The list in brief
1. Best overall
2. Best budget
3. Best premium
4. Best for small spaces
5. Best bagged
6. Best Dyson rival
7. Best handheld
8. Best for big homes
9. Best for small spills
10. Best for hardwood floors
11. How to choose
12. How we test
The best cordless vacuums are incredibly handy home appliances. They're light enough to wield like a wand and powerful enough to make light work of even the biggest dust bunnies. The best of the best can handle every kind of flooring and get into even the most inconvenient spaces, and when you're done they don't need much room to store them.
When we test the best cordless vacuums we don't just do it in labs. We want to know how they work in real homes, so we test them in ours. That means cats and kids and dogs and DIY, and the kind of messes that can make even the best vacuums break a sweat.
We test in real homes for several reasons: the first and most important one is that we want to know how well they perform in real rooms. But we also need to know how loud they are when you're using them, how they cope with tricky bits, whether they'll scare the cat and how often they'll have you traipsing to the bin to empty them.
Every cordless vacuum on this page has been tested by real humans in real homes, so if you want to know which ones deliver the most power and which ones have the battery capacity to clean even the largest homes, you'll find them here.
Quick List
Best overall
Called the Shark Clean Sense IZ400UK in the UK, the IZ862H has impressive suction power and a flexible rotating head that's effective at getting dirt out of corners and around furniture.
Best budget pick
The Roidmi R10 may not rival the Dyson V15 Detect when it comes to suction power, but we were still impressed with its dust pick-up on hard floors. It gets the job done, especially at that budget price.
Most powerful suction
Though on the expensive side, Dyson's most powerful vacuum to date does a superb job of sucking up dust and debris, and its laser light makes it easy to ensure you don't miss any important bits.
Best for small spaces
The Samsung Bespoke Jet is a serious rival to the Dyson V15 Detect. It doesn't have the laser on the floorhead to reveal hidden dust and it has a smaller bin size, it's very capable and easy to store.
Best bagged cordless
Numatic's first ever cordless stick vacuum, the Henry Quick is a very powerful vacuum and cleans very well. The only real downside here is the weight. At 3.2kg, the Henry is a lot heavier than rivals.
Best Dyson alternative
Similar to the Dyson V15 Detect, the S15 Pro can adjust power based on particulate size. It can reduce or ramp up suction power to save on battery life or makes it easier to clean messy floors.
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Best handheld vacuum
The Vax ONEPWR Blade 5 is a comprehensive cordless vacuum that does a good job of picking up dirt and dust from hard floors and carpet at up to 90 minutes of cleaning time.
Best for big homes
Its 1.9-liter dust canister is the largest here and holds 150% more debris than the Dyson V15 Detect Absolute. The cleaning head is also wider than usual to cover more ground than others.
Best for small spills
The Shark WandVac is a powerful handheld vacuum that's good for small clean-up tasks such as cereal spills. It's very handy, although it's clearly not designed for anything more ambitious.
Best for hardwood floors
For homes kitted out solely with hard floors, the Dyson Omni-glide is the best, with two soft brush bars that ensures you get the job done faster than ever without damaging the hard flooring.
The best cordless vacuum
The Shark Stratos is a new line of vacuum cleaners from one of the best cordless vacuum cleaner brands there is. We reviewed the cordless model, but the new tech is also available as a corded and upright vacuum cleaner.
Known as the Shark Stratos Cordless with Clean Sense IQ IZ862H in the US or the Shark Stratos Anti Hair Wrap Plus Cordless Vacuum [1 Battery] IZ400UK in the UK, we were incredibly impressed with this vacs ability to sense how much dirt is on a floor and increase the suction power accordingly. It's even said that this tech - Clean Sense IQ - will increase dirt pick up by up to 50%. We also love that it has Anti-Odor Technology built in to the floor head which prevents any unpleasant smells from building up inside, and the Flex Wand is strong enough that you can fold it to store.
It comes with an Anti-Hair Wrap brushbar which is mega useful for households with long and short haired residents, and the flexible wand puts vacuuming the floor under the couch / sofa within reach. The only thing we found that the floorhead didn't do so well is to get into narrow spaces, but there's the crevice and multi-surface tools for that.
Read our Shark Stratos Cordless review
The best budget cordless vacuum
If you’re on a budget but still want a cordless cleaner that gets the job done well, the Roidmi R10 is worth considering. It may not rival the Dyson V15 Detect when it comes to suction power but we were still impressed with its dust pick-up on hard floors.
There are some compromises to keep the price tag affordable of this model, which was previously called the Roidmi S1E. The 40-minute runtime is shorter than other cordless vacuums on the market, and it struggled to deep clean carpet. However, while its decibel levels are similar to other cordless vacuums, its softer tone feels less intrusive, and you can chat while cleaning without having to shout.
This cordless vacuum cleaner is easy to use in both stick cleaner or handheld mode, and lightweight. And, it comes with a good selection of tools, including a motorized mattress brush to make upholstery cleaning easy.
Read our full Roidmi R10 cordless vacuum cleaner review
The best premium cordless cleaner
Dyson's latest vacuum cleaner really is its best yet and one of the very best cordless vacuum on the market, hands down. It may be expensive but with better cleaning performance and suction power than the Dyson V11, and the same long-lasting battery for the same price tag, it's worth every penny.
On test, we found it excelled when cleaning hard floors, thanks to the inclusion of a laser that highlights microscopic dust invisible to the human eye. We were impressed that when used on Auto mode, the vacuum conserves the battery by adjusting the suction power to suit the floor type and the amount of dust automatically. There's also a handy LCD screen that displays the remaining runtime, too.
The V15 Detect Absolute has an average-sized dust canister, and is noisy when used on full power. Not to mention, it's fairly pricey, but we think it’s worth the money if you want the best premium cordless vacuum cleaner on the market.
Read our full Dyson V15 Detect Absolute review
The best cordless for small spaces
In terms of its functionality, power and performance on carpet, the Samsung Bespoke Jet puts the Dyson V15 Detect to shame. While it doesn't have the laser on the floorhead to reveal hidden dust and it has a smaller bin size than its V15 rival, our reviewer had one of the best floor cleaning experiences whilst using this stick vacuum.
We found that the Bespoke Jet will not just suck up dirt, debris and hair, it will also mop hard floors, even washing up ingrained stains as you can spray water on them to loosen the dirt first. After it’s all done, you just need to press a button to empty the dust canister into the Clean Station and all the dirt collected from a sweep around the home gets sucked out in a second or two. We found that no dust, fluff or debris escaped the canister when emptying this way which is a huge win for allergy-sufferers, and those of us who get frustrated when we unintentionally miss the bin when emptying.
If we really had to complain about anything then that would be the extra space required by the accessory cradle, although as a complete package it feels like it's a space-saving solution. It's also a touch top-heavy, but this issue isn’t unique to Samsung - it's a common theme we see with most cordless vacuums.
Read our full Samsung Bespoke Jet review
The best cordless cleaner with a bag
The bagged vacuum cleaner is an older appliance tech which may have been bitten by the dust, until Numatic launched their first ever cordless stick vacuum cleaner. Let us introduce the Henry Quick.
On review, it did away with any dust clouds rising from the bin upon emptying, or that moment you go to grab the vacuum and realise the recently washed filter is still dripping wet, because since it's bagged, you can just release the bag and get on with your day. And with that this makes it a solid option for allergy-sufferers.
We found that the full power setting was on a par with our resident corded vacuum, and on the lowest speed setting worked brilliantly on hard floors. If you have pets around the home then the Henry Quick will gamely tease the stray hairs with ease from the hard floors, plus upholstery and deep-pile carpets.
Although it isn’t 100% perfect - heavy when in use for long times and the cost of bags is an ongoing cost - but it’s strong, powerful, low-maintenance and easy on the eye.
Read our full Henry Quick review
The best Dyson alternative
The Pure One S15 Pro is a dream cleaning machine, taking much of the effort and brain-strain out of vacuuming, plus emptying is blissfully mess-free.
One of the main features that we love about the Pure One S15 Pro is its iLoop Smart Sensor tech, which delivers visual affirmation that floors are dust-free. It’s similar to the Dyson V15 Detect, in that it adjusts power automatically according to particulate size. When used in Auto mode this sensor tech ramps up – and reduces – suction power according to need, which saves on battery life and makes light work of particularly messy floors, although we did find it a tad too sucky on our rag rug.
The paltry bin capacity is a bit of a let down, and we found it needed emptying far too frequently. The mini-power brush tool wasn’t the best at removing pet hairs from upholstery either.
Read our full Tineco Pure One S15 Pro review
The best cordless for corners and cars
This cordless vacuum cleaner from Vax gets our vote for use inside the home and outside in the car. It comes with a suite of attachments and has an impressive battery life of up to 90 minutes, meaning that even if you have parked down the road you'll have plenty of juice to see you through the clean.
We also found that it does a good job of picking up dirt and dust from hard floors and carpet. The three-stage infiltration claims to remove up to 99.8% of particles such as fine dust and pet dander down to 0.3 microns in size. And the new CleanControl digital display shows you how much run-time you have remaining while you vacuum, and a second battery provides back-up for a seamless clean.
Weighing in at 3.8kg, it isn’t the lightest cordless we’ve tried. We also found that although great that there's lots of attachments, when it comes to storing you'll need a fair amount of space because on-board storage is pretty limited.
Read our full Vax ONEPWR Blade 5 Dual Pet and Car review
The best cordless cleaner for bigger homes
The best cordless vacuum with a large dust canister is a must if you have a big home, and the Dyson V11 Outsize really fits the bill here. The 1.9-liter dust canister is the largest in this guide and holds 150% more debris than the Dyson V15 Detect Absolute (above), meaning that you don't have to empty it often. The cleaning head is also wider than usual, which means you’ll be able to cover more ground than with a standard cordless cleaner and is another feature that makes it well suited to larger homes.
In our tests its powerful suction meant it collected discarded biscuit crumbs, ground-in dirt, and even cereal and cat biscuits with ease. The floorhead also automatically detects the change in floor types, and the three power settings are useful if you either want to deep clean a large pile rug or to lightly skim across the surface of hard floor.
However, we found that the larger size made the vacuum cumbersome and heavy to use in handheld mode so it's best suited to using on the floors throughout the home rather than reaching for the corners in the room.
Read our full Dyson V11 Outsize review
The best cordless for quickly cleaning spills
A compact and lightweight cordless vacuum that’s close to hand is ideal for quickly and efficiently cleaning up small spills, and the Shark WandVac really fits the bill for this type of device.
Simple to use, during testing it collected fine dust from hard floors and carpets with ease, although for larger debris, we found it required several sweeps to scoop up all of the mess. It can be used either as a stick vacuum, or in handheld mode. The dust canister is smaller than average, so will need to be emptied more frequently, but we found it was easy to empty.
The Shark WandVac is loud in use and the runtime is around a quarter of that offered by rival cordless cleaners. So, it's the best cordless vacuum for quick clean ups rather than a deep whole house clean.
Read our full Shark WandVac review
The best cordless for hardwood floors
For homes kitted out solely with hard floors, the Dyson Omni-glide is the best cordless vacuum you can buy. With not one, but two soft brush bars, it ensures you can vacuum your home faster than ever without damaging the hard flooring. And we found dust and dirt pick up to be very effective during testing.
The Omni-glide can lie flat on the floor so it can be easily maneuvered under low-lying furniture, while four 360-degree castors on the bottom of the cleaning head ensure the vacuum can be steered in any direction. It can even lie flat.
The Dyson Omni-glide can only last for 20 minutes between charges, although the battery, which is housed inside the vacuum’s handle, is swappable. This did mean, however, during testing we found the vacuum cumbersome to use in handheld mode. It's also pricey compared to the rest of the market, especially when you consider it can't be used on carpet.
Read our full Dyson Omni-glide review
How to choose the best cordless vacuum for you
With such a wide array of cordless vacuums on the market, choosing the right one might feel like an overwhelming task. However, if you focus on these considerations you’ll quickly be able to identify the model that’s best suited to you.
Start by checking how long the battery will last between charges and whether it’s swappable, so that if the battery runs out of power mid-clean, you don’t have to wait for the vacuum to recharge before you can carry on. Similarly, the size of the dust canister will also affect how many interruptions there are to your cleaning session. If you have a bigger house, look for models with larger than usual dust cups.
If you have hard floors, look for a cordless vacuum that comes with a dedicated cleaner head, which has a softer brush roll to ensure the flooring isn’t damaged when vacuuming.
Also, check the vacuum cleaner will be able to reach under furniture and in any tight spaces, you have in your home to ensure you’re thoroughly cleaning your floors every time you push a vacuum around.
If you’ve got furry friends, you’ll be pleased to know, there are plenty of models designed to suck up pet hair from your floors as well as your soft-furnishings. Cordless vacuums are designed to be on hand whenever you need them but how often you should vacuum will depend on how many people and pets are in your house as well as how much you’re at home.
As you've read, there are a lot of the best cordless vacuums to choose from. There's no right or wrong make or model to choose, but it is important to get the right one for you and your household by choosing wisely. Our "5 things to consider when buying a Dyson vacuum cleaner" would (also) be worth a read because what we've specified can be applied to any cordless vacuum you're looking at buying.
If you’re still unsure, read our advice on which type of vacuum should you buy and read our comparison of canister vs upright vacuums and bagged vs bagless vacuums.
FAQs
What is the best cordless vacuum?
We've tested all 10 of the featured cordless vacuum cleaners in this guide to challenge them for dirt pick-up, battery runtime and versatility across various surfaces throughout the home.
The stick vacuum that came out on top is the Shark Stratos cordless. Our reviewer was impressed by its ability to sense how much dirt is on a floor and increase the suction power, the battery-life, ease of storing and the Anti- Odor technology which made the home smell so fresh. That said; there's the best cordless vacuum for all homes and budgets:
Is Shark better than Dyson?
Shark and Dyson are two of the biggest brands in the cordless vacuum market right now. They seem evenly matched when it comes to suction power, but Shark's designs are slightly more affordable than Dyson's models, which may leave you wondering if Shark is better than Dyson?
To keep the price tag low, Shark's vacuums are not as sleek and stylish as Dyson’s, and they're often heavier, too. While they come with useful technology such as the ability to stop hair getting tangled around the brush air, and flexible wands to ensure you can clean in hard-to-reach places, they're not as high-tech as Dyson's offering. Dyson's vacuums tend to have longer-lasting batteries than Shark's models too.
So are Shark vacuums better than Dyson? It very much depends on the layout of your home, your budget and the types of surfaces you want to clean. Read our Shark vs Dyson article for a more in-depth look at the two floor-cleaning brands.
How do I choose a cordless vacuum cleaner?
We think the cordless vacuums we've listed above are the best of the best, but it's essential to consider your personal needs.
The most important considerations when choosing a cordless vacuum cleaner are:
1. Specs
2. Design
3. Features
Starting with the specs is typically the way to go - think about how long of a runtime you need from your cordless vacuum, what floor types you have in your home, and how powerful you'll need the cleaner to be.
Next up, think about what features you might need from your new cordless vacuum. If you have pets, that means looking for a vacuum that can handle hairs and even odors. You might need a range of attachments to handle various surfaces in your home or a vacuum that can easily transform into one of the best car vacuums.
Lastly, think about the design of the vacuum. Is it light enough to use overhead if you have shelves and high surfaces that need cleaning? How easy would it be to store in your home? You might even want to consider if it will be aesthetically pleasing, especially if you're planning to keep it out in the open.
Are stick vacuums worth it?
Cordless stick vacuums bring some great benefits, especially if you have a smaller home, or just need a more accessible device for cleaning up small spills and messes in the kitchen.
As they are more compact and lightweight, stick vacuums are great for quick cleanups, however, they wouldn't be worth it if you need any kind of deep clean.
What is the difference between an upright vacuum and a cordless stick vacuum?
Cordless vacuums have been available for more than two decades, and while the early models were not as good when it came to dust pick up, that’s no longer the case.
Many of the cordless vacuums on the market are comparable, and in some cases better, to corded, upright vacuums when it comes to collecting dust and dander from carpets and hard floors. They’re more versatile than corded vacuums too, as they can be converted into lightweight, handheld cleaners that are suitable for use on upholstery, up high, and even in vehicles.
However, there is one area where they struggle to match corded vacuums, and that’s the capacity of the dust canister. On average, cordless vacuums have dust canisters with a capacity of anywhere between 0.2 and 0.75 liters, whereas traditional corded vacuums, whether it's upright or a canister, have a capacity of anywhere between 1 and 2 liters. The only exception is the Dyson V11 Outsize, which has a 1.9-liter capacity. However, it’s also extremely expensive compared to other cordless vacuums and much bulkier.
Which cordless vacuum has the longest battery life?
Cordless vacuums can last anywhere between 10 and 60 minutes depending upon which suction level they are used on. The more powerful the suction, the shorter the battery life.
In our tests, we found the Miele Triflex HX1 Cat & Dog to have the longest battery life. As while it offered 60 minutes on the lowest suction power, just like the Dyson V15 Detect, the Dyson V11 Outsize and Shark Anti Hair Wrap Cordless Stick Vacuum Cleaner with PowerFins & Flexology, it lasted for just over 16 minutes on the most powerful suction power.
Whereas the Dyson V15 only managed 15 minutes and the Shark Just 11 minutes. It’s also worth noting that all three of the vacuums we’ve mentioned here, have swappable batteries. This means, providing you purchase additional batteries from the manufacturer, you can remove a battery that’s run out of power and replace it with a fully-charged battery, rather than having to stop vacuuming and put the entire appliance on charge, only resuming when the battery has full power again.
How we tested these cordless vacuums
To find the best cordless vacuum cleaner, we evaluate how successfully each model collects everything from fine dust and dirt to larger debris such as cookie crumbs and cereal. As well as assessing how well floors are cleaned, we’ve also compared how easy the vacuum cleaners are to maneuver on carpet and hard floors, as well as whether dust pick up is evenly distributed across the cleaning head, or concentrated in one area.
We rated each design on how durable it is, as well as simplicity of emptying, how loud it is during use and how long the battery lasts. For each model we wanted to know whether it was easy to convert into other modes; such as a handheld vac, the useful tools and accessories it came with to clean edges or remove pet hair, and that it didn’t require reading a thick instruction manual before use.
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