Dyson makes products ranging from air-treatment gadgets to hair-care products, but the company is best known for its vacuum cleaners. When most people think of Dyson, they think of vacuums with powerful suction, smart engineering, and expensive price tags.
While most Dyson vacuums are quality machines, not all Dyson models are created equally. The smart home reviewers at Digital Trends regularly test vacuums, from uprights to robots to handhelds, and we’ve rounded up our picks for the best Dyson vacuums on the market. If you’re looking for a robot vacuum or a different brand, check out our best robot vacuums guide or our best vacuums guide.
If you’re looking for some cheaper options, we’ve also found the best vacuum deals going on right now for Cyber Monday.
Dyson Cyclone V10 Absolute
Type: Cordless stick vacuum
Weight: 5.9 pounds
Battery: The lithium-ion battery has up to 60 minutes of running time, and it takes 3.5 hours to fully charge.
The Cyclone V10 Absolute is lightweight, ergonomic, and intelligently designed. Drop-in docking means you can mount it on your wall, so you can quickly grab the vac when needed. Whether you need to clean all your floors, suck up a quick mess, or get cobwebs from the corners, the V10 is the right tool. It quickly converts into a handheld while also maintaining exceptional performance.
Are you an allergy sufferer? The V10 has a whole-machine filtration system to seal in dust and dirt and release clean air back into your home. The V10 Absolute is extremely user-friendly and has exceptional suction power for a stick vacuum.
The Dyson Cyclone V10 Absolute comes with a host of accessories, including a wall mount, combination tool, crevice tool, mini motorized tool, and a mini soft dusting brush. It has a torque-drive cleaning head, and Dyson’s Digital V10 motor also has a ceramic shaft (as opposed to steel) that spins at up to 125,000 rpm. To grab smaller dirt particles, the V10 Absolute has 14 concentrically-arranged cyclones to maximize airflow and create considerable force.
Dyson V8 Absolute
Type: Cordless stick vacuum
Weight: 5.75 pounds
Battery: The lithium-ion battery has up to 40 minutes of running time, and it takes 3.5 hours to fully charge.
The Dyson V8 Absolute looks very similar to the V10, and the two machines are alike in a lot of ways. The V8 has similar features to the 10, but with slightly lower specs. For instance, the digital V8 motor spins slower (at 104,000 rpm), and the dust bin capacity is smaller. There are a few other differences in the V8 and V10 designs, but nothing so drastic that it takes too much away from the V8.
Overall, the Dyson V8 Absolute is still a stellar stick vacuum with outstanding performance and strong suction — it’s just the predecessor to the V10. If you want a more affordable Dyson stick vacuum, the V8 is a solid choice. If you opt for the V8 Animal instead of the Absolute, you’ll save a few more bucks (but you won’t get the hard floor cleaning head with the Animal, as the Absolute comes with a fluffy cleaning head that’s specifically designed for hard floors).
Dyson V11 Torque Drive
Type: Cordless stick vacuum
Weight: 6.68 pounds
Battery: The lithium-ion battery has up to 60 minutes of running time, and it takes 4.5 hours to fully charge.
Dyson pulled out all the stops with the V11 Torque Drive.
Sure, the V11 motor is more powerful, and we’ve come to expect that the next-generation Dyson Vacuum will be more powerful than its predecessor. But the Dyson V11 Torque Drive is much smarter, and that’s the key difference. One of the coolest features is the LCD screen, which displays real-time reports (the vacuum monitors the system performance 8,000 times per second). It notifies you of the status of the battery and filter and lets you make adjustments. The cleaning head knows when it’s on carpet versus hard floor, and it automatically adjusts the power level accordingly in auto mode. The V11 is ultra-quiet, too, with acoustic engineering to absorb vibration noises.
Note that while the V11 Torque offers lots of power, there are other V11 alternatives you can choose from as well. One version is the Outsize, which is built with a full-sized bin and cleaner head so that it can more easily take over jobs that were done by traditional large vacuum cleaners.
Dyson Ball Multifloor 2
Type: Upright
Weight: 15.6 pounds
Battery: None, corded
The Multifloor 2 is a solid, all-purpose vacuum that’s reliable and affordable (well, affordable for a Dyson).
The Dyson Ball Multifloor 2 has a washable filter, so you don’t need to purchase replacements. It has powerful suction, the ability to convert into a wand and reach high up, and attachments for cleaning stairs and hard-to-reach areas. The self-adjusting cleaning head and motorized brush bar allow for a deeper clean, while the cyclone technology allows the machine to collect even smaller dirt particles.
Dyson Ball Animal 2
Type: Upright
Weight: 17.35 pounds
Battery: None
Appropriately named, the Animal 2 is specifically designed to help people with pets that tend to shed a lot. Dyson amped up the suction and designed the head to be self-cleaning, making this the perfect choice for tackling animal-related tangles or patches of hair (as well as spilled kibble, etc.).
The model includes the excellent Dyson-designed canister, and you can detach the nozzle and equip it with a turbine tool, stair tool, or combination tool for dealing with furniture, pet beds, and similar locations. The excellent seal in the Dyson Ball Animal 2 will also help trap allergens, which is nice for preparing your home for people who may be more sensitive to pet dander.
Dyson Big Ball Multi-Floor Canister Vacuum
Type: Canister
Weight: 17.64 pounds
Battery: Lithium-ion
The Big Ball is designed for big jobs: This canister vac has a 0.47-gallon capacity, 21-foot cord, and power carbon fiber turbine head combined with nylon bristles. That makes this Dyson perfect for professional jobs, large floors, and big sections of carpet that need to be cleaned quickly.
That “Big Ball” design isn’t just for show, either. It’s designed to rotate and self-correct if the vacuum ever topples over, so if the vac gets pulled the wrong way while you’re working, it’s nothing to worry about. The bin easily lifts out and empties into a trash can from underneath, so less dust is spread about, too (and you’ll never have to worry about replacing bags again). Plus, the dual-cyclone design is HEPA certified for removing high amounts of allergens, which may be important for meeting business regulations or other goals.
The only thing to be wary of with the Big Ball Multi-Floor Canister Vacuum is that 17.64 pounds is rather heavy for a vacuum cleaner, especially since it’s a canister model you will be carrying around frequently.
Premium Dyson V7 Allergy
Type: Cordless stick vacuum
Weight: 5.29 pounds
Battery: Lithium-ion for up to 30 minutes of power, 3.5 hour charge time
It’s not often you can find good HEPA filtration in a cordless vacuum, but the V7 Allergy’s whole machine HEPA filtration is ready to help you deal with allergies, asthma, and problems with pet dander. The vac runs on a battery that can last for up to 30 minutes, and has a telescopic handle that makes it easy to store away once you are finished (or if you’d like a different height setting when vacuuming the stairs, etc.
The Premium Dyson V7 Allergy also has a Max mode for a sudden burst of power to the cleaner head and its nylon bristles. This package also includes alternate attachments for cleaning drapes, cars, and furniture so you can really get allergens out of all the places they may have dug into.
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