Buying a vacuum cleaner isn’t as easy as you might think. With so many brands and models to choose from, it can be bewildering. Sticking with established brands isn’t necessarily a safe bet, with past performance being no guarantee that the latest models will be as good. Meanwhile, prices can be deceptive, with some affordable models now closing the gap on top-of-the-range brands when it comes to cleaning performance.
You can’t know all this by browsing through a department store or online. The ideal thing to do would be to take a few models home to try them out – but good luck persuading anyone to let you do that. Thankfully, you won’t have to try because I’ve tested an array of models for you. I’ve measured each one’s ability to perform a range of real-world cleaning jobs, so you can discover the best vacuum cleaner for you.
At a glance
Why you should trust me
This isn’t the first time I’ve tested vacuum cleaners – over the past few years, I’ve reviewed them for various publications, which has given me a solid understanding of what makes a model good or bad. I’ve kept hold of a few of my favourite models for long-term testing, so I can easily make direct comparisons against those that are new on the block.
My house is also perfectly set up for vacuuming challenges. It has a mix of carpet and hard floor, a ready supply of hair (pet from my own dog and a box of clippings I procured from a local groomer; human from the hairbrush and carpet surrounding the dressing tables of long-haired family members), and plenty of dusty flour and chunky cat litter for testing purposes.
How I tested
Before I started any cleaning, I used a suction meter to test the suction power of every vacuum, usually by sealing it with tape over the closest suitable opening to the collection bin. I also tested the batteries of cordless vacuums, where I timed how long it took for the battery to run down on the most and least powerful settings.
Then it was on to the nitty-gritty. I carefully weighed out quantities of flour, cat litter and pet hair, depositing it on carpet and hard floor to test each vacuum. I weighed each model’s collection bin before I started, then passed the vacuum over each type of mess using the standard floor head or most appropriate alternative. Each vacuum was passed over the spillage once, using a single forward and pull-back motion. Then, by weighing the collection bin again, I was able to establish how much of the dirt had been picked up.
After the test, models were either returned to the appropriate manufacturers, or – in the instance they didn’t want them back – donated to the British Heart Foundation.
The best vacuum cleaners in 2026
Best corded vacuum cleaner overall:
Shark Detect XL Car + Pet LA791UKT
Shark
Detect XL Car + Pet LA791UKT
from £299
What we love
Powerful, great performance, versatile
What we don’t love
Pricey if you won’t use all its features
If you want a vacuum that won’t run out of juice mid-clean, then the Shark LA791UKT is the best corded upright I’ve tested. It’s a modern-looking device with a sophisticated dual-roller floor head, a decent bin capacity of 2.5l, and no unnecessary features.
Why we love it
When it came to cleaning tests, this Shark literally cleaned up. Flour and pet hair disappeared into its collection bin, with no trace left behind. Admittedly, it didn’t pick up all the cat litter we put down on a single backward and forward pass, but unleashing the handle from the main unit lets you easily target larger chunks – and it finished the clean-up perfectly.
It comes with a useful selection of accessories for tackling upholstery and getting into nooks and crannies. Conveniently, you can lift the collection bin away from the floor head to help gain access to harder-to-reach areas, too.
It’s a shame that … it’s expensive for a corded vacuum – the Henry Home is significantly cheaper.
Type: corded upright
Included attachments: anti hair wrap pet tool, combination duster, crevice tool
Weight (measured): 5.2kg
Suction power (measured): 17kPa
Noise: 80dB
Size: 31 x 43 x 116cm (WDH)
Dust capacity: 2.5l
Cord length: 8m
Shark
Detect XL Car + Pet LA791UKT
from £299
What we love
Powerful, great performance, versatile
What we don’t love
Pricey if you won’t use all its features
Best cordless vacuum cleaner overall:
Shark PowerDetect Clean & Empty IP3251UKT
Shark
PowerDetect Clean & Empty IP3251UKT
from £347.64
What we love
Excellent performance and less manual emptying
What we don’t love
Takes up more storage space than a regular cordless stick
Cordless vacuum cleaners are great for quick and efficient cleanups. However, they can be a pain to empty because of the dust cloud that billows out of bagless models and the relatively small size of their collection bins, which means more frequent emptying. The IP3251UKT takes some of this pain away by emptying itself into a larger, secondary collection bin on the stand.
Why we love it
The IP3251UKT wins points for being exceptionally good at its job. During tests, its dual-roller floor head performed as well as that on the corded LA791UKT, reviewed above, but it fared better when picking up the larger cat litter particles, leaving nothing behind.
The self-emptying uses a bagless system that you just remove and tip into the bin, so there are no consumables to worry about. In addition, the base station also charges the device, so you can just slot the vacuum into its dock and forget about it. It isn’t as neat a solution as a wall mount, and it takes up more space, but the cleaner is always empty of dust and fully charged when you next need it.
It’s a shame that … the capacity of the secondary collection bin in the base is only 2l, so it only takes three complete fills of the vacuum’s 0.7l bin before that needs emptying, too.
Type: self-emptying cordless stick
Included attachments: combination duster crevice tool, multi-surface tool, motorised hand tool
Weight (measured): 3.71kg
Suction power (measured): 28kPa
Noise: 86dB
Size: 26 x 47 x 118cm (WDH, including dock)
Dust capacity: 0.7l (vacuum), 2l (dock)
Battery life (measured): 43mins
Shark
PowerDetect Clean & Empty IP3251UKT
from £347.64
What we love
Excellent performance and less manual emptying
What we don’t love
Takes up more storage space than a regular cordless stick
Best budget corded vacuum cleaner:
Numatic Henry Home
What we love
More cleaning attachments than the basic Henry model
What we don’t love
Floor heads don’t have all the features of sophisticated rivals
The Henry’s design has stood the test of time, finding favour with home users and professional cleaners since its introduction in the early 1980s. Not much has changed on the basic model, but I tested the Henry Home, exclusive to the Henry website, which comes with more floor accessories than are usually offered by other retailers.
Why we love it
At the time of writing, the £189.99 Henry Home was only about £20 more than the standard Henry, available from the likes of Currys and Argos. That’s a good deal considering the extra equipment. For my carpet tests, I tried the AiroBrush, which is a brush roller that uses an internal air turbine to convert its own suction into the mechanical power needed to rotate the roller. It didn’t actually cope with pet hair or cat litter that well, becoming clogged by the former. Switching over to a simple funnel gathered the remainder. However, for vacuuming lighter everyday dirt on carpeted areas, the AiroBrush coped just fine.
The hard floor tool (basically a wide funnel with a stiff brush) did a cracking job on my hard floors, although I did find that it’s best held at an angle to ease the passage of larger particles and hair clumps.
It’s a shame that … the AiroBrush doesn’t have an anti-tangle mechanism; hair quickly became wrapped around its roller.
Type: corded barrel
Included attachments: crevice tool, dusting tool, upholstery/mattress tool, AiroBrush, hard floor tool, multi-angle tool, flexi crevice tool
Weight (measured): 7.1kg
Suction power (measured): 18.5kPa
Noise: 72dB
Size: 32 x 34 x 35cm (WDH, cylinder unit only)
Dust capacity: 6l
Cord length: 10m
What we love
More cleaning attachments than the basic Henry model
What we don’t love
Floor heads don’t have all the features of sophisticated rivals
Best cordless vacuum cleaner for pet hair:
Vax HomePro Pet-Design
Vax
HomePro Pet-Design
from £319
What we love
Great value for a feature-packed cordless stick
What we don’t love
Better on carpet than hard floor
Cordless stick vacuums can be expensive, but they don’t have to be. The Vax HomePro Pet-Design isn’t the cheapest model out there, but it’s great value for money, combining decent cleaning skills with some handy features, including two attachments for pet hair.
Why we love it
As you can see from my before-and-after picture below, the Vax did a brilliant job of collecting flour, cat litter and pet hair from carpet, and it was almost as good on hard floor, with only a few pieces of cat litter escaping its clutches – easy enough to gather on a subsequent pass.
It has two power settings, regular and boost, and lasted for 34 minutes in my battery rundown test on its standard setting. That makes it easy to operate, and I particularly like the way it can support itself when standing up, so you don’t have to find somewhere to prop it up when you need a break.
It’s a shame that … it doesn’t come with a soft roller specifically for cleaning delicate hard floors.
Type: cordless stick
Included attachments: crevice tool, stair tool, pet hair remover, motorised pet tool
Weight (measured): 3.5kg
Suction power (measured): 19kPa
Noise: 86dB
Size: 22 x 25 x 116cm (WDH)
Dust capacity: 0.7l
Battery life (measured): 34mins
Vax
HomePro Pet-Design
from £319
What we love
Great value for a feature-packed cordless stick
What we don’t love
Better on carpet than hard floor
Best vacuum for deep cleaning:
Dyson Gen5detect
What we love
Two floor heads make it expert on carpet and hard floor
What we don’t love
Switching between floor heads mid-clean is a faff
Dyson’s latest cordless vacuum cleaner, the V16 Piston Animal, didn’t impress me enough to make it on to this list, but it has had a positive knock-on effect on the price of my favourite Dyson, the Gen5detect. Although launched at an eye-watering £850, the current price of this brilliant vacuum is down to a slightly lower £749.
Why we love it
Unlike the V16, the Gen5 comes with two floor heads: the Digital Motorbar for carpet, and the Fluffy Optic for hard floor. Although you have to swap them over when you transition between surfaces, the benefit is that each one is an expert at its job. There’s also a handy dusting brush and crevice tool – built into the extension wand, so it’s always available – and what’s arguably the best motorised upholstery tool in the business.
In tests, this vacuum performs so well that I tend to use it to tidy up after testing, if other vacuums have fallen short.
It’s a shame that … swapping floor heads is an annoyance that Shark users don’t have to experience.
Type: cordless stick
Included attachments: built-in dusting and crevice tool, combination tool, hair screw tool
Weight (measured): 3.5kg
Suction power (measured): 31kPa
Noise: 70dB
Size: 25 x 28 x 128cm (WDH)
Dust capacity: 0.77l
Battery life (measured): 56mins
What we love
Two floor heads make it expert on carpet and hard floor
What we don’t love
Switching between floor heads mid-clean is a faff
The best of the rest
Miele Guard L1 Comfort XL
Miele
Guard L1 Comfort XL
from £499
What we love
A luxurious cylinder vacuum cleaner designed for ease of use
What we don’t love
More expensive than similar rivals
Best for: corded convenience
While the Henry Home offers an affordable corded cylinder experience, the Miele Guard L1 is a more luxurious rival. It’s crammed with features to make life easier, from the automatic cable retraction and accessory storage to the foot-controlled variable power settings. The model I tested came with two floor heads – a general-purpose one that relies on suction alone, but that can be switched between carpet and hard floor modes, and a second, larger floor head with a brush base that’s specifically for sweeping hard floor.
It performed very well in my tests, picking up at least 90% of every spillage in a single pass.
It didn’t make the final cut because … it’s expensive for a marginal performance improvement over the Henry Home.
Type: corded barrel; included attachments: upholstery nozzle, crevice nozzle, dusting brush, parquet brush Twister XL; weight (measured): 7kg; suction power (measured): 21.5kPa; noise: 60dB; size: 50 x 29 x 24cm (WDH, cylinder unit only); dust capacity: 3.5l; cable length: 8.5m
Miele
Guard L1 Comfort XL
from £499
What we love
A luxurious cylinder vacuum cleaner designed for ease of use
What we don’t love
More expensive than similar rivals
Eufy Robot Vacuum E20
Eufy
Robot Vacuum E20
£279
What we love
Two products in one box: a robot and a cordless stick
What we don’t love
A good cordless stick but not the best performer here
Best for: a robot vacuum that converts into a cordless
Those wanting to dabble in automated cleaning without losing the convenience of a corded stick need look no further than the Eufy E20. It’s essentially a robot vacuum (and a rather good one, too), but unusually, you can lift the suction mechanism out of the robot’s body, and use it as a handheld cordless. Attach the extension wand and floor head, and it’s a fully functional cordless stick.
It didn’t make the final cut because … while the robot element is brilliant and the floor head performed well on carpet, it wasn’t quite as good as some of the dedicated cordless sticks on hard floor.
Type: robot/cordless stick; included attachments: 2-in-1 combination tool, crevice tool; weight (measured): 2.4kg; suction power (measured): 28kPa; noise: 78dB; size: 25 x 22 x 130cm (WDH, in cordless stick mode); dust capacity: 3l (self-emptying base); battery life (measured): 48mins
Eufy
Robot Vacuum E20
£279
What we love
Two products in one box: a robot and a cordless stick
What we don’t love
A good cordless stick but not the best performer here
Dyson Car+Boat
Dyson
Car+Boat
from £239.98
What we love
Relatively compact and excels at cleaning up small messes
What we don’t love
Possibly not the best way to buy a Dyson V8
Best for: handheld cleaning
The Dyson Car+Boat is essentially a reboxed Dyson V8, although it drops the extension wand and two floor heads that come with the full model. That meant I couldn’t test it in quite the same way, since there’s no floor head to gather the mess. Instead, I got on my hands and knees and used the handheld attachments, which did a superb job of clearing up spillages.
It didn’t make the final cut because … it’s worth checking prices on V8 models before you buy. At the time of writing, the V8 Absolute – with additional wand, two floor heads, a better upholstery tool and two more attachments – was available from Dyson for the same price.
Type: handheld; included attachments: crevice tool, combination tool, mini motorhead; weight (measured): 1.9kg; suction power (measured): 21kPa; noise: 78dB; size: 13 x 33 x 21cm (WDH); dust capacity: 0.54l; battery life (measured): 38mins
Dyson
Car+Boat
from £239.98
What we love
Relatively compact and excels at cleaning up small messes
What we don’t love
Possibly not the best way to buy a Dyson V8
Tower VL220 Cyclone
Tower
VL220 Cyclone
from £181
What we love
Self-emptying base for lower price than the Shark rival
What we don’t love
Not as effective as Shark and replacement bags are expensive
Best for: budget self-emptying
Those looking for the self-emptying skills of the Shark IP3251UKT but with a more reasonable price should consider the Tower VL220 Cyclone. It’s a pared-back alternative in terms of features, but keeps the core concept of a base station with a secondary vacuum function that sucks the dirt out of the cordless stick’s collection bin and into a larger receptacle below. As with the Shark, the base station also serves as a charging dock, although this model uses bags to gather the dirt. That makes for a less messy emptying, but bags cost £9.99 each, only hold 2l at a time and need to be ordered through Tower’s customer service because they aren’t available on the website.
It didn’t make the final cut because … it only comes with a fluffy roller floor head, so it isn’t great on carpet, plus the replacement bags are too expensive and a faff to buy.
Type: self-emptying cordless stick; included attachments: 2-in-1 crevice brush and nozzle tool; weight (measured): 2.6kg; suction power (measured): 28kPa; noise: 73dB; size: 35 x 24 x 131cm (WDH); dust capacity: 2l (self-emptying base); battery life (measured): 43mins
Tower
VL220 Cyclone
from £181
What we love
Self-emptying base for lower price than the Shark rival
What we don’t love
Not as effective as Shark and replacement bags are expensive
Numatic Henry Quick Pro
Numatic
Henry Quick Pro
from £399
What we love
Clean and convenient emptying
What we don’t love
Disposable bags have plastic lids
Best for: dust-free emptying
In most of my cleaning tests, the Henry Quick Pro performed well. Its floor head isn’t the best at collecting cat litter from a hard floor, pushing it ahead instead of sucking it up, but it leapt up the handheld funnel attachments when I used those instead.
This Henry uses bags to collect the dirt, which eject neatly into the bin when they’re full. They also act as the filter, so there’s less general maintenance required, since they’re regularly replaced rather than needing cleaning.
It didn’t make the final cut because … the disposable bags have a plastic component to them, which isn’t ideal considering they’ll end up in landfill. Replacements cost about £1.30 each.
Type: cordless stick; included attachments: crevice tool, 2-in-1 combi tool, mini motorised tool, flexi crevice tool, soft dusting brush, flexi hose; weight (measured): 3.2kg; suction power (measured): 10.75kPa; noise: 68dB; size: 24 x 27 x 122cm (WDH); dust capacity: 1l; battery life (measured): 1hr 11mins
Numatic
Henry Quick Pro
from £399
What we love
Clean and convenient emptying
What we don’t love
Disposable bags have plastic lids
What you need to know
Corded vs cordless vacuum cleaners
The first question you’ll need to ask yourself when buying a vacuum cleaner is whether you want a corded or a cordless model. Cordless sticks are the fashionable choice, with improvements in battery power and cleaning ability over the past decade bringing them in line with the performance of corded models.
However, there are a few things to consider. While the batteries should last for about 40 minutes or more on their most economical setting, you won’t get anything like that if you need to run them at full power. If you have a larger home or persistent dirt problems (such as a pet that sheds a lot of hair), then a cordless might run out of power before you’ve finished cleaning. In these situations, a corded model makes more sense. As a side benefit, corded cleaners tend to have a larger capacity, so don’t need emptying as often.
The downsides of a corded vacuum mostly concern the inconvenience of the cord. For example, you’ll need to keep switching plug sockets as you move around the house, as even the longest cables only reach around 10m. The cord will inevitably also get in the way as you clean. I tend to work with the cord slung over my shoulder as I vacuum, working away from the plug socket the machine is connected to, but this is all additional fuss that you don’t get from a cordless model.
What should you look for in a vacuum cleaner?
Whichever type of cleaner you choose, make sure that it has the right attachments. All vacuum cleaners should come with a floor head unless they’re specifically configured as handhelds, although the type you’ll need depends on whether you have mostly carpet or hard floor. Floor heads with brush rollers tend to work well at teasing dirt out of carpet, while fluffy rollers are excellent on hard floor. Suction-only floor heads can work well, but might not tease as much dirt out of thicker-pile carpets.
If your floor seems to attract hair, then look for anti-tangle devices. When these work well they can dramatically reduce the amount of hair that becomes tangled around a floor head’s roller, which in my opinion is one of the least pleasant vacuum maintenance jobs that you’ll need to perform.
Other attachments worth looking out for are the handheld options. I like to have a crevice tool, a soft dusting brush and an upholstery tool, with the latter preferably being motorised. Any further additions are a bonus.
When it comes to emptying, bagless vacuums can get messy. If you’re looking for features such as Hepa filters to rid allergy-inducing particles, it’s also worth checking how they empty, as dust can just escape again unless you empty them outside. Vacuums with bags make emptying cleaner, but there’s an ongoing cost to replace them and it’s more rubbish headed for landfill.
For more:
The best cordless vacuum cleaners for a spotless home
The best robot vacuums to keep your home clean and dust free
The best steam cleaners and mops, tested
How to make your vacuum cleaner last longer
Andy Shaw is a consumer journalist and technology addict. Having reviewed tech products professionally for more than 30 years, his favoured working environment is a small desk surrounded by big boxes. His greatest weakness is that he never, ever remembers how things came out of their packaging, so they rarely fit back in again when it’s time to return them
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