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The best stick vacuum on a budget
The Shark Clean & Empty stick vacuum.
Shark Clean & Empty
- CHOICE Expert Rating: 81% (Recommended)
- Price: $600
This is the cheapest of all the models recommended by our experts, and while $600 isn't exactly spare change, it's a very good price for a very good stick vac.
If your home has mostly hard floors, it'll do an excellent job of cleaning them, and it's also great for pet-friendly households.
Plus, it takes the convenience of a stick vac to the next level: the charging dock has an automatic emptying bin, so it empties itself while it's charging.
You'll need to empty this bin, but it's larger so you won't need to do it as often as you would with stick vacs that only have an on-board dust canister.
It takes the convenience of a stick vac to the next level: it empties itself while it's charging
It's not great at cleaning carpet, but that's a common issue with stick vacs anyway: even some of the highest scoring vacs in our review don't do a brilliant job on carpet. (Though this one does have the lowest score for quick carpet cleaning of all the stick vacs recommended by our experts.)
Read the full Shark Clean & Empty review.
Another affordable stick vac to consider
The Bosch Unlimited 7 BCS711WAU.
Bosch Unlimited 7 BCS711WAU
- CHOICE Expert Rating: 80% (Recommended)
- Price: $649
The best of the rest
These sticks didn't quite meet the cut to be recommended by our experts, but they still received good scores. They're worth considering if your budget only stretches to around $600.
Miele Duoflex HX1 Cat & Dog
- CHOICE Expert Rating: 80%
- Price: $599
Midea MP08AUGY Cordless Handstick with Auto Empty Station
- CHOICE Expert Rating: 79%
- Price: $420
Shark Cordless Pro IR300ANZ
- CHOICE Expert Rating: 79%
- Price: $500
Shark Cordless Detect Pro
- CHOICE Expert Rating: 78%
- Price: $600
The best mid-range stick vacuums
The Shark Stratos Cordless Pet Pro Vacuum with Clean Sense IQ.
Shark Stratos Cordless Pet Pro Vacuum with Clean Sense IQ
- CHOICE Expert Rating: 83% (Recommended)
- Price: $800
A step up from the Clean & Empty, the Shark Stratos Cordless Pet Pro Vacuum with Clean Sense IQ actually scores higher than some sticks costing twice as much.
You'll get plenty of bang for your buck: excellent performance on hard floors, a perfect score for removing pet hair from carpet, good cleaning of edges and corners, very good car cleaning capabilities and a respectable score for thoroughly cleaning carpet.
With a purchase price this low, you could afford to buy a second battery to extend cleaning time
The Stratos Cordless Pet Pro's battery only lasts 10 minutes on full power, but that's not dissimilar to some high-end stick vacs that are far more expensive. Plus, with a purchase price this low you could afford to buy a second battery to extend your cleaning time – and still have spent less money than you would with many other stick vacs.
While we don't have recent brand reliability data for LG and Shark stick vacuums, we know that Shark's conventional corded vacuums have historically scored well for performance and satisfaction.
Read the full Shark Stratos Cordless Pet Pro review.
Other mid-range stick vacuums to consider
These mid-priced vacs are recommended by CHOICE experts.
There's not much between them in terms of running time, pet hair removal scores and their overall CHOICE Expert Ratings, but the Wertheim performs better for quick carpet cleans, if that's something that's important to you.
And while the Shark Cordless PowerDetect is the most expensive, it has a self-emptying feature, which means it will empty its dust canister while it's charging.
This Wertheim only just missed out on the top spot for mid-priced sticks.
Wertheim Evolution MAX Stick Vacuum Cleaner
- CHOICE Expert Rating: 82% (Recommended)
- Price: $899
Shark Cordless Detect Pro Vacuum IW3611ANZ
- CHOICE Expert Rating: 80% (Recommended)
- Price: $800
Shark Cordless PowerDetect Clean & Empty System
- CHOICE Expert Rating: 80% (Recommended)
- Price: $1000
The best premium-priced stick vacuum
The Samsung Bespoke Jet AI Stick Vacuum Cleaner.
Samsung Bespoke Jet AI
- CHOICE Expert Rating: 88% (Recommended)
- Price: $1399
The highest rated vacuum overall in our tests, this Samsung outshone several more expensive Dysons, plus three similarly-priced LGs.
It's far from cheap, but if you don't mind paying top dollar for top quality, this stick vac should be on your list.
It has the longest running time of all the recommended stick vacs, a perfect pet hair removal score, excellent performance on hard floors and the highest score of every stick vac in our tests for thorough carpet cleaning.
It's far from cheap, but if you want top quality for top dollar, this stick vac should be on your list
Plus, its charging tower doubles as a second bin, so when you pop it on charge, it'll empty the dust canister for you – a feature that other high-priced stick vacs, such as those from Dyson, don't always have.
Samsung isn't as well known for its stick vacuums as Dyson, but considering that two of the three Samsungs in our review scored highly enough to be recommended, perhaps it should be.
Read the full Samsung Bespoke Jet AI review.
Other premium-priced stick vacuums to consider
The Dyson Gen5detect Absolute.
These higher-priced vacs are definitely worth adding to your list:
Dyson Gen5detect Absolute
- CHOICE Expert Rating: 87% (Recommended)
- Price: $1549
Dyson V15s Detect Submarine Complete
- CHOICE Expert Rating: 87% (Recommended)
- Price: $1649
LG A9X-AUTO2
- CHOICE Expert Rating: 86% (Recommended)
- Price: $1399
Samsung Bespoke Jet Plus Elite VS20B95993B
- CHOICE Expert Rating: 86% (Recommended)
- Price: $1299
Dyson V12 Detect Slim Absolute
- CHOICE Expert Rating: 85% (Recommended)
- Price: $1349
LG A9X Ultra
- CHOICE Expert Rating: 85% (Recommended)
- Price: $1599
LG A9X-Auto
- CHOICE Expert Rating: 85% (Recommended)
- Price: $1399
Dyson Gen5outsize Absolute
- CHOICE Expert Rating: 84% (Recommended)
- Price: $1649
LG CordZero A9T-Max with All-In-One Tower
- CHOICE Expert Rating: 82% (Recommended)
- Price: $1599
LG CordZero A9K-Ultra
- CHOICE Expert Rating: 80% (Recommended)
- Price: $1299
Stock images: Getty, unless otherwise stated.