And while it might be tempting to opt for a Dyson — especially now that the premium brand has set its Afterpay Day deals live — Shark makes some of the best on the market at lower prices even when not discounted. Right now, though, you can grab the Shark PowerDetect Cordless that we consider to be the best cordless vacuum in Australia, for AU$619 (down from AU$1,199).

Given that we consider the Shark PowerDetect Cordless to be the best stick vac in Australia, it’s no surprise it’s also the best Shark vacuum in our opinion. As our vacuum-expert reviewer, Ruth Hamilton, says, “the PowerDetect Cordless came out top in my cleaning trials, beating even Dyson's priciest vacuums to the cleaning crown”.

She also loved how it can automatically adjust suction depending on the floor surface, stating “It knows what type of floor it's on and how dirty that floor is, and whether it's near the edge of a room, and will increase or lower suction in response.”

The PowerDetect further justifies its higher price tag by offering an additional feature called DirectionDetect, which means it can clean just as well when it’s pulled backwards as it does when pushed forward — a rare addition that you won’t find in many machines at its discounted price. It also has a large battery that’s rated for up to 70 minutes of runtime, which is a figure we can certainly vouch for, with it managing 67 minutes in our tests.

The only slight downside is that the PowerDetect Cordless is pretty heavy, and some users may find it a little tricky to manoeuvre around their home. However, it’s at least comfortable to hold thanks to an ergonomically shaped handle, complete with a rubberised grip and padding.

This isn’t quite the lowest price I’ve ever seen on this talented vacuum — it dropped to AU$566 during the recent Prime Day sales. However, for it to receive such a hefty discount so soon, and just in time for the spring season, makes it one well worth considering.

Almost all robot vacuums now come with an auto-emptying charging dock that automatically transfers the debris in the robot to a larger dust bag in the dock. Well, the Dyson v10 Konical + Auto-empty Dok (as Dyson calls it) brings a similar hands-free system to the world of cordless stick vacs.

Roborock, Tineco, and Shark have already aired their versions and, according to comments online, it seems that the public is up for this kind of system because it saves the hassle of manually emptying the vac's bagless dustbin while almost totally removing all elements of dust in the process.

The problem, as I see it, is the size of the docks these vacs come with, of which the Dyson model we're reviewing here is definitely the tallest and one of the most incongruous. It fact, at 47.24in/120cm in height, the Dyson Dok is as tall as some users, and that's quite a comical stat for a stick vac.

In its favor, the Dok does a decent job of emptying the contents of the v10 hand unit's small 0.52 qt / 0.5 liter bin (when there isn’t too much hairy detritus inside), it keeps the v10's battery permanently topped up, and it has a cupboard for storing the two main accessories it comes with — a mini motorized brush and a detail nozzle, with space for at least one extra accessory.

Dock aside, the real winner here is the light and compact v10 Konical, which sports an ample 150 air watts of suction power and comes with Dyson's latest twin cone-shaped brush head, with a laser-style light for illuminating the path ahead. This brush head is radically different to any other on the market and was developed with one sole aim: to reduce the amount of hair on the spindle. If you have hirsute pets in the home, a brush head like this could be a genuine hassle-saver.

If the idea of a monolithic self-emptying dock fails to tickle your fancy but you still like the idea of a compact stick vac with a unique, high-performance brush head, you'll be pleased to learn that both the V10 Konical and the Dyson Dok can be bought separately. I'll leave you to decide.

Dyson v10 Konical + Auto-empty Dok: price & availability

• List price £569.99 / $649.99 / AU$999
• Launch date April 2026
• Availability UK, USA, Australia and most of Europe

The Dyson v10 Konical + Auto-empty Dok combo offers relatively decent value, but whether it can be considered excellent value depends on how much you appreciate its self-emptying system.

The v10 Konical itself is an extremely capable mid-range cordless vacuum with strong suction, thoughtful ergonomics and an innovative conical anti-tangle cleaner head. However, it's the bundled auto-empty Dok that sets this model apart, so if you vacuum frequently, have hairy pets or suffer from allergies, it could be considered a genuine quality-of-life improvement rather than just another gimmick.

The downside to this system is the price because you're ultimately paying a premium for convenience and buyers who don't mind manually emptying a dustbin may find better value in purchasing the v10 Konical on its own or opting for Dyson's standard v8 or v12 models, or even a raft of rival cordless vacuums from the likes of Shark, Samsung, Halo, Roborock and Tineco. These brands offer similar cleaning performance stats for less and, in some cases, quite a lot less.

If you live in the UK, you can purchase the Dyson v10 Konical + Auto-empty Dok direct from Dyson or Argos for £569.99 or, for an even better deal, head straight to John Lewis or AO, where it's selling for £549.99. If you don't fancy the Dok, you can also purchase the v10 Konical on its own from the aforementioned stores for £449.99.

If you're shopping in the USA, try Dyson direct where this package sells for $649.99. For some reason the full package is difficult to find beyond Dyson's US website but you can buy the v10 Konical unit as a separate entity from Walmart and Best Buy where it's selling for $399.99.

The combo has a list price of AU$999 in Australia,, but at the time of writing is discounted to AU$797 when bought directly from Dyson's online store.

• Value score: 3.5/5

Dyson v10 Konical + Auto-empty Dok: specs

Dyson v10 Konical + Auto-empty Dok: design

• Light and compact vac
• Impressive suction
• Overly tall and incongruous dock

I've tried both the Roborock H60 Hub Ultra and the Tineco Pure One Station and I can definitely see the appeal of having a cordless stick vac with its own dust-emptying station. Firstly, it's somewhere to store the vac while it's being charged but, more importantly, it negates the need for any any manual emptying of the vacuum cleaner's bin because the dock does it all for you. And that means no plumes of dust rising from the kitchen bin and coating your nostrils as the contents are ejected from the vac. It also means you won't have to reach for a damp kitchen towel to wipe down the lip of the bin every time you empty the vac's contents.

Instead, you wait a month or two — depending on how grubby your home is — and simply grab the sealed dust bag from the charging dock and drop it into the kitchen bin with no sign of dust at all. Aside from the cleanliness aspect, this is a great system for allergy sufferers because dust is kept to a bare minimum. However, the downside is that you will need to purchase more dust bags down the line and, as of writing, there's no mention of dust bags on the Dyson website. Just as well it comes with a spare.

Let's take a look at the vacuum unit first.

v10 vac design

Confusingly, the Dyson v10 Konical looks more like an evolution of the v8 Cyclone than a successor to the Cyclone v10. Instead of the horizontal inline motor-and-bin arrangement of the Cyclone v10, Dyson has adopted the more compact layout of the v8, with the motor and dustbin mounted vertically just in front of the trigger-less hand grip. It's a design that's noticeably shorter and easier to use with detail tools and, of course, it's much better suited to mounting the unit on its accompanying charging and self-emptying dock.

Interestingly, all three units boast the same suction power, namely 150 air watts. This figure is considerably lower than that of the popular v15 Detect (240AW) and way lower than the Gen5detect (280AW). Nevertheless, suction power isn't everything because the design of the brush head is arguably even more important, which I'll get to in a minute.

The v10 Konical's diminutive proportions make it feel exceptionally nimble. At just 3.60lbs/1.63kg, the hand unit weighs roughly the same as the v10 Cyclone and about 25g heavier than the v8. However, because its center of gravity sits closer to the user's hand, it produces less wrist fatigue when cleaning stairs and upholstery, or reaching into awkward spaces. In fact, I consider this model's weight to be right in the sweet spot for quick shifts around the house just before guests arrive.

The Dyson Konical's brush head is one of this vac's most distinctive features since it replaces the conventional cylindrical roller with a tapered, conical design that's engineered to minimize hair wrap. Cast from shiny and very tough Polycarbonate-like plastic with stiff nylon bristles for beating dust out of carpet and a row of soft fluffy fibers to help protect delicate hard floors, this brush head is pretty radical but it works wonders on all floor types.

Yes, the tapered front end does make it trickier to run it head-on against skirting boards but then again you're better off using the side of the head and following the contours of the wall when collecting edge dust because there's plenty of suction between the end of the roller and the enclosed edge of the outer casing. However, I should point out that the raised center area of the brush head is taller than other models and that means it won’t go under some low furnishings.

Where most standard rollers use a comb system to mitigate hair wrap, this model's cone-shaped roller ensures that long hair naturally migrates towards the narrower end of the cone, where it's lifted away from the roller and fed directly into the dustbin. A couple of small combs fitted to the rear further help the process. The result is far less time spent cutting tangled hair from the brush, making it particularly useful in homes with shedding long-haired pets like golden retrievers and German shepherds.

Beyond its anti-tangle credentials, the Konical's unique brush head performs extremely well across a variety of floor types. It transitions smoothly between hard flooring and deep-pile carpets, and sweeps up both fine dust and larger debris with aplomb. The head is also surprisingly maneuverable, pivoting easily around furniture legs and into tighter spaces. And for those who have trouble seeing the state of the floor, this model is equipped with Dyson's laser-like green beam, which illuminates the path ahead in amazing detail, especially on hard floors.

The Dyson V10 Konical's 0.52 qt (0.5 liter) cyclone bin system offers the best of both worlds: it can be emptied manually using Dyson's familiar point-and-shoot mechanism or you can place the vacuum on the Konical Auto-empty Dok and leave it to be automatically emptied into the dock's large disposable dust bag.

Unlike many earlier Dyson cordless vacuums, the V10 Konical dispenses with the company's long-standing trigger-operated power switch in favor of a simple on/off button. It's a welcome change that eliminates finger fatigue during longer cleaning sessions. Meanwhile, three selectable suction levels — Eco, Medium and Max — allow you to balance cleaning performance against battery life, with the lowest settings suited to everyday dust collection on hard flooring and Max mode reserved for carpets, larger debris and more demanding cleaning tasks.

Rather disappointingly for a modern vac in this high price band, the v10 Konical lacks an automatic dust sensor to boost motor power when moving the head over particularly grubby areas. For that type of scenario you will need to switch to Medium or Max mode manually.

You get two cleanable HEPA filters with this model, one at the top of the hand unit and the other to the rear. Combined, these filters provide Dyson's "five-stage filtration that captures 99.99% of microscopic particles as small as 0.1 microns". Par for the course.

Regarding this model's battery life, Dyson's states a running time of up to 60 minutes, but this is when it's used in Eco mode on hard floor. However, as my results show in the Performance chapter below, this little cleaning tyke punches way above its weight when it comes to running times. Also, the battery is thankfully swappable so it's worth investing in another if your abode is on the larger side.

As you'd expect for a Dyson product, build quality is exemplary. The plastics feel dense and precisely moulded, every attachment clicks confidently into place and there are no obvious compromises despite the machine's relatively compact dimensions. In the pantheon of compact cordless stick vacs, this one is as close to perfection as it gets.

Score ref: 4.5/5

Dock design

The new Dyson v10 Konical + Auto-empty Dok is an unusual double act in the world of vacuum cleaners because its tall-standing dock not only charges the small and perfectly-formed v10 Konical hand unit, but it also empties the contents of the vac's small bagless bin into a much larger sealed 2.64qt (2.5 liters) dust bag which can be thrown away after a month or two of use. Wahey, no more flicking latches, or plumes of dust wafting into your face every time you visit the kitchen bin.

Before we discuss the technical elements of this dock, let's first address the elephant in the room. At 47.24 x 7 x 6.69i inches (120 x 18 x 17cm) this dock is ridiculously tall and the first inkling you get of its size is when the enormous box arrives on your doorstep — so huge, you may genuinely wonder whether you'd accidentally ordered a build-it-yourself aircraft instead of a simple vacuum cleaner.

After much rummaging through piles of cardboard packaging (no plastics or styrofoam here), I soon had the whole system installed under my stairs — the only space I could find short of rearranging the utility room where it ultimately belongs.

The first thing I noticed is that the dock itself isn't especially heavy, which means you will need to support it with the other hand when pushing the spring-loaded side door to access the two hand tools it comes with: a mini motorized brush and a detail nozzle. There's also a C-clip for holding a third accessory so I raided my Gen5detect collection of tools and attached Dyson's handy soft brush which I think is one of the best tools for cleaning shelves, computer keyboards, etc. Just below is a second cupboard for the Dok's disposable dust bag.

The Dyson Dok's interface is completely different from those adopted by Roborock and Tineco. With those brands you simply drop the hand unit's bin section into the top of the dock for automatic emptying, charging and storage. Conversely, the design of the v10 Konical's hand unit — and specifically its bin — requires attaching it to the dock from beneath by inserting the battery section into a swing-out portal and pushing the hand unit firmly into the circular suction housing. Granted, it's not as intuitive a mounting system as the Roborock and Tineco method but, despite its height, I think the complete package is more aesthetically pleasing to look at when everything's in situ.

Regarding the bin-emptying process, the moment you push the hand unit into the housing, the suction kicks in and stays on for 30 seconds. You can easily halt the suction process by pressing the red 'stop' button located close by.

Despite some shortcomings — especially the occasional times when it has failed to empty the v10’s bin because it was too clogged with hair — I've grown to like this new Dyson Dok. Yes, it's very tall but then it's also quite slim and the black colorway means it doesn't stick out like a sore thumb unless placed in a living room against a white wall.

If you have mostly hard floors or carpets that don’t shed fibers, I happen to think it's worth the extra it adds to the cost of purchasing the v10 Konical, mostly because I don't miss the hassle of regularly returning to the kitchen bin to manually empty the contents of the v10's bin or wrestling with a wall-mounted charging bracket.

Score ref: 3.5/5

• Design score: 4/5

Dyson v10 Konical + Auto-empty Dok: performance

• Excellent all-floor vacuum performance
• Genuinely tangle-free roller
• Dock struggles with compacted hair

As usual, for my vacuum tests I selected a range of obstreperous ingredients — oats, muesli, rice, flour and loosely broken cornflakes — and sprinkled them over the wooden floor of my kitchen and a rug in the living room.

From my own robot vacuuming experience I've found that cotton strands from my wife's sewing room are among the worst things for a vacuum cleaner to deal with, so I also scattered some strands of cotton on the carpet to see how effectively the cone-shaped brush head was at clearing them. I also ran a battery test to see how long the v10 Konical ran in Medium mode on carpet before the battery gave up the ghost.

Here are my results…

The first thing I did was scatter some cotton threads of different lengths over a carpeted rug. Cotton strands are notorious for wrapping around brush heads so I was eager to see how well Dyson's R&D department had nailed this conundrum.

Since the Dyson's Konical head doesn't have thin rubber paddles that tear very easily when tightly wrapped in cotton I was really gunning for a successful outcome and I couldn't have been more amazed by the results because, despite a surfeit of cotton pieces on the carpet, not one of them tangled around the roller. If you have a sewing room this is unequivocally the best vacuum cleaner for you.

I then proceeded with the detritus tests, first using the aforementioned ingredients on my kitchen floor. I have no anomalies to report here because if deftly collected almost everything in its path in a single sweep. All I had to do was run a few more passes to collect the rest to either side and few quick whizzes along the outer edges to pick up some of the rice that had been inevitably scattered.

My second test was much the same, only on a rug. Again the v10 Konical collected most of the debris on its first pass followed by a few extra passes to collect the rest. Although not as immediately successful as the hard floor test, it was good enough for me.

I personally think this little vac is a five-star performer when it comes to any type of flooring because I also used it on an old carpet upstairs that sheds a lot of fibers and a very deep-pile shaggy carpet in the guest room. It never bogged down once on the deep pile, even when in Medium mode; something that often occurs with my Gen5detect.

However, the same level of success can't be said for the Dyson Dok because I've had two instances when the dock’s suction has failed to empty the contents of the hand unit — even after two 30-second attempts. I put this down to the state of my carpets that are shedding a ton of fibers, along with insurmountable levels of labrador hair. On the plus side, the dock has successfully emptied the v10's bin every time it's been used on hard floor and, likewise, both emptying sessions after the above tests. Nevertheless, I still think prospective buyers should be aware if they have a lot of older carpet and shedding pets.

For my battery test I put the v10 Konical into Medium mode – my favorite setting – and set it up on a carpet using the Konical head for maximum brush resistance. I then left it to run until the battery gave out. After an impressive 21 minutes and 30 seconds of continual running, the battery suddenly died, and at no time did I hear anything to suggest that the motor power was fading. It just kept going at the same speed and frequency before suddenly shutting off. That's a resoundingly good result for a compact unit of this weight and size, and I'm pretty convinced it would go on running for the full stated 60 minutes when in Eco mode.

Final thoughts? While I think the v10 Konical is a sterling lightweight stick vac for both day-to-day and intensive use, the jury's still out on the Dyson Dok, which is not only exceedingly tall and incongruous but not especially functional when faced with large amounts of compacted hair and fibers.

• Performance score: 4/5

Should you buy the Dyson v10 Konical + Auto-empty Dok?

Buy it if

Don't buy it if

How I tested the Dyson v10 Konical + Auto-empty Dok

We tech journos engage in a lot of rigmarole so you don't have to. Hence, we push the products we test to the limits of their functionality. In the pantheon of cordless stick vacs, this means creating a series of worst-case scenarios to see how well the product performs when faced with more debris than it would normally encounter.

We also test battery running times and evaluate the product's ease of use during day-to-day cleaning scenarios. We then studiously consider the amount of stars the product is worth before sending the review out into the world.

First reviewed August 2026

But why would you do that when you can pick it up for 50% off? That's right: the Samsung Jet 95S, which is already good value at AU$799, is now discounted to just AU$399 at JB Hi-Fi.

That's a very budget price and excellent bang for your hard-earned buck to spend on a vacuum cleaner that I gave a full five stars to — and I've been reviewing vacuum cleaners for nearly a decade and have rarely done so. The Jet 95S is now my pick of the best vacuum cleaner in Australia.

It may not have self-emptying like many a Shark vacuum cleaner or may not be looker like some of its Dyson counterparts, but what the Samsung Jet 95S has in spades is performance.

As I said in my review, it's in the same league as the Dyson Gen5detect Absolute with 280AW of suction, but it manages to outperform its competition thanks to four suction modes, with the Jet setting so darn powerful, I found 100% hair pickup from a rather dirty mid-pile carpet.

In fact, the Jet 95S aced all my tests in just its Mid suction setting, which is the second level up from Min (aka minimum, of course), and found it performed better than Dyson's Auto mode — albeit just barely.

I'm even a big fan of the Flex Tool that ships with the Jet 95S, which helped me get to awkward corners and high up on ceilings to clean behind my sofa and even an air-conditioning vent that's 90º to my ceiling. The other two accessories are stock standard, but you do get a Pet Tool+ attachment that's good at picking up small and thin strands from upholstery, bedding and all kinds of floor types.

The Slim LED floorhead has a very bright headlight that doesn't highlight dust particles like Dyson's Fluffy Optic does, but at least it lets you see under the bed or other low-lying furniture where light doesn't typically penetrate. This floorhead is only for hard floors though.

The all-round useful floorhead is the Jet Dual Brush+ that I found a little difficult to manoeuvre around the house, even on hard floors, but the Samsung vacuum isn't as heavy as some other models, so exerting a little extra energy is doable here. The clean you get from this floorhead, though, is exceptional, and I found no tangling of long hair strands during my testing.

I even love the fact that the wand is expandable, unlike Dyson.

Honestly, for a fraction of the Gen5detect's price, you're getting the same suction power and excellent cleaning performance, in a package that's easy to use and store. It's an absolute steal at just AU$399!

I'm no stranger to testing powerful cordless vacuum cleaners, and have crossed paths with models that have boasted 280AW of suction before — my Dyson Gen5detect review is a case in point. The Samsung Jet 95S, announced earlier in 2026, also shares the same suction spec, but costs a fraction of the Dyson's RRP, and that wasn't the only pleasant surprise it came with. It began to impress even before I took it out of its packaging.

The box that was delivered to my door was much lighter than what I've experienced with other cordless vacuums recently, so much so that I thought it was surely missing parts. Once opened up, I didn't even need to glance at the user manual to put the free-standing dock together and assemble the vacuum — surprisingly very intuitive! And the fully assembled machine looked so much more compact that my Dyson V15s Detect Submarine hanging off its Free-Dok.

Well, 'compact' may not be the right word, but it's definitely shorter — about half the height of the aforementioned Dyson, but that's because the V15 hangs at a height. The battery pack, however, adds weight to the otherwise light stick vacuum, albeit the Jet 95S is still lighter than some of the newer Dyson's I've tested — tipping the scales at about 2.69kg with the heavier Jet Dual Brush+ floorhead compared to about 3.6kg for the Gen5detect.

Then there's the suction power which, as I've already mentioned, puts it in the same league as the Dyson Gen5detect, a stick vac that I'd readily recommend for its power. As good as the Dyson is, the Jet 95S can more than match that performance, even outdoing its more expensive competition in some of my tests, whether that's on hard floors or carpet. For example, where the Gen5detect might need two passes to suck up entangled hair from carpet fibres even in its Boost mode (maximum suction), the Jet 95S can manage it in one in its Jet mode.

And therein lies another point of difference that's impressive: where you typically get only three suction settings on most cordless vacuums, there are four on the Jet 95S, and even the lowest is better than Dyson's Eco mode.

While I can't fault its cleaning prowess, I found the main floorhead — the Jet Dual Brush+ — to lack easy manoeuvrability, even on hard floors, which means you're exerting extra energy to get the machine around your floors. That's not the case with the Slim LED brush, though, but that's designed for hard floors only and for squeezing under low-lying furniture.

The most surprising thing about the Samsung Jet 95S, however, is how much value it offers. For about half the price of the Gen5detect's RRP, you're getting the exact same suction and arguably better performance, in a more compact (and slightly lighter) setup, and no shortage of additional attachments. You even get a telescopic tube that you won't get with any current Dyson.

And while you can buy a Shark vacuum for less money, none offer the same kind of performance. So, in all honestly, it doesn't bother me that there's no additional perks here, like self-emptying or a mop attachment — the Jet 95S already packs in plenty of bang for your hard-earned buck.

Samsung Jet 95S review: price & availability

• Currently only listed on the Samsung Australia and New Zealand sites
• While NZ has no RRP listed, it's AU$799 in Australia
• Also available from authorised third-party retailers

Announced in March 2026, the Samsung Jet 95S costs AU$799 in Australia and is available to buy directly from Samsung or from select third-party retailers like The Good Guys and JB Hi-Fi.

It's also listed on the Samsung NZ site, but no price is mentioned, although third-party retailers have the Jet 95S listed for NZ$919.

Compared to some Shark cordless vacuums that are constantly discounted on, say, Amazon, this price does seem high, but it is, in fact, excellent value given its spec list and performance (as you will read in more detail below).

The similarly specced Dyson Gen5detect Absolute will set you back AU$1,549 at full price in Australia, but has been regularly discounted down to the AU$950 mark and it's still more expensive than the newer Samsung. Sadly, the Dyson seems to have been discontinued in New Zealand as it's no longer listed on the officially website.

While it might be cheaper to buy a Shark, especially since the Shark PowerDetect Clean & Empty can regularly be had for under AU$700 and it self-empties, its suction cannot match the Jet 95S.

• Value score: 5 / 5

Samsung Jet 95S review: Specs

Samsung Jet 95S review: Design

• Waist-high free-standing dock with integrated storage
• Expandable and bendable wand; comes with several useful attachments
• Lighter than many modern cordless vacuums, but not quite lightweight

As I've already mentioned, when the Samsung Jet 95S got delivered to my home, I honestly thought the box was missing parts because it was so much lighter than what I'd expected it would be. That was unfounded because everything was neatly packed away inside and it only took a glance at the individual parts to know exactly how they all slotted into place to assemble the Jet Standing Station (as Samsung calls the free-standing dock) and the stick vacuum itself.

Fully assembled, the stand with the machine is barely waist-high — well, it is for me and I'm only five-feet tall! And that gives the whole package a very compact feel compared to newer Dysons hanging off the British brand's Free-Dok. And even though the Jet 95S uses about the same amount floor space as the Dyson, it doesn't feel... imposing.

The heaviest bits are the base for the Jet Standing Station and the removable battery pack, with the latter making what is a very lightweight stick vacuum relatively heavy and slightly less unwieldy than some compact Shark vacuums I've previously tried. That, however, is an issue with all newer cordless vacuums with removable battery packs, so I can't quite blame Samsung for it. Despite the battery, though, the Jet 95S is still lighter than the Dyson V15 Detect or newer models, tipping the scales at 2.69kg with the Jet Dual Brush+ affixed to the wand (it's about 2.5kg with the Slim LED floorhead).

Speaking of attachments: there are three motorised tools — the aforementioned Jet Dual Brush+ for carpets and hard floors alike, the Slim LED Brush for hard floors only and the Pet Tool+ for sucking up finer and shorter strands — as well three non-motorised options that include a crevice tool, dusting brush and a bendy attachment. The last tool is can be handy when you need to reach some awkward spots when using the Jet 95S in handheld mode.

The wand is even expandable, with four height levels, meaning anyone — short or tall — will find a comfortable posture that won't strain your back while you move the Jet 95S around your home. As a short person, I didn't need to expand the tube at all, but a taller friend (standing 5'5") needed to increase the height by just one level to make it more comfortable to use.

Maneuverability is a small issue with the Jet Dual Brush+ floorhead and, sadly, that's the one I found myself using the most in a test space with mixed floors (tiles in the living and dining area, carpet in the bedroom), just so I didn't have to keep swapping out the floorheads each time a did a full-house clean.

The Slim LED Brush, however, is easier to move on its little wheels, but the battery making the unit top heavy can feel like it's impeding smooth movement. That said, the Jet 95S is definitely easier on the wrist compared to Dyson's heavier models that weigh upwards of 3kg.

I don't have pets, but the Pet Tool+ has been designed to pick up strands that are typically small and thin, and easily missed by the larger floorheads, but it can also be used on upholstery.

By far my favourite attachment has to be the Flex Tool, which allowed me to get into little nooks and crannies that a straight tube would typically not allow for. You can attach it to the handheld unit or to the end of the wand, then affix the crevice or dusting tool to get to hard-to-reach spots high or low. In my case, I was able to vacuum an air-conditioning vent's grill by bending the Flex Tool at a 90º angle and attaching the small brush to the end of it. I was also able to get behind my couch from the side (rather than reaching from over the backrest) to clean up months of dust along the skirting boards.

As with many cordless vacuums available now, there's a small LCD display that shows you the suction setting and the time remaining for the chosen mode, but you don't get a breakdown of dust sizes and amounts like you do on a Dyson or even the Dreame Z50. The information on screen might be minimal, but I can't complain given how much it costs.

One design aspect that I'm still unsure about is the onboard dust canister. I was expecting it to have a bottom trapdoor that would open on the press of a button to empty (like a Dyson's bin), but that's not the case. I had to detach it from the handle, remove the filter and internal metal cylinder, then tip the canister over to empty it. It's not a difficult process, but I think I'd much prefer the Dyson method of emptying, with the option to dismantle the canister for a thorough clean every once in a while.

• Design score: 4 / 5

Samsung Jet 95S review: Features

• No SmartThings support and it's definitely not necessary
• Smart Motion is a thoughtful feature, but ultimately superfluous
• Not necessarily a quiet vacuum

The 280AW of suction might be the headline act here, but one way Samsung has kept costs down is by not adding SmartThings support here like it has for its Bespoke Jet range. Which also means the Jet 95S doesn't use Samsung's Clean Station, but I don't mind that at all, especially at its price point. And, honestly, I didn't see the need for SmartThings support in any of the Samsung vacuums I've tested (stick or robot) and the Jet 95S makes an excellent case for not needing superfluous features.

Speaking of which, there is one feature that seemingly adds value but, ultimately, ended up being something I didn't ever need to use. It's called Smart Motion and it kicks in automatically when the vacuum is left switched on but at rest — like leaning against a sofa or chair — in case you need to, say, answer the door or move a cable from the vacuum's path. It will shut down completely when still and restart automatically if you move it within a minute.

Given the power and mode buttons are so well within reach of the thumb, I found I was just switching the vacuum off if I needed to set it aside for a minute or two. And given its novelty, most users will likely even forget the feature exists. However, for those who are wont to just leave their vacuum idling against a chair or table, the Smart Motion feature will kick in and help conserve some battery life.

Dynamic suction is available, of course, which means you can just keep using the Jet 95S at its default setting (Mid) and let it do its thing. It's not really quiet, though, hitting about 89dB in the Jet mode in the Decibel X app on my iPhone in an otherwise silent room.

• Features score: 4 / 5

Samsung Jet 95S review: Performance

• Excellent and quick vacuuming on hard floors and carpets in all settings
• Most messes can be cleaned in a single forward motion
• No loss of suction on either floorhead even when pulling the vacuum back

Samsung really knows how to optimise suction power to the best effect — it did it with the Bespoke range of cordless vacuums where I said the suction lived up to its 'Jet' name in my Samsung Bespoke Jet review. The South Korean electronics giant has done it again with the cheaper Jet 95S, taking full advantage of the airflow moving with up to 280AW (Airwatts) of power.

As I've already said, that's the same amount of suction the Dyson Gen5detect boasts, although it's not industry-leading. The Dyson V16 Piston Animal has 315AW while the Dreame Z50 Station goes further with 330AW, and Samsung's own Bespoke Jet Ultra offers 400AW. It's not about the number, though as, ultimately, it's the air flowing through the machine that will determine how well the vacuum functions — and the Jet 95S performs remarkably well.

With four suction modes at your fingertips (literally) — Min, Mid, Max and Jet — I found that the default setting of Mid was the best option and was happy to leave it as such for all my tests and regular cleaning. This mode adjusts suction automatically, whether that's when it detects different floor types or detects excess dirt.

Regular daily cleaning jobs were a walk in the park for the Samsung, sucking up visible dust, debris and hair even on the lowest (Min) suction setting on hard floors. It took a Mid setting on a very dirty carpet (covered in crumbs and hair) for it to get clean, but without having to repeatedly go over the same spot — just one or two passes were enough.

To put the Jet 95S through more serious testing, I used it to clean up a thick layer of coffee grounds and a mixture of oats, chia seeds, tea from a tea bag and freeze-dried raspberries — between them, they indicate a variety of dust and debris sizes that a typical household would need cleaning up.

On hard floors in my test space (matte-finish tiles) and set to the default Mid suction mode, the coffee grounds were sucked up in a single movement — forward to clear the middle of the dirty patch and back again to suck up another strip.

I was expecting it to take a full front-and-back pass to clear out the mixture but, again, it surprised me by picking up different-sized dirt in just a single forward motion, leaving a clean strip of floor in the middle of the patch. I noticed no scattering when larger particles hit the plastic frame of the floorhead either, which makes cleaning even easier.

The same mix of oats, tea dust, chia seeds and fruit on carpet gave the Jet 95S a little more of a challenge, but that translates to needing a forward and backward pass to clear a strip (as compared to just a front swipe on hard floors).

Step it up a notch and both the Max and Jet settings can blow any of the competition out of the park. My biggest pet peeve is hair strands getting entangled in carpet fibres that don't necessarily come off even when vacuuming on, say, Dyson's Boost mode or the highest suction on a Shark, but I found 100% hair pickup during my testing of the Jet 95S. I also found no tangling within any of the motorised attachments.

• Performance score: 5 / 5

Samsung Jet 95S review: Battery life

• Maximum runtime of 60 minutes with non-motorised tools
• Quite average battery life with motorised floorheads
• Relatively quick recharge time, with handy battery life indicator

Battery performance, however, is quite average, with Samsung rating it for a maximum runtime of 60 minutes with the non-motorised attachments. That almost tracks, with my tests giving me 56 minutes on the Min mode (lowest suction) when the crevice tool was attached to the handheld unit.

With the motorised Jet Dual Brush+ floorhead and using the default Mid suction setting, I maximum I was able to eke out on a relatively clean floor was 37 minutes. This number will vary depending on how often dynamic suction kicks in, but it's not bad at all and quite competitive with other brands.

Move it up to Max and a full charge got me 10 minutes with the Jet Dual Brush+, while Jet barely give me 7 minutes. Again, it's on par with what I've previously experienced with Dyson and Shark alternatives.

Like I've previously mentioned, the Smart Motion feature might help some users conserve a little battery life but, in my opinion, it's neither here nor there and superfluous.

The Jet 95S took about 3 hours to top up from 21% to full, which is relatively quick compared to Dysons that offer the same 60-minute runtime (which average around the 4-hour mark), but I love that there's an indicator light above the handle that changes colour while it's charging.

It follows the traffic-light system where it's red when levels are low, yellow (more like orange) when it's come up to mid levels and green when it's fully done. This visual indication is handy when you need to complete a job in a larger home and don't necessarily need to wait for a full recharge.

• Battery score: 4.5 / 5

Should I buy the Samsung Jet 95S?

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

Also consider

I might have scored the Samsung Jet 95S full marks, and I'd easily recommend it over anything else I've personally tested, but it's always good to have options. If you'd like a few alternatives, I've listed a few below at different price points for you to consider.

How I tested the Samsung Jet 95S

I used the Samsung Jet 95S in my own one-bedroom apartment for about two months, cleaning every 2-3 days. However, I did put it through TechRadar's standard tests by sprinkling oats and tea dust from a tea bag. Additionally, I also created mixtures with chia seeds and pieces of freeze-dried raspberries to emulate different debris sizes that a standard home might encounter. This mixture was used on both hard floor — matte tiles in this case — and a mid-pile carpet.

Separately, I even vacuumed a handful of coffee grounds from tiles for additional testing.

To test its hair pickup, I collected my own strands from my brush and scattered them over the mid-pile carpet in the bedroom and walked over them for a couple of days to ensure they were well embedded into the fibres. I also scattered some breadcrumbs and biscuit crumbs on the same carpet, allowing them to also sink in over a couple of days.

Thankfully the Samsung Jet 95S was able to suck them all up and leave the floors in my home clean.

Read more about how we test vacuums

[First published August 2026]

The V15 is not the newest Dyson vacuum. It came out in 2021 and there are now two newer flagship models: the Gen5detect (launched 2022) and the V16 Piston Animal (2025). However, despite not being the latest-and-greatest, it's still the model that sits atop our best Dyson vacuum guide.

So after nearly two years of regular cleaning with the V15, would I still recommend it? How does it match up against the rest of the best cordless vacuums on the market — and specifically, the newest models from Dyson's great competitor, Shark? Here's my long-term review.

Smooth mover

Let's start with what I love about our Dyson dust-sucker. The suction is excellent, and the Auto mode (where the suction will increase or decrease depending on how much dirt is detected on the floor) is a very welcome addition. I use this mode almost exclusively, and it can be relied upon to do a thorough job of clearing whatever debris has gathered on the floor. I haven't noticed a drop in cleaning performance over our two years of use.

The V15 is also extremely easy to maneuver. Our home has lots of stairs, and plenty of nooks and crannies where dust and hair like to collect and lurk, and the V15 Detect does a great job of getting into all of them. I love how easily and smoothly the head pivots, and the fact it can lie completely flat to the ground for cleaning under beds.

Many of the newest Shark vacuums have a hinge on the vacuum wand, which enables it to bend forwards for cleaning under furniture. It works well, but adds bulk to the wand, and the whole thing is slightly unwieldy in its folded state. For my home, the Dyson setup works perfectly well, but if you're lacking in maneuvering room, perhaps Shark's 'MultiFlex' / 'Flexology' solution would be a better fit.

I'm also a huge fan of the Dyson V15's secret crevice tool. It's hidden in the wand, so I'm never without it. Our house is tall and thin, with four floors, and this built-in tool means that if I spot a dusty corner at the top of the house, I don't have to traipse all the way down to the utility room to fetch a detail tool to deal with it. As far as I'm aware, this feature is exclusive to Dyson at the moment.

Having tested a number of vacuums from Dyson and various other brands, I'm always struck by how consistently high quality and well-built the Dyson vacs feel. There's a strong attention to detail in the design, and they feel sturdy and reliable. That's still true of the V15 after nearly two years of use.

Lasers and data

Now on to a couple of features that have divided opinion within my household. The V15 comes with a couple of different floorheads: the Digital motorbar head, which has bristles and is designed for use on any floor type, and the Fluffy optic head, which is entirely soft and built for use on hard flooring. The latter is equipped with a green light to illuminate dust.

I'm very on board with the Fluffy floorhead. I love that it feels gentle on our tiled kitchen floor (and doesn't clatter over it as most vacuum cleaner heads will), and I appreciate the way the light draws attention to dust and hair lurking in dingy corners. I find it very satisfying to then whisk that dust away, and always feel I'm getting a far more thorough clean than I would without this feature.

However, my partner is not so enamored with the Fluffy floorhead. He feels the Digital motorbar floorhead works perfectly well on hard floors, and it's not worth the hassle of swapping the heads over.

Then there are the real-time dust reports on the screen. I find these endlessly fascinating, and I enjoy seeing the dust hotspots causing the bar graphs to spike. However, when I asked my partner for his thoughts, it became clear that not only was he not paying them any attention, but he didn't really know what they were. Is is possible the general public is just not as invested in the intricacies of vacuum cleaning as I am? Maybe.

Bulking up

Moving on to the down-sides of the V15. The most significant complaint I have with it is that V15 Detect is that it's pretty heavy. Further to that, the weight is concentrated in the main motor section, which itself is rather elongated in shape. That makes it rather unwieldy, and especially when used in handheld mode.

All of Dyson's newer vacuums (I'd say from this model onwards — so the V15, the Gen5detect and the V16 Piston Animal) suffer from this weight distribution issue.

Looking to Shark's range, the fancier models, such as the PowerDetect Cordless, are actually heavier overall. However, the motor/handle section is more squat in shape, and there's more weight through the wand and into the floorhead. That means more even weight distribution, which can make for a more comfortable vacuuming experience.

A triggering issue

Another big complaint I have with the V15 is that it's trigger-operated, with no option to lock it for continual running. I find that irritating when I'm using the vacuum for long periods, or trying to get into awkward corners while keeping the trigger compressed.

I prefer the setup on Dyson's newer models, where there's a one-press power button. However, that's still not perfect — it requires you to have a hand free to turn the machine on and off, because the power button is not reachable from your holding hand.

Most modern Shark models use button operation, and just like the Dyson designs, you can't reach the button from your holding hand. My ideal design is one where the vacuum is trigger-operated but with a lock for continual running. No Dyson vacuum has this setup, and neither do any of Shark's newest stick vacs, although that brand's range is so sprawling you might find a trigger-plus-lock design somewhere.

One comment that I hear sometimes about Dyson stick vacuums is that they don't always last as long as customers expect. Our V15 is still going strong after just under two years (which is actually at the lower end of how long cordless vacuums are meant to last, although most people would probably hope for longer).

Prior to that, my partner had a Dyson Cyclone V10, which lasted over five years. At that point the battery conked out, and replacing it only fixed the issue for a few months. I think that's a decent lifespan for a vacuum, but your mileage may vary.

Is it worth it?

After two years using my Dyson V15, I'd still recommend it. Its cleaning powers are excellent with no signs of fading, its special features genuinely useful, and I love how maneuverable it is.

I personally also prefer it to Shark's newest models. I cover my main thoughts on this in my Shark vs Dyson article, but as a short overview, it's special features feel superior — Dyson's laser lights are far more effective than Shark's headlamps, and its Auto mode feels more precise. The Dyson also pivots more smoothly and the overall design feels sleeker and more high-end.

However, it's not a clear-cut decision. The Shark PowerDetect Cordless offers the best outright cleaning performance of any vacuum I've used, including all the Dyson models. Shark's models also arguably deliver better value for money — although its higher-spec models still sit in the premium price tier.

The bottom line? After using the V15 for a couple of years, and testing multiple other vacs from different brands including Shark, I'm still something of a Dyson fan-girl. When our at-home vac finally bites the dust, we'll probably end up buying another Dyson, although I will still be checking out what Shark has to offer...

Jake Dyson didn’t join his father’s business immediately; instead he set up a workshop and made a name for himself in the world of industrial lighting. Sitting in his office, I asked whether his experience in that sector had contributed to his work at Dyson today.

“Yes, it comes down to identifying problems and solving them,” he explained. “When LEDs first entered the market, I realized people weren’t cooling them properly. The promise of LEDs is that they should last a lifetime, but in reality they were being treated like disposable lightbulbs. I visited Osram in Asia, and they explained that if you keep the diode temperature below about 50C [120F, you can maintain brightness, color quality, and lifespan. That became my goal.

“I looked at how satellites manage heat. In space, temperatures swing from extremely hot to extremely cold, so they need precise thermal control. I applied similar thinking by designing systems that passively dissipate heat. For example, the heat moves away from the chip and is cooled by airflow, maintaining a stable temperature even at high power. That process, spotting a problem and solving it, is what drives everything.”

That problem-solving approach has always been the driving force behind the Dyson brand, and explains its unusual portfolio of products; its engineers have never been afraid to venture into new areas when there’s a problem to be solved.

“Sometimes it comes from frustration," said Jake Dyson. "'This product is rubbish, how can we make it better?’ Other times it’s curiosity: ‘Why does this work the way it does?’”

Problem-first design

James Dyson’s book Invention: A Life of Learning Through Failure, describes how the problem-first process led to the creation of many of the company’s most iconic and recognizable products — starting with a humble wheelbarrow. Dyson and his wife Deidre were renovating a house in Gloucestershire, England, and wanted to create a garden, but the traditional tools proved frustrating.

“I used a navy barrow in anger and its limitations became increasingly clear,” writes Dyson. “Cement slopped out of it. Its tubular legs sunk into the ground. It was hard to steer. Its sharp edges damaged doorframes. The more I used it, the more I realized that nobody had really thought about these problems or bothered to fix them.”

After much experimentation with shapes, materials, and manufacturing processes, the result was the Ballbarrow: a molded plastic bucket on a steel frame, with the conventional wheel replaced by a pneumatic ball made from EVA (ethylene-vinyl acetate). This spread the weight of the load more evenly on soft ground, and was easier to maneuver than a wheel — and in bright orange, it looked unlike anything else at the time.

The product itself was a success, but due to a series of poor business decisions, Dyson senior eventually lost control of the company he had founded around it, Kirk-Dyson, and was ultimately kicked out by the other shareholders.

“I had lost five years of work by not valuing my creation,” he wrote. “I had failed to protect the one thing that was most valuable to me.”

It was a painful experience, but one he learned from as he pressed on with identifying and solving problems — starting with the creation of the first cyclonic vacuum cleaner, which he designed after realizing that dust bags don’t just serve to collect dust — they also act as filters that block airflow, drastically reducing suction power.

“I remembered the same clogging problem on the calico cloth with the powder coating in the Ballbarrow factory and the giant cyclone we had made to solve it,” he wrote. “What if I could develop a much smaller version and replace the clogging bag in a vacuum cleaner?”

Thousands of prototypes later (5,127 to be precise), he had the world’s first bagless vacuum — and a vast collection of patents to protect it.

Dyson’s understanding of airflow and cyclonic technology has informed almost all of the company’s subsequent products; but like the vacuum, each one started with a problem. The Dyson Airblade hand dryer was created to reduce waste paper towels; the Airmultiplier fan solved the issue of ‘choppy’ air from conventional fan blades; the Pure Hot+Cool purifier was made to tackle indoor air pollution; and the Supersonic hairdryer solved the problem of heavy and uncomfortable hairdryers with weighty motors.

In every case, the form of the finished product was dictated by the problem it was designed to solve — even if the result looked totally unlike established versions of the device.

“That’s why Dyson products often look unusual; they’re built around their function,” said Jake Dyson in his Malmesbury office. “They’re also beautiful. A hair dryer has a hole through it because of how the airflow works. Fans and other products expose their engineering principles through the way they look — we’re not hiding how things work, we’re expressing it.”

Creative color

Those unusual designs are often set off by equally unusual color schemes, which tend to highlight buttons, switches, removable canisters, and other functional parts.

“We have a team here, CMF, which is colors, materials and finishes, that look into the appearance but also materials of our products," said Jake Dyson.

The CMF team doesn’t just draw on experience from successful projects, but also failed ones like the cancelled Dyson electric car, which provided finish and material ideas for many of the company’s health and beauty devices.

Most recently, CMF lent its expertise to Dyson's first hand-held fan — the Dyson HushHet Mini Cool — which launched just in time for a series of heatwaves in the UK. It sold out almost immediately, and after testing it myself, I can see why; it’s compact, much more powerful than its closest rival, the Shark ChillPill, and more affordable to boot.

“We’ve seen strong demand [for the HushHet Mini Cool], and it’s one of those products where people don’t initially realize they need it but once they try it, they understand the value,” said Jake Dyson. “It’s designed to be reusable, not disposable like cheaper alternatives. I've seen people with the cheap plastic fans that break very [easily], but we wanted ours to be well engineered, durable, quiet and efficient.

“We’re working on scaling production, but demand has been very strong, so availability can sometimes be limited. That said, it is coming back to market.”

So what does the future hold? The company is investigating ways to use AI where it will actually add value, helping machines interpret data and make better decisions, and Jake Dyson says that "vision systems and new product directions" are the most exciting areas for him.

"We’ve historically been very strong in mechanical engineering motors, airflow, performance. But now, adding cameras and vision systems allows machines to detect what they’re looking at, understand it and act accordingly.

"That opens up entirely new categories of products and capabilities, so we’re moving from purely mechanical devices to machines that can see, think, and respond, and that’s where the next wave of innovation is coming from."

It'll be fascinating to see which problems the company will be looking to solve with those new technologies, and there's no way of knowing what the next generation of Dyson products will look like as the company expands into new areas. We'll just have to wait and see — but it's definitely not going to be boring.

The Dreame Z30 Pro Aqua is one of those products that leaves you feeling both impressed and slightly perplexed. No question, this is an impressive cordless stick vac with suction powerful enough to deal with everything from fine dust to larger debris, especially when used on carpet. However, while the provided multi-floor head is well engineered, I do wish Dreame had included its clever GapFree hard floor head as featured with the Dreame V20 Pro, which I consider a much better bet for hard floor sweeping.

Battery life is a respectable 35 minutes or so in Auto mode, and the whole machine feels fairly light in the hand, well balanced and easy enough to maneuver. Whether you're tackling carpets or rugs, it performs with the confidence you'd expect from what is essentially a flagship model. However, it’s not the best hard-floor model I’ve seen, at least when it comes to picking up larger debris.

While its detachable mopping unit is a class leader at collecting accidental spills and lifting everyday grime, its twin water tanks are simply too small to support cleaning across an entire home without frequent refills. As a result, it feels more like a maintenance tool than a genuine wet-cleaning solution, making it best suited to localized cleaning and single-room mopping rather than cleaning the floors of an entire house.

I'm not convinced by Dreame's docking solution, either. Instead of the elegant wall-mounted charging docks offered by some rivals, the Z30 Pro Aqua comes with an ungainly stand featuring a collection of bolt-on accessory holders. It's undeniably practical, but it looks more like an afterthought than something designed to complement a modern home. Put another way, you may want to tuck this stand well out of sight.

Nevertheless, strip away the awkward storage system and you’re still left with a very decent cordless vacuum cleaner and exemplary spot mopper for occasional household mishaps.

Dreame Z30 Pro Aqua review: price & availability

• List price: £549 (about $730 / AU$1,060)
• Launched: May 2026
• Availability: UK and Europe

The Dreame Z30 Pro Aqua sits firmly in the premium end of the cordless vacuum market. In the UK, its official retail price is a lofty £549 (about $730 / AU$1,060) but Dreame is currently selling it for a more reasonable £479 (about $640 / AU$920). Across Europe, pricing varies by country but generally lands at around €479.

While you can purchase the vac-only Z30 variant in the USA, the Z30 Pro Aqua we’re reviewing here hasn't been officially released over there yet, though Dreame is expected to bring the Pro Aqua (or a similar wet-dry variation) Stateside sometime later in 2026.

The Z30 Pro Aqua is competing against some seriously capable cordless cleaners and, while its vacuuming credentials are generally excellent, you are paying a premium for a mopping system that doesn't quite live up to the rest of the package. Unless your hard-floor cleaning needs are limited to quick maintenance mops, you may find better value elsewhere.

One alternative is to buy a stick vacuum and a dedicated wet-dry floor cleaner separately. Pairing something like the Dreame R20 (around £179 in the UK) or Shark PowerDetect (around £330) with a specialist floor washer such as the Dreame H15 Pro, Tineco Floor One S7 Pro or Roborock F25 Ultra will deliver much better range for whole-home mopping without constant refills and emptying. Yes, you'll need storage space for two appliances, but you'll also end up with a far more capable cleaning setup that excels at every task instead of compromising on either.

• Value for money score: 3.5 out of 5

Dreame Z30 Pro Aqua specs

Dreame Z30 Pro Aqua review: design

• Elegant hand unit
• Impressive suction stats
• Unattractive docking system

There are two main floor-cleaning disciplines — vacuuming and mopping — and both require a completely different approach. For vacuuming of hard floors and carpet you obviously need a vacuum cleaner — preferably of the cordless stick variety — but when it comes to mopping hard floors you have several choices.

There’s obviously the classic mop and bucket (which reigns supreme despite the paraphernalia and elbow grease required), a large handful of paper towels for liquid spills, or the good old damp tea towel for either messy spills or general hard floor cleaning. However, I know of a more practical solution and it’s called a cordless hard floor cleaner or, for want of a better description, a wet-dry vacuum cleaner.

These machines use a self-dampened spinning roller to quite literally suck up liquid spills of almost every variety — even vomit and puppy wee if you can handle the thought — depositing the disgusting mess into a large dirty water tank which is then emptied into the toilet bowl while holding one’s nose.

The big bonus with wet-dry vacs is that they cleverly eliminate the need for a bucket of water or any other accoutrements, so when you’re faced with a liquid spill, you simply grab the machine, run it over the mess a few times and return it to its charging plinth where it undergoes a robust self-cleaning regime in readiness for the next calamity.

Of course, these handy home helpers are also sterling floor moppers in general, removing most stains and grime off kitchen and bathroom floors in record time. However, the upshot is that you end up with two machines cluttering the home, which is where this all-in-one vaccy-moppy model from Dreame comes into the equation.

Before I discuss the Dreame Z30 Pro Aqua’s versatile list of credentials, I must chip in with a quick caveat regarding its looks. Attired in Dreame’s usual posh rose gold bling, the Z30 Pro Aqua’s main vacuum unit is actually very stylish and elegant but I can’t say the same for the storage system-cum-charging-and-mop-cleaning plinth, which is so ugly that even Dreame is shying away from making a song and dance about it on its web page.

I’m struggling to think of what this tangled melange of bendy pipes and bolted-on plastic accessory holders looks like but it’s quite an eyesore that you will definitely want to hide deep in the recesses of the utility room – or at the very least well away from any living areas.

The Z30 Pro Aqua’s charging system entails pushing the suction tube into a pair of arm clamps until they click shut, and it’s a bit of wobbly affair it must be said. But here’s the thing — the suction tube needs to be attached to the mopping head because the charging contacts don’t line up if docked with the vacuum head. Given that most of the time you’ll be using the vacuuming function, I think this is a major oversight because it requires having to change the vacuum head to the mopping head every time you dock the unit. Anyway, to remove the unit, you simply push back against the clamps to release it.

I’ve never been a fan of multiple accessories, but this one comes with a mini banquet, namely the obligatory dusting brush, flat head and crevice nozzle, which all clip into the charging base assembly. However, it’s not very often that I’m able to attach any of the detail tools to the storage post without fiddling about with the connectors. There’s only one way to insert them and even this requires wiggling the accessory until you finally locate the correct entry angle. This is not such a good thing when you’re in the middle of a clean and you’re swapping tools like a plumber fixing a leaky pipe.

Disappointingly, you get just one universal brush head with this machine, and not the clever edge-cleaning hard floor-specific head that shipped with the excellent Dreame V20 Pro stick vac. Yes, I know that would perhaps be one accessory too many but I’d be happy to find someone to store it, mostly because it’s so good at cleaning right to the very edge of skirting boards.

The 8.6-inch (22cm) brush head itself is essentially a solid, molded cylinder with protruding paddles, each with a soft nylon bristle attached. Despite its simplicity, it makes an extremely good fist of beating dust out of carpets but it feels and sounds too rigid for hard floors. On the plus side, the brush head is easy to maneuver around furniture legs and I like the suction reduction vent on the front of the head which is handy on deeper pile carpet. A full blue beam of blue light, meanwhile, illuminates detritus when sweeping in darker areas, though it’s not a patch on Dyson’s Lazer Dust Detection system.

This leads me to the last part of this unusual entry into the world of floor cleaning – the detachable mop head. Unlike purpose-built wet-dry hard floor cleaners like the class-leading Roborock 25 Ultra – which comes with a large 33.8 fl oz (1L) clean water tank and 24.3 fl oz (720ml) dirty water reservoir – the Z30 Pro Aqua’s detachable mop head is equipped with a titchy 13.5 fl oz (400ml) fresh water tank, an even smaller 10.8 fl oz (320ml) one for the filthy stuff and, uniquely, a separate collection box for solid debris.

Unlike dedicated electro moppers that port all muck — liquid and solid — into one large container for pouring into the toilet, this one separates the waste into liquid and solids. I can see the reasoning behind it if one were to use the sink for disposing the contents because it keeps the solid stuff aside for emptying into the kitchen bin by simply lifting out the solids container.

Granted, the mop system is self cleaning, but this process uses most of the water in the tank so you’ll likely need a refill for the self-cleaning process followed by yet another refill and emptying session before you can take it out on its next run. On the plus side, the front-mounted wooly spinning mop head – thicker and more absorbent than others I’ve seen – is thoroughly cleaned and then dried on its bucket-shaped base for 30 minutes using hot air at a very effective 158F (70C).

Let’s take a closer look at the engine room of this new vac-and-mop system. The handheld unit alone weighs 5lb (2.3kg) and 7.7lb (3.5kg) with the suction tube and floor head attached. This is the exact same combined weight as the Dyson Gen5Detect, and par for the course given its larger-than-average 20.3 fl oz (0.6L) dust bin capacity. To empty the bin, you simply tap a side button and it lifts off the unit to be taken to the bin and emptied by pressing another button to eject all detritus. In terms of suction power, the Z30 Pro Aqua produces a whopping 28,000 Pascals – more than enough oomph for deep-pile carpet cleaning duties.

The Z30 Pro Aqua’s hand unit doesn’t come with a trigger. Instead you press the On button and choose from Auto (which increases suction automatically when heavy deposits of dust are detected), Eco or Turbo. You can see which mode you’re in by looking at the circular display which, incidentally, also illustrates the levels of debris being collected in Auto mode, a bit like a Dyson only nowhere near as bright or as readable.

Dreame’s 90-minute running time is based on it being in Eco mode on hard floor and that may be true or taken with a pinch of salt. However I have always used Auto mode, for which I got about 35 minutes of suction and/or mopping when running the unit on a hard wooden floor. That’s not too bad for a stick vac in auto mode — I’ve seen worse.

I’ll end this chapter with a shout out to the rose gold suction tube that bends 90 degrees for reaching under sofas and beds. If I’m not mistaken, Shark was the first to produce an articulating suction tube. It’s a great feature to have, mostly because it saves having to get on one’s knees when cleaning under low-slung furnishings.

My final thoughts on the design of the Z30 Pro Aqua? Firstly, build quality is excellent throughout. The main unit feels reassuringly solid without becoming too cumbersome, while the large transparent dust bin, easy-release battery and intuitive controls all contribute to a very premium vacuuming experience.

In essence, it looks to me like this product was created mostly for vacuuming, but with the ability to clean up small spills and odd stains as and when they occur. I don’t think it’s a valid alternative to a dedicated wet-dry vacuum cleaner which is suitable for cleaning a whole home. But, hey, if the concept of a multipurpose two-in-one floor cleaner floats your boat then by all means go ahead. Just be aware that you may not be able to mop more than half a large kitchen before having to perform an empty-and-refill session.

• Design score: 4 out of 5

Dreame Z30 Pro Aqua review: performance

• Exceptional carpet performance
• Not as efficient on hard floors
• Perfect for spot mopping

Aside from some daily vacuuming and low-level mopping, I also set up three performance tests for the Dreame Z30 Pro Aqua: carpet and hard floor vacuuming using a variety of dry ingredients, including rice, partly broken cornflakes, oats and flour; and hard floor mopping using a splash of milk and a few cornflakes. For both tests I set the suction mode to Auto, which adjusts the power according to the amount of dust and dirt the built-in sensor detects.

The result for the hard floor test in my kitchen was about average. It certainly wasn’t a match for my Dyson Gen5Detect with its hard floor-specific attachment fitted. Although it collected the cornflakes, oats and flour well enough, the Z30 scattered more rice than it should have. I put this unexceptional performance down to the design of the universal brush head which doesn’t seem particularly well suited to hard floors. It also sounded a wee bit clattery as if it was crying out for a smooth velveteen brush roller. A very good reason, me thinks, for Dreame to include its excellent GapFree hard floor-specific head with this product.

The carpet test, on the other hand, was a much rosier picture. In fac, I’d say that the Z30 may well be one of the better carpet sweepers on the market since it had no issues collecting everything in a single stroke bar a few obstreperous grains of rice. It also left no trace of flour, even when examined close up. The Z30 has also proved very adept at collecting huge amounts of Labrador hair during its general cleaning routines.

For my final test I grabbed the mopping unit, filled it with fresh water and introduced it to some spilled milk and soggy cornflakes. Blow me down with a feather! This thing performed exceedingly well in this test, collecting every last flake of corn and all the milk in a single pass. I put this down to the material used for the roller which is thick, dense, and has a slightly grippy feel. In fact, I also noticed the effectiveness of this roller during standard mopping duties because it dealt with general stains and floor marks with consummate aplomb. I have also been impressed by how well the mop has steered around furniture and how it can be angled to over 90˚ for tight areas.

• Performance score: 4 out of 5

Should you buy the Dreame Z30 Pro Aqua?

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

How I tested the Dreame Z30 Pro Aqua

After I’d had my eyes abused by the sight of this model’s convoluted dock design, I managed to find somewhere out of sight to store it before embarking on a series of tests. Aside from a two week period of using it for general cleaning purposes – at which it mostly excelled – I set up a couple of challenging vacuum tests, plus a mopping test using a liquid spill.

I also evaluated its weight in the hand and overall maneuverability on both carpet and hard floors – the mopping attachment is especially impressive in this department. However, on even closer inspection of the dock, I still maintain that there’s work to do in improving its looks and functionality, especially the disappointing charging system that only works if the mopping head is attached. But, hey, each to their own.

Read more about how we test

• First reviewed July 2026

You're running out of time to grab a great Prime Day vacuum cleaner deal if you haven't already. Prime Day 2026 ends tonight (Monday, July 13) at 11:59pm AEST, so you don't have much longer to ponder which machine to buy.

• Follow our live coverage of Amazon Prime Day 2026 for more than 140 deals

Amazon stocks a wide variety of models from major brands, including Dyson and Shark, but let's not forget: there are always excellent robot vacuum cleaner deals too.

Then again, you might not want a stick vacuum or a robovac — perhaps you'd much prefer the traditional barrel kind. You'll find discounts on those too, especially if you're a Miele fan, which I sincerely hope you are as the German brand still makes excellent corded vacuums.

No matter what kind of household you are — pet-friendly, hard floor, mixed floor, full carpet — there's a vacuum that's right for you and I've been tested all kinds for nearly a decade. I've gone through all the Prime Day vacuum cleaner deals on Amazon AU right now and handpicked the best of the best from all the trusted brands, so you know you'll get excellent performance and value from the model you choose.

It would be good for you to be a Prime member as there are exclusive discounts on some models (I've labelled these), which will save you more. If you're a first-time customer, Amazon will give you a 30-day free trial and you can cancel any time.

Best Prime Day 2026 vacuum deals in Australia

Stick vacuum deals

Robot vacuum deals

Wet-dry floor washer deals

Upright vacuum deals

Corded vacuum deals

Prime Day 2026 in Australia: sale information

I'll get into exactly why I've turned into such a corded upright evangelist below, but I'd like to flag up first that if you were going to convert, now would be a great time to do so. We're just nearing the end of the Amazon Prime Day sales and there are a ton of discounts on corded upright vacuums from Shark — if you're quick. (Want to see? Skip my waffle and jump straight to the deals.)

• View the full Amazon Prime Day sale

Why buy a corded upright?

Why are corded upright vacuums the superior type of vacuum? Three big reasons:

#1. The suction is better

The main reason to choose a corded upright is because, as a general rule of thumb, the suction is almost always better than on a cordless model. If you have carpet, hairy pets, or a high-traffic household, it's just going to be much more effective at keeping it clean.

#2. They last longer

Speaking generally, corded uprights are typically more robust and longer-lasting than cordless options — possibly because often, on a cordless vacuum, the first thing to expire will be the battery. A decent lifespan on a cordless stick vac might be 2-5 years, whereas many upright models can run and run... my mum has a corded upright that used to belong to my grandmother, and has been in use for maybe two decades. It's still going strong.

#3. You can clean, uninterrupted, for longer

With a corded vacuum, you're never going to run out of juice mid-clean. Perhaps even more significant is that the dust cups are much bigger — the cup on a cordless stick vacuum generally be 0.8L at the most (many are smaller), whereas it's common to see 2L cups on uprights. If you're dealing with pet hair in particular, it's such a blessing not to have to traipse to the bin every 10 minutes.

Shark cordless upright deals

Okay then, let's get into the deals. We're nearing the end of Amazon Prime Day, but there are still some bargains to be had, if you're speedy. These Shark corded uprights all have decent discounts that are well worth checking out.

Which should I buy?

How do I tell the difference between these vacuums, I hear you ask? Well, some of them are slightly older models, but that might not be immediately obvious. Most are designed around the same 'lift away' system, where you can remove and hold the canister while you use the floorhead on the wand attached to the flexible nozzle.

A key differentiator to pay attention to is the attachments included. Most will come with your standard narrow nozzle and 'multi-tool' but some might also have a mini motorized head that's designed for use on furniture, and is especially useful at getting hair off upholstery.

The fanciest models will also have some advanced 'detection' features — for instance, they might be able to sense carpet or room edges and increase suction in response. The PowerDetect Upright has a nifty trick where it will suck up (rather than showploughing) debris when it's being pulled backwards. That feature makes a surprisingly big difference to how fast you can clean.

Cordless alternatives

Not convinced? There are some situations where a cordless vacuum is still a better choice. For instance, if you have mostly hard flooring (so don't need a ton of suction power for effective cleaning), or your home has lots of stairs (which would require some awkward traversing with a bulky, heavy upright), or you're trying to navigate many nooks and crannies (in which case the cord and chunky form factor is going to get annoying).

Here are the Prime Day deals I'd recommend on Shark cordless stick vacuums:

More Amazon Prime Day deals in the UK

• Amazon Prime: get a 30-day free trial
• Amazon Devices: Fire, Ring & Blink from £13.99
• Apple: up to 33% off AirPods & Apple Watch
• Appliances: up to 45% off Ninja & De'Longhi
• Fans: from £20
• Headphones: up to 50% off Beats & Sony
• Tablets: Samsung & Lenovo from £79.99
• Vacuums: up to 40% off Shark & Roborock
• Wearables: up to 30% off Garmin & Oura

It put that high suction to good use and, in my Dreame Z50 Station review, I couldn't help but say it can put both Dyson and Shark to shame. My only complaints were its overall weight (it's the heaviest stick vacuum I've ever tested) and its steep price tag.

However, that premium price is now a lot more achievable as Dreame has discounted it down to AU$999 (from AU$1,499) directly on its site. You won't find the Z50 Station sold at other retailers, so this offer can be easy to miss and yet it's the one EOFY deal you shouldn't — I consider the Z50 Station to be one of the best vacuum cleaners in Australia right now.

Admittedly you'll get a Dyson for less than AU$999 (like the Dyson V15 Detect now AU$799 or the Dyson Gen5detect for AU$898), but the Dreame Z50 Station easily justifies the higher price for a couple of key reasons that even the best Dyson vacuums can't compete with.

Firstly, that suction power of 330AW. I admit that this spec isn't a standard used across the industry and a lot of that suction capability is dependent on the airflow through the machine, but Dreame seems to have done it well. From the design of the floorhead that can suck while moving back or forth to the volume of air moving into the onboard dust cup, the Z50 definitely is very sucky indeed. In my tests, it cleaned up messes in one move, two at the most, a touch less than any Dyson I've reviewed personally!

Then there's the self-emptying functionality that's a default part of the machine. The Station is just as powerful and can empty the dust cap as soon as the stick vac is placed onto the dock. I did notice that a thin layer of fine does get stuck around the top rubber washer inside the dust cup, but it's remarkably easier to dismantle the handheld unit for regular maintenance — a lot easier than Dyson's design of the dust cup in my opinion.

I should call out the telescopic tube that, again, you won't see on a Dyson. Oh, and said tube is bendy too, so you can get under furniture (you'll need to buy a separate attachment from Dyson to do that).

You will have to consider the ongoing cost of the dust bag but, given its 3L volume, you may not need to throw it out as often as smaller bags and it could prove economical.

If you've got the budget, this is arguably the best premium cordless vacuum I've tested this year and I would absolutely skip the Dyson for this one.

I've taken a look at some of the best deals for vacuums and coffee machines at Amazon, and found a bunch of the same savings at Argos. In fact, two are actually better priced than Amazon's own discounts.

• Browse the full Amazon Prime Day sale

You can get the Delonghi ECAM220.22.GB automatic coffee machine at Argos for £270 (was £320) and the Dyson V12 Detect Slim cordless vacuum for £429.99 (was £549.99). That's a larger 15% and 20% saving, respectively, compared to Amazon.

I've included both of these deals in the list below, alongside a few other great vacuum and coffee machine deals at Argos that match the same discounts at Amazon. Have you found better deals at Argos? Let me know in the comments below.

Today's best coffee machine deals at Argos

Today's best vacuum deals at Argos

More Prime Day deals in the UK

• Amazon Prime: get a 30-day free trial
• Amazon Devices: Fire, Ring & Blink from £13.99
• Amazon Haul: up to 30% off
• Apple: up to 33% off AirPods & Apple Watch
• Appliances: up to 45% off Ninja & Tefal
• Beauty: up to 60% off Philips & Oral-B
• Essentials: household goods from £5
• Fans: from £20
• Fashion: up to 50% off
• Gaming: £90 off PlayStation 5
• Headphones: up to 50% off Beats & Sony
• Laptops: from £149
• Tablets: Samsung & Lenovo from £79.99
• Toys: up to 25% off Lego and Tonies
• TVs: from £129.99
• Vacuums: up to 40% off Shark & Roborock
• Wearables: up to 30% off Garmin & Oura

• List price: $1,299.99 / £999.99
• Released March 2026

The Shark PowerDetect UV Reveal comes in at $1,299.99 / £999.99 — while it’s far from cheap, it’s pretty good value for what it offers. That being said, there are other robot vacuum cleaners with equally impressive features and better software at a similar price point.

Plus, you’ll need to maintain some parts of the vacuum; in particular, refills for the multi-floor cleaner ($13.99 / £14.99) and the odor-neutralizing puck ($9.99 – $14.99 / £7.99 – £15.99), as well as the usual replacement for things like side brushes and mop pads. Over time, these can add up, but you’ll scarcely find a robovac that doesn’t come with added costs at similar prices these days.

• Value: 4/5

Shark PowerDetect UV Reveal review: Design

Out of the box, you’ll find the vacuum, base, power chord, an anti-odor puck, one refill bottle of Shark’s multi-floor cleaner, two side brushes, plus the usual array of instructions and warranty documents.

The base stands at 17 x 18 x 14 inches / 43.2 x 45.7 x 35.6 cm, and comes in either black or white — mine was the latter, and I think it looks a lot more premium than the tackier black colorway. Enclosed in the lid of the base are the 2.74-litre / 96.65oz clean and 1.18-litre / 41.62oz waste water tanks, which lift out easily thanks to the retractable handles, as well as the bagless dirt compartment — I really appreciate that Shark opted for this so there’s one less thing to routinely replace.

You can remove the container with the press of a button situated on the side of the dock, and it’s also HEPA-filtered. There’s also a set of two filters you’ll need to clean every 1-2 months, depending on how often you use your robot vacuum, and a slot for one of Shark’s anti-odor pucks should dusty smells be an issue for you.

The vacuum itself is a fairly standard, rounded 2-in-1 robot vacuum, but a little tall and hefty at 5.35 inches / 13.6cm tall. The top houses its raised puck for LiDAR sensing, which works in tandem with the front of the device, where the cameras and other sensors, including a camera as well as LED and UV lights, to navigate your home and spot messes ripe for cleaning.

If you’d rather not use the app, you can use the four touch-sensitive buttons to activate mop and vacuum modes, send the vacuum home and connect to the Wi-Fi. A soft bumper surrounds the edges of the vacuum to prevent damage from any collisions, which are remarkably rare thanks to its top-tier obstacle avoidance, and you can remove its dust bin and mop plate from the rear of the device.

On the underside, you’ll find the wheels, brush bar, side brush, and a singular, flat mop pad. These aren’t my favorite type — a rondel will typically offer a deeper clean, better post-clean drying and less water waste. However, Shark has designed the robot vacuum to wiggle this mop pad to agitate dirt, which goes some of the ways to make up the difference.

Of note is that the vacuum seems to be a total dust magnet. I have mine placed beneath a desk, where I wouldn’t expect excessive levels of dust — however it’s constantly lined with a thick layer of the stuff.

• Design: 4/5

Shark PowerDetect UV Reveal review: Performance

Setup for the Shark PowerDetect UV Reveal is pretty simple; using the app, you’ll connect the vacuum to your Wi-Fi, give it a name (I loved some of the suggestions like Clean Latifah), and after that, the robot vacuum will run its first mapping pass. Broadly, mine was accurate; my apartment has a slightly tricky layout for robot vacuums, including a half-tiled, half-carpeted kitchen-living room, and lots of doors to dodge.

After this first pass, the app will offer you a second mapping run, this time to detect flooring types. If you plan to regularly mop hard floors and have carpets or rugs to avoid, make sure to get this out of the way during setup; I couldn’t find any way to update this map after the fact.

Cleaning tests

I performed my standard pickup tests using oats, cornflour and brown rice to compare performance to other robot vacuums I’ve tested, and the results were a mixed bag. When setting the Shark PowerDetect UV Reveal off for a standard, vacuum-only clean, I was immediately impressed as it zig-zagged across my floors, leaving them visibly refreshed — plus, it’s pretty quiet in action.

On hard floors, it excels thanks to a combination of its side brush, solid suction and the jet of air it blasts at hard-to-reach debris, ensuring floors are spick and span post-clean. On carpet, it’s slightly less impressive, especially in the edge cleaning department, but it still does a decent enough job. Its pickup of larger debris was very impressive on carpet, leaving little to nothing behind, but there was a small amount of powdery debris left behind on my medium-pile rugs — hair, however, is no problem, be it human or pet.

Next up, I tried a regular combination clean with vacuum and mopping, and that’s where my experience with the Shark PowerDetect UV Reveal became a bit more mixed. The robot vacuum first fills its water tank at the base, proceeding to concurrently vacuum and mop your floors rather than splitting out the tasks. This helps to save time and battery; however, it does increase the risk of soggy carpets.

To avoid this, the robovac will lift its hind to keep the mop pad from drenching carpets — this reduces its effectiveness on carpets, though, as it crushes the side brush, and sometimes, while navigating, it will spin round and spit water across the floor, too. However, once it reaches hard floors, the results are pretty impressive; the mop pad agitates spills and stains with a back-and-forth scrubbing motion, and will reach into corners to make sure every spot is well-cleaned.

It does use a lot of water, though, and especially if you’re cleaning up larger spills, that means the PowerDetect UV Reveal can leave a streaky mess in its wake. I noticed this even more so when there was lots of debris to vacuum up during the clean; the PowerDetect UV Reveal left a clump of soggy oats behind like an owl pellet as well as white streaky marks across the floor, but I wouldn’t typically recommend regularly using your robot vacuum to collect large volume spills anyway. I have especially reflective kitchen tiles, so I noticed this a lot; on my less shiny bathroom tiles, it wasn’t as much of a problem.

Powering up to a higher suction or mopping setting does result in a more thorough cleaning job, especially on carpets, but it’s worth noting that this seems to make the excess water usage more noticeable.

Object detection and navigation

When the Shark PowerDetect UV Reveal works, it really works, but I encountered a fair few bugs and limitations that do impact its overall effectiveness — for example, when doing a combination clean, it sometimes skips cleaning certain areas and rooms, or neglects to clean areas I’ve specifically asked it to.

Its LiDAR scanner makes accurate room maps, though they’ll be a bit odd-looking if you have lots of furniture at floor level. That’s unavoidable, to a degree, but I wish it had investigated those areas more closely to find the real edges of the walls; that way if furniture moves around your home, you wouldn’t need to remap.

Its object detection is incredible — perhaps too good, as the robot vacuum avoided my low-hanging (but not floor-length) curtains like the plague, giving wide berth to even the most inconsequential of obstacles. Generally, it’s not too much of a problem, but improved smarts would mean there’s slightly less preparation required pre-clean to ensure your entire floor gets cleaned properly. I was also massively impressed by the ease with which it lifted itself over and cleared thresholds, chair legs, and the like, leading to quicker cleans.

UV detection

After its standard cleaning cycles, the robovac will return to its base, but the cleaning isn’t over quite yet. It’ll issue an ominous warning once it’s refreshed itself: "I detected stains. I'm heading back out to aggressively attack them."

Here’s where the magic of the PowerDetect UV Reveal is really on show; as it cleans, it flares a blue UV light, with which you can see for yourself the stubborn and sometimes invisible stains on your floor, which it will then return to after a standard cleaning run. It was pretty cringe-inducing to watch it navigate areas I hadn’t cleaned recently and see just how much grime was there.

Dock

After the job’s complete, it’ll return for a final time to the base and begin the mop pad maintenance process quietly in the background with just a low humming noise, washing it with hot water before drying it to reduce contamination. In my testing, the robovac lived up to its estimated 3-hour battery life; a 45-minute clean on standard settings dropped the battery by 25%. A full recharge takes roughly 4 hours, and the vacuum won’t perform new tasks when at less than 20%.

• Performance: 4/5

Shark PowerDetect UV Reveal review: Software and app

The app is quite restrictive when it comes to home and schedule customization; you can only have one map, so multi-floor cleaning isn’t possible, no-go zones are always rectangular and you can only create two schedules per day.

I also noticed that the robot vacuum would often get confused when it initiated a clean, forging straight to the corner of my living room and spinning there for a good few minutes before figuring out its path to the hallway. On closer inspection, this happened most frequently when I sent it to clean somewhere other than its home room; for some reason, it wanted to head straight through my wall instead of around and through the doorway.

I couldn’t find a quiet mode, either, meaning if you ever wanted to use the vacuum at night or when little ones are sleeping, they might awaken to an ominous threat from your robovac.

These issues, among other software quirks, make for the primary complaint I have surrounding the Shark PowerDetect UV reveal; its app and on-board smarts hold back an otherwise high-performance robot vacuum.

• Software: 2.5/5

Shark PowerDetect UV Reveal review: Specs

Should I buy Shark PowerDetect UV Reveal?

Buy it if…

You value well sanitized floors
With its UV detection, the Shark PowerDetect UV Reveal offers peace of mind and broadly great results, especially in the mopping department… if you can handle slow-drying floors.

You have pets
Again, the UV detection comes in clutch here for invisible pet messes, but it’s also a deft hand at hair collection.

You have a large home
With its great battery life and efficiency, the Shark PowerDetect UV Reveal is unlikely to run out of juice before finishing the job even in larger homes.

Don’t buy it if…

You have lots of wooden floors or shiny tiles

While it’ll clean these floor types within an inch of their life, the residual water and cleaning solution could warp or damage wooden floors and leave streaky marks on particularly reflective ones.

You have lots of carpet
Don’t get me wrong, this is an accomplished vacuum for carpets, but if you want to do combination cleans, you might end up with a few soggy spots left in its wake.

You want to vacuum multiple floors — or other smart features

I liken the Shark PowerDetect UV Reveal to a power washer in the hands of a caveman; it’s only as good as the software allows it to be, and with frustrations like single-floor mapping, ignored instructions and

Shark PowerDetect UV Reveal review: Also consider

How I tested the Shark PowerDetect UV Reveal

I tested the Shark PowerDetect UV Reveal for two weeks in my home, completing my standardised pickup, edge cleaning and mopping tests in addition to simulating tests for features like UV detection. I used the app, making a map of my home and testing various features like scheduling and room-by-room cleaning tasks, closely observing the vacuum when in use to note any navigation or performance issues during testing.

• Read TechRadar’s reviews guarantee
• First reviewed June 2026

• See all early Prime Day deals at Amazon UK

I have to say that Argos' sale is pretty light on tech deals, and sadly isn't even heavy on cooling options. However, there are a few nice deals in there, including the LG C5 55-inch OLED TV for a record-low £989 (down from £1,099) with free delivery, and the five-star Philips Baristina bean-to-cup coffee machine for a bargain £255 (down from £299), plus a Dyson AM09 Hot + Cool Fan for £289 (down from £399).

Argos 'Seize the sale' Quick Links

• See all Appliance deals
• See all Garden & DIY deals
• See all Health & Beauty deals
• See all Tech deals
• See all Toys & Games deals

My top 12 Argos 'Seize the sale' deals

More of the best Amazon Prime Day deals

• Amazon Prime: get a 30-day free trial
• Amazon Devices: Fire, Ring & Blink from £21.99
• Amazon Haul: up to 30% off
• Apple: up to 33% off AirPods & Apple Watch
• Appliances: up to 45% off Ninja & Tefal
• Beauty: up to 60% off Philips & Oral-B
• Essentials: household goods from £5
• Fans: from £27.59
• Fashion: up to 50% off
• Headphones: up to 50% off
• Laptops: from £149.99
• Tablets: Samsung & Lenovo from £125
• Toys: up to 25% off Lego and Tonies
• TVs: from £129.99
• Vacuums: up to 40% off Eufy & Roborock
• Wearables: Garmin & Huawei from £36.99

Except that this little "was £24.99, now £19.99" bargain is so good, I'm using the tech publication that employs me to spread the word: I think you need it too.

I'm normally TR's audio editor, but that's not important right now. What's important is that these types of UV mattress vacs normally cost upwards of £55 — and as far as I can tell, there's very little difference between those expensive models and this little beauty, when we get down to brass tacks.

What you're looking at is the Ambiano UV Sanitising Mattress Vacuum. What exactly is a mattress vacuum, or more specifically, how is it different to any other small vacuum cleaner one might pick up in a middle aisle of a supermarket?

I also did not know these answers until last week, but mattress vacuums are very different beasts to the more general best vacuum cleaners on the market. These are specialised handheld cleaners designed to extract dust mites, dead skin, and allergens from deep within fabric using suction, UV-C light, and sometimes extra features such as heat drying and 'tapping'.

That last perk is a feature of the Ambiano you're reading about and — fair warning — it gets a bit gross from here on in.

New mantra: dead skin is part of life (and that's OK)

On the underside of the Ambiano Mattress Vacuum, the bit that looks like a plastic cushion for the horizontal NutriBullet-esque part to rest on, are two rubberised strips with little uniform protrusions on. Turn the power on and these strips start shaking-slash-oscillating very quickly, to 'strike' or agitate the fabric you're slowly rolling them over.

This tapping action is often called 'beating' and dislodges dust mites and their fecal matter, hair (human, although sadly dust mites do have hair and it's best not to dwell on that), dander, dead skin and allergens out of the fibres and into the removable dust canister, via the washable HEPA filter. Ew. (*Whispers to self) It's just a body, and dead skin is a part of life…

Thus, in this rock-bottom price mattress vac, you're getting a fairly sizeable UV light (or more specifically a UV-C light, for a shorter wavelength) to 'sanitise' your fabric, plus that tapping feature. These aren't selectable; the tapping motion fires up when you depress the power button on the handle and the UV light illuminates when the vacuum is in contact with surfaces. However, I've read reviews of pricier mattress vacs that complain it's a workout pushing the head hard enough into a mattress to make the light come on, and that certainly wasn't the case for me. A simple light touch and slow motion roll across my mattress was all it took.

What you're not getting on the Ambiano Mattress Vacuum is a cordless experience (although apparently most mattress vacuums are corded), a hot air function (meant to help prevent mould) or a 'smart dust' sensor. These feature on more expensive vacuums and apparently, said sensor goes from red to green when the vac thinks your mattress is clean. Unfortunately as a working journalist I decide when things are clean, in accordance with the limited time I have for cleaning.

Finally, with a maximum 300W of power, the Ambiano is OK rather than great for suction when pitted against pricier rivals — but check our vacuum cleaner wattage explainer for more information on how many watts of power is good for a vacuum cleaner, depending on its design. Again, more expensive options list 500W or even 700W ratings, but I maintain that for a £19 impulse buy, the Ambiano is great value and boasts several features I never knew I needed.

I couldn't find a kPa suction rating for the Ambiano (the box promised manual inside; alas, this had been half-inched during its time in the Aldi middle aisle cage) but it's no slouch. I could feel the power of it against the mattress and cushions and given how much it accumulated, it does a job.

Do you need a mattress vacuum?

Having used this inexpensive one, I'm going to say yes. And I thoroughly recommend it at its ultra-low price. This is all new for me too, but nearly two weeks in, I'm shocked at the difference it has made to the place.

I have a mattress topper on the mattress at all times, which should be good at keeping dust out of the mattress proper, right? Apparently not. I wash that fairly regularly and still give it, and the mattress, a once-over with my trusty Henry (using just the tube bit; no extra attachments) whenever I remember. But still, the Ambiano Mattress Vacuum managed to collect a lot of dust from my king-size bed, filling the canister easily a fifth full. It's really rewarding seeing said canister fill up… but also vaguely alarming.

I get now that the mattress is one of the most important places in our homes to clean, because I've not been sneezing in bed half as much lately. Also, my sinusitis headaches have gone. Coincidence? Maybe, but there was a lot of dust in that fairly new mattress…

I moved to the spare bed — got to give this thing a run for its £19. Next, the suede-effect headboard on our bed, the sofa and our cushions (I love a scatter cushion, so help me). Shockingly, when I'd finished, the canister was basically full. Again, I do hoover the sofa when I remember — although my social media portals have clearly been listening in on my team meetings with TechRadar editors concerning this article. Now, every other reel tells me "The one place you're overlooking when cleaning is making your house smell BAD", or "You MUST vacuum your couch at LEAST once a week". Cripes.

Look, I clean my flat (but I was still shocked at the dust in the canister)

Am I qualified to be recommending decent household cleaning products? Yes, I'd say so, because I have been a professional cleaner on many occasions. To clarify: I was paid to clean, although 'cleaner' was never my job title. People think the life of a professional dancer is glamorous, and it can be — while you're in the gig. The problem is that my former career involved freelance contractual work. And in between all the big glam shows (and the smaller un-glam ones you did for the soul), there are periods of unemployment during which bills still need to be paid.

I have worked as a private dental receptionist, market research lounge host, barista and retail sales assistant in Harrods and Selfridges, to name just a few in-between positions I've held. Every one of these jobs involved cleaning shop floors, waiting rooms, kitchens and toilets, whether or not it mentioned as much in the job description.

Which vacuum do I use myself? A Henry XL Xtra. Why? It's the industrial standard. Every big shop floor I cleaned had a Henry lurking behind the scenes. Yes, it's old school and it's got a bag, but it works and you can't break it.

I remember one day in the dental surgery, our practice manager proudly unveiled a very svelte — and at that time very new — Dyson V8 Absolute cordless stick vacuum. It lasted precisely one month. The problem was, its small bagless canister needed to be emptied after only half of the cleaning shift had been done, every single day. And when workers are in a rush at the top and tail of a shift, things get broken. What I'm saying is, it may well be an excellent vacuum for home use, but in surgeries with heavy footfall and a revolving door of patients coming in with muddy shoes, scratching their heads or picking at their clothes in nervous anticipation of the dentist's chair, it was not the one.

The Ambiano Mattress Vacuum a £19 bargain — and it might help you sleep

For me, the Ambiano is a no-brainer. I can't even find it online, (you'll need to go to your local Aldi and see if there are any left in the middle aisle) so I can't even furnish you with a 'click to buy' button I'm afraid.

But what I can tell you is that it's easy to use and store, it's very cheap and it has got a lot of dust out of the soft furnishings in my flat, not just the mattress.

Does the UV-C light actually do anything? I'm not really sure; it reminds me of LG's Tone Free T90 earbuds that also squirrelled a UV light into the case. Again, the promise was all to do with 'sanitising' your buds while charging, before you pop them back into your ear. Then again, for this money the UV-C light in the Ambiano is certainly not going to hurt your mattress — and I think it's well worth the nominal fee. For me, Aldi's done it again here. Happy spring cleaning all!

Dyson is making big strides in the world of robot vacuums, and its latest robovac — the Dyson Spot+Scrub Ai — uses a camera combined with artificial intelligence to tackle tough stains that other robot vacuums tend to miss, and get your floors as clean as possible. But why did Dyson choose to tackle that particular problem, and what does the future hold when it comes to household robots?

I visited Dyson's UK Innovation Campus in Wiltshire, where many of the company's advanced engineering teams work on new products and technologies, using rapid prototyping to develop and test ideas. The campus is also the home of the Dyson Institute, where undergraduate students from around the world come to learn, and work on real-life projects.

There, I sat down with Jake Dyson, the company's Chief Engineer, to learn more about his own experience, and Dyson's approach to AI and robotics.

Despite being the son of founder James Dyson, Jake hasn't always worked for the company. After a brief spell at Dyson at the age of 22, he left to pursue an independent career in industrial design. He built his own workshop and began to specialize in lighting, separately from the family business, before returning, bringing that experience with him. I asked him how that early work translated into his current endeavors.

"It comes down to identifying problems and solving them," he explained. "When LEDs first entered the market, I realized people weren’t cooling them properly. The promise of LEDs is that they should last a lifetime, but in reality they were being treated like disposable lightbulbs. I visited Osram in Asia, and they explained that if you keep the diode temperature below about 50C, you can maintain brightness, color quality, and lifespan. That became my goal."

"I looked at how satellites manage heat. In space, temperatures swing from extremely hot to extremely cold, so they need precise thermal control. I applied similar thinking by designing systems that passively dissipate heat. For example, the heat moves away from the chip and is cooled by airflow, maintaining a stable temperature even at high power.

"That process, spotting a problem and solving it, is what drives everything."

Stairs and arms

Dyson's latest robot vacuum has been designed to tackle the specific problem of tricky stains on hard floors, which other wet-and-dry cleaners fail to tackle. The Dyson Spot+Scrub Ai uses a high-definition camera and an LLM that includes over 190 different household objects and stains.

I asked Jake why Dyson had chosen to tackle such a (literally) ground-level problem when other companies are debuting robot vacuums that can climb stairs and lift objects with mechanical arms. He explained that Dyson has been tackling those more advanced problems for about 10 years already, but the solutions aren't yet genuinely useful and reliable.

Having seen some other companies' ambitious robots, I can see what he means. The Roborock Saros Z70, for example, has a pincer arm that can lift lightweight objects out of the way, but in our tests it failed to identify and move them independently, instead relying on you to control the pincer remotely. It also has a lower success rate on carpet due to what Roborock calls a "hardware limitation".

Stairs are also a major challenge. My colleague Ruth Hamilton saw two stair-climbing robovacs in action at last year's IFA tech show, but explained that the legs/treads used to navigate stairs aren't actually attached to the robots themselves (they are more like a cradle that holds the bot), which means they can't clean the stairs as they go. Only one robot managed to tackle the first step with confidence as well. According to Ruth, the other "approached this initial challenge at the speed of a geriatric turtle".

They're interesting concepts, but neither looked ready for the mainstream — and as Jake explains, they're attempting to solve a very difficult problem.

"Every staircase is different height, spacing, materials and then you add in pets, children, and people moving around. It becomes a very complex and potentially unsafe problem," he said. "Something going up and down stairs autonomously needs to be extremely reliable. It’s actually more complex than autonomous driving in some respects."

"So while it’s an interesting challenge, and being able to clean an entire home, including all floors, with one machine would be ideal, it has to meet a very high bar for safety and usefulness. Until it does, we focus on delivering products that work reliably in real homes today."

Safer decision-making

Dyson has never been shy about dropping products that don't work out (such as the CR01 Contrarotator washing machine and the Dyson car), but its work on cordless vacuums continues apace. We recently reviewed the super-compact Dyson Pencilvac Fluffycones, and just a few weeks ago the company debuted its first self-emptying cordless vacuum. I asked Jake whether he thinks robots will eventually handle all your cleaning tasks, or whether there will always be a place for stick vacuums.

"No, I don’t see that happening, at least not completely," he said. "Right now, robot vacuums are very good at regular maintenance, keeping floors tidy day-to-day. But people still want a to clean with a cordless vacuum when they do a deeper clean, as well as being able to clean surfaces other than the floor."

However, he added that the world of robotics is advancing incredibly quickly, especially when it comes to AI.

"Previously, robots could see and navigate, but they struggled when they encountered something unfamiliar. Now, with reasoning, they can make safer, more informed decisions.

"We’re also seeing rapid development globally, the US is leading in AI and ‘brains’, and China is producing robots at scale and more affordably.

"In the future robots will learn from each other via the cloud,; one robot’s experience will instantly improve others, and one robot will be able to repair a fault on another robot. That will massively accelerate development.

"However, regulation and safety will slow adoption. These technologies may be ready soon, but it could take around 10 years before they’re widely allowed in homes. Elon Musk said he thinks humanoid robots will be in many homes in three years, and I agree with him. Though they use up a lot of energy to walk for example, so a robot vacuum cleaner is much more energy efficient than a humanoid [robot] using a vacuum cleaner.

"So yes, robots will become more capable, but I think traditional tools will still exist alongside them."

Although you might like the idea of handing over all your household chores to a robot, it seems cordless and handheld vacuums will be around for a while yet — and you'll still need to climb the stairs and pick up socks yourself for now.

Robovacs are perfect for keeping your home tidy between deep cleans, but they're not very attractive. Even the best robot vacuum is usually a piece of black or white plastic that sits in a matching dock, and is something you'd probably prefer to hide away if possible — some owners even build miniature garages to keep their bots out of sight. Now, Shark has come to the rescue with a robot vacuum that looks more like artwork than an appliance.

The company has teamed up with interior designer Jeremiah Brent of design studio AD100, who you might remember as the interior design expert on seasons 9 and 10 of Queer Eye. He's used his expertise to help develop a new version of the Shark PowerDetect UV Reveal 2-In-1 Vac & Mop that looks much more appealing than the original, while cleaning just as well.

We awarded the PowerDetect UV Reveal 2-In-1 Vac & Mop four stars out of five in our review, and were particularly impressed by its obstacle avoidance, edge cleaning with extending mop pads, and its ability to lift itself over thresholds. It's not much to look at though, which is unfortunate for such a conspicuous appliance.

Now, however, the same vacuum is available in four subtle new colors — Evergreen, Ivory, Espresso, and Deep Harbor (navy blue) — all of which have co-ordinating satin-finished metallic trim.

These new Luxe Collection robot vacuum is available for the same list price as the original black model ($1,299.99, which works out at about £970 / AU$1,820), though it's worth noting that the black version is currently discounted to $949.99 (about £710 / AU$1,330) in Shark's online store.

At the time of writing, the Shark PowerDetect UV Reveal 2-In-1 Vac & Mop Luxe Collection is only available in the US, but I'm hopeful it will be ready to clean homes globally very soon.

Cordless and chic

If you're fed up with an ugly cordless vacuum occupying space on your wall, the Shark Luxe Collection also includes a more stylish version of the Shark PowerDetect Speed Clean & Empty. This lightweight vacuum with its flexible head now comes in four extra colors (Oatstone, Harbor Slate, Sagewood, and Walnut), which are again finished with muted metallic accents.

Each vacuum has a list price of $499.99 in the US, or £499.99 in the UK (about AU$700). They're not currently available in Australia, but will hopefully roll out there before long.

Our tester Tim Gee gave the Shark PowerDetect Speed Clean & Empty four and a half stars in his review, saying: "It did a great job picking up fine dust and larger debris in our tests on carpet and hard floors, has good edge cleaning, and can easily be moved around the house making it an ideal occasional cleaner."

The Shark PowerDetect Speed is a very capable cordless stick vacuum with a great auto empty base, but like other high-powered cordless vacuums a lack of battery life means it can’t replace a main vacuum.

It did a great job picking up fine dust and larger debris in our tests on carpet and hard floors, has good edge cleaning, and can easily be moved around the house making it an ideal occasional cleaner.

It's a premium product from an established vacuum brand, but when compared with Dyson it's significantly more affordable, making it a good choice if you want top, reliable performance without the high price.

Battery life is a major concern though, as it didn’t last 11 minutes on the highest power setting and took over five hours to recharge the battery, limiting its practicality.

Shark PowerDetect Speed: price and availability

The PowerDetect Speed launched in the US and UK in April 2026 costing US$499.99 and £499.99 for the Clean & Empty version that comes with an auto empty charging dock (although it is worth noting the US version comes with an extra Pet Multi tool that the UK version doesn’t). It was released in Australia in early June 2026 for a retail price of AU$799.

This places it at the premium end of the scale for vacuums, although it is significantly cheaper than the Dyson Gen5detect models it is competing with, making it feel very good value for money when comparing spec with spec.

The build quality is good, it feels capable of handling the rough and tumble of everyday cleaning and it has a good set of features you would expect of a top of the line vacuum including floor and dirt detection. The addition of a dock that empties and charges the vacuum is a godsend and real standout at this price point.

The PowerDetect Speed is also available without the auto empty dock for $429.99 or £429.99, which come with an extra upholstery tool in the US or pet tool in the UK. This version hasn't been released to Australia at the time of writing.

• Value score: 4/5

Shark PowerDetect Speed: specs

Shark PowerDetect Speed: design

• Simple, functional design
• Place to store accessories
• Dirt detect feature not shown on the floorhead

While a vacuum cleaner is very much a practical product rather than a statement piece it is nice for it to look at least smart in a subtle way if you do have to have it visible and Shark has done a decent job with the PowerDetect Speed. The grey and blue metallic finish feels mostly focused on blending into the background and any out-there accents have thankfully been limited to the orange roller in the floorhead.

The auto empty dock is also unfussy but does include one of my favorite features of this entire product in the shape of two small notches at the back of the dock for storing the included accessories. This is such a small thing, but after years of trying to find where in the house the kids have hidden the crevice tool this time, it is hugely appreciated.

The body of the vacuum is similar to the older PowerDetect model but it is slightly smaller, lighter and they have swapped the trigger button for a second button on the back of body. This is a definite improvement as it was easy to accidentally change modes with the trigger button, especially if vacuuming at different heights such as cleaning the stairs.

The PowerDetect Speed does lose 0.5kg on the previous version and comes in under Dyson’s Gen5 Detect by around 300g, but that said, this is still a bit of a chunky vacuum cleaner and may feel like a bit of a workout to push around for some, Rivals like the Dreame R20 weigh in almost a whole kilo lighter so if lightweight is top of your priority list it may be worth looking elsewhere.

It's controlled using two buttons on the back of the body, which also has a screen to show you what mode you are in, how much battery you have left and whether the vacuum is currently detecting dirt where you are cleaning. This is done through a color coded arc around the top of the screen with a dark purple color indicating it is picking up a lot of dirt which then progressively goes paler until it goes white indicating the floor is now clean.

I will go into more detail about the PowerDetect feature later but I do have a gripe about how this is presented. In the previous PowerDetect model this color-coding was also shown in lights at the back of the floorhead so you could see cleaning performance as you cleaned without taking your eyes off where you were moving the floorhead. With it only on the back of the body of the vacuum you now have to keep moving your eyes from one to the other which is definitely a step backwards.

The floorhead uses one roller with anti-wrap elements and a light that switches from regular white light on carpet to a blue UV light on hard floors for highlighting dirt. This works well although I’m not sure the UV light really provides a significant improvement over a regular light.

Depending where you are you will get different accessories with US customers getting a crevice tool and pet multi tool and those in the UK only getting a crevice tool, but the slightly better version that includes a sliding duster to it. The pet multi tool did OK at picking up cat hair, although no better than the regular floorhead and generally just caught them in the bristles rather than picking them up directly. Where it was most useful was as a wider cleaning path than the crevice tool when vacuuming a car.

• Design score: 4/5

Shark PowerDetect Speed: performance

• Dirt Detect works well
• Excellent fine detail and debris pick up
• Handles pet and long hair well without tangling

It is straightforward to use with only the two buttons for one and off or to change mode — which unless you are trying to maximize battery runtime, you shouldn’t need. The attachments are easy to snap into place or detach using the large buttons and the whole vacuum can fold in half for storage away from the charging dock.

It maneuvers well and while it might not be quite as smooth as the Dyson equivalent or as light as some other rivals it is easy to steer around furniture. It also is able to bend the wand so you can run the cleaner under low furniture reaching hard to clean spots. This is a nice bonus and may be ideal for some homes but I personally didn’t find myself using it day to day.

Emptying the vacuum is one area where it really stands out, you simply pop it back on top of the charging dock when you are done — or more likely when it has run out of battery but more on that later — and the base sucks all the dust out into its own larger two-liter bin. This obviously will need emptying itself, but the shape (and the fact you will have to do it less often) makes it much easier to do this without making a mess.

The detect part of PowerDetect comes from the four ways it adjusts suction power to optimize cleaning by detecting the floor type, amount of dirt being sucked up, whether it is close to the edge of a room and what direction it is traveling. This means all you need to do is move the vacuum around and it will change its cleaning modes, with the dirt detection also letting you know whether certain sections are worth some more attention through the color coding display on the handle.

When I first used this dirt detection I was a bit skeptical that it was still picking up debris where it claimed it was but the dust bin would time and again prove me wrong. At first this felt like an amazing feature, but later when combined with the battery life, having to go back and forth over the same bits of floor made me start to wonder if ignorance was bliss.

In the cleaning tests the Speed struggled a bit in low suction mode with one pass leaving quite a bit of fine dust and larger debris on both carpet and hard floors. Moving it up to full suction did much better with it picking up almost all the fine dust on the hard floor and, aside from some scattering of the rice, most of the debris on the next pass.

Edge cleaning was a similar story at both low and high power, with it doing very well on high for hard floors. It still needed the crevice tool to get the finest material but it did as well as I have seen from a stick vacuum.

Hair pickup was also excellent handling long and pet hair well without any sign of tangling on the floorhead brush.

It’s not quiet but at around 70-75 dbs (somewhere between traffic and a busy restaurant) on maximum power it's not the loudest either. The auto empty base creates a similar level of noise as it flushes the dust from the cleaner, but this is a pretty quick process.

• Performance score: 4.5/5

Shark PowerDetect Speed: battery life

• Less than 11 minutes on boost mode
• Long recharge time
• Spare batteries not yet available

My sticking point with the PowerDetect Speed is the battery life as, when testing on full power, it only managed a paltry 10 minutes and 38 seconds. While the variable speed in dirt detect mode will allow you to get a bit more cleaning out of a charge, I often found it would last less than half an hour. Couple this with a recharge time of 5 hours and 19 minutes and it severely limits its practicality as a main vacuum for anything but a small apartment.

This is a common problem for high powered stick vacuums as they try to keep the weight of the batteries down, but it is one of the shortest run times and longest charge times I have tested making it a bit of a challenge even thoroughly vacuuming the car on a single charge.

While you can switch out the battery, I wasn’t able to find a way of buying a spare battery online with the cordless vacuum battery available through Shark’s website only compatible with older models. If one is made available expect this to come with a hefty price tag, the older model batteries cost an additional $87.99 in the US.

• Battery life score: 3/5

Should you buy the Shark Poweretect Speed?

The answer is going to depend heavily on the size of your home and how you plan to use the cleaner. If this is going to be your only vacuum it’s barely going to get through a studio apartment before it needs a recharge. If you are looking for a convenient cleaner for spot cleaning it is superb both in terms of performance and ease of emptying, all while being a step cheaper than the Dyson equivalent.

Buy it if

Don't buy it if

How I tested the Shark PowerDetect Speed

I tested the PowerDetect Speed for over a week in day-to-day use as well as specific tests picking up fine dust (tea) and larger debris (rice) on hard floors, carpet and around room edges. Battery life was tested on the highest power setting and lowest, as well as checking the time it took to fully charge from empty.

I tested the Speed in different cleaning scenarios including vacuuming stairs, a car and a variety of floor types.

First reviewed May 2026

The Krapof Auto Clean Self Empty Slim Power Vac is both a mouthful and rather a tongue-and-cheek name, but just looking at the comments on Product Review (Australia's most prominent consumer review site) for this vacuum cleaner makes me want to try it myself.

Now, to be fair, a goodly number of those reviews are incentivised, but I've seen plenty of other 5-star reviews that appear to be from genuine shoppers. They call it "excellent" and claim that it "took [them] by surprise". The biggest callout was how lightweight the Krapof Auto Clean Slim Vac actually is, followed by having the convenience of auto-emptying.

For me, it was the specs sheet that did it. Kleva lists its suction power at 450AW, which outdoes the Samsung Bespoke Jet Ultra Elite's 400AW, and even Dyson's most powerful V16 Piston Animal falls far short at 315AW. I would recommend taking the high suction power claim with a pinch of salt, though, as overall performance is dependent on the airflow through the machine which, in turn, depends on the design of the vacuum and, particularly, its floorhead.

Its specs also lists the stick vacuum's weight at an impressive 2.4kg with the wand and floorhead attached. In comparison, most current cordless vacuums weigh over 3kg, including the self-emptying Dreame Z50 Station.

All the aforementioned cordless vacuums are premium-priced models, costing well over the AU$1,000 mark. The Kleva, however, is just AU$649. If accurate, the price and weight difference alone is something that makes it a clear leader in its class, and going by user reviews, surely this is worth consideration if you're in the market for a new vacuum.

Users have noted that the Krapof Auto Clean requires you to press a button to trigger the self-emptying process – something that generally happens automatically the moment the stick is placed back on the dock on other such vacuums. At this price, though, that's hardly a complaint.

I'm keen to put that 450AW of suction to the test. We've asked Kleva for a review unit, so stay tuned for our verdict on whether the Krapof Auto Clean lives up to its promises.

If you’ve been eyeing a Dyson stick vacuum but couldn’t justify paying top dollar, then these discounts direct from the Dyson website might just be the opportunity that you’ve been waiting for. Prices start at just AU$335 and you can grab anything from an entry-level model (which is still powerful enough to clean a dirty carpet) to wet-and-dry options if you want a mop as well.

While the V10 Absolute has the biggest discount of AU$700 and now costs just AU$599, the newer V8 Cyclone is cheaper at AU$549, making the latter the better buy as you get the latest technology from Dyson. But neither are our picks for the best Dyson deal this week as the V8 Cyclone has been a lot cheaper previously. So we’ve gone through all the discounts and picked three that we think are worth considering, and it includes a new-release model for under AU$500.

Hurry, though, as these offers end Wednesday, May 20.

DynamicClean is Hoover’s latest crack at the mid-range tier of cordless stick vacuum cleaners, and for the most part it's a great effort.

Weighing in at just 5.6lbs / 2.54kg, it's one of the lightest cordless sticks you can buy, which makes it pretty easy to push around and carry between floors. The 150 AW motor delivers good suction across carpet and hard floors, and Hoover's Anti-Twist brushbar technology keeps hair from wrapping itself around the roller, which means easier maintenance in the long run.

You also get HEPA filtration built in, which is a top selling point for anyone with allergies or pets, alongside LED headlights on the floorhead, three power modes, and a wall-mounted charging dock. It's a well-featured package for the money, and on carpet in particular it delivers surprisingly good cleaning results for the money.

Where the HF3 shows its mid-range roots is in the build quality and the battery. The whole thing feels a bit cheap in places, the bin is narrow enough to make getting your hand inside a challenge, and the headline 60-minute runtime only applies if you stick exclusively to Eco mode. Switch to standard or turbo and that number drops fast. It’s worth being aware this probably won't cover a whole house in one charge for most people.

Still, at its current price, the HF3 DynamicClean offers a lot of vacuum for not a lot of money, and the cleaning performance itself is hard to fault at this level.

Hoover HF3 DynamicClean: price and availability

• List price £179.99 (about $250 / AU$340) from Hoover Direct
• Currently on sale at around £129 from Hoover Direct and Argos
• Pet variant available with mini turbo brush

The HF3 DynamicClean is available now across UK retailers, though at the time of writing it's not sold in the US or Australia. Its list price sits at £179.99 (about $250 / AU$340), but you'll almost certainly find it cheaper. At the time of writing, both Hoover Direct and Argos had it listed in the sale for £149.99, which is a really good deal for what you're getting.

That's significantly cheaper than a comparable Shark cordless, which will typically set you back £200 or more for similar features, and it's a fraction of what you'd pay for a Dyson. If the anti-hair wrap tech is the thing that appeals, the Shark equivalent costs nearly double.

The Pet variant, which adds a mini turbo tool for upholstery, is also available for a bit more (£199.99) if you have furry housemates.

• Value score: 4.5/5

Hoover HF3 DynamicClean: Design

• Extremely lightweight and easy to handle
• Inoffensive colorway that blends in
• Feels a bit cheap and has nowhere to store attachments

The HF3 is a slim, upright stick vacuum that's harmless looking but doesn't exactly scream style. It's got a slightly boxy, utilitarian look, but the minimal light grey and black colourway should at least go with any house deco style. Sure, it's not the sleekest-looking machine out there, but at least it doesn't take up much room. And while it's not that premium feeling, it's perfectly fine looking and won't embarrass you if it's wall-mounted in plain sight.

At 2.54kg, this vacuum is feather-light in the hand. Pushing it around open floor space takes virtually no effort, and carrying it upstairs is a one-handed job. That weight is a plus if you've got multiple levels to cover or if you're buying for someone who finds heavier vacuums a struggle.

That said, while it's nimble enough on open stretches, I found it can feel a bit stiff when you're trying to get into trickier spots, like around chair legs or into the gap between the sofa and the wall. It doesn't have the same fluid manoeuvrability as some pricier cordless sticks I've used.

Despite not being quite as nimble as the likes of a cordless Dyson or Shark, the floorhead steers around reasonably well, and the double-edge cleaning design means it can pick up dust along both its left and right sides, so it cleans along skirting boards and wall edges regardless of which direction you're pushing it.

There are also LED headlights on the front to light up dust under furniture, and the self-standing feature lets you park it upright mid-clean without it toppling over, though I did see some online reviews mention the head can lock into position when using it at odd angles on stairs, triggering an auto-shutoff. I didn't experience this myself, but it's probably something you should be aware of.

Where the budget price of this device really shows is in the build quality. I'll be honest, it feels a bit cheap in hand. The integrated dusting brush and crevice tool have that thin, hollow plastic quality that doesn't inspire long-term confidence, and there's nowhere on the unit to store the latter either. It just has to live in a drawer somewhere until you need it, which is minor but still annoying.

As for the bin, its 0.7-litre volume is a decent enough size, but the opening is narrow, so getting your hand in to clean around the central filter cone can be a fiddle if you don't have particularly small fingers.

• Design score: 3/5

Hoover HF3 DynamicClean: features and performance

• Strong suction, though not quite Dyson-level
• Anti-Twist tech delivers on its promise
• Battery life and noise are the weak spots

The HF3's brushless motor does an all-round good job for a vacuum at this price. On carpet, it pulls up dust, crumbs and fine debris with a good level of suction. Hard floors are handled well too, with the floorhead transitioning smoothly between surfaces without needing you to manually adjust anything.

I must add that while the suction is great for the price, it isn't quite on the level of some cordless Dyson vacuums I've used. It does leave the odd bit behind here and there, particularly on higher-pile rugs, where a Dyson would have performed much better. For the price difference, that's expected, and the HF3 is still perfectly good for everyday cleaning. Just don't expect it to compete with something two or three times the price.

Hoover's Anti-Twist technology is the headline feature here, and it works well. Over my testing period, I didn't find a single strand of hair wrapped around the brushbar, which — if you've ever owned a vacuum without this — is worth the entry price alone. The brushbar itself also pops out easily for cleaning, keeping maintenance to a minimum

The HF3’s three power modes (Eco, Standard and Turbo) give you some flexibility in how you use the battery. Eco mode is gentle but best for lighter cleaning and will get you closest to that 60-minute runtime claim. Standard mode, which is what you'll likely use most of the time, is rated for around 30 minutes and delivers a decent clean.

As for Turbo mode, this cranks things up a notch, being ideal for stubborn patches. However, this mode burns through the battery fast, offering around 15 minutes of use at best, in my experience. This is the HF3's biggest limitation. That 60-minute figure Hoover promises is only really achievable in Eco mode with the handheld configuration, which isn't how most people are going to use a stick vacuum day to day. On Standard mode with the floorhead attached, you're realistically looking at 25 to 30 minutes, which probably won't cover a whole house in one go unless you live in a one or two bedroom flat.

Another niggle is the vacuum’s noise. For something this compact and lightweight, the HF3 is surprisingly loud. It's not unbearable, but it's noticeably louder than I was expecting — you certainly won't be using it while someone's on a call in the next room. Nevertheless, there are plenty of other positives to help negate this.

The HF3’s LED display on the handle, for example, works well – showing you the current battery percentage and which mode you're in at a glance. It's not a touchscreen, just a simple readout, but it's handy for knowing exactly how much juice you've got left.

The HEPA filtration is another of the vacuum’s strong point. Hoover claims it captures 99.9% of dust and allergens, and while I can't exactly verify that figure in my kitchen, it's a reassuring spec for anyone with allergies or asthma. The filter is washable too, which should save you money on replacements over time.

• Features and performance score: 3.5 / 5

Should you buy the Hoover HF3 DynamicClean?

Buy it if

Don't buy it if

Hoover HF3 DynamicClean: also consider

How I tested the Hoover HF3 DynamicClean

I used the Hoover HF3 DynamicClean as my main vacuum cleaner for several weeks across carpet, rugs and hard floors. I tested all three power modes, used the handheld conversion for stairs and upholstery, and assessed the build quality, bin emptying, wall dock, battery life and day-to-day usability throughout.

First reviewed: April 2026

The Hoover HL2 TurboStyle is a budget corded upright that's clearly been designed for people who don't want to think too hard about their vacuum cleaner. It’s one of the best upright vacuum cleaners for those that just want something that picks stuff up, doesn't cost much, and won't break their back carrying it upstairs. At under 5kg it's one of the lighter corded uprights you can buy, and the 850W motor delivers consistent suction that doesn't fade the way a cordless stick does when the battery starts dropping off.

Hoover's Anti-Twist brushbar technology works well in practice, keeping hair from wrapping around the roller in a way that genuinely saves you the grim job of cutting it free every few weeks, and the dual-speed setting means you can dial the brushbar back for hard floors without it scattering debris everywhere. The LED headlights are also a nice touch for spotting dust under furniture, and the push-and-lift handheld mode makes it easy enough to get at stairs and upholstery without detaching half the machine.

Where the budget shows is in the build quality and the finer details. The plastic has that slightly hollow feel that makes you handle it a bit more carefully than you probably should have to. There's no app, no sensors, no clever features – which is fine if you don't want any of that, but it does mean you're paying purely for cleaning performance and not much else.

For the price, the HL2 TurboStyle does the fundamentals well and the suction holds up across carpets and hard floors without any complaints. It's not that exciting to look at but it does what it promises as a sensible, no-frills upright. If that's all you're after, look no further.

Hoover HL2 TurboStyle: price and release date

• Available now in the UK priced at £169.99 RRP, currently on sale at £129
• Also available from retailers such as Currys
• Colours: Pastel Pink, Teal

The HL2 TurboStyle is only available in the UK, where it sits at a very accessible price point. The standard Home model is available in pastel pink or teal colourways and has an RRP of £169.99 (about $230 / AU$320). However, at the time of writing, it’s currently priced at £129 (about $180 / AU$240) either direct from Hoover or Currys. The Pet variant (which adds a mini turbo brush for upholstery) can be picked up for £179.99 (about $240 / AU$340).

For context, that's significantly cheaper than a cordless Dyson, which will set you back at least £300 / $400 / AU$600 for something entry-level, and around the same price as a lot of budget cordless sticks that'll give you 20 minutes of runtime before needing a charge. If you're happy being tethered to a plug, the HL2's price is hard to argue with.

• Value score: 4/5

Hoover HL2 TurboStyle: design

• Lightweight and nimble for a corded upright
• Bin release button is far too sensitive
• Color choices could do with a rethink

The HL2 is a compact, slim upright that doesn't look like much out of the box, and that's OK. It's not trying to be anything it’s not – it's a mid-range vacuum cleaner that gets the job done with very little faff. At under 5kg, it's noticeably light for a corded machine, and the swivelling floorhead makes it easy to steer around furniture without needing to do that awkward three-point-turn you get with bulkier uprights.

The eight-meter working radius is generous, too. I was able to do most of a room without having to unplug and move to a different socket, which takes the annoying part out of a corded setup. The cable itself is long enough that I stopped thinking about it after a while (apart from needing to move it out of the way to change direction).

Build quality is where you start to see why this machine has the price point it does. The main body is fine, sturdy and sensibly laid out, but the attachments feel a bit cheap. The crevice tool and dusting brush have that thin, hollow plastic feel and while nothing broke during testing, I’m not sure if it would survive being bashed around over time.

The bin is a good size at 2.5 liters, and the one-click emptying is supposed to make disposal straightforward but in reality I found the release button to be a little too trigger happy. On one occasion, when I was carrying the bin across to the kitchen, the button rested gently on my hand and the hatch popped open spilling the entire contents across the floor. It's a design quirk that will likely catch you out at least once.

As for the colours, I tested the teal version, which is inoffensive enough. The pastel pink is clearly aimed at a specific buyer, and fair play. But I do think a simple black, dark grey or more neutral option would go better with any home, and it feels like Hoover missed a trick not offering one.

• Design score: 3.5/5

Hoover HL2 TurboStyle: features and performance

• Impressive pickup, especially on carpet
• Anti-Twist tech works well with hair
• Push-and-lift handheld mode is useful but basic

After trying it across multiple floor types, I found the HL2's 850W motor does a genuinely good job. When running it over a high-pile wool rug that I'd already gone over with my Dyson cordless, the Hoover pulled up a surprising amount of extra lint, dust and general debris that the Dyson had clearly missed. There's something to be said for the raw, consistent power of a corded motor, and the HL2 reminded me why uprights still exist.

There are two brush bar speeds, controlled by a rocker switch on the floorhead: one for hard floors and one for carpet. The carpet mode is pretty aggressive, digging into the pile with enough energy that you can see it lifting as the vac passes over it. Meanwhile, hard floor mode dials things back so you're not flinging dust around. It's a simple setup that works well, but it’s worth flagging how a lot of modern, premium models have sensors which can detect a change in floor type and switch between these modes automatically. This is definitely missed here.

Hoover's Anti-Twist technology does a good job, too, as I didn't end up with any hair wrapped around the brush bar during my testing period. The LED headlights on the floorhead are a nice touch as well, lighting up darker areas under the sofa and bed where dust loves to hide.

The push-and-lift conversion to a handheld is perfectly functional, too. You press the button, lift the main unit off the base, and you've got a handheld vac for stairs and above-floor work. It's fine for quick jobs, but the unit is a bit unwieldy for extended handheld use, and the stretch hose, while reaching two metres, doesn't give you quite as much flexibility as a proper dedicated handheld.

For day-to-day use, the HL2 is pleasingly smooth to push around. There's very little effort needed to glide it up and down, and the swivel head handles corners and furniture legs without too much fuss. Suction is consistent throughout, which is the benefit of being plugged in, and I didn't run into any blockages, overheating or performance dips during testing.

If there's a complaint about performance, it's that the HL2 doesn't really do anything beyond the basics. There's no auto-adjust for floor types, no dirt sensors, no display showing you anything useful. That's expected at this price, but it does mean you're relying entirely on your own eyes and judgement, which, after using smarter vacuums, can feel a little old-school.

• Features and performance score: 4/5

Should you buy the Hoover HL2 TurboStyle?

Buy it if

Don't buy it if

Hoover HL2 TurboStyle: also consider

How I tested the Hoover HL2 TurboStyle

I used the Hoover HL2 TurboStyle as my main vacuum cleaner for several weeks across carpet, rugs and hard floors in a multi-level home. I tested it alongside my regular Dyson cordless to compare pickup, used the handheld mode on stairs and upholstery, and assessed the build quality, bin emptying, storage and day-to-day usability throughout.

First reviewed: April 2026

So when I got wind that a new Dyson vacuum was being unveiled, alongside the self-empty dock the brand has been promising since September, I was very excited to see what was in store.

The new addition is the Dyson V10 Konical. It's not a flagship (we're on V16 now; keep up) but rather a cheaper, less tech-crammed option, without the useful information screen that marks out the brand's V11-and-up models. It's also, confusingly, one of a number of V10 vacuums — the Cyclone V10 launched in 2018 and remains widely available, and there's also now a Cyclone V10 Submarine, which is one of a few models to come bundled with a mopping floorhead that can be swapped for the vacuuming one.

The V10 Konical hasn't made it to the US yet, but the vacuum (without the dock — more on that in a sec) is available to buy now in the UK for £449.99 and in Australia for AU$799.

An unwelcome return

The V10 Konical lacks a number of Dyson's newest, fanciest features, but — to my dismay — the one recent innovation that has made its way into this new addition is the All Floors Cones Sense floorhead. This inventive floorhead made its debut on the Dyson V16 Animal, and features two conical rollers rather than a regular, tube-shaped one, the idea being that it's better for avoiding hair wrap (the cones should funnel long hair towards the suction inlet).

On the V16, I found the floorhead very frustrating. The fact the casing comes to a slight point, to mirror the shape of the cones, means it's very tricky to effectively clean the edges of rooms. Furthermore, the strip that connects the two rollers creates a barrier in the middle of the floorhead where no cleaning is happening.

All of that means this floorhead just isn't that good at cleaning. It was no less annoying in its fluffy iteration on the Dyson PencilVac FluffyCones, although at least they didn't spell it FluffyKones.

An unexpected surprise

I was doubly disappointed to discover Dyson's interesting new vacuum is kitted out with my least-favorite feature, because the self-empty dock the brand announced alongside the V10 Konical is something I'm interested in. During my vacuum reviewing years I became an unexpected self-empty evangelist, and I'm especially invested in Dyson's efforts.

Then I spotted a bit of small-print in the press release: "The Auto-empty Dok is backward compatible, so existing Dyson V8 Cyclone owners can upgrade without replacing their entire system." Hurrah.

The Dyson V8 Cyclone is a vacuum that I am fully on board with. It's one of the cheapest options in the range, coming in at £349.99 / AU$649 (no US availability yet). For that relatively affordable price, it delivers simple but effective cleaning — with a regular, not-annoying floorhead, and the same 150AW of suction as the pricier V10 Konical.

The fact that I could pick up an Auto-empty Dok to use with my existing V8 Cyclone is very welcome news. It's also unexpected; the other auto-empty docks I'm aware of are all tied to one, specially adapted machine, which is frustrating if you have a perfectly good vacuum but want to try the auto-empty functionality.

Currently, the Auto-empty Dok isn't yet available to actually buy anywhere. It's due to land in the UK on 8 July, where a V10 Konical-plus-Dok will cost £569.99. In Australia, we only know it'll arrive some time "later this year", and the Dok its own will be AU$299. That would be equivalent to around $210 / £160. I'll be watching with interest...

Dyson has launched an updated V10 vacuum cleaner, with a self-emptying dock that store up to 60 days of dirt. The Dyson V10 Konical and Auto-empty Dok work together to make cleaning your floors a much less messy process, with no need to open the vacuum's dust cup yourself and risk accidentally releasing a cloud of dirt in the process.

The updated V10 Konical should be a particularly good choice for allergy-sufferers thanks to a fully-sealed HEPA filtration system, which Dyson says can remove up to 99.99% of particulars as small as 0.1 microns — including pollen, and even bacteria and viruses.

The new V10 is equipped with an All Floor Cones cleaner head, which has a pair of conical brushes that are designed to detangle long hair, so you don't need to spend time cutting or pulling it out of a roller. It appears to be the same head used by the Dyson V16 Piston Animal, and features a bright green light to illuminate dirt that you might otherwise miss.

The Auto-empty Dok has its own sealed HEPA filtration system, and has on-board storage for your most commonly used cleaning tools.

This is the first self-emptying system from Dyson, but the idea has been around for a while. In fact, we've already seen several self-emptying systems from rival brands, including the Shark PowerDetect Cordless and the Samsung Bespoke AI Jet Ultra.

One of the key differences between these and Dyson's Auto-empty Dok is their size. Dyson's dock is much taller, and therefore capable of holding a lot more accumulated dirt before it needs emptying.

If you already own a Dyson V8 Cyclone, you'll be pleased to learn that the Auto-empty Dok is backwards-compatible, so you can use it with your existing vacuum. Cleaning tools are also cross-compatible between the Dyson V8, V8 Cyclone, and V10 Konical.

The new Dyson V10 Konical is available from today, April 29, for £449.99. You'll need to wait a little longer for the Auto-empty Dok though. It will be on sale from July 8, and will cost £569.99 bundled with the V10 Konical.

We'll be testing the vacuum and dock together very soon, and will bring you a full review so you can see how this auto-emptying model compares to its rivals.

Some vacuums are better than others at preventing or lessening allergy issues. A vacuum with a high suction capability can make a huge difference, but only if they’re outfitted with HEPA filters that prevent dust and dirt that’s been suctioned from being released back in your home.

We searched through our reviews and found four vacuums that will do a great job at combating your allergies. Keep reading to see why.

Shark PowerDetect Upright Vacuum

The Shark PowerDetect Upright vacuum may be bulky, but as an upright vacuum, it has a stronger suction power than stick vacuums. I experienced this firsthand on thick carpets, medium-pile rugs, hardwood floors, and laminate floors. I was astounded by how much dirt, debris, and hair it picked up from my parents’ carpets.

What sets this vacuum apart is the Detect mode which adjusts the suction based on the floor type and how dirty it is and informs you when the floor is clean by turning the lights on the vacuum head from purple to white. The dust bin is quite large and has an Anti-Allergen Complete Seal with HEPA filtration which means it seals and traps 99.99% of dust, dander, and allergens. You can also break down the Shark PowerDetect Upright vacuum and use the different attachments to clean your furniture, ceiling, and tight corners, where allergy-inducing particles sit.

Roborock Qrevo Curv 2 Pro

If you’re really sensitive to allergies, consider supplementing your regular vacuum with a robot vacuum and schedule it to clean your home once a day. Our pick is the Roborock Qrevo Curv 2 Pro because it does a superb job cleaning carpets and has mopping capabilities which can assist in picking up dust and pollen from your hard floors. The washable filter in the dust bin traps dust, dirt, and pollen inside the robot as it cleans.

When it's finished cleaning, the Roborock Qrevo Curv 2 Pro returns to a dock where it automatically removes the dirt and debris into a sealed dust bag and cleans the mop pads with hot water. Whenever the dust bag is full, it seals completely when removed so that dirt, dust, pollen, and debris doesn’t escape into your home before you throw it in the trash. If you can’t justify the high price tag of the Roborock Qrevo Curv 2 Pro, you might consider the eufy x10 Pro Omni.

Shark PowerDetect Cordless Stick Vacuum

Stick vacuums are convenient, but they typically don’t have the kind of suction power you need to battle allergies. That said, the Shark PowerDetect Cordless Stick Vacuum will be more helpful than others in removing dust and pollen. In my testing, I found it could pick up small and large particles on various floor types, thanks to its ability to automatically adjust the suction when it detects unseen dirt, dust, and pollen.

The lights on the vacuum head turn from purple to white to indicate the floor is clean. With a bendable wand, you can more easily reach allergy-inducing particles under furniture. Not only is the vacuum outfitted with felt and washable foam filters, but it also has a HEPA filter.

You can order the Shark PowerDetect Cordless Stick Vacuum with or without the AutoEmpty Dock, but I would highly recommend the dock for those with allergies. When cleaning is complete, you set the vacuum on the dock, and it automatically removes dust, dirt, and debris into a sealed dust bag.

Miele Guard L1 Comfort XL

Bagless vacuums are quickly becoming the norm, but unfortunately, when you empty the dustbins in the trash, dust and pollen that you just suctioned up tends to escape back into your home. That’s why bagged vacuums like the Miele Guard L1 series may be a better option. All suctioned materials make their way to the Miele Guard L1 Comfort XL’s sealed HyClean Air TU vacuum bag, which has a filter performance of 99.99%. Once the bag is full and you’re ready to throw it away, it seals as it's removed, preventing allergy-inducing materials from going into the air.

Although you’ll have to move the Miele Guard L1 Comfort XL from one spot to the next while also being mindful of the cord, its suction power is like that of an upright vacuum (i.e. super powerful). With automatic floor detection, it changes the suction level depending on whether the floor is hardwood or carpet. The various attachments can also be used to deep clean furniture which might be trapping allergens.

It’s hit this record-low price a couple of times in the past, but it’s an all-or-nothing scenario. It’s either full price or discounted with big gaps in between, so you don’t want to miss out.

Considered to be one of the best value options around and from a much-loved brand, the Shark PowerPro has a multi-surface floorhead which can handle carpets and hard floors equally well. It also has anti-hair wrap tech for trapping allergens and handling hair dropping on your floor. It’s an excellent all-rounder.

Today’s best vacuum cleaner deal

Shark is a name you’ll see feature prominently when we talk about the best cordless vacuums. In our review of the Shark PowerPro, our tester gave it 4.5 stars and called it “the best-value vacuum cleaner I've tested.” It “delivers solid cordless suction across different surfaces” with its flexible wand and LED headlamps proving useful.

It can feel a little plasticky and cheap, and its floorhead misses edges, but for the price, it’s a great deal. Its anti-hair tangle technology should prove useful if you can’t afford the absolute best vacuums for pet hair, too.

I’ve used Shark vacuum cleaners for several years and found them better value than the best Dyson vacuum cleaners — and the Shark PowerPro demonstrates that well. It comes with a crevice tool and an upholstery tool for added convenience.

If your heart is set on another brand, there are many Dyson vacuum deals around. For a low effort option, check out the robot vacuum deals available today too.

I’ll be the first to tell you that I have had a hate-love relationship with robot vacuums. However, over the years, I’ve watched as the technology has improved, resulting in better mapping, improved object avoidance, and exciting features. This is why I was all too glad to test the Narwal Flow 2 robot vacuum.

Narwal introduced its 2026 flagship robot vacuum in January, which resulted in a lot of buzz. It’s not the first robot vacuum to have dual cameras, but the way they work with the LM OmniVision AI Model feels like a big leap forward.

During testing, I observed the Narwal Flow 2 robot vacuum recognizing the dirtiness of a floor and adjusting the suction and mopping capabilities. Plus, its ability to 'smart clean', or recognize which areas of your house need deeper cleans, and avoid and identify obstacles is next to none. Although I don’t have pets or babies, the Pet Care Mode and Baby Care Mode are quite cool because they let the Flow 2 find your pet (and play with it), switch to quiet mode near cribs, and avoid crawling zones.

Overall, I found the Narwal Flow 2 ’s smart capabilities very impressive, and its customization capabilities within the app particularly convenient. Its mopping capabilities are its best feature, and when paired with vacuuming, it does a great job of cleaning all floor types — though it doesn't fare as well with edge or corner cleaning. The suction capability wasn’t strong enough to pull super-fine materials like flour from a thick rug, but it did better than other robot vacuums I’ve tested. I would have also liked it to be half an inch shorter so it could fit under my kitchen cabinets.

The Narwal Flow 2 stands out in other ways too, such as its ability to climb over high thresholds, app and voice controls, and video feeds. The dock automatically empties the dust cup, and washes and dries the roller mop with hot water and hot air. I still think you’ll need a vacuum and a wet-dry vacuum on hand for deeper cleans or to reach spaces the robot vacuum can’t go, but the Flow 2 will do a stand-up job at keeping your home pristine between deep cleans.

The Narwal Flow 2 launched in the US in April 2026, with a premium price tag to match its high-end cleaning features. There are plenty of other great robot vacuums that are more affordable (even ones with cameras), but most don’t have the AI capabilities of this model, which really set it apart from the competition.

Narwal Flow 2: price and availability

• Price: $1,499 / AU$2,999 (about £1,100)
• Special price at launch: $1,099 (about £810 / AU$1,500)
• Launch date: April 2026
• Availability: US; from June 2026 in Australia

The Narwal Flow 2 launched in the US on April 13, 2026, with a UK release expected at a later date. Australian availability is from late June 2026. Although the list price for the robot vacuum and the base is $1,499, those who buy it during the launch can snag this combo for $1,099. It’s available directly from Narwal and Amazon, but may expand to other third-party retailers later.

The robovac will set you back AU$2,999 in Australia.

The price makes sense considering that the Flow 2 is outfitted with high resolution cameras, a roller mop, and superb AI capabilities that lets it recognize shoes, cords, pets, and toys, and adjust the cleaning settings depending on the type of dirt, debris, or spill. The dock also has hot water and hot air-drying capabilities — something that lesser models lack. We consider the Narwal Flow 2 to be a premium buy since it costs more than $800 / £650 / AU$1,000.

Our review model came with cleaning solution and one extra dust bag. Accessory replacements are available from Narwal.

Now the question remains, is this model worth $1,499 / AU$2,999? Considering all the features and control users have through the app, I would say yes. I just wish the edge and corner cleaning had matched my expectations. Perhaps an update will improve both settings soon.

• Value score: 3.5/5

Narwal Flow 2: design

• Circular robot vacuum and a self-emptying and self-cleaning base
• Anti-tangle mopping roller brush
• Dual high-definition cameras with a wide view

The Narwal Flow 2 is a black, circular robot vacuum that’s about 13.5 / 35cm inches in diameter and has the capability to lift over thresholds. At 3.7 inches / 9cm, the robot vacuum is relatively tall, and even though it can fit under my couch and baker’s rack, it doesn’t fit under my cabinets.

It has a small rotating brush along the bottom edge that sweeps debris toward the zero-tangling floating brush, where the robot vacuum uses 30,000Pa to suck up debris. The Flow 2 uses a crawler mop for edges; think of it like a roller map that has been flattened so that it’s wide, long, and rotates, using 12N downward pressure to clean floors. The crawler mop can extend 1.8 inches / 5cm from the side.

The robot vacuum comes with a black base that’s 20.5 / 36cm inches tall, 14 inches / 36cm wide, and 17 / 43cm inches deep, and a cord that is 4.8 feet / 1.5m long. Separate clean water and dirty water tanks sit on top of a tank that holds the cleaning solution. Both the robot vacuum and the dock have filters.

The dock also features a dust bag that can last up to 120 days, and colored ambient lighting, which can indicate different things like when there is problem with the robot (eg flashing red lights).I

n addition to LED lights on the robot vacuum itself, the Narwal Flow 2 has dual 1080p cameras with a 136-degree field of view. The robot vacuum uses cameras and AI to recognize objects or pets and either avoid them or note them on the map, captures video and photographs, and provides deeper cleanings.

• Design score: 4.5/5

Narwal Flow 2: performance

• Climbs tall thresholds and avoids objects well
• Solid job at vacuuming and mopping
• Truly hands-free experience and easy-to-use app

I had no issue connecting the Narwal Flow 2 to Wi-Fi or the app. The robot mapped my house in 35 minutes. I had to split and merge a few rooms, but that was simple enough.

As part of my testing, I utilized the robot vacuum like anyone else might – letting it clean my entire house multiple times, directing it to specific rooms (like the kitchen after dinner), or to an area where I’d made a mess (like near my sewing machine). In doing this, I found that the vacuuming and mopping capabilities of the Narwal Flow 2 were solid. The water output was perfect, and by that, I mean my floors weren’t too wet and they dried very quickly.

One of my favorite aspects of this robot vacuum is the roller mop. Some brands opt for circular mop pads that spin, however, I always thought such pads just moved wet dirt and other materials around the floor before the robot had a chance to return to the base to wash the pads.

The Narwal Flow 2 has a roller map that’s wide (almost flattened), and as it rotates, the robot sends clean hot water to the mop so that it’s cleaning the mop as it cleans your floors. A 12N downward pressure of the roller mop also aids in removing stubborn or heavy messes. If the robot vacuum recognizes a significant spill, it will also return to the base to clean the roller before returning to clean the floor again.

The robot easily climbed my thresholds – some of which are two inches / 5cm high – and avoided a lot of objects. In fact, I felt like it stayed too far from objects and edges at first, so I adjusted the cleaning to 'meticulous' within the app and was happier with the results.

I also watched it avoid low overhanging areas like my kitchen cabinets. At least the robot vacuum had the ability to extend the roller mop 1.8 inches / 4.6cm under the cabinet. Still, it wasn’t far enough to clean fully under the cabinet, so I had to use a vacuum to reach under there.

The robot vacuum got stuck once on my bath rug, which has fringe, but that was the only object that it ever has any issue with. it avoided cords and shoes, and even noted them on the map.

While I could customize the suction power of the vacuum, I liked to keep it on Smart so that the suction adjusted based on the floor type and whether the robot sensed dirt or a mess. I liked that the robot vacuum used the LED light in low light areas to clean better. The Narwal Flow 2 didn’t do well with suctioning large objects like medium-sized leaves from my poinsettia plants. This isn’t that big of a deal as most robot vacuums (or vacuums) don’t do well with suctioning larger items.

Although I used the app most of the time to direct the robot vacuum, occasionally, I used one of the 34 voice commands. Sometimes I had to use the app because the commands are limited. For instance, I could tell it to clean my living room, but I couldn’t say, “Clean up the living room and the hallway.” Combining commands wasn’t possible.

The robot vacuum took three hours to clean my entire 1,600-square-foot house, dropping to 31 percent in terms of the battery. In fact, the battery was only at 50% at the 2-hour cleaning mark. It took four hours to fully charge the robot vacuum, which is quick in my opinion.

Overall, I was very happy with how well Narwal Flow 2 kept my house clean of dirt, debris, and kitchen scraps. That said, after running some cleaning tests, there are some areas where it could improve.

Cleaning tests

To begin my testing, I placed ground coffee, flour, and dried flower petals on my kitchen laminate floor and on my living room rug and utilized the vacuum-only feature to see how well the robot could suction different materials. I even made sure to sprinkle ground coffee under my kitchen cabinets, along the edges of my kitchen, and in the corners. Here’s what I observed.

In the kitchen, the robot vacuum increased suction automatically when it went over the flour and the dried flowers, but not over the coffee. It suctioned all of the coffee, all but one flower petal, and most of the flour. Unfortunately, the wheels of the robot vacuum moved a thin film of the flour around on the floor. Where it didn’t succeed was suctioning coffee from the corners, edges, and under the kitchen cabinet.

To be fair, the robot couldn’t fit under the kitchen cabinet. When it came to corners, the robot vacuum suctioned coffee completely in one corner, but not the other. It failed quite miserably with suctioning coffee grounds along the edges.

As for the suction test on the rug, the robot vacuum automatically increased the suction to 'super powerful' when it recognized the material. On the first pass, the robot vacuum picked up some coffee grounds and flour but all of the dried flower petals. I also placed slightly damp poinsettia leaves on the carpet, and the robot vacuum did not pick them up but unintentionally moved them off the rug.

I was disappointed at first, until the robot vacuum went over the coffee and flour three more times – without me instructing it to do so. By the end, 98 percent of coffee grounds had been suctioned. A lot of the flour had been picked up, minus a small amount that had been pushed into the rug. In the end, I thought the suctioning capability on rugs was better than most robot vacuums.

For the final test, I used the vacuum and mop features on my laminate floor. I covered the floor with flour, coffee grounds, a spilled glass of water, chocolate sauce, soy sauce, wing sauce, and creamer. The Narwal Flow 2 cleaned up the wing sauce, soy sauce, water spill, coffee grounds, and flour in a single pass. I was surprised by how smoothly it picked up the chocolate sauce since it’s a tough substance that dries quickly. (I test wet-dry vacuums and even many of them have issues with cleaning slightly dried chocolate sauce in two passes or more.)

When it came to the creamer, the robot vacuum recognized it as a 'spill', which meant it cleaned it up in a single pass then returned to the dock to clean the mop. It then repeated this two more times — cleaning that area and returning to the dock to clean the mop — before it moved on. The floor was not sticky by the time the robot vacuum had finished.

I also placed coffee grounds under the cabinet, in the corners, and along the edges to see if the mop and vacuum combo would result in better cleaning capabilities. When the robot vacuum passed near the cabinets, it extended the mop to the side, and while it picked up a bit, unfortunately, the roller mop couldn’t extend far enough to pick up half of the coffee grounds under the cabinet

When it came to corners, the robot vacuum had the same results using the vacuum and mop as it did during the suction only test. It cleaned edges better with the mop than without it, but the results weren’t as good as I’d hoped. One edge was cleaned very well but a lot of coffee grounds were left along another edge.

To sum it all up, I’d advise utilizing the vacuum and mop features on hard flooring to maximize the cleaning process. The Narwal Flow 2 does an average job edge and corner cleaning. When it comes to carpets, it can pick up a lot of debris, though for the finest materials like flour, you’ll probably need a more powerful vacuum.

Maintenance

When it comes to the Narwal Flow 2 , there isn’t much maintenance you’ll need to do daily or weekly. It took 16 uses of the robot vacuum before I was informed to refill the water tank and empty the dirty water tank.

I would suggest going through the app when you first start using the Narwal Flow 2 to set up the maintenance how you see fit. Head to the “Dock” section and choose what kind of mop drying intensity you prefer (silent, strong, or smart), as well as how often you want the dust bin to be emptied (every time of execution or when the robot determines it needs to be emptied). You can even choose the noise level of the dust emptying.

The base cleans the roller with 140-degree hot water and dries it completely with hot air. The dust bag holds up to 120 days’ worth of debris. In the future, Narwal may roll out a reusable dust bag. The debris filter is washable and should be cleaned once a month. You’ll need to remove the bottom tray of the base and clean it out once or twice a month as lots of debris and dirt accumulates there.

Within the app, you can keep an eye on which accessories need to be replaced and/or how much longer they will last. For instance, the zero-tangling floating brush on my testing robot is still good for another 144 hours of use.

• Performance score: 4/ 5

Narwal Flow 2: app

• Easy app with fantastic 2D and 3D mapping and insights
• Cleaning customization options (AI clean, vacuum and mop, vacuum then mop, vacuum, mop, and room customization)
• Video features and control through app

I had an easy time using the Narwal app to set up the Narwal Flow 2 . Although there is a 3D mapping option, I preferred using the 2D option and had an easy time labeling the rooms and seeing things like rugs on the map. I ran into some issues trying to split my living room and study on the map. The rooms have a wide doorway with pocket doors, so I understand the robot thinking they are the same room, but when trying to split them, the map says in doing so the rooms are “too small.” This is odd considering that my bathroom is about a sixth the size of each of those rooms and it was considered its own room on the map.

I tried to set up my corridor as a no-go zone (the floors are not sealed and can’t be mopped), but unfortunately, when I did this, the robot vacuum wouldn’t pass the corridor to clean the bathroom. Thankfully I was able to go around this with the room customization feature which allows me to customize the type of cleaning I want for each room. Therefore, I designed the corridor to be a vacuum-only space so that the robot vacuum would be able to reach the bathroom where I have it designated to be vacuumed and mopped.

Within the app, I can choose to clean the whole house, certain rooms, or even specific zones within those rooms. I can also customize this further by informing the robot vacuum to vacuum and mop, vacuum then mop, vacuum only, or mop only.

One of my favorite features is the Navo assistant that sits below the map offering insight on the cleaning or information that’s relevant, like if the vacuum has gotten stuck. If you click it, the assistant shows you the voice commands that you can use with the robot vacuum and lets you adjust the language and voice tone.

The Dock button informs users of the dust bag status and touch-on-demand features like dock dust emptying, dust bag dry and disinfecting, mop washing, mop drying, and adjusting the ambient lighting effects.

Users can watch a live video from the cameras on the Narwal Flow 2 . You can record or take videos, control the direction of the robot, and direct the robot to clean. There is also a Cruise feature that takes photos on a specific route through your house and stores them in the app.

On top of scheduling cleanings and monitoring the cleaning history, you can also adjust the cleaning settings, from the suction power to the mopping humidity, coverage precision (smart, standard, and meticulous), and set things like intensive corner cleaning, priority cleaning for carpet, intensive carpet cleaning, intelligent room splitting and rewashing of the mop, high altitude mode, child lock, do not disturb feature, obstacle avoidance strategy, and smart object detection. It’s also here where you can set up your Narwal Flow 2 with Alexa, Google Home, or Matter.

The Pet-friendly Mode section is very extensive. Users choose which pets they have (cats, dogs, or both) and designate either easy cleaning in specific pet areas or enhanced cleaning in areas that were missed because pets were present. It also allows you to find your pet and/or “play” with your pet by attracting the pet to the robot with a specific sound.

• App score: 4.5/5

Narwal Flow 2: specs

Narwal Flow 2: should you buy it?

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Narwal Flow 2: also consider

If you're not sure whether the Narwal Flow 2 is the right robot vacuum for you, here are two other options to think about.