunction in giving the Halo Capsule X Pet Max a full high five!

Halo Capsule X Pet Max vacuum cleaner review: price & availability

• How much does it cost? $499.99 / £299.99
• When is it available? Available now
• Where can you get it? In the US and UK

Halo appears to have taken the Shark approach to the pricing of its various Halo Capsule X bundles and the company couldn’t have made it more confusing if it tried. I received the Pet Max Bundle with two batteries which Halo is selling at a knockdown £299.99 and Amazon is selling for £319.99.

The pricing becomes very arbitrary when it comes to selecting other variants. For instance, the standard version with just one battery retails at an exceedingly reasonable £249.99 (instead of £515.95) while the same bundle with just twice the amount of dust bags costs a whopping £531.93. Clearly, discounts have been applied to some of its variants and not to others so I would recommend grabbing yourself an absolute bargain while you can because there’s no telling how long these low prices will last.

If you live Stateside, head to Amazon and Walmart where the standard single-battery variants retails at $499.99.

• Value for money score: 5 out of 5 (on current UK discount pricing)

Halo Capsule X Pet Max vacuum cleaner specs

Halo Capsule X Pet Max vacuum cleaner review: design

• Light in the hand
• Excellent maneuverability
• Comfortable to use

I love the funky design of the Halo Capsule X. Granted, it’s a wee bit toy-like but you don’t see many carbon-fiber composite cordless stick vacs on the market, and who doesn’t like a bit of carbon fiber? I think the bright blue details make this vac really stand out and, while looks aren’t everything, I do think it helps one enjoy the unenviable task of vacuuming a little more than cleaning up with something that’s bland in the hand. Actually, while I’m on the subject of looks, I think Halo may have missed a trick here because I can see this vac’s details being even more attractive to a wider audience were they available in a few different colors instead of just blue. How about dusty pink, bright yellow, orange, even white? Halo, you can pay me later.

Let’s start at the top of this vac because, well, why not? See that large rectangular box jutting out of the rear? That’s the battery, motor and HEPA filter housing. Yes, it looks ungainly and not as sleekly designed as this model’s predecessor (which is still on sale), but it never gets in the way of arm movement, unlike most Dyson models that have everything above the hand which inevitably gets in the way. With this model you can vacuum with a straight arm using a pendulum motion without anything digging into any parts of the hand or wrist, much like a Roidmi vac.

The Capsule X doesn’t have any fancy digital screens telling you how many microns of dust it has collected and it doesn’t even have any kind of automatic suction where the motor ramps up on the dirtiest sections. Instead all you get is an on/off button, a button to engage the motorized roller and another button to change through three levels of suction power. The Capsule X always defaults to the middle power setting when starting up but with the motorized roller off. I’d prefer to have it always start up with the roller engaged so I can turn it off rather than having to turn it on. After all, I’ll never use this vac without the motorized roller engaged because, well why would I when a motorized roller is so much more efficient than a non-motorized one. As for outright suction power… who really cares how many Pascals of power it has because this vac passed every test I threw at it. And that’s all you need to know.

The Halo’s battery is of the 32v Lithium-Ion variety and you get two of them with this bundle for greatly extended coverage. The battery simply unclips and charging can be performed by plugging in the charging transformer or charging it on the unit itself when attached to the supplied wall mount.

Just in front of the battery is the first of two filter systems: a corrugated HEPA paper filter that, after 10 days of vacuuming, still shows no signs of being used, and another thin spongy one positioned towards the back of the dustbin bag. One of the best things about bagged vacuum cleaners is that their filters remain far cleaner than any bagless model because there’s no pre-filter to get clogged up or require regular cleaning. Instead, all the muck goes directly up the suction tube and straight into the bin bag which acts like a filter in itself. It also means you could use this vac to occasionally suck up ash around the fireplace or plaster dust without destroying the motor. Why is the Henry vac system so popular with the construction industry? Because it’s bagged!

Moreover, where most bagless stick vacs have small bin capacities – 0.77 liters in the case of the class-leading Dyson Gen5detect – that are further reduced by the need for some kind of cyclonic thingamajig in the center of the bin, this model ships with a huge two-liter monster that won’t require emptying for at least a couple of weeks. And what’s more, the bin bag itself is made from recyclable brown cardboard and paper for conscience-free convenience.

I received 10 dust bags with the Capsule X and that should provide many months of vacuuming. Of course, when they run out I’ll need to purchase some more – and remember to do so. But since they only cost £7.99 for five, I don’t consider that a deal breaker.

Right, let’s look at the business end of this model. The Capsule X comes with two main motorized roller heads: a 22cm hard floor head with towel-like roller and a smaller 20cm carpet brush with two sets of wavy bristles and an LED headlight on the front to illuminate dark areas. As you’ll see in our performance chapter below, both of these floor heads performed exceedingly well in all tests. To be honest, if your hard floors aren’t too delicate, you could just as well keep the brushed carpet head attached at all times because it cleans both hard and soft floors equally well.

Being of the ‘pet’ variety, this model also came with a small 12cm motorized bristle head that can be used in handheld or stick mode. It’s a very handy tool for cleaning pet hair and other detritus off sofas, dog beds and that most annoying of all materials, Velcro-like car carpet.

To supplement this, the box also contains a flat-headed detail tool and a nozzle for handheld use, plus a handy suction tube clip to accommodate one of them. All in all, it’s one very tidy package that will cover all cleaning requirements.

• Design score: 4.5 out of 5

Halo Capsule X Pet Max vacuum cleaner review: performance

• Supreme hard and soft floor performance
• Amazing dust capacity
• Easy to use

This cordless vac has been a pleasure to use. Like most stick vacs, it won’t stand up on its own which can be a bit of a pain when you want to move furniture around in the middle of vacuuming. I’m used to that malarky and just prop it up somewhere convenient.

Four things have really impressed me when using the Halo Capsule X – its ability to swallow huge qualities of debris, how light it feels, its excellent maneuverability and how easy it is to empty the bin. In my opinion, these are the four many qualities required of any decent vac.

My first two tests involved a sprinkling of crushed biscuits with flour and, for the second test, a good dose of oats on both my wooden kitchen floor and a medium-pile rug in the lounge. For the hard floor I used the default medium power setting with the hard floor roller in motorized mode. It laughed at me as it gulped up every last crumb and oat flake in a single sweep with no scattering and absolutely no snow plowing. It did exactly the same thing on the rug, with no evidence of any flour remaining.

Impressed by this performance, I then scattered a small cup of uncrushed Crunchy Nut corn flakes on the wooden floor and expected the Capsule X to at least snow plow some of them across the hard floor or perhaps scatter a few. But lo and behold, it just swallowed the lot up in a single pass – easily a match for the Dyson Gen5detect. Since I have several pets, I was equally impressed by the amount of hair it collected – far more than I thought possible – and also how well it performed on deep pile carpet, despite the wheel tracks it left in its wake.

The Halo Capsule X weighs just 2.6 kilos with everything in place and this is definitely on the lighter end of the scale when compared to other models on the market. However, it’s not just weight that makes a difference when vacuuming for longer periods of time. Just as important is comfort in the hand – at which this model excels – and the ability to steer round corners and chair legs with ease. This model’s brush heads aren’t quite as flexible as Dyson’s Gen5Detect and V15 detect – they swivel on a plane of about 30˚ – but they’re a lot more maneuverable than the Samsung Jet 85 I recently reviewed.

I’ve also been impressed by how low this vac can be lowered to the floor when vacuuming under beds and sofas. Yes, the carbon bin section measures a portly 14cm in diameter so there is a limit to how far it can reach under most furnishings, but I managed to push the entire unit under a bed by resting the battery housing on the carpet and simply shoving the vac forwards and backwards. I also found this vac easier than most to carry from room to room, partly because the smooth, rounded bin section feels so tactile.

However, the sheer size of the bin section makes it feel a bit clunky when used in handheld mode and there will be times – like vacuuming the car – where its sheer size prevents it from cleaning hard-to-reach areas. On the plus side, this vac is unlikely to annoy your neighbors because it measures just 72dB, which is pretty quiet for a stick vac. Mind, the sound level did increase to 80dB when the dust bag was near full.

Although the huge two-liter paper dust bag is a bit tricky to fit, the sheer easiness of simply chucking it away when full is a welcome change from the dusty norm. If you suffer from dust allergies, this is the stick vac for you.

You get two batteries with this ‘Pet’ bundle and they can be charged on or off the main unit. In my battery test – using medium mode on carpet with the head’s motorized brush engaged – the Capsule X’s battery maxed out at 20 minutes and 25 seconds.

I calculate that, if used on a combination of hard floor and carpet, this vac will go on running for about 25 minutes of non-stop cleaning on a single battery when used in medium mode with the mortised brush head engaged. As this Pet Max model came with two batteries, that amounts to a commendable 50 minutes of real-world vacuuming.

However as to be expected, I only got 12 minutes out of the turbo setting using the motorized brush. That said, you’d only ever need to use this setting in handheld mode when collecting detritus from car carpet or down the side of the sofa. The battery took just shy of two hours to charge from stone dead – a lot quicker than the stated three-hour time.

• Performance score: 5 out of 5

Should you buy the Halo Capsule X Pet Max vacuum cleaner?

Buy it if… 

Don't buy it if… 

How I tested the Halo Capsule X Pet Max vacuum cleaner

After taking the myriad parts out of its brown cardboard box I gave both batteries a full charge and got down to testing the unit on hard wooden flooring, linoleum and both medium and deep-pile carpet. I have been using this model for the past 10 days and it has quite literally sailed through every test – from powder-fine flour to cornflakes to pet hair – with consummate aplomb. I also checked the weight of the machine with brush head attached and measured its sound levels using a decibel app.

Read more about how we test

First reviewed June 2024

Tineco Floor One S5 vacuum and mop: two-minute review

The Tineco Floor One S5 is a cordless vacuum and mop with a floor-standing charging unit. During testing, I found it powerful and effective across all hard floor types including sealed wood in my living area and vinyl kitchen tiles. It can’t, however, be used to refresh area rugs and mats like some designs can.

I was impressed at how efficiently it worked when vacuuming and mopping up dirt and debris and cleaning fresh wet spills in my home. I found it a little harder to mop away older and more stubborn caked-on floor debris, however, but perhaps that’s just my fault for leaving them so long to clean up.

The design has a digital control panel on its front with indicators to help you with the smooth running of the appliance. The device provides voice prompts too, which is useful when you’re in a hurry to navigate the controls.

I reviewed the Tineco Floor One S5 Extreme and found the design comfortable in hand and the controls useful and comprehensive. While it’s quite heavy, the self-propelling control makes this less of an issue. Overall, I think that if you have young kids who are prone to spilling food under the table, or you simply need to refresh a muddy hallway, this vacuum and mop in one is a handy tool to have on standby. It also works well for a quick fix on dusty floors that look desperately messy when the sun shines through. Read on to discover whether this one ranks with the best vacuum cleaners.

Tineco Floor One S5 vacuum and mop review: price & availability

• List price: $499 / £399 GBP
• Launch date: April 2022
• Availability: US / UK

Based in China, Tineco sells a range of carpet cleaners, wet dry vacuums and smart vacuum cleaners. The Floor One S5 Extreme was added to its floorcare range in 2022 and at the time of writing, you can buy it on Amazon for $499 / £399. While this comes at a premium price, it’s an intuitive design with a powerful and effective brush that I think helps justify the price.

• Value for money score: 4.5 out of 5

Tineco Floor One S5 vacuum and mop specs

Tineco Floor One S5 vacuum and mop review: design

• 800ml water tank is 30% larger than its previous model
• Self-propelled design for easy steering
• Brush head designed to go right up against skirtings and baseboards

The Tineco Floor One S5 sits on a floor-standing charging dock for convenient grab-and-go cleaning. This makes it ideal for utility rooms or under the stairs where you have a plug socket nearby.

You’ll need some room to store it on display in a living room, however. When sat on its floor-standing charger, the handle is at a slight angle so it’s not completely flush up against the wall, which is something to bear in mind.

Like the Shark HydroVac Cordless Hand Floor Cleaner, the Tineco Floor One S5 is easy on the eye. It has a graphite, white and navy finish with parts that look and feel stylish and premium. While it’s an expensive piece of kit, I can tell that it’s made with durable parts that are built to last. It also has a generous offering in the way of extras in the box. It has two extra brush rolls in the box and a filter that both needs replacing every 6 months, and a handy cleaning tool for giving the device a thorough clean. The kit also comes with its own Tineco branded deodorizing and cleaning solution, and you’ll need to make sure you only use this in the device. 

The Tineco is similar in design and performance to the Shark HydroVac and both are designed to work across dry and wet spills on hard flooring. Both also have self-cleaning features, to help with upkeep and ensure the vacuum remains smelling fresh. While they are both similar in design, the Tineco is much heavier – Shark is 3.95kg, while the Tineco is 7.8kg.    

While the Shark has a 500ml water tank, the Tineco has a more generous 800ml design, however, which is 30% larger than its last generation Floor One cleaner. Run times differ too – with the Shark at around 25 minutes and the Tineco offering up to 35 minutes on a full charge. The Tineco also has iLoop Smart Sensor Technology that takes the guesswork out of cleaning by detecting dirt and adjusting the suction accordingly – more on that in the Performance section.

There’s also a Tineco app that you can connect to on your smartphone to monitor usage and access user guides – although this doesn’t enhance the experience with any remote control feature at present. It only supports 2.4G WiFI, and while I have dual broadband, after several failed attempts at connecting to it, I had to give up and admit defeat.  

• Design score: 4.5 out of 5

Tineco Floor One S5 vacuum and mop review: performance

• iLoop Smart Sensor detects debris and adjusts suction power and water
• Up to 35 minutes run time on a full charge 
• Comes with a self-cleaning mode

Setup

I found setup of the Tineco Floor One S5 straightforward as there aren’t too many parts to contend with. It was a matter of slotting the handle into the main brush head and motor and placing it on the floor-standing charging dock. When the device is positioned on the docking station it delivers a voice prompt to let you know that ‘charging has commenced’. It’s then easy to see the battery level rise.

This device is designed to remove dirt, grime, grease and tough stains from most types of hard surfaces and can be used on wet spills too. To give the design a fair trial, I used it across the sealed hard wood flooring in my living and dining area, and on the vinyl floor tiles in my kitchen. I used it a few times to get a good feel of how well it maneuvered when on a general vacuum and mop.

To get it ready for its first clean I made sure it was suitably charged and added a capful of cleaning solution that comes in the box to the water tank. I then topped it up with water to its max line.

I could clearly see how much battery life is left and what percentage the battery life was on, for example. I could also see when the dirty water tank needed changing and when the clean water tank had run out. By switching to the voice prompt button, it then told me when it was time to charge the cleaner or when the water tank needed filling.

Usability and control

I really enjoyed using the Tineco Floor One S5 Extreme smart cordless vacuum cleaner and mop and while it can’t be used on area rugs and carpets, it is great on non-carpeted floor surfaces such as vinyl, tile and sealed wood. To get a good idea of how well it works, I used it to clean up both wet and dry spills. I managed to use it for a full 30 minutes on hard floor before having to put it back on its charger.

It has its own iLoop Smart Sensor that detects the level of debris and adjusts the suction power and water flow accordingly. There’s a ring that runs around the main control until that goes red when it detects dirt and clears to blue when the dirt has been tackled effectively. When needed I could also up the power by pressing the button on the handle to take the vacuum from auto mode to max mode.

The device is quite heavy, but as it’s self-propelled it whizzed around the floor without too much effort on my part. I simply pushed to vacuum and pulled back to mop. It doesn’t leave the floor too wet or sodden either like some mops can, but mops evenly and leaves a mild, pleasant scent of the Tineco deodorizing and cleaning solution behind as the floor dries. While the head is large, it seemed to do a great job at getting close up to skirtings and up against furniture. I really think a crevice tool would enhance the design here, however, and because the handle doesn’t go flat you’re limited when it comes to cleaning under furniture.

I used it across my kitchen floor to clear up a milky cereal spillage and was amazed at how quickly and effortlessly it tackled the area. There’s also a suction mode I could use to absorb water and not spray solution, which worked well here. I could then switch to auto mode to completely clean the surface.

On dried-on cereal and general food stains under the table that had stuck to the surface, the mop needed a little more help and I found myself ramping up to max mode and going over the area a few times to dislodge and clean effectively. To get a good idea of how well the device can vacuum dirt and debris, I sprinkled oats on the floor to mimic larger debris and also sprinkled crushed biscuit and flour on the floor to mimic finer dust. The vacuum worked a charm on both messes without leaving any residue behind.

Maintenance and noise levels

To keep the device smelling fresh, you’ll need to clean it after every use. There is a self-cleaning mode that helps speed things along and cleans the interior but you will have to take out the dirty water tank to empty and clean the filter too. The brush roll will need to be taken out to dry to avoid it smelling. This can be fiddly – and rather grim if there’s a lot of mess – but a simple wash under warm water straight after use keeps things fresh. I like the fact it has a cleaning brush to help with this as it came in useful.

In terms of noise levels, the Tineco is quite inoffensive. I used the Decibel Meter App to measure the Tineco at 68.1 decibels while it was in self-cleaning mode, which lasts over a minute. By comparison, the Shark HydroVac goes up to 83.1 decibels while in self-cleaning mode. 

• Performance score: 4.5 out of 5

Should you buy the Tineco Floor One S5 vacuum and mop?

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

How I tested the Tineco Floor One S5 vacuum and mop

I’ve been reviewing home appliances for over 20 years so know what makes for an ergonomic and useful design. Unlike a vacuum cleaner, the all-in-one vacuum and mop isn’t a staple in many homes, but I’ve recently noticed an increase in the number of companies promoting these multi-functional devices.

I used the Tineco Floor One S5 in my home over the course of a month to see how well it could handle my flooring. I have sealed hard wooden floors that span the entirety of my living room, dining area and hall and have vinyl tiles in the kitchen, which provided ample floorspace to give the Tineco a fair try.

I recently reviewed the Shark HydroVac Cordless Hard Floor Cleaner WD210UK, for example, so it was good to be able to compare the Tineco Floor One S5 to that.

Read more about how we test

First reviewed May 2024