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Liverpool Echo
Liverpool Echo
Entertainment
Gareth Butterfield

I tried Dyson and Shark alternative vacuum cleaners and they are better value

Proscenic is a company that is forging quite a reputation for itself in the home appliances market.

Air fryers and air purifiers are among its suite of products, and I've recently tested one of its robot vacuum cleaners, which was almost as good as a top-spec Roomba costing twice the price.

So I was very keen for an opportunity to test some of its more conventional vacuum cleaners - one designed to do battle with the likes of Dyson's V7 and a smart handheld that could do battle with the pick of the Shark range.

READ MORE: £1.65 product that can save you money when making a cup of tea

Proscenic P11

Cordless vacuum cleaners have come on leaps and bounds in previous years, and while you could happily spend upwards of £250 for an entry-level Dyson, a similar model from Proscenic can come in at less than half that price.

Catch the Proscenic P11 on an offer on Amazon and you can get it for a shade under £120, packing in a 450w motor. The £249 Dyson V7 Animal has just 100w. So we're off to a good start.

It also has 25kpa suction, weighs less than the Dyson at 1.8kg and its 2,500mah battery is potentially capable of running for 53 minutes - nearly twice that of the V7.

In practice, the P11 works really well. The brushless motor is fairly quiet, and its light weight is welcome. It also feels well balanced, which is handy for long cleaning stints.

The capacity of the tank is quite small, but it's a doddle to empty. It comes with a pet-hair brush, which does a reasonable job, but if you've got moulting mutts you might want to spend a little more and go for Proscenic's Animal version, which packs in a few more focused features.

I'd say the build quality feels better on Dyson products, but the Proscenic certainly doesn't feel cheap. And at half the price of a Dyson it's hard to justify spending the extra money, when the same or better performance can be had for less.

A solid performance from the P11, then, and it's certainly a credible rival to the Dyson.

Proscenic S1

Genuinely hand-held vacuums need to fill a pretty narrow brief. They need to be fairly powerful without adding too much weight. They must be quick to charge, slow to run out, and they should also pack in a few handy attachments.

Proscenic's dinky S1 fits that brief very well, and it's recently been on offer on Amazon for just £59.

With suction power up to 12kpa it's certainly capable of cleaning in all the nooks and crannies these little wand-shaped devices find themselves in, and with a weight of just 1.30lbs it's light enough to poke in and out of said crevices.

It also has a 30 minute run time (on the low setting), which is among the best in class, and its 12ml dust container is a decent size compared to some rivals.

Thanks to the two attachments that slot neatly into its upright base, there's three ways it can be used, and that base becomes its charging station - upon which I found one of my favourite features...

As well as plugging the base into a household wall socket, the Proscenic S1 has a USB-C socket on the unit itself which means it can be charged off a 12v supply. This makes it very handy for use in a caravan, or motorhome, or boat, or even a tent.

This versatility makes it a great choice for travellers, and even perfect for cleaning out a car if you're away from home. It's a lovely little tool.

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