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Upright vacuums are a dusty anachronism. Sure, there are still plenty of them at your local big box store. You might even have one in your closet right now. But when it comes to cleaning up messes quickly, if your house is anything like mine, you pass up that awkward floor vac for a nimble stick vacuum every time.
Where stick vacs used to sacrifice suction power for convenience, they now pick up just as much as larger vacuums. And because they’re so much smaller and more nimble, they can be used in more spaces.
So if your ready to ditch your dust-bunny wrangler for something a little more svelte, here are the best cordless stick vacuums:
Dyson V11
Look up stick vacuums online and you’ll see a lot of vacs with names that you’ve never heard of. The one thing they all have in common? They’re all trying to look as close to a Dyson vacuum as they can without getting hit by a patent infringement lawsuit. Not only does Dyson make some of the most effective vacuums on the planet, they also make some of the best looking. It was the British design company that made “sexy” vacuums a thing in the first place some 20-odd years ago. But there’s a reason that Dyson has stuck around. Because while they make, admittedly, good-looking machines, they also outperform other devices on the market.
The Dyson V11 is the latest in a long line of handheld vacuums that convert to a stick vac with a rotating brushhead (or from a stick vac to a handheld vac, depending on your point of view). As with every new generation of Dyson vacs, the V11 has more suction power than ever before (40% more than the V8). What makes the Dyson V11 upgrade-worthy though is its intelligence. It actually senses whether you’re vacuuming on a hard or soft surface and adjusts the suction accordingly. And you’ll be glad that it does, because turning the vacuum on to full suction and then trying to roll it over a hardwood floor is an instant workout. It picks up as much dirt as a full-sized Dyson vacuum cleaner, if not more.
The handy LCD on the back of the unit tells you what suction mode you’re in and how much run time you have left. When you switch from Eco to Boost, the battery image changes from green to red—and you’ll see the time drop dramatically. That LCD will also walk you through maintenance tasks when there are airway clogs and remind you when it’s time to clean the permanent filters.
Depending on what model V11 you get, there will be a variety of attachments, some of which you can store on the wand, others that you can keep in the drop-in base. Switching out attachments is easy, making converting between stick vac and handheld modes a breeze.
I know that Dyson often gets dinged for reliability, but, honestly, it’s not an issue I’ve ever experienced. I owned the old DC16 (Dyson’s first handheld vacuum) and their first Animal vac back in the early 2000s. I only upgraded to newer Dysons in the past couple of years—and both older vacs still worked admirably.
If you’re on the fence because of the price, the Dyson V11 will serve you for years without issue. About the only thing you’ll have to worry about is lusting after the inevitable V12.
Shark APEX
If Dyson is the supermodel you lust after, Shark is the one to end up with. Its design is decent, ticking all the form factor boxes. But the performance is on par, if not slightly better, than Dyson. The thing that impresses me about Shark is that they’re not afraid to try new things. For instance, the APEX has a brush head that’s constantly combing itself, breaking up long hairs and keeping them from getting tangled on the roller. Anyone who’s owned a vacuum can tell you, long hair tangles are absolutely horrendous and, if left unattended, can completely kill a machine.
The APEX has excellent suction and dual brush rolls, letting it easily handle large and small particles, especially on hard surfaces. It can also convert to a handheld vac. The only issue is that it’s corded. So why is it on a cordless list? First, it’’ half the price of the Dyson. Second, it’s cheaper to own over the life of the device. Third, it moves like it’s cordless. Finally, until Shark comes out with its new line of cordless vacs later this year, it’s the only way to get a self-cleaning head.
Shark IONFlex
If you’re looking for that same Shark innovation but in a cordless model, grab the IONFlex. It has the same dual brush rolls as the APEX (but without the self-cleaning, sadly) and the ability to bend the wand so that you can reach under furniture without having to pretzel yourself into position. That flexible wand also lets you fold the vacuum over on itself, letting it stand in place wherever you’d like to park it. It’s a great feature, and I wish other manufacturers would adopt it. The IONFlex also comes with two batteries so that you don’t have to interrupt your weekend cleaning session while your vacuum recharges. Even better, you can finish up the house with one battery, then detach the wand, pop in a new battery, and go clean the car with the IONFlex in handheld mode. It may not have the smarts of the Dyson, but for $200 less, it doesn’t need to. The IONFlex gets the job done, and that’s what counts.
