Is it really worth spending up to $1099 (or more) for a vacuum cleaner? CHOICE testing over the past several years has shown that mid-priced vacuums – between $250 and $600 – offer the best value for money.
More expensive models, such as the ones on test, may not necessarily remove dirt from carpet any better than the mid-priced models and aren’t always easier to use.
However, one major difference has begun to emerge: the expensive models are much more likely to have power heads included, which can be the best choice for households with fur-shedding pets.
Pet hair can be a real challenge for vacuum cleaners, which is why we include it in our tests. Cats and dogs shed their fur pretty much continuously, and loose hairs cling tenaciously to carpet and furniture fabric, often working their way into the weave of the material.
- Our tests indicate power heads, with their motorised rotating brushes, are the most effective at removing pet hair from carpet.
- Turbo heads are usually less effective – often no better than standard heads.
- If you only have hard floors, a standard head is all you need.
- If you have a lot of pet hair to pick up, a pet hair mitt is a good option for cleaning particularly messy areas before finishing the job with the vacuum.
New technologies
Recent technologies in vacuuming – from cyclonic innovation and robotics to hovering vacuums – have made minimal difference to the way we clean; most households still do a thorough clean about once a week.
And although vacuum cleaners are becoming smaller and more manoeuvrable, no vacuum to date is perfect; doing the job all by itself, doing it well and is cost-effective.
We included the Miele Hybrid S4812 which can be either battery or mains powered. The battery lasted around 10 minutes. It might be useful for cleaning the car and doing odd jobs about the house like cleaning small messes.
Given its current price tag of over $1000, you may want to opt for a less expensive hand held or stick vacuum. Check out our What to look for, for its performance.
Bissell Healthy Home 61Z4-F
Bosch BSG81266AU/10
# Bosch Roxx'x Animal Sensor BGS6225AU
# Bosch Roxx'x Pro Silence BGS6SIL1AU
Dyson Compact DC26 HEPA
# Dyson DC25 Ball Hepa Plus
Dyson DC33
# Dyson Stowaway DC23 Motorhead
# Electrolux Ultra Active Cyclonic ZUA3861P
Electrolux Ultra Active ZUA3860P
# Electrolux Ultra One S-Bag Z8870P
Electrolux Ultra One Z8821PT
LG Kompressor VK9220NH
LG Kompressor VK9820UHAQ
# Miele Hybrid S4812
# Miele Medicair 5000 Plus S5281
Miele Power Plus S7210
Nilfisk Extreme Free X250
# Nilfisk Extreme X300
# Sebo Airbelt K1 Pet
# Sebo Airbelt K3 Premium
Wertheim W6035
# Zelmer Solaris VZ5000HQ
# Newly tested models.
Dirt removal from carpet Our tester, Peter Horvath, pre-loads the vacuum cleaners with artificial household dust, embeds sand evenly into a section of carpet and vacuums it to a set pattern and speed. The sand collected is then weighed and recorded as a percentage of the sand applied; this is done twice for each model and the results averaged. He rates all models based on the dirt pick-up performance from carpet using the standard cleaning head. CHOICE doesn't test on hard floors any longer as we found that all vacuums pick up from 99 - 100% of dirt on hard floors.
Ease of use is based on how easy it is to manoeuvre the cleaner and move the cleaning head on the carpet and under low furniture; how difficult it is to empty and change the dirt receptacle; the operation of the controls; and how easy the supplied accessories are to use and store.
Cleaning corners and edges Sand is spread into a right-angled corner and vacuumed to see how close to the corner each cleaner is able to pick up dirt using the standard cleaning head.
Pet hair removal Peter embeds cat hair into the carpet and vacuums it to a set pattern and speed in exactly the same way as the dirt pick-up test. He rates the results based on how much cat hair is left behind after the test. Where supplied, Peter uses a turbo brush or power head; otherwise, he uses the standard cleaning head.
Scratch test For uprights, the cleaning head is set to the hard floor setting to stop the brush from rotating; for barrels, Peter uses the hard floor tool or standard cleaning head set to hard floor. He then runs the head back and forth over a lacquered fibre board 50 times and checks for scratch marks. No model on test left scratch marks; this is typical for most vacuums these days so this result isn’t part of the overall score.
Noise is measured at the user’s position at maximum power setting. Some models emit a high-pitched whistle that can be irritating, even though they may not be louder than others.
