Best Cordless Vacuum Cleaners 2021
More people are turning from plug-in vacuum cleaners to their cordless counterparts, due to their relative ease of use and simple storage. With more brands introducing cordless vacuums into their ranges, and cordless features improving each year, it might be something you want to consider for your home.
What are the advantages of cordless vacuum cleaners?
What would it mean to you to be able to remove some steps in your vacuuming chore? With a plug-in vacuum cleaner, you’re likely lifting it out of a cupboard, finding a power socket close to where you need to clean (possibly tucked behind chunky furniture), unwinding a cord, hoping it will reach far enough without you having to pull it out and find an alternative power socket.
If you could remove those steps and instead reach for a lightweight vacuum cleaner, no cords involved, would it make your life a little easier? If so, have a read of why cordless vacuums are becoming so popular, and why you might choose one.
Good for smaller homes
Cordless vacuum cleaners tend to be well-suited to smaller homes. Though they have a limited battery life before you need to recharge, (ranging between 20 mins and 1 hour of power), for a small apartment, a cordless should easily do the work you need it to.
For a large home with many rooms and heavy-duty cleaning requirements (lots of carpets, pets and kids), a cordless may not achieve what a plug-in vacuum might, but who says you can’t have both? Some people are adding a cordless option to their cleaning tools, for those quick jobs on the fly, and saving the plug-in for the long clean.
Easy to handle
Hey guess what, cordless vacuum cleaners don’t have cords! That means you’re not tripping up on or getting tangled in cords when you’re working.
In addition, most of the domestic cordless vacuums have a smaller capacity than plug-in vacuums. This means they generally weigh less, so you have an easier time carrying them. Some cordless vacuum cleaners can be worn as a backpack, which again, makes them very ergonomic for your household clean.
Easy storage
Upright and stick cordless vacuums come as one unit, therefore you don’t have to deal with a separate handle and hose to the body of the machine, like you would deal with with a plug-in canister vacuum cleaner. Their compactness also means they are easier to store in a cupboard or under a bed. Some can be folded so they take up even less space, and most cordless vacuums come with a wall bracket.
All the usual bells and whistles
Many of the cordless vacuums on the market offer the features available to plug-in vacuum cleaners, like HEPA filters, lights on the vacuum head etc., and this looks only set to improve as new models are released each year.
Considerations when choosing a cordless vacuum
What do you need to clean?
How large an area do you need to clean, and how long do you expect it to take? A cordless vacuum has a limited battery life. If you need to cover a large area, you might need to look at a pricier cordless with a longer battery life. Even the most expensive ones cut out at around an hour, before you need to recharge. The time it takes to recharge should be factored in too, as some cordless vacuum cleaners require a 6-hour charge. If you’re not prepared to wait around for charging, you might be better off with a plug-in vacuum cleaner. In saying that, some people choose to buy an extra battery so that when one runs out, they can move onto the next without waiting around for a charge. Some cordless vacuums come with multiple batteries, so you can swap them out.
You also need to think about how much dirt you need to pick-up in the area you’re cleaning. You may be emptying a cordless vacuum more often than you would a plug-in with a larger capacity. However, they are generally fairly easy to empty, and some have convenient ejection mechanisms that assist with the process.
Cost
The cordless vacuum cleaners that perform similarly to plug-in vacuum cleaners are coming in at a high price tag. You need to factor this in, as you might be able to buy a plug-in vac with all the same features, for less money than the cordless with fewer features. There are also many affordable cordless vacuum cleaners on the market. The cheaper ones offer potentially less run time, less power, and/or less dust capacity, but depending on your needs, those things may not be an issue. In general, the more you spend, the greater the capacity of cordless vacuum, and the greater amount of space you can clean
Overall tips for using cordless vacuum cleaners
- Care needs to be taken to use the cordless vacuum cleaners on dry surfaces only, unless stated otherwise. Also, if washing out filters, or vacuum parts, leave them to dry completely before reinserting into the machine.
- Whilst your cordless will have a regular charge time, the initial charge may be much longer. For example, with the i-Vac Ultra Light Plus Stick Vacuum Cleaner, it takes between 5-6 hours to charge for an average use, however the initial charge takes 12 hours.
Cordless vacuum cleaners worthy of a mention...
Miele TRIFLEX HX1 RUNNER
You can’t go past Miele for quality. This cordless stick upright vacuum cleaner boasts high-performance vortex technology and an extra-long running time of up to 120 minutes when used on low power settings (60 on regular settings). It comes with a higher price tag, but you get some decent features for your money, such as an extra battery.
Cost: approx. $999
Run time: 120 mins on low power, or 60 mins on regular setting
Charge time: 5-6 hours
Battery: VARTA Li-Ion battery (comes with extra battery)
Capacity: 400 mL
Best suited to: Multiple surfaces
Filter: Miele's Lifetime Hygiene Filter captures and filters 99.98% of all microscopic particles and allergens.
Power modes: 3 modes (low, medium, max)
Handheld option? Yes
Vacuum parts: LED floorhead lights, XXL floorhead, Battery charging state indicator, wall bracket.
Dyson V7 Motorhead vacuum
Coming in at #1 in NY Times Wirecutter review of the Best Cordless Stick Vacuum cleaners, the Dyson V7 Motorhead has two suction modes (regular and Max), so you’re covered if you need a bit of an intensive clean. With stiff nylon bristles to remove ground-in dirt from carpets, and soft anti-static carbon fibre filaments to remove dust from hard floors, it’s suited to multiple surfaces. A lever-operated dirt ejection mechanism means you can keep your hands clean when emptying it out.
Cost: approx. $599
Run time: Up to 30 minutes
Charge time: 3.5 hours
Capacity: 0.54L
Weight: 2.3kg
Best suited to: Covers all surfaces, and lightweight, so can easily reach up high
Cleaning power: 2 tier™ Radical cyclone technology used to capture microscopic dirt particles as small as 0.3 microns and expels cleaner air. Whole machine filtration.
Power modes: 2 (max-power mode gives 6 mins of high-power suction)
Acoustics: Streamlined airways and open-cell foam direct airflow around the motor to reduce noisy turbulence.
Handheld option? Yes
Vacuum parts: Wall-mounted charging dock.
Cleanstar GALAXY 2-in-1 Rechargeable Stickvac-22.2V
The Cleanstar GALAXY 2-in-1 Rechargeable Stickvac-22.2V is lightweight and easy to hold. It has a microfibre soft roller cleaner head that comes with LED lights, so you can see the dust on those dark areas. It’s multi-directional swivel head allows you to easily clean around furniture.
Cost: approx. $199
Run time: Up to 25 minutes
Charge time: 4 hours
Battery: Rechargeable and removable lithium-ion battery
Capacity: 0.6L dust canister capacity
Best suited to: Carpets and hard floors. Dry surfaces only.
Cleaning power: Superior suction and HEPA filtration
Acoustics: Streamlined airways and open-cell foam direct airflow around the motor to reduce noisy turbulence.
Handheld option? Yes
Vacuum parts: Wall mount bracket, dusting brush and crevice tool.
Cleanstar Escape Bagless Battery Backpack (V-ESCAPE-B)
The Escape Battery Powered Backpack with Cordless & Patented Cyclonic Bagless Design gives you the convenience of wearing your cordless vacuum on your back (and you get to look like a Ghostbuster!) With a 400 Watt thermal protected motor and a comfortable harness with stretchable vacuum hose, you have a little more flexibility with getting into tight spaces and up stairs when using this one. Whilst it’s ergonomics mean it’s suited for commercial use, there’s no reason why you can’t buy one for home.
Cost: approx. $499
Run time: Up to 40 minutes
Charge time: approx. 2.5 hours
Battery: 24 Volt Rechargeable Lithium-Ion Battery(Panasonic)
Capacity: 2.5 Litre Dust Container
Weight: 7kg
Best suited to: large areas of carpeted or hard floors
Filter: H12 HEPA filter (washable) and fabric premotor filter
Power modes: One suction mode with suction power of 11-12.5 kPa
Acoustics: 70-75 dBA
Vacuum parts: Extension rods, dusting brush, upholstery tool, ergonomic velcro waist belt and shoulder straps, easy to hold on/off switch, wall-mounted charging dock.
Vax Blade Pet Pro Cordless Handstick Vacuum Cleaner
The Vax Blade Pet Pro is a lightweight cordless aimed at sucking up pet hair, while covering all the other bases a vacuum cleaner should cover. With its horizontal cylinder, it provides a balanced feel, and also has a SMART Control™ which tells you how much battery power you have left.
Cost: approx. $299
Run time: 45 minutes
Charge time: 4 hours
Battery: Lithium battery
Capacity: 0.3 litre capacity in a horizontal cylinder
Best suited to: Carpets and hard floors, stairs, upholstery, cars
Filter: Washable
Power modes: two modes. Regular mode and a boost mode for extra power. Vax SMART Control lets you know how much power remains.
Handheld option? Yes, detachable handheld option.
Vacuum parts: Charger, Crevice Tool, Docking Station (wall bracket), Dusting Brush, Pet/Stair Tool.
Hoover Zenith handstick
Cost: approx. $399
Run time: 24 Minutes (Low Power) 15 minutes (High Power)
Charge time: 4 hours (charging indicator light flashes during use when battery is running low)
Battery: 2000mAh Li-ion
Capacity: 0.4L
Weight: 2.20Kg / 1.7Kg (handvac only)
Best suited to: Carpets, hard floors, stairs, tiles
Filter: 3-stage filtration system with exhaust HEPA filter
Power modes: 2 modes, high power and low power
Handheld option? Yes
Vacuum parts: Wall storage bracket, Soft dusting brush for cleaning a variety of surfaces or as an upholstery tool, Crevice Tool, Mini Motorised Pet Brush, LED headlights.
i-Vac Ultra Light Plus Stick Vacuum Cleaner
Like its name says, the i-Vac Ultra Light Plus Stick vacuum cleaner is one of the least heavy cordless vacuums you’ll encounter, with a 400mL capacity. This will suit light housework well, as it’s easy to carry, and features a swivel power head for increased manoeuvrability, LED lights for added visibility and a convenient continuous mode function, so you don’t have to mess with the controls as you work.
Cost: approx. $249
Run time: 20 mins
Charge time: 5-6 hours
Battery: 2000mAh lithium-ion battery
Capacity: 400 mL
Best suited to: Carpets and hard floors
Power modes: 1
Handheld option? Yes
Vacuum parts: Swivel powerhead, crevice tool, Soft dusting brush for cleaning a variety of surfaces or as an upholstery tool, Crevice Tool, wall bracket.
VacuumSPOT parts and accessories
After you choose your cordless vacuum cleaner, make sure you contact us at VacuumSPOT for any additional vacuum parts and accessories you might need. We stock parts for 29 brands of vacuum cleaners, offer competitive pricing and free delivery for purchases over $150.
