The best cordless vacuum cleaners in the UK for a spotless home – tested

## Summary
At a glance Best cordless vacuum cleaner overall: Shark PowerDetect Clean & Empty IP3251 £330.60 at Amazon Best budget cordless vacuum cleaner: Vax HomePro Pet-Design £179 at Amazon Best cordless vacuum for deep cleaning: Dyson V15 Detect Absolute £549 at John Lewis Best cordless vacuum for clean emptying: Henry Quick Pro £399 at Currys Best cordless/robot vacuum combo: Eufy Robot Vacuum E20 £249 at Joybuy Best handheld cordless vacuum cleaner: Dyson Car+Boat £249 at John Lewis Why you should trust me I’ve been reviewing technology and home products for more than 30 years. No Shark PowerDetect Clean & Empty IP3251 from £330.60 £399.99 at Shark £330.60 at Amazon What we love Excellent at cleaning, empties into its own docking station What we don’t love Expensive Best budget cordless vacuum cleaner: Vax HomePro Pet-Design Vax HomePro Pet-Design from £179 £319 at Argos £179 at Amazon What we love Affordable, effective and easy to use What we don’t love Best on carpet, with no soft roller option for hard floor £319 at Argos £179 at Amazon The Vax HomePro Pet-Design is good value for money, sitting at the lower end of the price spectrum but still coming with a good selection of tools for handheld use. No Vax HomePro Pet-Design from £179 £319 at Argos £179 at Amazon What we love Affordable, effective and easy to use What we don’t love Best on carpet, with no soft roller option for hard floor Best cordless vacuum for deep cleaning: Dyson V15 Detect Absolute Dyson V15 Detect Absolute from £549 £549 at John Lewis £549.99 at Dyson What we love Superb cleaning on both carpet and hard floor What we don’t love Expensive and messy to empty Photograph: Andy Shaw/The Guardian £549 at John Lewis £549.99 at Dyson Although the V15 Detect Absolute was usurped at the top of Dyson’s range by the new V16 Piston Animal, it remains widely available. No Dyson V15 Detect Absolute from £549 £549 at John Lewis £549.99 at Dyson What we love Superb cleaning on both carpet and hard floor What we don’t love Expensive and messy to empty Best cordless vacuum for clean emptying: Henry Quick Pro Henry Quick Pro from £399 £399 at Currys £399.99 at JD Williams What we love Dirt collects in bags, eliminating mess when emptying What we don’t love Disposable bags cost money and are an environmental issue £399 at Currys £399.99 at JD Williams Most cordless sticks create a dust cloud when you deposit the contents of their collection bins into your dustbin.

## Article Content
View image in fullscreen
Review
The best cordless vacuum cleaners in the UK for a spotless home – tested
Stick vacuums are a convenient alternative to corded designs, but which model wins for overall cleaning prowess? Our expert reveals all
The best robot vacuums
How to make your vacuum last longer
C
hoosing a cordless vacuum isn’t a decision that should be taken lightly. You’re likely to keep a vacuum cleaner for years, relying heavily on its ability to suck up dust, crumbs, mud, pet hair and any other dry spillages or sheddings that end up on your floor. Choosing the right model can be the difference between an effective cleaner that’s a delight to pull out of the cupboard and a dud that you dread having to unblock, detangle and clean after every use.
In this review, I took 15 of the leading cordless vacuum cleaners from a range of manufacturers and at various prices and inflicted the same cleaning tests on each one. That takes all the guesswork out of picking your next cleaner: I can tell you exactly which ones picked up the most mess.
At a glance
Best cordless vacuum cleaner overall:
Shark PowerDetect Clean & Empty IP3251
£330.60 at Amazon
Best budget cordless vacuum cleaner:
Vax HomePro Pet-Design
£179 at Amazon
Best
cordless vacuum for deep cleaning:
Dyson V15 Detect Absolute
£549 at John Lewis
Best cordless vacuum for clean emptying:
Henry Quick Pro
£399 at Currys
Best cordless/robot vacuum combo:
Eufy Robot Vacuum E20
£249 at Joybuy
Best handheld cordless vacuum cleaner:
Dyson Car+Boat
£249 at John Lewis
Why you should trust me
I’ve been reviewing technology and home products for more than 30 years. In the past few years, I’ve specialised in testing vacuum cleaners. During that time, I’ve tested more vacuum cleaners of various shapes, sizes and types than I’d care to count, from handheld helpers to heavy-duty dirt-shifters.
How I tested
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Each vacuum was put to the test against flour, cat litter pellets and pet hair.
Photograph: Andy Shaw/The Guardian
Most cordless vacuum cleaners are designed to work on carpet and hard floors, so I tested them all on both. To do this, I weighed out spillages of flour, recycled wood cat litter pellets and pet hair. Flour and cat litter are easy enough to come by, but my dog doesn’t shed enough hair to test this many vacuums. So I’m also the proud owner of a box of sweepings from a friendly (but slightly bemused) local dog groomer.
I gave each of the 15 vacuum cleaners I tested a chance to pick up as much of the spillages as possible, with a single push-forward and pull-backwards motion, and weighed the collection bins before and after.
Most vacuums will collect more if given more chances to go over a mess, particularly from a different angle, but I wanted relatively tough tests that would truly differentiate one vacuum from another, so I allowed only a single sweep.
I also tested the batteries by seeing how long it took them to run down from a full charge – at full suction and in each one’s most economical setting. I performed these tests with the floor head attached, where possible.
Lastly, I tested the suction using a pressure gauge. While strong suction is useful, the cleaning tests were more important because other factors play a big part in the overall cleaning prowess. For example, a well-designed floor head can make a moderate sucker as good a cleaner as a more powerful model with an inferior brush or roller.
All the vacuums I tested are being sent back to their manufacturers or donated to the British Heart Foundation.
The best cordless vacuum cleaners in 2026
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The lineup of test subjects.
Photograph: Andy Shaw/The Guardian
Best cordless vacuum cleaner overall:
Shark PowerDetect Clean & Empty IP3251
Shark
PowerDetect Clean & Empty IP3251
from
£330.60
£399.99 at Shark
£330.60 at Amazon
What we love
Excellent at cleaning, empties into its own docking station
What we don’t love
Expensive
Photograph: Andy Shaw/The Guardian
£399.99 at Shark
£330.60 at Amazon
If there’s one thing that makes cordless vacuum cleaners a pain, it’s the emptying: taking it to the bin and jettisoning the debris after vacuuming. And, if your family is anything like mine, you may have to do it before you clean too, because someone else didn’t bother to empty it. That won’t be the case with this Shark vacuum, though: it empties itself. It’s also very good at cleaning.
Why we love it
The Shark IP3251 comes with a base station that operates as a stand and charging dock. When you rest the cordless vacuum cleaner on it, it springs into life, opening the base of the vacuum’s collection bin and sucking its contents into a larger container, leaving the cordless stick empty and ready for next time. The secondary bin has a volume of two litres, so it can take a few empties of the 0.7-litre stick.
That would all be pointless if the device itself wasn’t up to snuff, but it’s an excellent cleaner. Its floor head has a fluffy roller for hard floors and a br

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## Expert Analysis

### Merits
- Choosing the right model can be the difference between an effective cleaner that’s a delight to pull out of the cupboard and a dud that you dread having to unblock, detangle and clean after every use.
- While strong suction is useful, the cleaning tests were more important because other factors play a big part in the overall cleaning prowess.
- Photograph: Andy Shaw/The Guardian Best cordless vacuum cleaner overall: Shark PowerDetect Clean & Empty IP3251 Shark PowerDetect Clean & Empty IP3251 from £330.60 £399.99 at Shark £330.60 at Amazon What we love Excellent at cleaning, empties into its own docking station What we don’t love Expensive Photograph: Andy Shaw/The Guardian £399.99 at Shark £330.60 at Amazon If there’s one thing that makes cordless vacuum cleaners a pain, it’s the emptying: taking it to the bin and jettisoning the debris after vacuuming.
- That would all be pointless if the device itself wasn’t up to snuff, but it’s an excellent cleaner.

### Areas for Consideration
- No Dyson V15 Detect Absolute from £549 £549 at John Lewis £549.99 at Dyson What we love Superb cleaning on both carpet and hard floor What we don’t love Expensive and messy to empty Best cordless vacuum for clean emptying: Henry Quick Pro Henry Quick Pro from £399 £399 at Currys £399.99 at JD Williams What we love Dirt collects in bags, eliminating mess when emptying What we don’t love Disposable bags cost money and are an environmental issue £399 at Currys £399.99 at JD Williams Most cordless sticks create a dust cloud when you deposit the contents of their collection bins into your dustbin.
- Yes, six pods (bags) Henry Quick Pro from £399 £399 at Currys £399.99 at JD Williams What we love Dirt collects in bags, eliminating mess when emptying What we don’t love Disposable bags cost money and are an environmental issue Best cordless/robot vacuum combo: Eufy Robot Vacuum E20 Eufy Robot Vacuum E20 £249 £249 at Joybuy What we love Two-in-one design cleverly combines robot and cordless stick What we don’t love Small capacity bin that’s fiddly to empty in cordless mode Photograph: Andy Shaw/The Guardian £249 at Joybuy While robot vacuums are excellent at keeping on top of everyday cleaning, they can’t completely replace your regular vacuum.
- You’ll still need a cordless stick or upright cleaner for heavy-duty jobs, focused spot cleans and hard-to-reach places that robots find difficult.

### Implications
- Our expert reveals all The best robot vacuums How to make your vacuum last longer C hoosing a cordless vacuum isn’t a decision that should be taken lightly.
- At a glance Best cordless vacuum cleaner overall: Shark PowerDetect Clean & Empty IP3251 £330.60 at Amazon Best budget cordless vacuum cleaner: Vax HomePro Pet-Design £179 at Amazon Best cordless vacuum for deep cleaning: Dyson V15 Detect Absolute £549 at John Lewis Best cordless vacuum for clean emptying: Henry Quick Pro £399 at Currys Best cordless/robot vacuum combo: Eufy Robot Vacuum E20 £249 at Joybuy Best handheld cordless vacuum cleaner: Dyson Car+Boat £249 at John Lewis Why you should trust me I’ve been reviewing technology and home products for more than 30 years.
- Most vacuums will collect more if given more chances to go over a mess, particularly from a different angle, but I wanted relatively tough tests that would truly differentiate one vacuum from another, so I allowed only a single sweep.
- And, if your family is anything like mine, you may have to do it before you clean too, because someone else didn’t bother to empty it.

### Expert Commentary
This article covers vacuum, cordless, love topics. Notable strengths include discussion of vacuum. Areas of concern are also raised. Readability: Flesch-Kincaid grade 0.0. Word count: 2596.