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Shark Cordless Pro vacuum review: an almost-perfect budget-friendly vac
2:00 pm | November 9, 2024

Author: admin | Category: Computers Gadgets Home Small Appliances Vacuums | Tags: , , | Comments: Off

Shark Cordless Pro: two-minute review

Product info

This model has slightly different names and product codes in different territories:

US: Shark Cordless Pro Vacuum IZ562H (Amazon only)
UK: Shark Cordless Pro Vacuum IZ562H (Amazon only)
AU:
Shark Cordless Pro With Clean Sense IQ IR300

For this review, I tested the US version. There may be minor differences between different countries' models.

The Shark Cordless Pro is one of this brand's most affordable cordless stick vacuums, and delivers excellent value for money. While not the most advanced Shark vacuum based on specs or features, it punches above its mid-range price tag with features such as automatic suction adjustment based on dirt levels. At full price it sits in the mid-range price bracket, but it's often heavily discounted in the US, taking it into the budget category.

Shark has an excellent track record when it comes to producing reliable, long-lasting products, and the Cordless Pro is no exception. If you want something fairly simple but effective and budget-friendly, I think this is one the best Shark vacuums you can buy, and perhaps even one of the best cordless vacuums overall.

Considering the Shark Cordless Pro is a budget-friendly cordless vacuum, it still packs in decent suction, cleaning up most debris on hard floors in just one to two passes while in its lowest Eco mode. The automatic suction adjustment worked as promised, and was genuinely useful because rather than only relying on my eyes, this so-called 'Clean Sense IQ technology' would let me know when a spot was clean and I could move on. It helped me tackle fine dust and hair that may not have been otherwise visible.

The Cordless Pro is an ideal vacuum for hard floors and lighter cleaning needs, and did a decent job on carpet too, although if you have lots of carpet you might want to invest in something a little more heavy-duty. During my tests, I found it could struggle with pulling concentrated debris on this type of flooring in my testing, even when in the highest Boost mode.

I found it relatively easy to maneuver with a good rotation range to get into nooks and crannies, but a flexible wand – included with most Shark vacuums – would've been helpful to reach under furniture. As with most cordless stick vacs, it can be converted into a handheld.

I should also give a special shout-out to the anti-hair wrap brushroll. Many brands make big claims about their tangle-busting features, but this actually delivered. It still looks as good as new after two weeks of testing. There are more useful design features too: when it's time to store the Shark Cordless Pro, it slots into a stable notch right on the wand, and the battery is removable for charging anywhere. Just don't expect to get a crazy long runtime out of this vacuum, as it taps out after a maximum of 40 minutes.

Sure, there are more powerful and feature-packed vacuums on the market if you're willing to shell out a bit more. But for your average, everyday cleaning needs, it's hard to beat the compact, solidly built Shark Cordless Pro. Read on for my full review.

Shark Cordless Pro vacuum cleaning edge of TV stand

(Image credit: Future)

Shark Cordless Pro review: price & availability

  • List price: $399.99 (regularly discounted) / £334 / AU$499.99
  • Available: US, UK and Australia

The Shark Cordless Pro has a list price of $399.99. Originally, it was available to buy direct from Shark, but it now seems to only be available via third party retailers like Amazon. Shoppers in the UK can also purchase it via Amazon, but it's an imported model from the US.

In addition to the main vacuum components, the US version I tested comes with two attachments: a Duster Crevice Tool and a Pet Multi-Tool. Additional accessories like replacement Odor Neutralizer cartridges, attachment tools, and wands are available, ranging in price from about $10 to $40.

The Shark Cordless Pro can also be found in Australia, retailing for AU$499.99. Both territories feature similar configurations, though in Australia, the attachment accessories are slightly different, with a Crevice Tool and Dusting Brush on offer.

If purchasing in the US, it’s common to find the Shark Cordless Pro discounted and often steeply. A discount of $100 off is common, and on Amazon it has occasionally dropped as low as $250. That's one of the very cheapest Shark vacuums you can buy, and especially if you want a cordless model – the Shark Stratos Corded Stick vacuum is cheaper at $299.99, but you'll have to put up with being tethered to the wall.

At ticket price, the Shark Cordless Pro sits in the mid-range price bracket, but it regularly dips into the budget category. Given the solid build quality and excellent performance, I think it's good value even at full price. There are also features that I'm surprised to see at this price point – namely, automatic suction adjustment based on dirt levels. If you're willing to pay more, you'll unlock features like longer battery life and higher levels of suction, but the Cordless Pro is excellent value for what it delivers.

Seasonal sales are always a good time to shop for home appliances, and I suspect this model will feature amongst the best Black Friday deals this year. Given that this model is no longer available to buy direct from Shark in the US, I'm not convinced it's going to be sticking around much longer, so if you do spot a deal, snap it up.

  • Value for money score: 4.5 out of 5

Shark Cordless Pro specs

Shark Cordless Pro review: design

  • Button-operated, with LEDs to indicate mode and battery level
  • No flexible wand, as found on most Shark vacuums
  • Notch to enable it to stand on its own when not in use

The Shark Cordless Pro doesn't revolutionize the design of cordless stick vacuums, keeping a look and size similar to most others with its floorhead, wand, and motor/dustbin – all of which come apart for use as a handheld vacuum. Weighing 8.25 pounds and measuring 11.42 x 10.43 x 51.18 inches, it's easy to handle. During testing, the only time it felt cumbersome was when attempting to clean a ceiling fan. A sleek light blue, white, and black finish helps differentiate the Shark Cordless Pro from the rest of the range, and the solid metal and plastic build held up perfectly over my few weeks of testing.

Setting up the Shark Cordless Pro was a breeze, taking me around 5 minutes; all that's required is to snap the stick vacuum components into each other. The most difficult aspect of the installation was popping in the Odor Neutralizer cartridge; it slots right into the floorhead and is meant to keep your vacuum smelling fresh.

Shark also recommends charging the battery to full before your first use. That battery is removable if you prefer to charge it detached from the vacuum. LED lights will pulse as it charges, indicating the current level of the battery, and shutting off when finished.

Shark Cordless Pro vacuum stored on its wand

(Image credit: Future)

There's no wall mount option, but Shark has added a notch on the front of the wand where the main part of the vacuum can be clipped when not in use. It remains relatively secure in that spot and can even be wheeled around.

The floorhead, referred to as the PowerFins Plus floorhead (this guide to the Shark vacuum technologies is a helpful companion when navigating this brand's various jargon), is ready to work on both hard or carpeted floors and is full of useful features.

On the underside is one plush, microfiber roller that features flexible silicone fins to help pick up various debris sizes including fine dust, while preventing hair wrapping. Should anything get stuck in the roller, it's removable, although it does take a bit of effort to unlock it from the floorhead. Unfortunately, there's no option for the brush to lift or stop spinning on certain flooring.

Around the front of the floorhead, two LED lights help highlight dust and dirt in your path that might otherwise be missed. These are helpful, although nowhere near as bright or effective as the lasers you'll find on the (far pricier) Dyson Gen5detect or Dyson V15. On top of the floorhead is the Clean Sense IQ Clean Indicator LED – part of a highlight feature on the vacuum.

Headlights and Clean Sense IQ indicator light on Shark Cordless Pro vacuum

(Image credit: Future)

Clean Sense IQ uses sensors inside the nozzle of the handheld vacuum to automatically boost power in areas with higher levels of dirt and debris. While testing, I could hear and feel the increase in suction, but an indicator light strip on the floorhead will also illuminate to show when the vacuum detects a particularly dusty bit of floor. The highest amount of dirt causes the strip to be fully lit. When the space is clean, the light will recede.

This is a surprising inclusion at the relatively low price point, but pricier Shark vacuums take things a step further on the automation front. The Detect Pro and PowerDetect lines can both adjust suction based on when they move from hard floor to carpet, and around the edges of rooms, for example.

Control panel on Shark Cordless Pro vacuum, with indicator lights showing automatic suction adjustment

(Image credit: Future)

Cleanse Sense IQ is switched on via the Mode button on the handheld part of the vacuum. The only other button on the vacuum is the power on/off button, so it's all straightforward and easy to navigate.

Beyond Clean Sense IQ, there are two other power modes: Eco to save on battery life and Boost for an extra burst to pick up the messiest of messes. An LED screen on the handheld vacuum will indicate the power mode it's in as well as the battery level.

Shark Cordless Pro vacuum with dust bin release open

(Image credit: Future)

The handheld vacuum component also houses the bagless dustbin, which holds 0.72L of dirt. An anti-allergen seal is in place to keep fine dust and dander from releasing back into your space. When the dustbin is ready to be emptied, there's a no-touch release to drop everything in the garbage without getting your hands dirty. However, you may need to reach your hands in the dustbin to remove stuck hair or dust occasionally. More advanced Shark vacuums, such as the Shark Detect Pro, have an optional auto-empty dock, but that's not available here.

The wand that holds the floorhead and handheld vacuum together is solid. The two vacuum components feel secure when slotted into the wand and easily release from the catch when needed. A rigid wand is actually fairly unusual for this brand – many Shark models have so-called 'MultiFlex technology', where you can press a button and the wand will bend forward, enabling you to reach easily under low furniture. I'd have loved it if that had been included here. At least the floorhead offers a wide swivel range for easier access to tight spots.

Duster Crevice and Pet Multi tool supplied with US version of Shark Cordless Pro vacuum

(Image credit: Future)

Beyond being a stick vacuum, the Shark Cordless Pro is an effective handheld vacuum. The US version has a Duster Crevice Tool and a Pet Multi-Tool, making cleanup even easier. Those tools slot into the handheld vacuum or the wand, providing extra versatility. However, there's nowhere to store them when not in use.

  • Design score: 4 out of 5

Shark Cordless Pro review: performance

  • Decent suction, great on hard floors
  • Clean Sense IQ's automatic power adjustments work commendably
  • Loud, and struggles to clean larger debris on carpets

The Shark Cordless Pro is an absolute breeze to use and performed admirably in most of my testing. Whether I had it in stick mode on my laminate hard floors with various low-pile rugs or cleaning my window sills and couch cushions as a handheld vacuum, it managed to pick up most of the debris in its path within one to two passes. Sure, it might not have the suction of a corded vacuum but it works great for lighter cleaning needs and is much easier to deal with. (Both the Shark Stratos Cordless and Shark PowerDetect Cordless Stick vacuum pack more power, too, but you will need to stump up more money for those.)

In stick mode, performing regular cleaning tasks, I often left the vacuum in the Clean Sense IQ setting, which allows the vacuum to recognize bigger messes and automatically increase suction. When there were obvious, larger amounts of debris in the floorhead's 10-inch path, the vacuum would increase the suction power.

It was handy that in addition to visibly hearing that change, I could see it represented on the light bar at the top of the floorhead. I knew I was clear to move on from a spot when the light subsided. Sometimes, the vacuum would notice the dirt that wasn't visible to my eye, which was a huge boon, ensuring the cleanest home possible.

Shark Cordless Pro vacuum cleaning close to the baseboards in reviewer's home

(Image credit: Future)

There are two other modes on the vacuum: Eco and Boost. Swapping to those modes involves pressing the mode button near the LED screen on the vacuum, and cycling until the desired mode is reached. Admittedly, I often pressed the power button, mistaking it for the other and vice versa. After becoming more familiar with the vacuum, this became less of a problem.

As for the other two modes, during daily tasks, I found Boost mode was unnecessary most of the time. It worked fine but is only needed for those large concentrated messes. Eco mode also easily cleans up dog hair and dust within one or two passes. Overall, I preferred the convenience of Clean Sense IQ mode automatically increasing the suction where needed, and I was happy to sacrifice battery life for the cause.

One feature I didn't think I'd love as much as I did was the two LED lights at the front of the vacuum. They did an excellent job highlighting fine hair and light dust that I couldn't initially see. It's amazing how much debris gets all over your space daily.

I'd also be remiss not to mention the self-cleaning brushroll. To my shock, no hair has gotten stuck around it yet. It looks almost completely new, with little to no wear after two weeks. If it needs to be removed for cleaning, a coin allows you to unlock and remove the brush. Just note that it does do a good job of sucking up power cords and rug edges, so be aware as you maneuver it around your space.

Anti-hair wrap brush roll for Shark Cordless Pro vacuum

(Image credit: Future)

Speaking of maneuvering, generally, the Shark Cordless Pro navigates with ease, even making sharp 90-degree turns to fit into corners (it's not quite as maneuverable as a Dyson). It feels almost effortless to use on hard flooring, only getting tripped up on certain rug edges and becoming a little more challenging to push on rugs and carpets. The floorhead is also relatively shallow, allowing it to squeeze under most furniture. Unfortunately, the wand isn't flexible like other Shark models, so it didn't reach completely under my couch or bed.

The bagless 0.72 qt dustbin holds a good amount of dirt. I only had to empty it every once in a while, depending on how often I was vacuuming. It's easy to take the vacuum off the wand and hold it over the garbage, pressing the release to open the bin door. Some hair can get wrapped around certain components, making it necessary to reach in and pull stuck-on gunk on occasion.

As with all vacuums, the filters require semi-regular cleaning (and must also be replaced periodically). Shark provides clear instructions for this: they just need to be rinsed with water. The Clean Sense IQ sensor inside the vacuum will also need to be wiped down occasionally, and an FO error code will flash on the display panel when the sensor is fully blocked.

For some reason, Shark continues to include the pointless (in my opinion) Odor Neutralizer, which releases a clean scent as you vacuum. The smell lasts all of two minutes, so I'd never waste my money replacing it. (Ed's note: other testers have been extremely enthusiastic about this feature, so your mileage may vary!)

Beyond daily vacuuming tasks, I put the Shark Cordless Pro through more vigorous testing to see how it handled fine dust using flour and larger debris with oats on both hard floors and carpet. Even on the lowest setting, Eco, the vacuum easily picked up the flour with just one pass. There was super light sprinkling left, that I had to touch to feel. A second pass picked up everything that was left. Using Clean Sense IQ and Boost mode, the flour was fully cleaned up after one pass. I had similar results on the rug.

Cleaning oats on hard floor using Shark Cordless Pro vacuum

(Image credit: Future)

As for the oats test, I was pleasantly surprised that most oats were cleaned in just one pass in Eco mode on the hard floor. However, on carpeting, it was a completely different story. It took multiple passes (around five or six) on Clean Sense IQ and Boost to pick up all of the oats. The vacuum even managed to throw some oats around. That's slightly disappointing, but not all that unusual – typically, I find corded vacuums are the way to go in heavily carpeted homes.

Shark Cordless Pro vacuuming oats on carpet

(Image credit: Future)

During testing, I also used a decibel meter to measure noise levels. In Eco mode, the Shark Cordless Pro averaged about 75 dB. It's definitely not quiet and on par with average vacuum cleaner noise levels (i.e. loud enough to disturb others in your space when it's in use). In Boost mode it got even louder, hitting around 80dB. The noise is tolerable but not pleasant. Luckily, I was usually not in this mode for long. The Clean Sense IQ setting tended to shuffle between 75dB and 80dB; usually staying towards the quieter side of the range.

Cleaning dog hair off couch with Pet Multi Tool and Shark Cordless Pro vacuum

(Image credit: Future)

Of course, this stick vacuum also converts to a handheld, and the attachments it comes with depend on the territory. I'm in the US, so I received the Duster Crevice Tool and Pet Multi-Tool. Both feature brush tops that can be removed. The Duster Crevice Tool gets into tighter spaces like between books on my bookshelf and the window sills, though it didn't always pick up all the dust or dirt.

During testing, I just so happened to start fostering a puppy with fine fur, and the Pet Multi-Tool was a godsend. It got the hair off my couch, duvet, and more with relative ease, though I found the tool tended to perform better without the brush attached. The only problem with the handheld vacuum is it gets a bit heavy at times, especially with the wand attached and reaching for higher spots like ceiling fan blades.

  • Performance score: 4 out of 5

Shark Cordless Pro review: battery life

  • Runs up to 40 minutes in Eco mode
  • Takes about three hours to recharge
  • Battery is removable

The Shark Cordless Pro's battery is located right on the back handle of the device. It can juice up while still attached to the vacuum or snap off to charge – a handy feature if you store the vacuum in an area away from an outlet, and also useful if you want to buy a second battery to hot-swap in.

Close up of battery clipped off the Shark Cordless Pro vacuum

(Image credit: Future)

On one charge, I found the battery lasted around 35 minutes in Eco mode using the floorhead with the rotating brush. A little more juice can be eked out of the vacuum as a handheld, putting it right at Shark's claim of 40 minutes. Clean Sense IQ and Boost mode will drain the battery quicker. On test, I got about 25 minutes of vacuuming time with Clean Sense IQ, but that time varies depending on how much dirt is detected in a space. Boost mode lasted just under 15 minutes, which isn't surprising given the strong suction power.

That battery performance is average for cordless vacuums. Most will find that's sufficient time to clean up your space. I had no problem hitting almost every inch of the floor in my sizable two-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment when in Eco and Clean Sense IQ modes, and there was even enough juice for a quick handheld vacuum of the window sills and furniture. However, if you have a larger home, there are models that offer up to an hour of cleaning on one charge – or occasionally a little more. Those vacuums will cost you more, though.

Shark makes it simple to tell when the battery is running low, as the vacuum's LED screen has three bars to indicate the level of charge, and when the final bar begins blinking, your time is running out – I usually had four more minutes of vacuuming time once that started.

A slightly longer battery life would be nice, as it'd be great not to worry about charging the battery after almost every use. Recharging takes a while, at about three hours. You'll know it's done when the charging light on the actual battery goes out.

  • Battery life score: 4 out of 5

Should I buy the Shark Cordless Pro?

Buy it if...

You're on a budget

This is one of the cheapest Shark cordless vacuums, and often discounted too. Given the features and build quality, it's excellent value for money.

You want to be sure your floors are clean

This vacuum is able to automatically adjust based on how dirty the floor is, with indicator lights showing when there's no dust left. Dust-illuminating LED headlights also help ensure you don't miss any spots.

You want something simple but effective

This is a straightforward design, and on test I found the process of emptying, and charging the Shark Cordless Pro is as easy as can be. It's even set up for storage without wall mounting.

Don't buy it if...

You need a vacuum that reaches under low furniture

Although the floorhead on this vacuum is relatively shallow, the wand doesn't flex like other stick vacuums, making it hard to reach under deeper sofas, chairs, and beds.

Your home is heavily carpeted

The Shark Cordless Pro performs best on harder surfaces. It does a solid job of picking up finer dirt and dust on carpets and rugs but takes several passes to clean up larger debris.

You have a very large home

At the maximum, this vacuum offers around 40 minutes of cleaning time in Eco mode. That time drops significantly when using Boost mode. It's far from the worst battery life in a stick vacuum, but pricier models will deliver longer cleaning times.View Deal

How I tested the Shark Cordless Pro

I used the Shark Cordless Pro for over two weeks in my two-bedroom, two-bathroom home with hard floors and low-pile rugs. Beyond average, daily cleaning tasks like vacuuming messes in the kitchen in stick mode or using the handheld attachments to get my foster dog's hair off furniture, I did further testing. These tests involved scattering oats and flour on hard and carpeted flooring in a concentrated area, observing how well it picked up debris of varying sizes in each of the vacuum's three modes. I ran the battery fully down in each of the three vacuum modes as well to see how long it could be expected to last.

Read more about how we test vacuum cleaners

  • First reviewed October 2024
Gtech Orca Hard Floor Cleaner review
10:00 am | November 2, 2024

Author: admin | Category: Computers Gadgets Home Small Appliances Vacuums | Comments: Off

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.

Gtech Orca hard floor cleaner in reviewer's kitchen

The Orca is remarkably smart looking compared to the competition (Image credit: Future)

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.

Screen on Gtech Orca hard floor cleaner

There's a small LCD screen to provide information (Image credit: Future)

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).

Water tank on Gtech Orca hard floor cleaner, removed, full of dirty water

The water tanks are generously sized (Image credit: Future)

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.

Gtech Orca hard floor cleaner, floorhead and dock

The towelling roller runs almost to the edge of the floorhead (Image credit: Future)

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.

Gtech Orca in reviewer's home

The Orca feels light in the hand and is easy to manoeuvre (Image credit: Future)

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.

Before and after cleaning pictures of Gtech Orca hard floor cleaner tackling sticky spillages

My sticky spillage test before (left) and after one pass with the Orca (Image credit: Future)

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.

Image 1 of 2

Gtech Orca hard floor cleaner approaching a food spillage including eggs and oats

My food spillage test before... (Image credit: Future)
Image 2 of 2

Photo of reviewer's floor after the Gtech Orca hard floor cleaner has passed over a food spillage once

... and after one pass with the Orca (Image credit: Future)

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.

Rear view of dock with Gtech Orca hard floor cleaner on it

A self-clean mode helps keep the floorhead fresh (Image credit: Future)

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...

You have lots of hard flooring

This is a perfect machine for keeping hard floors clean and looking swish. It's low-effort, can tackle daily cleans and larger messes, and the self-clean feature is excellent too.

You have pets or clumsy housemates

The Orca can handle all kinds of solid and liquid spillages, with its combination of wet mopping and light vacuuming.

You need to tackle awkward spaces

The Orca is impressively easy to manoeuvre for a wet-dry vacuum, and the floorhead design will clean right up to the edges of rooms, too.

Don't buy it if...

Most of your home is carpeted

It won't replace a vacuum cleaner for dry cleaning, so there's no real point in a machine like this unless you have a decent amount of hard flooring.

You want smart features

The self-cleaning function is about as clever as this model gets – there aren't even different hydration levels to pick from. Something like the Tineco Floor One S5 offers more in terms of automation.

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 review: a great robovac that will be even greater with software fixes
8:00 am | October 13, 2024

Author: admin | Category: Computers Gadgets Home Small Appliances Vacuums | Comments: Off

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.

Samsung Jet Bot Combo AI robot vacuum in its dock

(Image credit: Future)

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.

View of dust bag and water tank inside Samsung Jet Bot Combo AI dock

(Image credit: Future)

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.

Underside Samsung Jet Bot Combo AI robot vacuum, showing two circular mop pads

(Image credit: Future)

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.

Underside of Samsung Jet Bot Combo AI robot vacuum, showing rollers and side brush

(Image credit: Future)

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.

Samsung Jet Bot Combo AI robot vacuum in reviewer's home

(Image credit: Future)

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.

Samsung Bespoke Jet Bot Combo AI on a patterned rug, trying to pick up oats and cornflower

(Image credit: Future)

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.

Samsung Bespoke Jet Bot Combo AI edge cleaning

(Image credit: Future)

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.

Samsung Jet Bot Combo AI robot vacuum cleaning a hard floor

(Image credit: Future)

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.

Screen shots of the Bespoke Jet Bot AI companion app

(Image credit: Samsung)

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...

You run a SmartThings smart home
If you're a Samsung home appliance fan, the Bespoke Jet Bot Combo AI is a no-brainer. It integrates effortlessly, and paired with Samsung's wider array of devices offers some excellent added value features.

You're home is a little messy
If there are lots of obstacles around your home, the Samsung Bespoke Jet Bot Combo AI offers fantastic detection and identification, meaning you won't have to worry so much about tidying up before a cleaning cycle.

You want a more hygienic mop
With its self-cleaning station, the Samsung Bespoke Jet Bot Combo AI can steam and dry its own mop pads, meaning less bacteria will be left to fester when your vacuum is out of use.

Don't buy it if...

You want something truly hands-off
At least as of writing, I can't in good conscience call the Samsung Bespoke Jet Bot Combo AI truly hands-free. By all accounts, it should be, but the software just isn't up to scratch right now.

You want powerful suction
With only 6,000 Pa bolstering the Samsung Bespoke Jet Bot Combo AI, it's just not quite powerful enough for deeper cleans without running several cycles.View Deal

You want to make the most of every intelligent feature
Until Samsung fixes the litany of bugs plaguing the Samsung Bespoke Jet Bot Combo AI, I wouldn't view many of its intelligent selling points as a given.

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

Shark PowerDetect Cordless Stick Vacuum review
4:00 pm | September 24, 2024

Author: admin | Category: Computers Gadgets Home Small Appliances Vacuums | Tags: , , | Comments: Off

PowerDetect Cordless: two-minute review

Product info

This is the vacuum on its own:

US: Shark PowerDetect Cordless Stick Vacuum IP1251
UK: Shark PowerDetect Cordless Pet Vacuum Cleaner IP1251UKT
AU: Shark PowerDetect Cordless Stick Vacuum IP1251

There's also a version with an auto-empty base:

US: Shark Cordless PowerDetect Clean & Empty System IP3251
UK: Shark Detect Pro Cordless Vacuum Cleaner Auto-Empty System 1.3L IW3510UK
AU: Shark Cordless PowerDetect Clean & Empty System IP3251

For this review, I tested the IP3251. There may be minor differences between different countries' models.

The Shark PowerDetect Cordless Stick Vacuum comes with a whole host of smart detection features. It knows whether it's on a hard floor or carpet, how dirty said floor is, whether it's near the edge of a room, and whether it's going into a dark corner, and will respond accordingly by adjusting suction or brightening its headlights. New to this model is a redesigned floorhead that is designed to clean just as well on the pull-back as it does when being pushed forwards.

The PowerDetect Cordless also incorporates the most popular features from today's best Shark vacuums, including a wand that bends forward to help you get under furniture without having to stoop down. Within the wider Shark range, it's designed to combine the smarts of the Detect Pro range (which has almost all the same detection capabilities) with the outright suction power of the Stratos line, theoretically making it the best cordless vacuum for most people.

On test, I was pretty impressed. It delivered great suction, and had no issues picking up fine materials like flour, and larger ones like bits of dried dirt, cereal, leaves, and more, from both hard floor and a thick rug. All the detection features worked as advertised and meant an efficient, low-effort cleaning session. I was interested to note that it doesn't seem to be an option to use the lower-powered Eco mode on soft flooring; the vacuum automatically kicks into a higher mode. It's good but not amazing at tackling hair, and I was a little confused by the 'suction in reverse' feature that Shark has added to this model. I didn't notice any difference in performance on the reverse stroke compared to any of the other vacuums I've tested that aren't designed to do this.

Price-wise, it sits in the mid-range of the wider market, and I think the quality and features more than justify that price (similar detection features from Dyson will set you back a lot more).

The review model I tested was the version with an optional auto-empty base, where the onboard dustbin automatically empties into a larger bin when the vacuum is docked. I think it's well worth investing in this extra, because it's a great effort-saver – and it might be a particularly good choice for allergy sufferers who want to minimize potential for particles to make their way back into the air.

That's the short version; read on for my full Shark PowerDetect Cordless Stick Vacuum review.

Note: Shark has released a robovac in the same range, but other than the name, there aren't too many similarities. Read about that one in our Shark PowerDetect Robot Vacuum and Mop review.

Shark PowerDetect Cordless vacuum cleaner

Everything that came in the box for my review model (with auto-empty dock) (Image credit: Future)

Shark PowerDetect Cordless review: price & availability

  • List price (vacuum-only): $429.99 / £499.99 / AU$849.99
  • Launched: Summer 2024
  • Also available with optional auto-empty base

In the US, the Shark PowerDetect Cordless Stick Vacuum sells for $429.99, or $499.99 if you go for the version with the auto-empty base.

In the UK, it's £499.99 for just the vacuum, or £549.99 for the version with the special base.

Australian shoppers can pick up the vacuum for AU$849.99 or with an upgraded base for AU$999.99.

Based on TechRadar's price brackets, this is around the lower-premium / upper mid-range band (anything over $500 / £400 is counted as premium). Overall, I feel like the build quality and the features make this a well-priced vacuum. The DirtDetect system alone is well worth the investment. If you're on the fence about whether to shell out for the auto-empty base, I think the added convenience is well worth the slightly higher price.

In general, Shark vacuums are much more affordably priced than, for instance, the best Dyson vacuums on the market – the Dyson V15 Detect has similar dirt-detection features, and a list price of $749.99 / £649.99.

In terms of comparable models within the Shark range, the Shark Detect Pro Cordless costs $379.99 / £349.99. It's a bit less powerful than the PowerDetect and it doesn't have the reverse-suction feature, but otherwise the detection/auto features are similar.

Alternatively, there's the Shark Stratos Cordless, which costs $499.99 / £349.99. It doesn't have the same detection / auto features as the PowerDetect, and I found the suction comparable too, so I'm not sure why you'd opt for a Stratos over a PowerDetect.

Shark offers discounts on occasion for its products. However, at time of writing this model is new out, so you might not see it discounted except during holiday and special sales events. Till then, look to the TechRadar Shark promo codes page for a deal.

  • Value for money score: 4 out of 5

Shark PowerDetect Cordless specs

Shark PowerDetect Cordless review: design

  • Operated by button; battery and mode info provided on a screen
  • Bendable wand lets you effortlessly clean under furniture
  • Optional auto-empty base

If you’ve used a Shark cordless vacuum before, you’ll quickly realize that the PowerDetect Cordless has many of the same Shark vacuum technologies that appear on other models, with a few improvements. This cordless stick vacuum is 46.34 inches long (which is pretty tall) and has a cleaning path width of 10.19 inches.

Like most cordless vacuums, you can remove the wand and swap in another attachment for use as a handheld vacuum. In the stick vacuum configuration, the Shark Cordless PowerDetect Clean & Empty System weighs 18.48lbs.

The wand itself is unique among vacuums in that it is bendable (this is one of the most well-received Shark features, and it's included on many of its vacuums – not just the expensive ones). Click a button and it’ll bend forwards, allowing you to vacuum further under beds, couches, and other low furniture.

Close up of screen on Shark PowerDetect Cordless vacuum cleaner

The radar graphic indicates the vacuum is in DirtDetect mode, while the rectangle graphic denotes battery life (Image credit: Future)

The Shark Cordless PowerDetect vacuum has a host of different detection features. The DirtDetect system can recognize hidden dirt and automatically boost the suction power in response. You can see when the floor is dirty and clean based on the colors – purple or white – that appear on the screen and around the vacuum head. With EdgeDetect, this Shark vacuum can sense edges and double the suction power along the side of the floorhead when it’s moving alongside an edge.

FloorDetect recognizes the differences between carpets and hard floors and adjusts the power depending on which one you’re vacuuming. Then there is LightDetect, which automatically increases the light on the vacuum when you clean in dark spaces (they're not as bright as you'll find on the – far more expensive – Dyson Gen5detect, though).

New to this model is 'reverse cleaning' – namely, while most vacuums just push larger debris around when the floorhead is being pulled backwards, the PowerDetect has some patented teeth that are designed to actively pull it in.

The vacuum is operated by a one-press button, and there's a trigger under the handle that lets you switch between the three modes. There's a low-powered Eco mode, high-powered Boost, and a DirtDetect, which is the one that auto-adjusts suction based on how dirty the floor is. The other 'detect' features, like EdgeDetect and LightDetect will kick in on any mode.

When the vacuum is turned on, the a circular screen shows which mode you’re in (a green leaf for Eco mode, red circle for Boost, or a radar graphic for DirtDetect), as well as a rectangular symbol noting battery life. It's not quite as clear as Dyson's version, which will literally spell out how many minutes of cleaning you have left in the mode you're currently using, but it's still useful.

Shark PowerDetect Cordless vacuum cleaner

The version I reviewed came with a charge base that the vacuum empties into when docked (Image credit: Future)

Tools can vary by region – my review model came with an 8-inch Crevice Tool and a Pet Multi-Tool. It's worth flagging that that there is an optional auto-empty base that I tested out. This is a new thing that Shark has been embracing lately. Dock the vacuum and the dirt from the bin will automatically be sucked into a larger chamber in the base, so you don't need to do it manually nearly so often. It also creates somewhere to store the vacuum, and charges it too.

If you like the sound of the PowerDetect's features but want something slightly different, there's a PowerDetect Upright and a PowerDetect Corded Stick also in the range.

  • Design score: 4 out of 5

Shark PowerDetect Cordless review: performance

  • Auto adjustment features work well
  • Good suction on both hard floors and carpet
  • Comfortable to use; floorhead pivots pretty well

I’ve tested a Shark vacuum before – the Shark Stratos Cordless IZ862H vacuum cleaner to be exact, so I knew roughly what to expect. I was glad to see that the design was nearly the same, though slightly better in some respects with the Shark PowerDetect Cordless Stick Vacuum vacuum.

This product is easy to use, no matter if you’re using it as a handheld vacuum or in its typical cordless stick form. It switches on with the single press of a button, so you don't have to worry about holding down a trigger while vacuuming. The vacuum itself is very comfortable to use. It doesn't feel heavy or unbalanced, and moves smoothly as a floor vac and is easy to maneuver as a handheld.

The one thing I noticed right away was just how tall this stick vacuum is. The wand provides a lot of length to reach high ceilings or under beds, which is nice for someone like me with 10-foot ceilings, although it could prove a bit unwieldy if you're dealing with cramped hallways, for example.

Even more importantly, the wand can bend forwards with the push of a button, which lets you reach under couches and chairs without having to lean over or squat down. Add onto the fact that the head swivels a decent amount (although it's not as maneuverable as a Dyson), and I can reach awkward spaces around my furniture without any issue.

Wand on Shark PowerDetect Cordless vacuum cleaner bending forwards to reach under furniture

The forward-bending wand is a favorite feature on Shark vacs (Image credit: Future)

To determine the vacuum’s performance capabilities, I ran a number of tests. I started by vacuuming my entire house which is made up of historic hardwood floors, rugs, and laminate flooring. I noticed right away that the vacuum nozzle lights up automatically when the machine is running. Those lights got brighter when I vacuumed in low light spaces, which made it easier to see dirt, dust, and debris.

My favorite aspect of this vacuum is the DirtDetect system, because it increases the suction automatically when it detects hidden dirt or debris. When this happens, the loop around the screen changes colors from white to purple (Shark claims the color is blue and not white, but I guess it could be a light gray blue). The LED lights on the vacuum head match the colors on the screen. It is assumed that when the suction power returns to normal, the floor is free of dirt.

Shark PowerDetect Cordless vacuum cleaner with illuminated ring to indicate dirt levels

When dirt is detected on the floor, the ring on the screen and the lights on the floorhead turn purple (Image credit: Future)

It was important for me to run a number of tests to see just how well the vacuum could pick up various items from the ground. To do this, I taped a four-by-four-foot square on my laminate floor and on one of my large, thick rugs. I sprinkled each square with flour and then used the vacuum’s lowest setting – Eco – to suck up the flour.

When it came to the laminate floor, the vacuum picked up nearly every bit of flour on a single once-over. I saw only three specks of flour remaining when I was done. I didn’t notice any difference when vacuuming forward or backward over the flour.

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Shark PowerDetect Cordless vacuum cleaner trying to pick up flour from a laminate floor

The PowerDetect did a great job of clearing fine dust from laminate floor... (Image credit: Future)
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Shark PowerDetect Cordless vacuum cleaner clearing flour from a thick rug

(Image credit: Future)

When doing this same test on a thick rug, I realized quickly that I was not able to use Eco mode, even though I set the vacuum to that setting. The Shark vacuum recognized that I was vacuuming a rug and increased its suction automatically. There does not seem to be any way to prevent this. However, the vacuum did an even better job removing the flour from the rug in a single pass than it did on the laminate floor, as I didn’t see any flour remaining behind when I was done.

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Shark powerdetect cordless vacuum cleaner

The PowerDetect also handled chunkier debris well... (Image credit: Future)
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Shark powerdetect cordless vacuum cleaner

... although some debris did get stuck under the wheels (Image credit: Future)

Next, I crunched up breakfast cereal (Cheerios, to be precise) and sprinkled them in both squares. Whether it was laminate flooring or the rug, the vacuum did a similarly superb job, especially when I vacuumed forward. If I pulled the vacuum backwards over the grinded cheerios, some of the larger pieces got stuck behind the wheels and thus were not suctioned up until I made a forward pass. That's a little disappointing, given that being able to suck up large bits of debris on the reverse is something that Shark claims is a specific skill of this vacuum.

In general, I wasn't super impressed with this feature. It's not that it did anything negative, it's just that I didn't notice any difference in performance on the reverse stroke compared to other vacuums I've tested, including the Shark Stratos, which doesn't have this feature.

In my opinion, the suction along the edges of the floorhead are just as strong as it is along the front. In fact, when an edge is detected, you’ll notice that the headlights on that side of the vacuum grow brighter, and the suction power on that edge specifically is boosted, for a closer clean.

Shark powerdetect cordless in handheld mode

Like many cordless stick vacuums, it can be used as a handheld (Image credit: Future)

I didn’t notice any change in the suction capability of the vacuum when I switched it from a stick to a handheld with or without the wand attached. Two attachments were included with my review model – a Pet Multi Tool and a crevice tool. I don’t have pets, but a lot of my dark brown hair gets on my cream-colored couch. I used the Pet Multi Tool to remove my hair, and it did an average job.

I found myself scraping the hair a few times before it was suctioned into the machine. The Pet Multi Tool performed better on Boost mode. Admittedly, I’ve never tested a vacuum that could easily pull my hair off the couch, but I still wouldn't necessarily recommend it to pet owners (TechRadar's best vacuum for pet hair list has some alternative suggestions here).

Pet hair tool on Shark PowerDetect Cordless vacuum cleaner

The pet hair tool was okay, but couldn't pull all the (short-ish, human) hair from my cream couch (Image credit: Future)

As for the crevice tool, I used this one quite a lot as I have a lot of furniture set in the corners of rooms. I was glad to see that the tool also has a brush. I used it to clean my baseboards and blinds with great success.

In DirtDetect mode, the vacuum has a 72-80 dB sound rating when cleaning hard floors and a 76-79 dB rating when moving over my rugs (this is due to the fact that the suction automatically increases when dirt is detected, which makes it noisier). The dB rating on Eco mode is 74 (you can’t use Eco mode on carpets, only hard floors). Boost mode has an 82 dB and 83 dB rating on hardwood and carpet respectively.

Shark Powerdetect cordless auto empty dock, with larger dustbin removed

The dock has a much larger capacity dustbin (Image credit: Future)

While not everyone will necessarily need it, I was so thankful for the convenience of the auto-empty system. When I was finished vacuuming, I placed the vacuum on the station and not only did it start charging automatically, but it emptied the dust and dirt from the vacuum into a sealed container. Whenever the container is full, I can remove it and dump the dust and dirt in the trash. It would be a strong recommendation for allergy sufferers, because there are fewer opportunities for particles to escape back into the atmosphere.

If you don't have the auto-empty dock, you'll need to remove the wand first and then hit a button when the bin is placed over a trash can. Note that is it possible to store the vacuum freestanding without the dock: you can fold it over, using the bendy wand, for a more compact storage option.

Shark PowerDetect Cordless vacuum cleaner

If you don't go for the auto-empty base, you can manually empty the onboard bin (Image credit: Future)

Maintenance is easy enough, even if there are a few tasks that you’ll need to do about once a month, like cleaning the brushroll and checking the wand for blockages. The onboard dust cup will need to be cleaned out, and you should also check the HEPA filter on the handheld to see if it needs to be rinsed or replaced. The filter on the auto empty station should also be rinsed and dried once a month and replaced regularly too.

Lastly, you’ll need to occasionally clean the sensors – the DirtDetect system sensor is inside the dust bin of the vacuum, while the LightDetect sensor is on top of the vacuum head, and the two EdgeDetect sensors sit along the sides of it.

  • Performance score: 4.5 out of 5

Shark PowerDetect Cordless review: battery

  • 4 hours to fully recharge the battery (using auto empty station)
  • Battery lasts 14 mins in Boost, 1hr 7 mins in Eco
  • Eco option not possible on carpet

One of the most impressive aspects of this vacuum is the battery life. Shark claims it'll last a maximum of 70 minutes in Eco mode, although that's in handheld mode. On test, it managed almost that long: I clocked 67 minutes, although that was with a wand attached. Anything over an hour is a really strong battery time for a cordless vacuum (assuming the suction is still decent, which is true here). However, remember that Eco mode won't work on carpets or rugs, so if you have a home with soft flooring you won't achieve these times.

When I ran the PowerDetect entirely in Boost mode, the battery lasted 14 minutes. That's actually not bad for a maximum power mode; it's only designed to be used on the toughest, ingrained dirt. If you use DirtDetect mode, runtimes will vary based on how dirty your floors are an how much suction the vacuum needs to use.

On an average clean, I found this vacuum lasted around 47 minutes, which involved me switching between the lowest and highest power settings. That'll be more than enough time to clean most homes in one go.

It took about four hours for the vacuum to completely charge. Shark doesn't provide recharge times, but a listing on Best Buy said it'd take 6 hours. I was glad to discover that charging did not actually take that long. Over time, it’ll likely take longer for the battery to charge. It’s not unusual among vacuums on the wider market to take 4-6 hours to charge.

  • Battery life score: 4.5 out of 5

Should you buy the Shark PowerDetect Cordless?

Buy it if...

You want a hassle-free cleaning experience
With the DirtDetect technologies, this vacuum automatically increases suction when it detects dirt and debris, or even just the edges of rooms. That means an efficient clean without having to manually switch suction modes.

You have a lot of furniture to clean under
The bendable wand allows you to reach further under furniture without having to move it or bend over.

Don't buy it if...

You need a vacuum that's great for pet hair
While the Pet Multi tool does a decent job vacuuming pet hair, there are vacuums on the market better designed for pet owners.

Most of your home is carpeted
This vacuum can clean carpet and rugs well, but if your entire home is carpeted, you should probably consider an upright vacuum. Also note that you can't use Eco mode on carpet, so expect lower battery runtimes if using on lots of carpet.

You're just need something basic
While the PowerDetect is good value for money, you're paying extra for those clever detection features. If you just want something with good suction, there are cheaper options on the market.

How I tested the Shark PowerDetect Cordless

I tested this vacuum for over a week in my house, which has a mix of historic hardwood and laminate flooring, some of which is covered in large, thick rugs. I ran a number of tests such as using the vacuum to pick up flour and crushed Cheerios, and utilized the attachments to clean my couch of hair and dust from hard-to-reach places. I compared the results to other vacuum cleaners I've reviewed in the past. By running these tests and others, I was able to provide an in-depth review.

Read more about how we test

First reviewed September 2024

Gtech AirRam 3 cordless upright vacuum cleaner review
9:00 am | August 9, 2024

Author: admin | Category: Computers Gadgets Home Small Appliances Vacuums | Comments: Off

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 vacuum cleaner in reviewer's home

(Image credit: Future)

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. 

Close up of floorhead on Gtech AirRam 3 vacuum cleaner

Most of this vacuum's weight is concentrated close to the ground (Image credit: Future)

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. 

Handle on Gtech AirRam 3

The handle extends from 85cm up to 113cm (Image credit: Future)

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.

Side view of floorhead on Gtech AirRam 3 vacuum cleaner

Rotating brushes help tackle the edges of rooms (Image credit: Future)

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). 

Gtech AirRam 3 vacuum cleaner standing on its own

The foot-operated on-off switch (above left wheel) and black battery in the centre (Image credit: Future)

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.

Gtech AirRam 3 vacuum cleaner

The dust bin sits in the top of the floorhead (Image credit: Future)

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.

Gtech AirRam 3 vacuum cleaner

A slider on the dustbin sweeps all the debris out in one swift motion (Image credit: Future)

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.

Gtech AirRam 3 vacuum cleaner

Headlights help illuminate dirt in dingy areas (Image credit: Future)

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. 

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Gtech AirRam 3 vacuum cleaner

Before the flour / biscuit crumb test on carpet (Image credit: Future)
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Gtech AirRam 3 vacuum cleaner

After the flour / biscuit crumb test on carpet (Image credit: Future)

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.

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Gtech AirRam 3 vacuum cleaner

The flour / biscuit crumb test on hard floors (Image credit: Future)
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Gtech AirRam 3 vacuum cleaner

During the flour / crumbs test on hard floor (Image credit: Future)
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Gtech AirRam 3 vacuum cleaner

The oat test on hard floors (Image credit: Future)

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.

Crunchy nut Cornflakes on a hard floor, being vacuumed up by the Gtech AirRam 3 vacuum cleaner sucking up frosted corn flakes on a hard wood floor

The AirRam 3 sucked up this notoriously hard-to-vacuum cereal with ease (Image credit: Future)

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!'.

Gtech AirRam 3 vacuum cleaner

The side brushes seem clearly inspired by robot vacuums (Image credit: Future)

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…

You want a vac that doesn't make your arm ache
The AirRam 3's low center of gravity makes it less fatiguing to use than most top-heavy stick vacuums, and the cleaning motion helps propel the floorhead forwards, too.

You want deep cleaning of carpets and rugs
This vac performs superbly well, even on deep pile carpet, even with its one-speed option. 

You want genuine to-the-edge cleaning
Spinning side brushes, borrowed from robovacs, ensure proper, thorough edge cleaning. This is the only cordless manual vacuum we've seen to employ this feature.

Don't buy it if…

You need to vacuum shelves and sofas
You get no detail tools with this model, nor is there any you could add if you wanted to, plus it can't convert into a handheld vacuum. So if you need something for getting into furniture or cleaning the car, look elsewhere. 

You want maximum maneuverability
While its steering is flexible, it's still no match for a Dyson's 360-degree pivoting floorheads. And while it can get pretty low to the ground, it can't compete with Shark's forward-bending vacuum wands for cleaning beneath furniture, either.

You only need something for light cleaning
Because there's only one suction mode, if you have hard floors and aren't dealing with ingrained dirt, the lack of a lower-power, battery-extending mode might be a disadvantage. 

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 vacuum review: a super-sucky upright
9:00 am | July 28, 2024

Author: admin | Category: Computers Gadgets Home Small Appliances Vacuums | Comments: Off

Dyson Ball Animal review: two-minute review

Product info

The Dyson Ball Animal on review here is an update on the Ball Animal 2. In the UK and Australia it's just referred to as the Ball Animal, whereas in the US, it's called the Ball Animal 3.

Suffixes like 'Extra', 'Origin' and 'Multi-Floor' refer to the selection of tools included – the base model is the same.

For this review, I tested the UK Dyson Ball Multi-floor. Note, there may be minor differences between different countries' models.

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 upright vacuum cleaner

(Image credit: Future)

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.  

Power switch on Dyson Ball Animal upright vacuum cleaner

(Image credit: Future)

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!

Dyson Ball Animal upright vacuum cleaner

Emptying the massive bin (Image credit: Future)

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.

Tester holding Dyson Ball Animal upright vacuum cleaner next to the Dyson V8 to show comparison

The Dyson Ball Animal next to the V8, for comparison (Image credit: Future)

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!

Dyson Ball Animal 3

First load from upstairs carpets (Image credit: Future)

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. 

Close up of main floorhead on Dyson Ball Animal upright vacuum cleaner

The multi floor head with suction slider (Image credit: Future)

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. 

Three images showing how the flexible hose can be extended on the Dyson Ball Animal upright vacuum cleaner

(Image credit: Future)

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!

Close up of upholstery tool on Dyson Ball Animal upright vacuum cleaner

The Tangle-Free Turbine tool (Image credit: Future)

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.  

Close up of cyclones on Dyson Ball Animal upright vacuum cleaner

(Image credit: Future)

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.

Image 1 of 3

Dyson Ball Animal 3

(Image credit: Future)

Flour on hard floors

Image 2 of 3

Dyson Ball Animal 3

(Image credit: Future)

Oats on carpet

Image 3 of 3

Dyson Ball Animal 3

(Image credit: Future)

Oats on hard floors

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. 

Dyson Ball Animal 3

Removing the second filter (Image credit: Future)

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

Miele Classic C1 vacuum cleaner review
9:00 am | July 13, 2024

Author: admin | Category: Computers Gadgets Home Small Appliances Vacuums | Tags: | Comments: Off

Miele Classic C1 Flex two-minute review

The Miele Classic C1 vacuum cleaner comes in three very similar and identically-priced options: a Junior version with a sectioned suction tube, a standard version with a telescopic tube and XXL handle, and a Flex version with a telescopic tube and  an extra long, flexible crevice nozzle for cleaning difficult-to-reach places. In this review I tested the Miele Classic C1 Flex vacuum cleaner.

Although the Miele Classic C1 Flex is very well engineered and comes with an enormous amount of suction power – 800 watts of it – one questions whether a corded cylinder vac of this nature still has a place in the 21st century, let alone among the best vacuum cleaners. Aside from having to keep plugging it into different power outlets around the home and the extra baggage of having a long suction hose that makes it tricky to carry, the most awkward facet of this vacuum cleaner is the static brush head that makes it very strenuous to push on anything other than smooth hard flooring.

Miele Classic C1 Flex and a cuddly toy

(Image credit: Future)

Budgetary concern may sound like a very valid reason for opting for a corded model like the Classic C1 Flex but when you bear in mind that today's marketplace is filled with many modern cordless alternatives from the likes of Shark, Samsung, Vax and Tineco that cost roughly the same while performing just as well on hard floor and even better on carpet, it starts to look like the Classic C1 Flex may have passed its sell-by date.

Miele Classic C1 Flex review: price & availability

  • Price: $349 / £199 /  AU pricing varies
  • Available in a few variants (C1, C1 Flex, C1 Junior) for the same price
  • Flex version only available in the UK

The pricing and options for the Classic C1 depend on where you live. In the UK, there are a few variants – the C1, C1 Flex, C1 Junior – all for the same price of £199. In the US, there's a Classic C1 for a list price of $349 or a C1 Turbo Team PowerLine for $469 (this one comes with an added 'Turbobrush' aimed at tackling pet hair specifically). In Australia the range isn't as clear-cut because it's not listed on the official Miele website, but there are various options available at third party retailers, at a range of prices.

In terms of value for money, it's acceptable but not amazing. There are plenty of competitors' options in a similar ballpark, which I think offer better performance. 

  • Value for money score: 3 out of 5

Miele Classic C1 Flex specs

Miele Classic C1 vacuum cleaner review: design

  • Excellent build quality
  • Easy to pull around
  • Disappointing multi-floor head

Ask any modern tech-savvy householder whether they would ever consider buying a corded vacuum cleaner and they will probably tell you that that ship has sailed. I would tend to agree given that I am now so fully invested in everything cordless, from my stick vacs and robot vac to every outdoor garden power tool I have in the shed, including the lawnmower. Let’s face it, a corded cylinder vac like the Miele Classic C1 Flex I have on review here could never match a cordless stick for outright convenience and the ability to quickly vacuum a room before guests arrive.

On the flip side, corded cylinder vacs are quite often cheaper to buy than their equivalently powered cordless brethren and they'll never run out of power, which means you could vacuum every floor of a country mansion and then do the gatehouse and the rest of the neighborhood while you’re at it. Try that with a cordless stick vac and see how far you get.

Miele Classic C1 Flex and accessories on a rug

(Image credit: Future)

When it comes to household items, Miele is unquestionably one of the most prestigious brands around, and this is due in no small part to the overall quality of everything the company’s design team turns its hands to. After all, German-made Miele products are known to last for years – decades even – and this is testament to both the quality of materials used and the way they’re put together.

Take the Classic C1 Flex. Miele doesn’t advertise the types of plastic used in its vacuum cleaner bodies, but take it from me, this model is tough enough to withstand a fall down the stairs. I know this because I accidentally pulled my test model down a short flight and the body survived unscathed, even after clouting the wall at the bottom.

However, I am also mindful that there are are couple of oddities with the Classic C1 Flex that I find disheartening given Miele’s generally impeccable design ethos. For instance, other Miele cylinder vacs I’ve reviewed or owned have always had a handy little hideaway area under the lid to store away the provided detail tools. By contrast, this one comes with a plastic tool holder that clips on to the base of the concertina hose.

The Miele Classic C1 Flex's cylinder

(Image credit: Future)

This not only looks incongruous but the tools have a tendency to fall off if snagged against furnishings when pulling the unit along. I have since resorted to removing the holder and storing the tools in a bag along with the other 1,001 detail tools I’ve gathered over the years. For the record, the Classic C1 Flex ships with a rectangular upholstery nozzle, a crevice nozzle, a dusting brush and, as the ‘Flex’ moniker suggests, a long flexible nozzle tool for cleaning in hard-to-reach places.

Another element I’m not at all keen on is the main brush head. This is a much more serious anomaly in my opinion because this sole item is key to how well the cleaner works and how easy it is to push and pull, especially when used on carpet. Where most modern vacs are equipped with an optimally-positioned motorized brush head that swallows most larger items while beating its bristles deep into carpet pile, the Miele Classic C1 Flex ships with an old-fashioned static head comprising a single layer of stiff bristles at the front and two flexible plastic strips just behind it.

Underside of the Miele Classic C1 Flex's floor head

(Image credit: Future)

I’ll tell you more about this floor head in the performance chapter but, in short, it is extremely grippy when used on carpet and very difficult to push without breaking into a sweat. Given that its stablemate, the Miele Complete C2 Cat & Dog, ships with an easier-to-push motorised head for just £40 more, it seems like a missed opportunity on Miele’s part to not to equip all of its corded vacs with a motorised floor head.

The Classic C1 Flex features six levels of suction power which are accessed via a dial on the rear. Each setting is illustrated with an icon – curtains, upholstery, rugs, energy-saving, carpet and hard floor – but you can ignore that and just go for the most suitable level of suction for the task in hand. You can also reduce suction power further by opening the vent on the handle, though this increases the vac’s volume from a standard 71dB in full-power mode to an unpleasant 84dB.

Since this is a mains-powered model, you get 5.5 meters of spring-loaded cable tucked away inside its rear housing and this amounts to an operating radius of around 9m. To release the cable you simply pull it out to your required length and it will lock itself automatically. When finished, give the cable a short tug to release the locking mechanism and it’ll scoot back into its housing with the speed of an angry snake. However, you’re advised to hold the main unit in position with your foot when pulling the cable on hard floors or the whole vac will roll towards you. This is because the spring mechanism itself is strong enough to counteract the vac’s three extremely smooth-rolling, multi-directional micro castors. It’s not ideal, I know, but virtually every self-retracting cylinder vac I’ve ever used has had this very same issue.

Mains cable housing on the Miele Classic C1 Flex

(Image credit: Future)

At 12lbs / 5.8kg, the Classic C1 Flex is light enough to carry from the under-stairs cupboard to its place of work and it can be stored either horizontally or vertically. Crucially, the floor head with ungainly hose attached can be clipped to the main unit in either orientation though it’s still a cumbersome package to transport from room to room.

One of the main highlights of all Miele cylinder vacs, including this one, is the way their stainless steel suction tubes can be lengthened or shortened by pulling on a sheath. It’s inarguably the most tactile element on this machine and a system I’d love to see on all vacs, including sticks.

Heading into the enclosed bin section, the Classic C1 Flex is fitted with a substantial 4.76qt / 4.5L microfibre HyClean GN dust bag and just behind it, Miele’s excellent AirClean filter which helps keep carpet dust smells to a minimum. As I explain in my Bagged vs Bagless article, I’m a big fan of bagged vacuum cleaners because they produce almost zero dust when emptying, are better at collecting fine dust particles like ash and they require very little filter maintenance. That’s true of the Classic C1 Flex. However, you only get one dust bag with this model and a set of four extra bags will set you back $22.99 / £13.99.

  • Design score: 2.5 out of 5

Miele Classic C1 vacuum cleaner review: performance

  • Excellent suction power
  • Too difficult to push on carpet
  • Dust-free emptying

I remember the days before cordless stick vacs took hold and you had to wrestle with a snake-like hose while pulling the main unit around behind you, which in turn was connected to a mains plug. It was a system of many foibles, including the cable getting snagged on furniture and the main unit turning turtle because you yanked it so hard out of frustration. You also had to keep unplugging it and plugging it back in every time you changed rooms.

Sorry to report, but this is one such model. However, the Miele Classic C1 Flex isn’t totally devoid of merit because it’s a sterling dust sucker on hard floors, even though it’s not great at collecting larger pieces of detritus like biscuit crumbs.

Power is something the Miele has in spades – all 800 watts of it. In fact, even in lower ‘carpet mode’, this vac’s limpet-like suction is strong enough to lift a rug off the floor. Which is why I say to ignore Miele’s power level guidance and just use the most suitable power level for the job in hand.

Miele Classic C1 Flex sucking flour and crushed biscuits off a wood floor

(Image credit: Future)

As per usual, my first hard floor test involved a good sprinkling of flour and crumbed biscuit with the main brush head set to ‘hard floor’ mode – i.e. with the front-mounted stiff bristle brush engaged. This brush is constructed like a castle battlement with nine small 5mm gaps positioned at regular intervals so larger items can slip through and up the suction tube.

Miele Classic C1 Flex sucking corn flakes off a wood floor

(Image credit: Future)

As anticipated, the floor head snowploughed most the flour and larger biscuit crumbs on the forward stroke so I simply lifted the rear of the head by a few centimeters and pulled it backwards. Everything vanished up the tube. I then tried it using a handful of Crunchy Nut corn flakes and, again as predicted, the head simply pushed everything ahead of it with no evidence of even a single flake making its way to the suction area. Again, I was able to collect every last flake when using the head in reverse and lifted at a short angle. No it’s not ideal, but that’s generally what happens when you don’t use a motorized head with a decent gap between the front of the head and the floor.

Miele Classic C1 Flex gripping a rug while trying to clean up flour

(Image credit: Future)

I then proceeded to perform the same test on a medium pile rug and had to reduce the suction to level three – two levels lower than the recommended setting – because the head was impossible to budge. Despite still being very stiff to push, the brush head made a surprisingly good fist of collecting most of the crumbs and all the flour, though I did have to perform a few back and forth sweeps to collect the cornflakes. I also tried the same test with the handle’s suction reduction vent open and this made it easier to push at the expense of a massive increase in volume – from 71dB to 84dB – that made it sound like a jet engine during take off.

As it stands, Miele’s universal floor head is perfectly useable on most hard floors bar, say, delicate polished concrete or premium wood. After all, it picked up all dust – right to the very edge – and most items smaller than an oat flake. However, I’m not convinced that this is the right type vac for carpets or rugs of any depth because it takes far too much effort to push. In fact, I can’t see anyone other than the very fittest managing to finish a single carpeted room without needing to have a little lie down. By comparison to most cordless stick vacs, this specific model’s brush head felt outdated and of another age.

On the plus side, the Miele has oodles of suction power for tasks like vacuuming down the side of sofa cushions, while its extra long and flexible suction tool is one of the very best for sucking up crumbs and crisps between car seats and the center console.

  • Performance score: 2.5 out of 5

Should you buy the Miele Classic C1 vacuum cleaner?

Buy it if...

You have a lot of hard flooring

The Classic C1 Flex is a decent performer on hard floors.

You have a lot of rooms to clean

This vac will vac till the cows come home.

You want reliability

Miele is renowned for the high quality of its products.

Don't buy it if…

Your home is mostly carpeted

The Classic C1 Flex’s static brush head is not suitable for carpet.

You don’t want to be tethered to a mains plug

You will need to keep plugging this vac in from room to room.

You don’t have much storage space

The hose and long suction tube make it ungainly to store.

How I tested the Miele Classic C1 vacuum cleaner

Having hauled all parts out of the box, I first tested this model on hard engineered wood flooring using a combination of fine flour and crumbed biscuits, a handful of raw porridge oats and some Crunchy Nut corn flakes. 

I then carried out the same test on a medium pile rug. I also gauged the amount of hassle it posed when using it, plugging it into various power outlets and carrying it upstairs and storing it away.

  • First reviewed: July 2024
Bissell CrossWave OmniForce review: Bissell’s best wet-dry vacuum yet
6:01 pm | June 14, 2024

Author: admin | Category: Computers Gadgets Home Small Appliances Vacuums | Tags: | Comments: Off

Bissell CrossWave OmniForce: two-minute review

I don't know that I’ve seen any company with as many wet dry vacuums as Bissell. And, having used three different models, including the epically-named Bissell CrossWave OmniForce I can say that each model has qualitatively improved on the last.

Whether you'll find the Bissell CrossWave OmniForce to be one of the best vacuum cleaners for you will depend heavily on your needs. This wet dry vacuum has the best vacuuming performance of any of the Bissell models I’ve handled, and you’ll have to pay much more for a wet-dry competitor.

While I’ll go much deeper into what makes the Bissell CrossWave OmniForce tick, I can already state that its vacuuming ability is its best asset over the rest of Bissell’s wet dry vacuum line, as it no longer feels like an underpowered afterthought. The fact that it will clean its own mop pads when returned to its base station is another point in its favor. Plus, you’ll get a decent 30 minutes of battery out of it, though that’s not particularly impressive compared with the best cordless vacuums.

Bissell CrossWave OmniForce in a living room

(Image credit: Future)

There aren’t a ton of negatives, either. While the vacuuming capability is pretty good, it won’t replace the need for a powerful model for deep cleaning purposes. Also, the floorhead doesn’t tilt enough to get very far under hard-to-move furniture. All in all, though, it’s a worthy addition to any home when you want a convenient way to vacuum and mop your floors.

Bissell CrossWave OmniForce review: specs

Bissell CrossWave OmniForce review: price & availability

  • $379.99 (about £237, AU$450)
  • Available now
  • Available only in the US

Though I assume the Bissell CrossWave OmniForce will eventually make its debut in the UK and Australia, it is, at the moment, a US-only affair. And, since it’s the newest addition to Bissell’s surprisingly deep lineup of wet dry vacuums, it’s also the most expensive. It’s also pricier than some of the other models for other reasons. As someone who’s been able to test the Bissell SpinWave + Vac, which retails at $249.99 / £179.99, I can tell you that spending the $379.99 (about £237, AU$450) on the Bissell CrossWave OmniForce is worth it for the much improved vacuuming ability.

If you already have a fantastic vacuum and don’t need the two-in-one capability, you might feel just as satisfied with the SpinWave SmartStream Spin Mop, which goes for a much lower price at $159.99 (about £130 / AU$250), though it doesn't have the self-cleaning mop capabilities of the CrossWave OmniForce. It also doesn’t have quite as cool a name.

Of course, there are some models out there that are amazing wet dry vacuums with performance that can match the best vacuums, such as the Tineco Floor One S7 Pro. However they’re generally bulkier and more expensive. In the case of the Tineco, you’ll have to pay $799.99 (likely £669 / AU$999) to get one.

  • Value for money score: 4 out of 5

Bissell CrossWave OmniForce review: design

  • Attractive if unassuming as well as durable
  • Streamlined controls
  • Not much in the way of accessories

The Bissell CrossWave OmniForce, made of of durable, high quality plastic in an attractive if unassuming black and gray colorway, has a definite mid-range look to it. You’re not going to get a premium feel, but neither will you worry that it’s going to break during use.

At almost 11 pounds, it has some heft to it. I could see it being tiring for some to push around for 30 minutes straight, which is how long it can last on a single charge. That said, it’s well-balanced and moves around easily on its two wheels. I would assume some of its balance comes from the fact that, unlike with stick vacuums, the body containing the motor, the water reservoir and the dirty water tank are all located close to the floorhead instead of the handle.

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Bissell CrossWave OmniForce with included accessories

Bissell CrossWave OmniForce with included accessories (Image credit: Future)
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Bissell CrossWave OmniForce filter in dirty water reservoir

Bissell CrossWave OmniForce filter in dirty water reservoir (Image credit: Future)
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Controls on Bissell CrossWave OmniForce

Controls on Bissell CrossWave OmniForce (Image credit: Future)
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Bissell CrossWave OmniForce brushroll

Bissell CrossWave OmniForce brushroll (Image credit: Future)

Speaking of the water reservoir and dirty water tank, they easily pull out to empty with a simple push of a lever. The brush roll in the floorhead is accessible in the same way if you need to clean it. Considering the brushroll is basically a rolling mop in cylindrical form, you don’t have to access it too often to untangle hair and the like.

In terms of controls, the Bissell CrossWave OmniForce is pretty streamlined. You have a power button that automatically engages the vacuum mode (there’s no way to turn that off, incidentally), the button to turn on the mop function, and a turbo button to run the vacuum or vacuum and mop functions at a higher speed. These are all situated on the front of the handle. There’s also a button at the top of the handle to run a self-cleaning cycle on the brushroll, which you would do when the unit is sitting in the storage and rinse tray.

Bissell CrossWave OmniForce LED display during use

(Image credit: Future)

You can track what’s engaged by looking at the large LED display on the front of the body that indicates not only whether mop mode is on, but at what level the vacuum and mop modes are at. It also shows battery life.

As far as attachments or accessories go, the Bissell CrossWave OmniForce is fairly light compared to a lot of vacuums. There’s the storage and rinse tray, which also charges the vacuum in between use, and two sample size containers of cleaning fluid. So, don’t expect this to do everything your stick vacuum can do as there’s no crevice tool or anything else. Considering the form factor of this vacuum, however, that’s to be expected.

  • Design score: 4.5 out of 5

Bissell CrossWave OmniForce review: performance

  • Surprisingly good vacuum performance
  • Even, deep mopping
  • Surprisingly quiet

Whether it’s cereal or pet hair, the Bissell CrossWave OmniForce will pick it up. I even picked up small leaves. I say all this to emphasize that this vacuum does a good job being a vacuum. Some wet dry vacuums do a great job of leaving the floors clean, but only after using something else to vacuum first, and then using said wet dry vac to do the mopping.

Bissell CrossWave OmniForce vacuuming

(Image credit: Future)

However the Bissell CrossWave OmniForce does a good job on both fronts, and the floorhead is only a little bit wider than the brushroll so this model is able to reach edges fairly easily as well. But while I found it to pick up all sorts of debris, I wouldn’t consider this a complete floor-cleaning package. You’ll probably still want a powerful vacuum, preferably with a HEPA filter (this does not come with one) and an assortment of attachments to get into various nooks and crannies. It’s also worth noting that the floorhead doesn’t have a lot of tilt to it so you won’t be able to get far under furniture without moving it.

Bissell CrossWave OmniForce mopping

(Image credit: Future)

In terms of mopping, the Bissell CrossWave OmniForce leaves a small and even level of water or water and solution as it goes across the floor that not only properly washes the floor, but does so without leaving excess amounts of water as you might experience when mopping by hand. Seeing the dirty water as well as debris in the dirty water tank is enough evidence that this does an excellent job mopping, though the shiny floors help.

During operation, it’s also surprisingly quiet, registering at around 68dB during use. I’ve used plenty of vacuums that get very loud, yet this one is able to do its job well at a volume you can talk over (at least when you're not using the turbo mode).

It also has a decent, if not amazing, battery life. It took me 8 minutes and 15 seconds to get to 75%, for instance, and I’ve used it for up to its advertised 30 minutes of juice, which I found to be more than enough time to cover a full floor of a house. However, it does take four hours to charge back up. Plus, if you use the self-cleaning function (and you should), the brushroll will be wet for up to 24 hours. Likewise if you use the mop function, which means you won’t be able to vacuum carpet straight after.

  • Performance score: 4.5 out of 5

Should you buy the Bissell CrossWave OmniForce?

Buy it if…

Don't buy it if...

Bissell CrossWave OmniForce review: also consider

How I tested the Bissell CrossWave OmniForce

To test the Bissell CrossWave OmniForce, I used it for a week to vacuum hardwood and marble flooring around my house. I also tested it on carpets and used all the modes to see how the vacuum performed. I also vacuumed up different sized debris and made sure to use it to get under furniture and edges.

I’ve tested a lot of gear over the years from laptops and audio equipment to vacuum cleaners and air fryers, and so have been able to use my expertise to give an honest and fair opinion, not to mention a critical eye, to any product I test.

Read more about how we test

First tested June 2024

Halo Capsule X Pet Max vacuum cleaner review
5:00 pm | June 2, 2024

Author: admin | Category: Computers Gadgets Home Small Appliances Vacuums | Comments: Off

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.

The Halo Capsule X Pet Max vacuum cleaner with its accessories

(Image credit: Future)

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.

Close up of the Halo Capsule X Pet Max with a rug in the background

(Image credit: Halo / Future)

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.

The Halo Capsule X Pet Max vacuum cleaner's filter

(Image credit: Future)

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.

Halo Capsule X Pet Max vacuum cleaner on a rug

(Image credit: Future)

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.

Halo Capsule X Pet Max vacuum cleaner tackling corn flakes

(Image credit: Future)

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.

Halo Capsule X Pet Max cleaning oats off a rug

(Image credit: Future)

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.

Halo Capsule X Pet Max vacuum cleaner dust bag

(Image credit: Future)

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 review
2:54 pm | May 28, 2024

Author: admin | Category: Computers Gadgets Home Small Appliances Vacuums | Comments: Off

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.

iLoop on the Tineco Floor One S5 Extreme vacuum cleaner goes from blue to red as it cleans

(Image credit: Future)

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 Floor One S5 Extreme vacuum cleaner at work

(Image credit: Future)

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.

The Tineco Floor One S5 Extreme vacuum cleaner at work on fine debris

(Image credit: Future)

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.

Removing the Tineco Floor One S5 Extreme's filter for cleaning

(Image credit: Future)

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

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