You thought home vacuum cleaners weren’t the most exciting gadgets? We did too, but that was before Dyson’s flagship V8 arrived on the scene. Its unique technology, design and overall lightness set it apart. Simply put, this is the most powerful cordless vacuum cleaner you can buy. At its heart is a digital motor which can spin at up to 110,000 rpm—that’s five times faster than the engine of a Formula One car. This is packed into a strong yet light casing, and can produce 115 air watts of suction power. Dyson has designed what are known as “cyclones” around the motor. Fifteen of these generate enough centrifugal force (also known as G-force) to capture dust, mites and particles as small as 0.3 microns. That’s 100 times smaller than the width of a human hair.
The Dyson V8 tips the scales at 2.61kg and feels light to hold and use. It’s made of robust materials, and it will not dent easily. Handling is so easy that it’s a breeze to get to hard-to-reach surfaces, like the tops of wardrobes or ceiling fans. With the V8 Absolute+ variant, you get multiple head attachments and an extension hose bundled with the cleaner, optimized for picking dust off of almost every surface or furniture in your home—rugs, mattresses, curtains, walls or floors. The cleaning heads, and extension stick, are easy to connect and use.
Some cleaning heads, particularly for use on rugs, mattresses and carpets, have a separate motor. Two motors running at the same time help pull out particles that may otherwise be hard to dislodge.
With most vacuum cleaners, efficiency fades, reducing after the first few minutes of use. The V8, however, retains the same efficiency in the 40th minute of constant use as it did in the first minute. Noise levels are surprisingly low—you can listen to music on your earphones or via a Bluetooth speaker while using the V8 in the “Powerful Mode”. The noise, as expected, increases a bit when used in “Max Mode”, but that is handy when you need to get rid of obstinate dust or particles from dark and distant corners, such as behind a bed or a computer table.
The Dyson V8’s pre-filter and large Hepa (high efficiency particulate arrestance) filter prevent dust from re-emerging through the machine’s exhaust. Both can be cleaned easily, if needed. This is the area where most other vacuum cleaners struggle, since they are either tough to maintain (the filters) and clean (the dust- capture bin) or simply allow particles to pass out again.
The 0.54-litre capacity bin can be emptied without the user coming in contact with the dust. There is a pull hinge on the handheld’s top panel. When you pull this hinge upwards, it pushes the bin down, while the flap at the base opens simultaneously. Hold the dustbin close to the flap—we noticed that some fine dust tends to escape at this point.
The V8’s powerful motor runs on an excellent battery. You can get about 55 minutes when using it in the “Powerful Mode” (much longer than the 40 minutes that Dyson claims) and it takes about 4 hours to charge from scratch. The device comes with a wall mount, also known as a docking station, which can be used to charge and dock the V8 handheld as well as some of the cleaning heads.
The Dyson V8 is the ultimate cord-free vacuum cleaner for your home, with cutting-edge hardware inside and outside. Its rivals include the Morphy Richards’ Supervac Pro Cordless (around Rs40,000; Amazon.in), but that is heavier and doesn’t come with as many accessories.
The Dyson V8 Absolute+ is priced at Rs39,900.
