I've been testing the new flagship Dyson for 3 weeks, and it's an excellent vacuum completely undermined by a poorly conceived floorhead

Dyson V16 Piston Animal cordless stick vacuum being used on a rug in a living room.

Dyson V16 Piston Animal: two-minute review

The V16 Piston Animal is Dyson's new flagship stick vacuum, and it boasts a number of upgrades over its predecessors. Based on specs, this is the best Dyson vacuum you can buy. I've been busy testing it for three weeks to see how it matches up to the rest of the best cordless vacuums around, and it's a tale of two halves.

Let's start with the good bits. The dust compactor works extremely well and is a logical, solidly useful addition. It gives you more cleaning time without having to empty the bin, and when you do come to that part, the same mechanism expels the contents easily, with no need for fingers to get involved.

Dyson has redesigned the attachment mechanism so that you can connect and release attachments on the end of the wand without having to bend down. This seems like an effort-saver, and should also help those with mobility issues, although it does mean this vacuum isn't compatible with older attachments.

Generally speaking, the cleaning power is excellent, and the Auto mode has been improved so it now offers intelligent adjustment of not only suction power but also brushroll speed, based on floor type and dirt levels.

However, despite various technical improvements, the V16 unfortunately performed worse in our suction tests than both the Gen5detect and V15 Detect – the two previous flagship models. Specifically, it failed to pick up fine particles as efficiently, and it had a tendency to push large debris around rather than sucking it up.

That poorer performance, I think, is down to the floorhead, which has been given a big old redesign, and which is the source of my other big complaint with the V16. While the conical rollers do work well to prevent hair tangles, Dyson has also tapered the front of the floorhead so it comes to a slight point. That's a pain when you're trying to clean along the straight edge of a room, and especially so in situations when you can't approach from the side.

A couple of final notes before I crack on with the finer details of my tests. This is officially the first app-connected Dyson cordless, but at time of writing there weren't any in-app settings to explore. There's also a Submarine version available, with an extra mopping floorhead included (not reviewed here).

That's the short version; read on for my in-depth Dyson V16 Piston Animal review.

(Image credit: Future)

Dyson V16 Piston Animal review: price & availability

• List price: £749.99 / AU$1,349 (US TBC)
• Launched: September 2025
• Available: UK and AU now, US sometime in 2026

The V16 Piston Animal was unveiled at the start of September, and is on sale now in territories including the UK and Australia. It will be available in the US, but not until sometime in 2026.

The regular version has a list price of £749.99 / AU$1,349 (the US list price will be released closer to the launch date). A Submarine version is also available, with an extra mopping floorhead, at a list price of £899.99 / AU$1,599.

For comparison, this model's predecessor, the Gen5detect, costs £769.99 / AU$1,549. The model below that, the V15 Detect, is £649.99 / AU$1,449.

Those prices position the V16 firmly in the premium price bracket, and make it one of the most expensive vacuums on the market. It's interesting to note that it's actually slightly cheaper than the Gen5detect in the UK (although that older model will attract more discounts). Perhaps Dyson feels it has reached the limit of what people will realistically pay for a vacuum cleaner, no matter how many advancements it crams in.

In its favor, I will say the V16 looks and feels premium. It has been meticulously designed and is packed with features – including some you can't find anywhere else on the market.

That said, it's a lot to spend on a vacuum, and for many people it won't be worth it. Personally, I'd keep an eye out for a discount on a V15 or Gen5detect.

• Value for money score: 3.5 out of 5

Dyson V16 Piston Animal specs

Weight (total):	7.5 lbs / 3.4kg
Weight (body only):	4.9 lbs / 2.2kg
Bin size:	1.3L
Max runtime:	70 mins
Charge time:	3hrs 30
Dimensions (H x L x W):	10.2 x 51.1 x 9.8 inches / 25.9 x 129.8 x 25cm
Filter:	99.9% to 0.1 microns
Max suction:	315 AW

Dyson V16 Piston Animal review: design

• Redesigned anti-tangle floorhead with conical rollers
• Manual compression lever on bin
• Automatic power and roller speed adjustment based on floor type

The V16 Piston is a premium cordless stick vacuum with a number of useful features, many of which are new to the Dyson lineup.

Key amongst the new additions – and the reason for the 'Piston' in the name – is a compression lever on the dust cup. This can be pushed down to squish dust and hair and increase dustbin capacity, and is also designed to wipe fine debris off the inside of the cup, and to be helpful in efficient emptying.

The red lever on the dust cup compresses dirt and helps with emptying (Image credit: Future)

A second addition is the red cuff at the top of the vacuum's wand. This can be pushed down to release the floorhead without the need for you to bend down.

The docking section of the floorhead, meanwhile, sits upright at an angle, so you can also snap it onto the wand from a standing position.

This model features a completely redesigned floorhead (Image credit: Future)

Speaking of the floorhead: this looks very different to anything I've seen before. Rather than being tube-shaped, the rollers here are conical.

The idea is that the tapering shape shifts long hair down to the narrow end, where it can be sucked up, rather than leaving it to tangle. As usual, there's a slider on the front to enable you to adjust air intake as required.

This floorhead – known as the All Floors Cones Sense, if you can remember all that – is designed for both hard floors and carpet, and is kitted out with a laser to illuminate dirt that might otherwise be missed.

A screen provides information (Image credit: Future)

There's a small screen on the machine itself to deliver information, including which mode you're in and how long you have left on the battery.

More impressively, it'll also provide you with real-time reports on the size and number of particles you're sucking up, as you clean. Yes, really. This works with the V16's 'Auto' mode, where the vacuum will automatically adjust suction and (newly) brushroll speed based on the kind of floor it's on and how dirty it is.

The main body of the vacuum is on the heavier side for a cordless vacuum, but Dyson has added a padded section above the hand grip for comfort.

The finish on this model is also matte rather than shiny, which makes it less likely to rub when you're using it for long periods and your hands are slightly clammy. It switches on with a button rather than a trigger, and the battery is removable and swappable.

This is apparently the first Dyson vacuum to be properly 'connected'. The companion app should provide cleaning summaries and offer advanced setting options, although during my test period (after the official launch) neither were available. I assume they'll filter in during later software updates.

(Image credit: Future)

Detail tools will vary slightly depending on which model you opt for, but there are a couple of notable upgrades.

The Hair screw tool now has a rubberized band across the front to help loosen hair that's 'stuck' to upholstery fabric. Hidden inside the wand, meanwhile, are two stubby Crevice tools – one at the top, attached to the main part of the vacuum, and the other at the bottom of the wand, revealed if you remove the floorhead.

Because of the redesigned docking mechanism, none of the tools are compatible with other Dyson stick vacuums.

• Design score: 4.5 out of 5

Dyson V16 Piston Animal review: performance

• Dust compaction is great, and lever makes emptying super-easy
• Suction excellent, but not notably different to previous models
• Angled floorhead is a pain for vacuuming the edges of rooms

Let's start with suction performance. In general use, it felt like this vacuum packed plenty of oomph. I tested it out in a four-floor house with hard floor, plenty of carpets, and a black Spaniel, and it had no trouble sucking up impressive volumes of dust, dirt and hair. In Auto mode, I could hear the power and brushroll ramping up and down as I moved into different areas and onto different floor types.

I found the on-screen dust reports as mesmerizing as ever – they've been redesigned here so they work on a traffic light system (green for clean, yellow for okay, orange for acceptable, red for 'oh my goodness your home is disgusting') which is more useful at a glance than the previous color system, which was seemingly just based on what looked cool.

The real-time dust reports now use a traffic light color coding system that's more useful at a glance (Image credit: Future)

Officially, the V16 has the most suction of any Dyson stick vacuum, due to improvements under the hood. During day-to-day use, I didn't notice a difference in cleaning power compared to the V15, which is what I usually use in this house. That vacuum is two models down from the V16 – despite what the number might suggest, the Gen5detect sits in the middle.

Unfortunately, when I did some side-by side cleaning tests comparing the V16 to its two predecessors, the newest vacuum actually performed the worst. I'll get into this more in the Suction tests section below.

Moving on to comfort. The V16 feels a little weighty in the hand, but the padded section above the grip helps boost comfort, and the fact it has a matte finish also means it's less likely to rub if your hands get a little clammy in longer use.

My 5ft Australian colleague found it was too tall for her to comfortably use – at 5ft 8in I had no issues, but perhaps worth noting if you're on the shorter side.

The padded handhold makes the V16 more comfortable to hold for long periods (Image credit: Future)

I'm in two minds about the button operation. For longer cleaning sessions, it's nice not to have to continually compress the trigger, but for quick cleanups, it's a bit cumbersome to have to keep a hand free to turn the machine on and off (you can't reach the button with your gripping hand).

I also preferred the bigger buttons found on older models. Dyson seems on a mission to make the buttons on all of its appliances teeny tiny, and there's no benefit to the user.

The angled floorhead makes cleaning edges tricky (Image credit: Future)

I'm also not sold on the new floorhead. The front long edge of the floorhead comes to a slight point rather than being straight – and this means that you can't approach the edges of rooms front-on.

Instead, you have to go in from the side, and that quickly becomes very annoying, because it makes cleaning in spots where you can't approach from the side (for example, under the desk pictured above) very difficult.

Otherwise, it pivots well but feels a little harder to push than previous Dysons (and other vacuums I've tested).

(Image credit: Future)

The quick-release works well and is an effort-saver, but the joints in general feel stiffer than on other Dyson stick vacuums I've used. It's also a shame that existing attachments won't work with the V16.

More of a success is the dust compactor. This is a solid win; the mechanism works a treat, and means you can fit in more cleaning without having to make so many trips to the trash.

It also makes it far easier to empty than most cordless vacuums I've used – including previous Dyson models. Press down the lever and everything in the bin is ejected, with no need to go in with your fingers afterwards.

Suction tests

For a more objective overview of the V16's suction capabilities, I ran TechRadar's standard suction tests. First, I sprinkled a teabag's worth of dry tea and a handful of oats on a carpeted floor. The idea here is to see how well the vacuum copes with fine and chunky debris.

After a single forward and backward pass in Auto mode (I could hear the suction increasing over the spillage) most of the oats were gone – although some pinged about a bit – and there was a fine strip of tea left where the center of the floorhead had passed. This is a good result – the tea test is purposefully very challenging. After a few more passes in Auto mode, everything was cleared.

The tea and oats before the suction test... (Image credit: Future)

... and after one forward and backward pass in Auto mode (Image credit: Future)

I then repeated the same test on a hard, tiled floor, with surprisingly poor results. Although the tea was whisked away in a single forwards pass, quite a few of the oats were pushed into a pile in front of the floorhead, or behind it when I tried to pull it back over them.

I then lifted the floorhead to position it on top of the spillage, and oats sprayed everywhere. The V16 coped well with picking up single oats after this mini-explosion, but any more than that proved a struggle.

Oats on and tea on the hard floor before the suction test (Image credit: Future)

The V16 cleared the tea but pushed some of the oats into a pile... (Image credit: Future)

... and then spat them over the floor when I lifted the floorhead (Image credit: Future)

Next, I did some side-by-side testing with the previous two models – and here the V16 fared worse still.

Below, from left to right on screen, are the V16, the Gen5detect, and the V15 Detect. On the floor are piles of oats and then loose tea. In the test, you can watch as I vacuum the oats and first pile of tea with each vacuum in Auto mode, then the second pile of tea in Boost mode.

The V16 is the last vacuum to clean each pile, and it leaves a strip of tea in both Auto and Boost modes, and scatters the oats a little. In contrast, both the V15 and Gen5detect clear all the piles with a single pass.

Edges

I also tested how well the V16 cleaned along the edges of rooms. As I've already stated, the shape of the front of the floorhead makes this trickier than it usually would be.

For this test, I put a pile of tea and oats along the edge of a room, and approached from the side. The V16 did a solid job of capturing the spillage, even the bits right next to the edge. The crevices seemed to help with the pooling issue, by providing a break in suction.

(Image credit: Future)

Hair

The V16 is specifically designed to be great at dealing with long hair – up to 25 inches / 63.5cm long, actually. That's part of the reason behind the 'Animal' in the name... although I don't know many pets with hair that long, unless someone out there is keeping a horse in the house.

I tested it out on my own hair, which is around armpit length, and also the (much shorter) hair of my Cocker Spaniel – and the good news is that I didn't end up with any hair tangled around the conical rollers. But here's the thing: I never had issues with hair tangling around the rollers on Dyson's old-style floorheads, either.

I've regularly used both a Gen5detect and V15, and both are perfectly good at avoiding hair wrap, at least with hair of my length. Perhaps those with truly Rapunzel-like locks will benefit from the supercharged detangling on offer with the V16.

I was also supplied with longer, synthetic hair to try out on the V16 in the Dyson labs in Malmesbury. Here, I found it worked very well when the hair was laid out neatly in front of the machine, but when faced with a clump of hair it tended to get stuck – either in the space behind the cones, or in the 'corner' of the suction tube.

App

The V16 Piston Animal is the first of Dyson's vacuums to be truly app-connected; older models can be connected to the MyDyson app, but only as a hub for How-to videos and explainers.

You should be able to use the app to change settings on the V16 (including toggling the laser on and off, and changing how Auto mode behaves), and view a cleaning summary.

Unfortunately at time of writing I didn't have any adjustment options available in my app, and my cleaning wasn't being recorded. I assume software updates down the line will add the promised app functionality.

• Performance score: 3.5 out of 5

Dyson V16 Piston Animal review: battery life

• Up to 70 minutes of cleaning in Eco mode; ~17 mins in Boost
• 3 hours 30 mins to recharge
• Removable and swappable battery

In the lowest mode (Eco) the V16 can last a quoted 1 hour and 10 minutes before needing to recharge. That's the same as the previous model (the Gen5detect) and up there with the longest runtimes on the market. There's also a Boost mode, which is just for the toughest of cleaning tasks. In my tests, the V16 lasted 16 minutes and 49 seconds in Boost.

Of course, most people aren't going to be using Eco mode or Boost mode on the regular. They'll be using Auto mode. This is probably the best feature, from a battery life point of view, because it means the machine is only using just enough power to clean effectively, based on the needs of the situation.

Recharge takes a quoted 3 hours and 30 minutes, which is a whole hour less then the two models below it in the Dyson lineup.

Finally, the V16 has a removable, swappable battery. That means you can, if you want, buy a backup battery to hot-swap for longer cleaning sessions. It's also good news for overall longevity, because on cordless vacuums it's often the battery that starts to fail first.

• Battery life score: 5 out of 5

Should you buy the Dyson V16 Piston Animal?

Attribute	Notes	Rating
Value	Ultra-premium, with high build quality and truly innovative features.	3.5 / 5
Design	Advanced stick vacuum with lots of unique features such as dust compression, quick-release tools and an anti-tangle floorhead.	4.5 / 5
Performance	Strong suction and the compression is very useful, but the floorhead is poorly designed for edges, and the V16 performed worse than older Dysons in my suction tests.	3.5 / 5
Battery	Up to an 70 minutes per charge, with strong runtimes in Boost mode too, the V16 is up there with the best in terms of battery.	5 / 5

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

Dyson V16 Piston Animal review: alternatives to consider

Model:	Dyson V16 Piston Animal	Dyson Gen5detect	Shark PowerDetect Cordless
Weight:	7.5 lbs / 3.4kg	7.7 lbs / 3.5kg	8lbs / 3.7kg
Bin size:	1.3L	0.77L	0.7L
Max runtime:	70 mins	70 mins	70 mins
Charge time:	3hrs 30	4hrs 30	4 hours
Filter:	99.9% to 0.1 microns	Whole-machine HEPA filtration	Felt + Washable Foam Filters plus HEPA Filter
Max suction:	315 AW	280AW	Not stated

How I tested the Dyson V16 Piston Animal

I tested the Dyson V16 Piston Animal in a four-floored house with lots of carpet, plus tiled and engineered wood floors. It's home to one long-haired and one short-haired human inhabitant and a Cocker Spaniel.

I ran a series of standard suction tests to see how it could handle fine (dry tea) and chunky (oats) debris on hard floors and carpet. I also ran the same tests alongside two older Dyson stick vacuums to see how the three compared. I also assessed how the V16 dealt with hair and cleaning along the edges of rooms, and timed how long it took to run the battery flat and recharge it again.

Aside from the controlled tests, I also used the V16 regularly for a fortnight, to get a general feel for how easy it was to wield, how effectively it cleaned and if there were any niggling issues. I downloaded and explored the app, and tested the different functions available there.