That’s why I decided that when I reviewed the Bissell ICONpet Cordless Vacuum, I was going to wait a solid 6 months to deliver my review. Here we are, 6 months later, and I’m ready to give you a thorough, honest review of this vacuum cleaner. 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.
We updated this article in March 2023 to provide additional testing information. We included one additional product, the ICONpet Edge Cordless Vacuum. Pet hair is sneaky, but the Bissell’s LED lights show no mercy. Pet dander lingers, but it’s nothing the Motorized TurboBrush can’t handle. Good Housekeeping participates in various affiliate marketing programs, which means we may get paid commissions on editorially chosen products purchased through our links to retailer sites.
To measure the results, we weigh the vacuum’s dust bin both before and after each run. The Pure One S11’s black-and-white build is perhaps a bit bland, and we wish that it offered a bit more than 40 minutes of runtime under optimal conditions. Still, those are fair trade-offs at this price, especially considering how well it cleans. At $400 or less, it’s the first cordless vacuum we’d recommend for just about anyone in need of a new one. Head to the end of this guide to get some more information on how we test vacuum cleaners and why you can trust Good Housekeeping.
Currently, our top-recommended cordless vacuum overall, the Tineco Pure One S11, offers 130 air watts of suction power. Meanwhile, our top performance pick with the best overall suction is the Dyson V15 Detect, which offers an advertised 230 air watts of suction bissell vacuum cleaner power. This vacuum is engineered with a Tangle-Free Brush Roll, so you don’t have to worry about that annoying hair that gets wrapped around the brushes of other vacuums. The powerful lithium-ion battery provides up to 30 minutes of cordless cleaning.
As you can see, the Dyson V15 Detect is our top overall cleaner in these sand tests, but note that the Samsung Jet 90 actually outperformed it by a considerable margin on thick, plushy mid-pile carpet. Sucking sand out of carpets like those is a real challenge — most of the vacuums we test can’t even remove 80% of the stuff when all is said and done. If you have thick carpets like those in your home, it’s definitely worth a look. The last time we updated our list of the best cordless vacuums, we pointed to the Tineco A11 Hero as an outstanding midrange option.
While testing, we found that it still has many of the same attributes as some more expensive cordless stick vacs like a long run time, a variety of helpful attachments and variable suction levels. The tangle-free brush roll helps prevent hair from wrapping around it while cleaning, and the full-width suction means you’ll find an easier time getting those tight corners clean. We also appreciate that it includes a crevice and dusting brush tool so you can remove dirt from even the smallest spaces. It was our No. 1 finisher on low-pile carpet, with a sand score of 93% and another perfect 100% with the black rice. It’s a strong performer on plushier, mid-pile carpet, too, which is our most difficult test. The Pure One S11 finished in third here, gathering up 78% of the sand and, once again, 100% of the black rice.
This model does its best on hard floors, particularly when picking up crumbs. It struggles on carpeting though, gliding over the surface without necessarily picking anything up behind it. It also struggles on pet hair and might not be the best option if you suffer from allergies because it lacks proper filtration. Bissell offers vacuums across a number of different varieties, including upright, cordless, stick, robotic, and canister.
BISSELL vacuums tend to be affordably priced and use bagless designs that keep recurring costs down. Unfortunately, they aren’t usually the best choice for all-out cleaning performance and can feel cheaply made. I would say that the battery life on this vacuum is about what I would expect from a cordless vacuum. This vacuum does allow you to adjust bissell handheld vacuum the suction to 3 different levels (which means 3 different levels of power used). When I use the vacuum it lasts much longer for me because I do adjust it when I’m on the hard floor surfaces as opposed to the carpet where it needs to be on full power. When my younger kids are using it, they don’t really remember to adjust for this feature yet.