I've been testing vacuum cleaners for years now and, ever since I tested my first cordless vacuum with a mop attachment a few years ago, I've wondered when Dyson would catch up.
Enter May 2023 and Dyson finally did, competing with the likes of Samsung and LG with its V15s Detect Submarine – the British brand's first ever wet-dry cordless vacuum cleaner.
While I'm not quite a fan of the name, I don't have too many complaints about the machine itself. As you can see in my Dyson V15s Detect Submarine review, it's an excellent vacuum and mop, but it's not perfect. So I wasn't quite sold on its high price. However, with a massive AU$555 off the Absolute model and AU$552 off the Complete directly from Dyson, I think it's a great buy if you're a fan of the British brand's vacuums.
Update: if you don't have carpets in your home, Dyson now also has a dedicated wet cleaner, released in 2024. Read our Dyson WashG1 review for more on that one.
I would personally recommend the Complete option if you have a little extra cash to spare. It's a Dyson-exclusive model and not available at any other retailer – it comes with not just the Submarine wet roller head and the Digital Motorbar, but also has the refreshed Fluffy Optic in the box. This is handy of you have mostly hard floors and its green light has been improved to illuminate more floor space as compared to what we saw in the original Fluffy Optic tool that debuted with the Dyson V15 Detect. (If you just have hard floors, you'll maybe be better off waiting out for the Dyson WashG1, which is a dedicated wet cleaner with no suction function.)
That said, the Digital Motorbar handles all kinds of floors remarkably well without hair getting tangled in its bristles. So if you want a Dyson that's under the one-grand mark, the V15s Detect Submarine Absolute for AU$994 is a brilliant bargain this Cyber Monday sale season. No matter which model you choose, you're getting the lowest price we've seen since launch.
There are some cordless vacuum cleaner models and robot vacs that offer a buffing motion for their mop attachments, but Dyson's Submarine wet roller functions differently.
It comes across as just a wipe, but the amount of water it releases is actually really good to clean up the worst caked-in stains on your floor. It might take a few swipes with the velvet roller, but it gets the job done very well. And its own rolling motion makes moving the machine quite easy on hard floors.
What has me annoyed with the Submarine attachment is the fact that the dirty water isn't fully sealed away. And that became obvious to me every time I released it from the vacuum's tube – dirty mop water would invariable slosh out as there's no indication how full that compartment gets. Moreover, I would see the occasional dirty-water swipe mark on my lightly-coloured tiled floor if I paused for even a second while mopping. This would happen only if the wet roller was saturated, but that happens quickly enough anyway.
To be fair, these could be minor niggles for you, and despite that I would highly recommend the Dyson V15s Detect Submarine as a wet-dry vacuum. In fact, it's made it into our best cordless vacuum cleaner guide recently as the best Dyson money can buy.
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