15 best cordless vacuum cleaners, tried and tested in real homes

If having a clean home fills you with joy, the Shark stratos will make you euphoric. The suction power on carpet and hard floors is a dream. It’s constantly working out what power levels you need to pick up the most mess. All you have to do is steer while it uses clean sense IQ technology to automatically sense the mess you can’t see and adjust cleaning power for up to 50 per cent more dirt pick-up.

No pet hair, clothing fluff or larger-than-usual objects came close to getting stuck in the brush, making it useful for busy households when there’s barely enough time to use it, let alone untangle things that are clogging it up. We love the LED highlights that helped us make the most out of every use, showing us where dirt had piled up and illuminating under furniture. It was also super easy to convert into a handheld vacuum for cleaning staircases or car upholstery.

But there are three features that impressed us the most. Firstly, it has a dual battery pack offering 120 minutes of runtime, which is double the next best model. Secondly, you can attach an anti-odour pack to make the floors smell as good as they look. Finally, the hose folds back on itself for compact and freestanding storage and charging.

This is convenient to store, fast to charge and light to push around to clean up dirt fast. With a wall storage bracket, you can keep clutter off your floors and easily find the V8 when you need it. The hose is also surprisingly flexible – we didn’t expect it to have a 180-degree sideways swivel and a 90-degree up and down angle, given the low price.

Another stand-out feature is the brush. It’s a two-in-one turbine electric floor brush in which stiff and soft bristles are integrated together on one roller. This makes it extremely versatile for use on carpets, up on ceilings and inside cars. Allergy sufferers will appreciate its high-density HEPA filter, which removes up to 99.99 per cent of microscopic dust particles and ensures this dust will not go back into the air to cause secondary pollution.

A major drawback with cordless vacuums is they have a limited runtime, so might not quite stretch to a full house clean before they need charging. This smart white stick vacuum neatly solves the problem by arriving with two batteries. Each one lasts for around 40 minutes on low-power mode, so you can carry on cleaning for 80 minutes without interruption, if you really want to. We even found we could eke out a little extra time by charging the first battery while we used the second, making this a great option to entirely replace a corded model.

It’s very lightweight, too, tackling both carpets and hard floors easily, and reaching well under furniture with its flexible head. There are LED lights to illuminate hard-to-spot dust, and the bin is very easy to empty.

It didn’t suck up larger particles quite as well as some of the most expensive models, but getting two batteries for this price means we’re prepared to overlook the occasional stray Bran Flake.

If you really want to know your house is clean, no other vacuum comes close to Dyson’s cordless whizz. The space-age stick has an ingenious sensor that continuously sizes and counts dust particles, automatically increasing the machine’s suction power when needed. It also logs precisely how much dirt has been collected and displays real-time results on an LCD screen, so you know when floors are immaculate. There’s no need to rely on your eyesight, either – the Dyson has an eye-safe laser to magically reveal even invisible dust on hard floors.

Once you’ve recovered from the shock of spotting areas you’ve always missed, you’ll be wowed by this vacuum’s overall performance. It’s a dream to glide between hard floors and carpets, adapting power for each as it goes, and suction doesn’t falter for the entire hour’s running time.

Unlike many cordless vacuums, it has no problem tackling larger debris, while its anti-tangle technology clears hair from the brush bar, so you don’t end up with a matted mess. We also love the slim 25cm-wide cleaner head, which could reach into narrow gaps and around table legs, so we didn’t miss a single spot.

Our only slight grumble is that you do have to press the trigger constantly while vacuuming, which gets a bit tedious. But the smug satisfaction of knowing your house is scientifically sparkling makes it totally worth it.

Read the full Dyson V15 review

Not only is this clever, life-simplifying vacuum from Tineco a joy to look at (with its matte white detailing), the power is a dream. We could physically feel it reaching below the surface of the carpet to ensure a deep clean, and this continued for 30 minutes, thanks to a powerful pouch cell battery. If we used it on the lowest power setting, it had 40 minutes of runtime.

However, it’s the lack of maintenance that was our favourite feature. After each use, you can return the stick to the base, and it automatically empties it’s own tank, deep cleans every part of the vacuum (including the brush), filters out 99.9 per cent of dust, and recharges itself. Not once did we have to untangle a hair from the brush and we rarely had to empty the dustbin, as the charging dock holds a huge 3l of dust.

If other cordless models prove a handful, this is the vacuum for you. It was one of the lightest models we tested, with an excellent flat nozzle that swivels 180 degrees, can steer around table legs without extra effort, and slides seamlessly under sofas. Better still, it’s not necessary to hold a trigger constantly as you clean, making this model the ideal option if you struggle with mobility in your hands or fingers.

We also appreciated the fact the vacuum can stand upright on its floor brush rather than having to lean against a wall, and, as it’s just 69cm tall, it’s not difficult to find somewhere to store it. The included crevice and dusting tools are both stored on the vacuum, so, you won’t need to scrabble around to find them.

However, a full charge does take a whopping six hours, so, we’d advise leaving it plugged in all the time, so it’s ready to go whenever you need a quick blitz.

Dyson was the world leader in vacuum cleaner technology, with the world’s first bagless vacuum cleaner being invented in 1993. Now, 30 years later, the brand is still at the top of the game when it comes to inventing new features and making vacuum cleaning feel like playing with a tech toy.

Moving the sleek, slimline V12 around the house felt like we were holding a tablet that cleans. The LED screen shows what’s been sucked up, displaying real-time scientific proof of a deep clean. The performance is unbeatable. We were impressed that it never lost any suction power during the whole 60 minutes of usage and zapped up all visible dirt into its insides like it was nothing. This could be down to the inclusion of a piezo sensor, which continuously sizes and counts dust particles – automatically increasing suction power when needed.

Pet owners will really appreciate the hair-screw tool, which is an anti-tangle conical brush bar that spirals hair off your surfaces and into its bin. As pets can often bring germs and invisible dirt into the house, there’s a precisely angled blade of light, which makes dust visible on hard floors, so you don’t miss anything.

When the vacuum’s full, you don’t have to touch any dirt or hair, thanks to a fast, easy ejection mechanism. Press the button and it drives dust and debris deep into your bin, in one action.

Offering an impressive 200W of suction power, this means – in theory, at least – you only need to go over an area once to make it look fresh and bright, and therefore you can clean faster.

Spinning around 3,750 times per minute, the turbo-action brush picks up visible dirt fast. It has jet cyclones to boost the airflow, so you get stronger suction for longer. We were also impressed by the complex filtration system, which ensure less than 0.0001 per cent of dust is released back into the air, which is great for allergy sufferers and homes with young children or elderly people.

Superficially, it’s extremely easy on the eye, too – the silver and mint design looks fresh and modern. Plus, there will never be any loose dirt spoiling the aesthetic when it’s being stored, as you can wash the entire dust bin, including the multi-cyclone system. Be prepared to get a lot of compliments from house guests if you store it in plain sight.

When it comes to quality and reliable household appliances, Bosch always delivers. The unlimited 7 comes with an impressive 10-year guarantee, which effectively means the price works out as £35 a year.

However, the real amazement for us came from the nozzle foot release. Tap gently on it with your foot and the nozzle detaches from the brush, so you can clean corners or ceilings. Not only do you never have to bend down to clean hard-to-reach places, you don’t have to stretch or struggle with any hose adjustment ever again. For that reason, we’d highly recommend this for elderly people or those with limited mobility.

Plus, if you tap the front of the vacuum gently, the bendable flex tube folds 90 per cent flat, for effortless cleaning under furniture. We’ve never seen a vacuum cleaner that folds this flat before, which made it fun to use, as well as less effort, with no need to bend down.

There’s no LED display to tell you how much power you have left, but the LED lamps on the brush are powerful, working like floodlights to show where the dirt is.

With four suction nozzles, this bagless vacuum cleaner converts from stick to handheld mode with ease, bringing with it all the accessories to deep clean any surfaces you can think of. It does that job surprisingly well, given that it’s less than £200.

Allergy UK has certified it as good for allergy sufferers, thanks to two washable HEPA filters and a four-stage filtration process that removes 99.99 per cent of dirt, including particles that are invisible to the naked eye. Generally, bagged cleaners are better for allergy sufferers than their bagless counterparts, but the Levoit holds its own in these circumstances.

We were also impressed that it has an auto mode, which uses sensors to adjust the suction power to the amount of dust and saves battery power. We’re often tempted to whack the suction up to the highest setting, just to be sure we’re getting all the dust up, so, it was handy to have this little helper so we could operate the vacuum for longer. This is a great cleaner if you have a larger home and like to get all rooms done in one go.

Think you don’t need a vacuum cleaner if you only have hard floors? Think again. Although you could use a dustpan and brush on hard floors, you’ll only be getting up less than a tenth of what the Dyson omni-glide will remove from your floors.

The “omni” in the name comes from the fact the fluffy cleaning head can move in all directions. This means it can clean sideways, as well as front and back. During our tests, it glided across floors like it was floating on air, even though we could visibly see it sucking up all the debris we laid down for it.

If you have old wooden floors or especially expensive floors, you’ll appreciate the brush. It consists of two brush bars that are covered in soft nylon to capture large particles without damaging hard floors, while anti-static carbon fibre filaments collect fine dust at the same time.

Remove the main wand and attach a different tool for use as a handheld and you can tackle stairs, inside a car and hard-to-reach places with ease. But since the head measures just 20.7cm, it can tackle most small spaces in stick mode, which is a lot less effort than handheld mode. We would have given it a higher score if the dust tank was slightly larger.

The crosswave max vacuums and mops hard floors at the same time, picking up wet and dry debris simultaneously. To start, we tested it on crumbs of toast with jam, which it soon ate up, leaving no sign of any stickiness. Then we emptied some cereal and milk onto the floor, and it handled that perfectly, too.

If muddy footprints or pawprints are brought into the house, this multi-tasking appliance will suck and mop floors clean in about a quarter of the time it would take to get a mop and bucket. There are no streaks either, as the crosswave has two tanks, so clean and dirty water are kept separate and you’re never wiping dirty water over your floors. When finished, it has a self-cleaning cycle to flush out dirt and debris, leaving it fresh for the next time you need it.

At more than 5kg, it is heavier than other cordless vacuums we tested and it had the shortest battery life. You couldn’t clean your whole house in one session, and you can’t use it on carpet, but it’s the perfect tool for hallways, kitchens and open-plan areas.

With 45 minutes of non-stop power, the battery on this Vax is seriously impressive. When a vacuum cleaner costs well under £200, there’s a strong chance its power will dip after 20 minutes of use, but we were able to use this model on full suction for three-quarters of an hour without any noticeable difference in performance.

There are plenty of details that make this 3.1kg cordless vacuum a cut above others in the same price bracket. The LED headlights are extremely bright, illuminating any area, leaving the dust with nowhere to hide. Meanwhile, a specially designed floorhead means it moves seamlessly from carpet to hard floor.

Our favourite feature, however, is the antimicrobial treatment on the brush bar, which helps protect your bristles from bacteria and fungi, by preventing their growth. If you’ve ever had to vacuum up something unsavoury left behind by kids or pets, it’s a relief to know the bacteria is cleaned up and you’re not accidentally spreading it to other areas of your house.

The Halo capsule X cordless vacuum boasts an impressive combination of power and lightness. Thanks to its carbon fibre construction, it weighs a mere 2.6kg, making manoeuvring a breeze. Even though it’s light in weight, it’s high in power. The capsule X boasts a 2l dustbin, which is up to five times larger than some competitors, and delivers a runtime of up to 60 minutes per battery.

With its array of attachments, including a crevice tool, dusting brush, power brush, mini pet hair brush, and hard floor roller, it handled any cleaning task we threw its way, from stairs to the much-used corner sofa. We also like the bags that come with it, meaning you don’t have to physically see or smell what you’re clearing up. When the bag’s full, you can lift it all into the bin, keeping dust particles out of the air, which would be a welcome relief for allergy sufferers.

Bosch is a name to know when it comes to powerful home appliances, so we had high hopes for this cordless vacuum, which has been designed to save you time and effort by combining two cleaning modes in one (vacuum and mop).

There are three power modes to choose from (auto, turbo and eco), with the latter preserving most of the battery. While the brand claims it has a 40-minute battery life, we found it ran out of charge after 30 minutes when in auto, which is something to bear in mind if you have a large home.

The lightweight vacuum can be stored on the back of a door thanks to the included brackets and charging dock, but one small gripe is that it can’t stand up on its own and we found that if we rested it against a wall it’d slip and fall over.

As for its performance, the vacuum has a powerful suction, making light work on our floors (although we did notice it worked slightly better on wood floors and required a little extra effort on carpets). Similarly, the flexible tube allowed us to clean hard-to-reach areas of our home, particularly under sofas and beds. We also appreciated the range of attachments, including the short crevice nozzle, which allowed us to vacuum up dust and dirt in the nooks and crannies.

To switch to the mop, simply replace the vacuum with the mop, which is to be filled with your detergent of choice and water. After testing the vacuum, we were expecting great things from the mop and thought that the performance could be improved slightly. While it does do a decent surface clean of floors, releasing water automatically, we noticed that our floors weren’t getting sufficiently wet, and areas of tough grime needed a lot of leg work to remove. That being said, it’s a small price to pay for having the ability to mop and vacuum at the same time. And we like that once you’ve finished with the mop, the pads can be washed at 40C in the washing machine, ready to be reused. This really is a great cordless vacuum for those who have hard floors throughout their home.