Most people rarely need even that much run time. As for the basics, the Lupe Pure Cordless is actually the most powerful bare-floor cleaner weve tested, thanks to very strong suction and an unusual dual-roller head design. It offered most of the the same benefits as the V8, so if you happen to find a model available at a great price, its worth considering too.). The packs are expensive to replace, and weve found that several brands do not reliably keep spares in stock, so sometimes the lesser of two bad choices is to just replace a vacuum thats only a couple of years old. (Wirecutters resident tool expert, senior staff writer Doug Mahoney, warns that Black+Decker tools are not great and pretty flimsy, so take that for what its worth.) That, combined with the top-heaviness, can make the vacuum pretty uncomfortable to use over longer cleaning sessions, especially if you have nagging wrist or hand pain anyway. The thicker the rug and the clingier the debris, the bigger the advantage Dyson has over any other competitor at this price. Best Cordless Stick Vacuum Plenty of other cordless vacuums have similar or even longer run times, but they arent as powerful as this Dyson model, so its an imperfect comparison. And then theres the Fluffy head. INSE Cordless Vacuum, 12KPa Powerful Vacuum But its one more chore, and youll probably have to do it more frequently with this vacuum than with most others. A Roborock representative also told us that the company doesnt yet have plans to sell replacement batteries and expects owners to move on to a new vacuum every three years or so. Even though the Powerseries Extremes battery has a slightly below-average run time (12 minutes on the maximum suction setting and about 20 on the middle setting), its noteworthy because its the same battery that many Black+Decker power tools use. They're great for moving from room to room with ease and cleaning hard-to-reach areas. You could also consider the pricier, bulkier Dyson Outsize models, which have larger bins and wider brushes than the V15, plus an extra battery pack, but otherwise perform similarly. Since Dysons sticks are exclusively cordless, the company had a huge disadvantage against brands that sold a mix of styles or exclusively plug-in models. We tested cordless stick vacuums from top brands like Dyson, Shark, Hoover, Bissell, and The Tineco S11 comes with a bunch of useful attachments, including a mini motorized brush, a crevice tool, and a convertible brush. Minor defects are repaired, and parts are replaced as needed, including batteries that fail Dysons testing. INSE S6P Cordless Vacuum Cleaner A Tineco representative told us that the company is working on a refurbishment effort, but that its limited right now. (The V10 also cost $700 when we bought it, but now it sells for less.) A representative of Dysons US-based Reliability & Engineering Team told us that some items are immediately disqualified if they are too old or in poor condition, while others are passed on to the refurbishment line. It also has a built-in display with the remaining battery percentage and a few indicators that can help you troubleshoot problems such as a clog or tangle. Nearly all other current cordless vacuums have simpler on/off power toggles now. Shark VM252 VACMOP Pro Cordless Hard Floor Vacuum Mop with LED Headlights. Spare packs are a whopping $160 each.). Tineco sticks all have a Dyson-esque, trigger-style power switch, though there's also a locking switch that can keep the trigger pressured so you don't have to squeeze it constantly. You might also consider the older Dyson Cyclone V10, with caveats. If you have hard floors, you know that mopping and vacuuming are often a two-step process. Another is that you have to manually switch between the heads. (We also tested its predecessor, the H6, a couple of years ago.) The V15 not only senses dust and adjusts the suction accordinglyit also estimates the exact number of particles that its collecting, broken down into several different sizes (as small as 10 microns, which is a fraction of the width of a human hair) and displayed in a bar graph above the battery-life estimate on the LCD. (The Triflex is still pretty new, so we wouldnt expect to see too many refurbished units out in the world yet.). Dreame, a newish vacuum brand, makes a few vacuums with similar specs and at similar prices to those of our main picks, so we tested the midrange Dreame T20 to see how it stacks up. Other sources of delight or dismay that we look for: what its like to empty the dust bin; whether the vacuum can stand up on its own, in an included floor stand, or in a wall-mounted dock for storage; and the variety and usefulness of extra attachments that come with each vacuum. Lucas Lappe, the head of product for design firm Doris Dev, told us that his company often works with small factories in these regions and has found that its common for many manufacturers within a category to use many of the same components in their productsthe Aposen and Moosoo vacuums, for example, use the same cleaning head. It hugs the ground in a way we havent experienced with almost any other battery-powered machine. But theres little evidence that other brands cordless vacs are much better. We did some digging into their origins, and most of these brands have almost no traceable presence outside of Amazon and maybe a sloppy-looking brand site. Dyson told us that the V10 Animal is part of the core lineup for 2022, should be consistently available through most retailers, and normally costs $500. But the cleaning head tends to push around larger debris instead of sucking it up, and the default suction setting can struggle with moderately heavy debris like sand or cat litterif the dust sensor doesnt bump up the suction on its own, youll need to turn on the max suction manually. Its still possible that the Triflex units with non-defective battery packs will prove to be longer-lasting than a typical stick vac. Some variants of the Dyson V8 also come with the soft-roller (or Fluffy) cleaning head, which is excellent for cleaning all types of debris off bare floors. Farrell, Dyson Stick Vacuums Lose CR Recommendation Over Reliability Issues, Consumer Reports, March 28, 2019, Mary H.J. We asked representatives of Lupe to describe why its vacuum is more durable, and they didnt provide any specific details that we found convincing. The traditional self-standing design is easy to steer and store. If you can find the top-of-the-line S12 for $350, thats worth it. The S11s best trait is how comfortable it is to handle even during long cleaning sessions (you can realistically get about 30 minutes on a fully charged battery pack), as it feels lighter and easier to steer than any of its close competitors.