To choose your free tools, see the accessory selector page after you add to cart. Lithium ion batteries are extremely powerful which means it is crucial to use battery packs that are safe. Our batteries have a very effective battery management system which is a top-level safety feature ensuring the battery does not overheat or overcharge and catch fire. This system also ensures that the battery is communicating properly with the rest of the machine. With cheaper third-party replacement packs, you have no idea where the battery and lithium cells came from and there were likely no quality controls to ensure safe manufacturing or consistency with the product.
However, the 10-pound weight does get heavy, and emptying the filter is a chore—we had to manually remove it and shake the pieces out, which proved to be an endeavor on its own. You don’t have to spend a lot to get a good handheld vacuum, as evidenced by this Black+Decker Dustbuster. That’s not surprising; few companies have more experience making cordless handheld vacuums, since they pioneered the product back in 1979. While not a main selling point, it’s nice to know that Bissell donates $5 from each Pet Hair Eraser to the Bissell Pet Foundation.
Wirecutter is the product recommendation service from The New York Times. Our journalists combine independent research with (occasionally) over-the-top testing so you can make quick and confident buying decisions. Whether it’s finding great products or discovering helpful advice, we’ll help you get it right (the first time). Liam McCabe is a former senior staff writer for Wirecutter, and has covered the wild world of appliances since 2011.
All of that adds up to a great cordless vacuum at a price that won’t clean out your bank account. The Shark Navigator is a lightweight, upright cordless vacuum that comes in at a very reasonable cost. If you are allergic to dust, animal hair, or have asthma, vacuuming can be incredibly challenging. Vacuums without irobot vacuum cleaner anti-allergen filters can blow sneeze-inducing dust and particles right back into the room you’ve just cleaned. The XPS 15—powered by 12th Gen Intel Core processors, Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050, and a six-cell battery—balances size and performance to help fuel everyday work or more intensive creative projects.
This wall-mounted wet/dry vacuum/blower isn’t portable in the slightest but makes up for it with supreme power and a 32-foot-long hose. The other knock is you’ll need Milwaukee’s proprietary M18 battery and charger, sold separately. But if you already have other Milwaukee M18 bissell crosswave cordless tools, the battery works with this vacuum like a charm. Speaking of crevice tools, the V8’s is criminally small and really struggled against large pieces. For a home/car vacuum, it works—but we wouldn’t recommend dropping this kind of cash to use it strictly for your vehicle.
Since it’s cordless, you won’t have to drag a cord up and down your steps, making it easy to maneuver. The CH951 also features cyclonic suction for powerful cleaning and its filter is washable. At just 1.4 pounds, this Shark vacuum is one of the lightest cordless handheld models money can buy, and it looks pretty distinctive, as well. Despite its narrow silhouette, it does a surprisingly good job cleaning difficult debris like pet hair and is easy to empty with the press of a button. Plus, it won’t pose an eyesore if you’re limited on space and have to store it on your counter; the base holds the Wandvac’s accessories, as well. In both the cases of Miele canister vacs and Dyson cordless sticks, you’re going to get excellent cleaning performance.
I’ve found that I can get my vacuuming done in about half the time with a cordless as I did with my old corded vacuum. So for me, the run time of any of these vacuums is plenty – I’ve never had one die on me before I was done with what I wanted to get vacuumed. While some vacuums have filters that need regular replacement, a washable filter is both easy to maintain and minimizes the recurring expense of buying new filters. By regularly cleaning a Shark vacuum’s filter, you can keep your vacuum operating at peak levels of suction and particle capture. This feature is very handy for any household, but particularly one that’s conscious of their environmental impact or sticking to a budget. BISSELL vacuums are generally cheaper than comparable Shark models, though that lower price tag is often reflected in inferior build quality, debris pickup performance, and air filtration performance.
If you have thick carpets like those in your home, it’s definitely worth a look. The 15 cordless vacuums we’ve tested in recent years range in price from $105 to $899. The Tineco Pure One S11 sits right in the middle of that pack with a retail price of $ but it performed as if it costs a lot more, with outstanding results in each of our main cleaning tests.
If you don’t plan to clean rugs (or at least not very deeply), you can get a vacuum that’s purpose-built for cleaning bare floors. Most of these are “suction-only” models, without a brush roll (and some of these are dirt cheap). But a few of them use a specialty soft-fabric brush roll to help “hug” the debris toward the intake. All that said, cordless vacuums make it so easy to clean that you may just be fine with those tradeoffs.
Depending on the issue, having your vacuum serviced after the warranty has expired might not be worth the cash. To suss out any potential lemons, we dig through buyer reviews on multiple retailers to see if any vacuum brands or models have consistent breakage issues, either with the motor or external parts. The table below tells you the average percentage of sand each vacuum was able to remove from each of our three test surfaces.