This 6-in-1 budget cordless stick vacuum punches well above its price tag, with features that are similar to options that cost twice as much, or more. Another standout feature is the cleaning tool’s easy-to-maneuver steering that allows you to reach multiple angles around furniture and into corners. For an even better clean, the Shark device has LED lights on the bottom of the floor vacuum, as well as the head of the handheld, so you can reveal hidden debris. While it lacked gold-star status in the suction and battery-life test, the trusty Black+Decker Dustbuster reigned supreme in our real-life floor-mat test. Black+Decker’s renowned portable vacuum features a large mouth that had zero issues cleaning up all five of our test contaminants—just the sort of mess that’s often found on a car floorboard. The opening was wide enough to avoid clogs and the collection chamber handled it all with ease.
Our favorite high-end vacuums do an excellent job of sucking up allergens and irritants—and keeping them contained during disposal. The battery only lasted 14 minutes on the speed boost setting but when using a mix of speeds across different surfaces it ran for a respectable 34 minutes. Bringing its signature smiley face to stick vacs for the first time, this offering from Numatic impressed on test. It’s nimble to use, felt well-balanced and light, and glided effortlessly across every surface we tried it on.
You might have noticed The Spruce Approved badge next to the products on this list. Every product with this badge has been rigorously tested in person and carefully selected by our expert team of lab testers and editors. In most cases, we buy all these products ourselves, though occasionally, we get samples provided to us directly by companies.
Well, it never hurts to have a HEPA filter on a vacuum, but they’re overkill for many people. Also, a vacuum can come equipped with a HEPA filter but have mediocre overall filtration, if the transfer points throughout the vacuum don’t have rubber gaskets. So don’t be fooled into paying extra just because a vacuum has a dyson robot vacuum HEPA filter. Praised by nearly everyone as excellent, this nimble canister vacuum works on any kind of flooring, runs quiet, and should last for decades. It’s great for those with asthma and allergies, but it requires bags. Hannah helps to uncover the best cleaning hacks too, with a focus on easy, natural solutions.
Back up important files securely with the WD easystore desktop hard drive. Its 14TB capacity provides ample space for archives and videos, while the USB 3.0 connectivity means you can plug into most Windows and Mac devices. Standing 6.7 by 2 by 5.5 inches (HWD), the 2-pound HDD comes with a two-year warranty, as well as WD’s Discovery backup software for setting hourly, daily, or monthly backup schedules.
In terms of effectiveness, it captured all the hair and debris in our testing area in fewer than five passes. That said, there are plenty of other perfectly capable cordless vacuums that we can recommend, too. To find them, we’ve spent countless hours testing the top models from brands like Shark, Bissell, Dyson, Tineco, Eureka and Samsung at the CNET Home product testing lab in Louisville, Kentucky.
These easy-to-use vacuum models deliver on performance and value, leaving your home spotless in a hurry. Due to its simple usability, light weight, and powerful suction, the Eufy shark cordless by Anker HomeVac H30 is our choice for quickly taking care of small messes in your car. A small dust bin (one that can only hold a handful of ounces) should be just fine.
The company claims it has saved over 180,000 pets, which is right on brand for a handheld vacuum that leans hard into cleaning up after furry creatures. For Pet HairWe embed 1 gram of Maine coon cat hair in a medium-pile carpet and then see how many strokes it takes to remove it, with a maximum of five. We note the number of strokes and see how much fur, if any, is left behind on the carpet or in the brush roll. If you want a cordless vacuum that fully replaces a plug-in, a high-end Dyson is as close as it gets.
Interestingly, that shortlist of perfect-rated cleaners includes two of our value picks, the Shark Rocket Pet Pro and the Moosoo XL-618. Neither one was a standout with sand (in fact, the Moosoo model was among the worst in those tests), but with larger crumbs at least, both are perfectly capable. Shark excels at offering cordless vacuums that are multifunctional, or at least very flexible and maneuverable. Each model offers different options, but as a whole, Shark provides versatility.
But if you know you’ll use your vacuum on bigger messes, you’ll probably want a larger dust bin—one that can hold around 15 ounces—so you won’t have to empty it as often. Hundreds of shoppers have given the vacuum a perfect rating, with some saying that the “small but mighty” cordless vacuum is “excellent for daily cleaning.” Here are the best performers of each type of stick vacuum—corded and cordless—listed in alphabetical order. For all vacuum types, see our full vacuum ratings and recommendations.