A cordless vacuum cleaner is probably the only vacuum you’ll ever need to clean your car and home. With this in mind, we’ve assembled the latest crop to conclusively find the best cordless vacuum cleaner for car and home use.
Before cordless vacuum cleaners improved with extended run times and endless adjustability, you’d often need a corded vacuum cleaner for the home and a meek dustbuster for the car. These tech-filled titans of cleaning are now the real deal. Sat at the cutting edge of development, features like automatic power adjustment, anti-tangle brush heads, and even laser tech all serve to improve the chore of vacuuming.
Modern cordless vacuum cleaners are absolute game-changers. Effortlessly capable of cleaning cars and homes, these vacuums are champions of versatility. They can serve as stick or handheld vacuums and often come with a tool chest of useful attachments. Join us in finding out just what the best cordless vacuum cleaner is.
How we test the best cordless vacuum cleaners
Each vacuum cleaner is tested by cleaning a car that’s used daily. We then tried each setting and all of the included attachments on the test car before trying them out around the home.
We examined vacuuming’s key area, suction, by examining how easily the vacuum tackled real-world dust and debris. For larger pieces of dirt, we tested each vacuum against cereal.
Ease of use was another central concern during our testing. This involved assessing the device’s weight, battery life and dimensions, especially when used in the small nooks of a car interior. We also looked at the quality and quantity of attachments here, again with car care as our priority.
We’re also looking at maintenance. This primarily focuses on how easy the vacuum is to empty, but it will also consider how easy it is to access and clean filters and any extra costs you’ll incur running the vacuum, such as dust bags.
Value for money is also really important here. The price difference between the most and least expensive vacuums was huge, so we compared each vacuum in relation to its price.
The best cordless vacuum cleaners
The suction genuinely blew me away when I first used it around my home. The Fluffy Optic cleaner (with a laser built-in to better show up dirt) picked up dirt and debris I couldn’t see ordinarily, effortlessly ensuring each floor was squeaky clean. Even more shocking, that’s not even the best head included in the set. Both the Motorbar and smaller Hair Screw tool were even better on fabrics, making them look factory fresh.
What’s more, it’s so refined while it cleans. The power will automatically adjust, so it can run quietly for light cleaning. It’s also exceptionally light at 2.2 kg, which makes it a joy to wield.
It’s not perfect, though. For the cash you’re paying, a flexible tube would have made interior cleaning even more seamless. The dustbin also takes some getting used to and could be a little bigger.
I will say as a testament to the V12 that during my testing, it was the vacuum I’d reach for when it came to any cleaning chore. It’s so light, nice to use, and clever that it really justifies the premium price tag.
Pros
- Unbeatable suction and performance
- Quality and finish is top level
- Strong runtime
Cons
- Small bin
- No flexible tube
| Dimensions | 126.4 x 25 x 25.2cm |
| Weight | 2.2 kg |
| Power (Watts) | 548 |
| Capacity | 350ml |
| Run time | 60 minutes |
The 300W motor proved adept at picking up dust and debris, while the battery's 70-minute runtime ensured that every last crumb could be tackled without a hint of range anxiety.
The detachable extra handle is a nice addition. It makes handheld use effortless and keeps controlling the direction of the nozzle a piece of cake. The dust bin is one of the larger sizes, at one litre, and uses bags. It’s this larger body size that really has me calling out for a flexible head to tackle the awkward nooks of a typical car interior.
There’s also no miniature motorised brush head included. Thankfully, the floor head can be used in the handheld configuration. This is both good and bad. It will clean larger areas like a boot quicker, but that footprint hampers it for nooks. With a few more attachments, it would be unstoppable.
Pros
- Excellent run time
- Solid performance from the motor
- Tough yet light build
Cons
- It could use a flexible head
- Scent boosters are a gimmick
| Dimensions | 27 x 24 x 122 cm |
| Weight | 3.2 kg |
| Power (Watts) | 300 |
| Capacity | One litre |
| Run time | 70 minutes |
The dustbin is class-leading. At two litres, it is beyond perfect for a car and ideal for a home. The caveat is that it relies on paper dust bags, and the larger body makes manoeuvring difficult in tight spaces. For that reason, it’s a good job the included flexible hose is so good. All of the attachments are excellent, and you get plenty of them for your money. The small motorised brush head, in particular, worked wonders on the car interior.
What really seals the deal for me is the polished feel of everything. It’s relatively quiet and powerful, easy to carry, and two included batteries provide 60 minutes of runtime each.
The bagged nature will be a deal-breaker for some, but for a genuine market disrupter with exceptional value for money, Halo looks like a contender.
Pros
- Tremendous value for money
- Packed with useful attachments
- Lightweight design makes carrying simple
- Solid power
Cons
- The dust bin can be cumbersome in tight spaces
- The bagged nature won't appeal to everyone
| Dimensions | 26.5 x 19 x 71.5 cm |
| Weight | 2.6 kg |
| Power (Watts) | 400 |
| Capacity | Two litres |
| Run time | 120 minutes (two batteries) |
The brushless motor was perfectly serviceable for vacuuming. The suction couldn't compete with the Dyson, and the battery life of 45 minutes again isn’t class-leading but will clean a car with no bother.
The Blade 4 really stands out because of the magnitude of useful attachments it ships with. There are the usual floor and mini-powered brush heads, as well as a crevice and brush head. Then there’s the exceptional flexible head that really made navigating under car seats a breeze.
Best of all, this flexible head carries power, meaning the mini motorised head can be used with it, which is a rarity for vacuum cleaners. It’s an excellent feature and really improved my cleaning. While the mini motorised brush head was too upright to feel comfortable to use in the car, the fact it could be used on every inch was exceptional.
If that wasn’t enough, the included Pro Kit really seals this as the champion of attachments. The Flexi Crevice tool was too rigid for its namesake, but the stretch hose and technology brush really did prove to be useful.
Pros
- Great manoeuvrability in tight spaces
- Compact and lightweight design
- The included kit is mostly excellent
Cons
- Average battery run time
- A couple of attachments need some work
| Dimensions | 24 x 18.5 x 114 cm |
| Weight | 3.1 kg |
| Power (Watts) | 120 |
| Capacity | 600ml |
| Run time | 45 minutes |
It’s also heavy, even in handheld mode. The slim body design does at least help it navigate a car interior, but the extra bulk means it’s not the most pleasant to use, even if the mini-motorised brush worked really well on upholstery and had a light.
The crevice tool has a nifty design, and the fold-out brush head is great, even if the bristles are slightly too rough for my liking. It’ll quite happily cope with the task of car cleaning, but there are options that suit it better.
The runtime isn’t anything to write home about, although the 12-minute Turbo mode with the temporarily uprated suction is nice. Where the HL9 really comes into its own is on hard floors, not car interiors. The selection between hard and carpeted floors is noticeable, and the head adjusts to better pick up dirt. The Anti-Twist tech is really good, and maintenance will be super straightforward.
Pros
- The floor head is fantastic
- Turbo mode works really well
- Solid build quality
Cons
- Tiny dust bin
- Too heavy for handheld use
| Dimensions | 21.3 x 26 x 111 cm |
| Weight | 3.4 kg |
| Power | 400 |
| Capacity | 700ml |
| Run time | 30 minutes |
Cordless vacuum cleaner FAQs
Which cordless vacuum cleaner is the best?
Without a shadow of a doubt, the Dyson V12 Detect Absolute Slim takes home the win here. It’s lightweight, powerful and really worth the extra investment. We wouldn’t overlook the Henry Quick either, it’s exceptionally well made and has the best battery life of all examples we tested.
Which cordless vacuum cleaner is the lightest?
A light vacuum cleaner will always be preferable, especially when used in handheld mode for cleaning a car. A chunkier unit will get tiresome to hold after a while, not to mention will often be larger in size and awkward to operate in a smaller car. What you’ll ideally want is a vacuum that balances low weight with quality materials and a decent battery.
In our test, the Dyson V12 Detect Slim Absolute won the featherweight award, weighing just 2.2 kg.
Which cordless vacuum cleaner has the longest run time?
There’s no point in having a million features and the best build quality if the vacuum in question has a run time of a couple of minutes. For both car and home cleaning, look for at least 40 minutes of run time to prevent having to pause and wait for the vacuum to recharge. A second battery is a clever extra feature some brands chuck in to double the run time.
Out of all the vacuum cleaners we tested, the Henry Quick took home the crown with a mightily impressive 70-minute run time from a single battery. This is impressive, even more so when considering that this is Numatic’s first foray into cordless vacuuming.
How to clean a cordless vacuum
Each vacuum cleaner will be slightly different in terms of cleaning it out, but all will rely on a dust bin that needs emptying fairly frequently. Our testing assessed the maintenance side of running a cordless vacuum cleaner, including how easily it was to empty.
An example that would score well in this category would be a commodious dust bin that can easily be accessed, with no nooks or awkward areas where dust can become trapped. Out of all the examples tested, the Dyson and Vax stood out as particularly easy to empty.
Bagged cordless vacuum cleaners also scored well here, as the dust will be contained within the bags. However, you do have to factor in the extra cost of dust bags. The Henry and Halo score exceptionally well here.
Ryan Gilmore is the Deputy Autos and Tools Editor for Parkers, specialising in car cleaning and hand tools. A veteran car cleaner; if it details, waxes or washes he’ll be on hand to make sure it’s worth your money.
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