The Best Home Vacuum Cleaner

The best home vacuum cleaner is a multi-functional tool that is simple to use and maneuver. The ideal model should be light, efficient and quiet.

This suction model is a great value at a low cost and comes with a powerful anti-hair wrap floorhead as well as an odor neutralizing puck. It also comes with a huge bin and is extremely easy to empty.

1. Power

A powerful vacuum cleaner can efficiently manage household debris and make it easy to keep mess under control. Whether you have a pile of pet hair or a blocked kitchen drain, it must be able to clear the mess with minimal effort. It will also be able to capture fine dust, and inhibit bacterial development, for a healthy, clean air. Selecting the best model for your needs is contingent on factors like the type of flooring, the size of your household and budget. Most common types include uprights, portable handhelds light sticks, and handy robots.

The Black+Decker Flex Vac handheld vacuum is a compact device that performs with remarkable strength. It sucks up pet hair and other larger debris easily which makes it perfect for households with multiple pets or large homes. It also features an easy-to-empty debris container that helps avoid messy cleanups. The vacuum can even be used to mop, allowing users to complete two tasks at once.

For households with lots of furniture, it's a good idea look into a more robust full-size corded upright or canister vacuum. These models usually have larger motors as well as a floorhead with a motorized design to take on stubborn dirt and embedded carpeting. They're also available with different models with different power settings to offer a variety of suction power and longer battery life. If you or someone in your household suffers from allergies, it's recommended for you to pick a robot vacuum near me that has a HEPA filtration system.

2. Flexibility

The best vacuum cleaners are able to perform a variety of tasks in your home that range from quick dusting to deep cleaning carpets. They're typically lightweight, making them easy to maneuver, and should also have a variety of attachments that will meet your needs.

If you have pets, think about a vacuum designed to deal with pet hair. These vacuums typically come with a dedicated power brush that siphons pet hair from the main floorhead and directs it into the dust container so that it doesn't block or get caught in the brush roll.

The top-rated vacuums also have clever features that connect to your home's systems or adjust to different floor types and levels of dirt. This is especially important for people with allergies, as these features keep dust particles from circulating back into the air.

Vacuums can be expensive however, they're on sale during major events like Black Friday and Amazon Prime Day. There are also great bargains in the spring, when retailers plan sales to coincide with the annual spring cleaning.

The lifespan of a vacuum varies depending on the model and how you make use of it. However, our top-rated picks last an average of eight years. If you want yours to outlast your competition, choose one with a longer-term guarantee.

3. Easy of Use

A vacuum cleaner should be easy to move and use, even for a longer cleaning session. This means a light and compact body, convenient attachments and controls, as well as a large bin that doesn't require frequent emptying. A variety of features make it easier of use, including motorized power nozzles that can tackle carpets and rugs with greater efficiency as well as a tall and wide floor head that is able to reach under furniture, a rotating nozzle for better corner cleaning, self-cleaning rollers, and LED lights that illuminate the way ahead.

For example our top choice in this category is the Shark Stratos cordless vacuum, was a breeze to maneuver and used the most power from the battery during our testing. It also features automatic adjusting suction as well as a sleek LCD display that has a battery indicator and the ability to switch between Eco, Auto and boost modes.

In our tests, the Stratos sucked up kibbles, coffee grounds and flour with ease. It also did a great job with flooring with low pile by removing rice, sand and other debris with just a few passes. It also has a front-facing brushroll which is soft to hold tiny particles and prevent pet fur from spitting out and a rear brushroll that is hard and digs into carpeting.

The budget-friendly Kenmore Elite also has a dual brushroll design that picks up wet spills and messes from hard surfaces. It's light enough to be carried up and down stairs, and across the home, without breaking the sweat. It's easier to care for than many other upright models as well with a movable HEPA filter and a disposable dust bag that can be changed when full.

4. Versatility

The Levoit is an extremely versatile model that can handle all cleaning tasks. It may not have all the features found in more expensive models, but its primary features ensure that it is a good choice for everyday use. This includes an 8-foot hose that can reach over floors and a large dust container that's easy to empty.

The brush roll is made for capturing and sucking up hair without wrapping the bristles around it making it a good choice for households with pets that shed hair or humans that shed lots of hair. The results of tests conducted on it showed that it could take on a variety of debris, including carpets with low piles and hard floors. It also removed rice, sand and Cheerios.

The Miele Flex Vac is a versatile cordless vacuum that has a powerful motor. It was especially effective at sucking pet hair and also removing larger particles like cereal. However, it struggled with more clogged-up particles like dust from cars. It also comes with a broad selection of attachments, including an electric power nozzle that makes quick work of dirt and pet hair on upholstery.

5. Battery Life

A good vacuum cleaner for home use should last at least an hour before needing to be recharged. This is essential for cordless models because it lets you clean without stopping.

Our top choice is the Shark Stratos Cordless Vacuum is a great choice, with a long battery life and impressive debris removal. Its three cleaning modes - Eco, Auto and Boost - allow you to control the power level so you can continue cleaning longer without running out of battery. The vacuum has an elegant LCD screen that displays the state of your battery and how much time is left, and whether there is a blockage.

This model is ideal for households with furry pets since the brushroll that is non-tangled is effective in removing pet hair. It is also very effective in tackling dirt and dust. However, it struggles to remove small particles such as flour from hard flooring and cannot get coffee grounds from carpeting.

Tineco floor robot One S7 Pro can also take care of wet spills. It is a bagged vacuum, but it comes with features such as an iLoop sensor that can detect dirt and stains; self-cleaning, which will dry the brush roll more effective edge cleaning that gets into corners and along baseboards; and a battery that lasts 40 minutes, more than any other model we've tested.

6. Cleaning is easy

The most effective vacuums make cleaning up spills effortless. The Levoit LVAC-200 is a good example is light and compact but impressively powerful. In our tests, it pulled everything from kibble to ground coffee to dog hair. Its dual brushrolls catch pet hair and other particles without spilling them out or wrapping them around the cleaner's head. This makes it less susceptible to clogging. The motorized tool can be used to eliminate pet hair that has been embedded even from areas that are difficult to reach.

The Shark Stratos Cordless is another top performer, because it handled pet hair and large pieces of debris effortlessly in our tests. Its main floorhead has a soft front brushroll, which captures fine dust and debris, while the second floorhead with rigid bristles reaches deeper into carpeting to catch larger dirt. The dust cup is large and easy to empty.

If your home is heavily carpeted, consider an upright or full-size vacuum that comes with a beater bar for deeper cleaning sessions. Choose a wet-dry bagless robot vacuum that can tackle both floors and messes made by food or water such as the Miele C3 Cat & Dog or the Henry Hoover. These vacuums can handle a wide range of household waste, from small pieces of food to huge messes, and could have more advanced features than handhelds on this list.