Dyson's Gen5 Detect cordless vacuum is so powerful it can suck up viruses

Dyson Gen5 Detect vacuum
(Image credit: Dyson)

Update: we have tested this fully now – head to our Dyson Gen5 Detect review to find out what we thought. 

There are vacuum cleaners, and then there are *vacuum cleaners*. Dyson’s new cordless model, the Dyson Gen5 Detect, falls firmly into the latter camp. 

The first vacuum to feature Dyson’s next-generation Hyperdymium motor – which spins at up to 135,000 rpm, some nine times faster than a modern-day Formula 1 engine – the Gen5 Detect is the brand’s smartest and most powerful sucker to date. 

To go alongside that shiny new motor, the vacuum boasts a fully sealed, whole-machine HEPA filtration system and a new ‘Fluffy Optic’ cleaner head that supposedly reveals twice as much microscopic dust – using a suite of lights and sensors – as its predecessor, the Dyson V15 Detect (see exactly how the two compare in our Dyson V15 vs Gen5detect face-off). 

And the best part? The Gen5 Detect is engineered to capture 99.99% of particles down to 0.1 microns – that’s virus territory, people. In other words, Dyson’s latest cleaning creation is a shoo-in for a place atop our list of the best vacuum cleaners money can buy in 2022. 

Dyson says its inventors built the vacuum’s new motor around a shorter shaft, combining multiple parts into one and wrapping everything in a single, precision-moulded frame to ensure maximum power efficiency.

Dyson Gen5 Detect being used on carpet

(Image credit: Dyson)

This redesign certainty pays dividends on the endurance front. The Gen5 Detect promises 70 minutes of continued run time, which is around 10 minutes more than the already impressive equivalent figure boasted by the V15 Detect. 

The Gen5 Detect does away with its predecessor’s trigger, too, opting instead for the same triggerless control as Dyson implemented on its V12 Detect vacuum.

As for the vacuum’s new cleaner head, it projects a blade of light – presumably in a manner akin to the spaceship from Close Encounters – to illuminate otherwise invisible particles on floors and in hard-to-reach areas of your home. 

And finally, to make things even more science-fiction-movie-prop, the Gen5 Detect sports a brand new user interface (UI) that shows you – in real-time – when your room is clean. To do this, Dyson says the vacuum is equipped with a sensor that uses acoustics to count and categorize particle sizes, activating bars on an LCD screen that rise and fall according to the volume of particles being removed.

No US or UK release date or pricing has been revealed for the Dyson Gen5 Detect just yet – but rest assured, it’s set to be eye-wateringly expensive. The new vacuum is already on sale in Australia for a whopping $AU1,499 (equivalent to around $940 / £830), so we’re inclined to recommend that you begin saving your pennies now if you’re keen to upgrade your current vacuum to Dyson’s latest piece of cleaning kit.

To keep up to date with all the details relating to this launch, including pricing and availability, you can register your details here.

Axel Metz
Phones Editor

Axel is TechRadar's UK-based Phones Editor, reporting on everything from the latest Apple developments to newest AI breakthroughs as part of the site's Mobile Computing vertical. Having previously written for publications including Esquire and FourFourTwo, Axel is well-versed in the applications of technology beyond the desktop, and his coverage extends from general reporting and analysis to in-depth interviews and opinion.  Axel studied for a degree in English Literature at the University of Warwick before joining TechRadar in 2020, where he then earned an NCTJ qualification as part of the company’s inaugural digital training scheme.

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