Introduction

Cordless vacuum cleaners are the easiest way to keep your home clean, giving you grab and go portability without having to faff around with plugs. Thanks to recent advances in technology, cordless cleaners now come in a wide range of shapes and sizes, designed to suit all kinds of users and jobs. With the power and battery life on offer, you can even buy models suitable for whole home cleaning, so that you don’t even need a traditional plug-in vacuum cleaner any more.

Of course, if you still want full power of a plug-in model, you can check out our guide to the best vacuum cleaners, and if you want to put your feet up, then check out our guide to the best robot vacuum cleaners.

There’s a huge range of cordless vacuum cleaners, depending on what you want. If you want to replace that old plug-in cleaner, you’re looking at a flagship model with long battery life and powerful suction; if you want a cordless cleaner to complement a plug-in one, then less battery life and power will work for you.

Then, there are handheld cleaners: grab and go models with short battery life but powerful suction, designed for quickly tidying up a small mess, such as after you’ve prepared a meal.

Form factor is important, too. Most cordless vacuum cleaners are stick cleaners: you hold the vacuum and attach accessories to the long wand. This form factor works well for most, but it does mean you have to hold the heaviest part of the vacuum cleaner. If you want something easier to use, then a cordless upright cleaner may make more sense.

We review all of our vacuum cleaners based on the target audience and job they’re designed for. We measure cleaning quality, testing how well each vacuum can deal with the mess on the carpet and hard floors, and how well they can clean up to the edges of rooms. We also test with pet hair. Cleaning ability is the most important factor when choosing a cordless model.

We test raw power in airwatts (AW). Most cordless cleaners have a low power mode, designed to maximise battery life, but the suction here is often so low as to be unusable. It’s better to focus on the mid-range power setting, which should be around 65 to 85AW on average. This is less than on a plug-in cleaner, but cordless models make up for lower suction with smart floor heads that use spinning brushes to agitate dirt to be sucked up. Most cordless cleaners have a higher-power ‘boost’ mode, which should top out at 180AW to 200AW or more. This mode kills battery life but if gives you maximum suction for the occasional tough job.

We also measure battery life, as that’s hugely important for all cordless models. But, don’t just look at the figures, read our advice: a rubbish cordless cleaner with long battery life is worse than an excellent cleaner with shorter battery life. Ultimately, it’s about how far you can clean on a charge, rather than the battery life as such. We’ll make that clear in our reviews.

In this list, we’ve got all of the best cordless vacuum cleaners for every budget and need.

Best cordless vacuums at a glance

How we test

Learn more about how we test vacuum cleaners

Every vacuum cleaner that we test goes through exactly the same tests. We use both real-world tests and technical measurements to tell the good from the bad. First, we measure suction power in Air Watts (AW), which is a combination of suction and airflow. This lets us compare the raw power of each cleaner.

Actual performance depends on a lot of factors including the quality of the accessories and the ability of a vacuum to agitate dirt. For that reason, we take before and after pictures of dust collection on carpet, hard floors and with pet hair.

We don’t weigh the before and after results, as this test is notoriously difficult to do properly, as vacuum cleaners will pick up fibres from the floor that will add to the weight collected. And, without a super-sensitive set of scales it’s impossible to measure fine differences between machines.

If you want to learn more, please visit our detailed page about how we test vacuum cleaners.

Dyson V15 Detect

The best cordless vacuum cleaner

Pros

  • Laser highlights dirt on hard floors
  • Anti-tangle heads
  • Smart automatic mode
  • Tonnes of accessories

Cons

  • Laser only works on hard floors
  • Expensive


The Dyson V15 Detect is about more than raw power, although it has this in spades: it’s about making vacuuming easier and more efficient. With its excellent range of tools, laser dust highlighter, brilliant battery life and top-notch cleaning, this is the overall best cordless vacuum cleaner, and one that’s capable of replacing a plug-in model.

Let’s talk about that laser first. Available on the hard-floor head only, it shines a green laser to highlight dirt on the floor. In our review we found that this worked brilliantly, highlighting dirt on floors that looked clean to the naked eye, and directing us to clean more thoroughly.

It’s a shame that there’s not something similar for the carpet head. We were pleased to see that Dyson has finally added anti-tangle tech to this head: we’ve not had it clog with hair since starting to use it. In the box, you get a great selection of tools, including a mini tool (anti hair wrap), which is great for sofas and stairs, a brilliant dusting brush that we use in preference to a dusting cloth, and a crevice tool for detail work. There’s a clip on the cleaner’s wand for one accessory, and the charging dock will hold two more.

Using technology from its fan purifiers, the V15 detect shows you on its LCD the level of dirt it’s collecting, and it uses that information to adjust motor power on the fly. We found that it worked brilliantly, upping power for very dusty areas and dropping down for cleaner parts of the floor.

Power fluctuating all of the time makes battery testing hard, but we think you’ll get up to 40 minutes of usable battery life, which we found was enough to clean our entire home.

In terms of power, we measured the mid-power mode at 99AW, which is at the top of what we’d expect from a cordless model. Turbo mode came in at 281AW: that’s true plug-in power, although you’ll only get around 10-minutes of battery life, so use this mode sparingly.

Fortunately, the LCD shows battery life in minutes on the back, which made us more confident in using this cleaner, as we could see exactly how long it would run for.

Weighing just 3.08kg, this is actually one of the lightest cordless vacuum cleaners, so easy to use even for long periods.

If you want to replace plug-in with cordless, then the Dyson V15 Detect is the pinnacle of cordless technology.


Reviewer: David Ludlow
Read the full review: Dyson V15 Detect review

Shark Anti Hair Wrap Cordless Upright Vacuum Cleaner with PowerFins, Powered Lift-Away & TruePet ICZ300UKT

The best upright cordless vacuum cleaner

Pros

  • Very flexible
  • Replaceable batteries
  • Great selection of tools

Cons

  • No onboard tool storage

As good as cordless stick vacuum cleaners are, they all take a bit more effort to hold and use than a regular upright cleaner, as they put all of their weight in your hand. Not so with the Shark ICZ300UKT, which packs all of its power into a traditional upright form factor. With the performance to match plug-in models, this is our top choice for anyone that wants the convenience of a cordless cleaner with the ease of use of a plug-in model.

Coming in at 6.2kg, the ICZ300UKT is a little heavier than most cordless vacuum cleaners, although that shouldn’t matter too much, as we rarely had to lift it. As this is an upright, we just hit the power button, tilted the handle back and pushed the vacuum cleaner around. In that regard, this vacuum is lighter and easier to use than plug-in upright cleaners. Don’t forget the other advantage that this style of vacuum has: it stands upright by itself.

We love the position of the controls, too. For this model, they’ve been relocated from the cleaner’s body to the handle, just where our thumb goes. Toggling power and changing mode has never been so easy.

We found the ICZ300UKT easy to push around, and it’s far more nimble than you may think. That large 0.6-litre bin sticks out the front, which we found got in the way of the vacuum cleaner getting under dining chairs. Fortunately, this cleaner has Shark’s Lift-Away trick.

Hit the button on the side, and the cylinder lifts out, so you can use the long hose and floor head (or attachments) to get under furniture, tackle stairs, or get into tighter areas. We thought that this made the ICZ300UKT one of the most flexible cordless vacuum cleaners that we’ve tested.

From Shark’s plug-in range, the ICZ300UKT inherits the DuoClean floor head. This has both a soft roller and a brush, so it works just as well on hard floors as carpets, and you don’t have to switch heads as you do with a Dyson vacuum cleaner. It also has Shark’s Anti Hair wrap technology: try as we did, we never found any hair wrapped around the brush, even in a house with several people with long hair.

On the most useful middle level of power, we measured the cleaner at 57AW, which is towards the lower end of what we’d expect; on its high mode, power jumps to a more respectable 185AW: that’s plug-in levels of power for tough mess.

Fortunately, the medium power level combined with the efficient floor head proved good enough for most jobs. On carpet, a single sweep picked up dirt and pet hair, and only edge performance could be better (we had to get the last bits with the crevice tool. Hard floor performance was flawless.

Battery life is around 30 minutes on medium power, which should see you get through most of a house clean, given the power on offer. There’s a removable battery, so technically you could buy a second one if you wanted to extend run time.

Our minor complaint about this model is that while it has a lot of tools, there’s no onboard storage, so you need to find room to keep them all.

There are more powerful cleaners in this round-up, but if you want an upright cleaner but without the hassle of plugs, this is a great choice.

Shark Premium Handheld Vacuum WV270UK

The best handheld vacuum

Pros

  • Powerful
  • Decent battery life
  • Neat charging dock

Cons

  • No motorised tools

For those smaller jobs where you need a grab-and-go cleaner, the Shark Premium Handheld Vacuum WV270UK is a great choice at a superb price. Delivering more power (we measured it at 75AW max, which is the same power as a regular cordless on its standard mode) via two selectable modes, and a decent 15-minute runtime, this is a compact vacuum cleaner with the power to compete with a full-sized model.

Although the vacuum can be used without attachments, Shark provides two additional tools in the box: a crevice tool with a flip-down brush for dusting, and an upholstery tool for cleaning soft furnishings. There’s no motorised pet tool, however. The small 0.1-litre bin doesn’t sound particularly big, but it’s actually roomy enough for the types of jobs for which the WV270UK is built.

Its power makes the WV270UK a super-capable cleaner. It’s useful for small jobs, such as picking up spilt food. The WV251UK picked up every grain of rice from a worktop, with the boost mode making the job even faster. It also performed admirably in our carpet tests, while the upholstery brush

Battery life on standard power was just over 15 minutes in my tests, while it lasts for 10mins 38secs on the highest power setting. That’s almost double the standard battery life of the original, which is impressive.

Reviewer: David Ludlow
Full Review: Shark Premium Handheld Vacuum WV270UK review

Beldray Airlite Cordless Graphite BEL01096

The best budget handheld cordless vacuum cle

Pros

  • Great value
  • Cleans well but slowly
  • Nice charging dock

Cons

  • Low suction
  • Fiddly to empty

If you want a quick grab-and-go handheld vacuum cleaner that won’t break the bank, the Beldray Airlite Cordless Graphite BEL01096 is for you.

It certainly doesn’t skimp on features with a charging dock on offer (as opposed to a plug-in power adapter, which we were expecting to see), as well as a handy 2-in-1 tool for cleaning that works as both a dusting brush and crevice tool. Moreover, at just 580g, it’s also an especially lightweight option and one that made cleaning a pleasure. Getting started with the Airlite is as easy as ever, with a single power button that controls cleaning modes – press once to turn the vacuum on, press twice for high-speed mode, and pressing it a third time will turn the cleaner off.

There isn’t a battery indicator here to portray how much charge is left, which at this price, is a minor issue. A 0.1 litre bin is fine considering this cleaner is designed for smaller jobs, but the emptying process is a little fiddly given the mess it may create if not done properly.

High power suction of 19AW is comparatively low when pitted up against other cleaners, although don’t let that discourage you from considering this vacuum. In our real world testing, the Airlite offered decent performance for flour and rice, picking it up in smaller lots at a measured pace. It didn’t deal all too well with pet hair given the lower suction. A noise level of 74dB on average makes this a noisy vacuum, but that level isn’t too out of the ordinary for handheld options, while the 20-25 minutes of battery life is decent for tackling a good quantity of smaller jobs.

Reviewer: David Ludlow

Full review: Beldray Airlite Cordless Graphite

Samsung Bespoke Jet

The best cordless vacuum for all-round cleaning