The 9 best vacuum cleaners as tried and tested on carpet and hard floors

There’s no one-size-fits-all when it comes to choosing the best vacuum cleaner for your home. Whether your ideal model is a compact cordless vacuum cleaner, a hard-working upright, or a self-sufficient robot vacuum, there’s a huge amount of choice. That's why our expert homes tester has rounded up the best options on the market, from popular brands such as Dyson, iRobot, and Shark, to help you make a decision.

The best vacuum for you will depend largely on what you need it to do—for example, if you have hardwood or carpet floors (or a mix of both), the size of your home, and what you intend to clean with it—for example, just floors, or perhaps cars and upholstery too.

We’ve selected and tested the best vacuum cleaners for every budget, including those suitable for pet hair, small homes, large homes, carpet, and hard floors. Because we spend so much time reviewing the best hair dryers at woman&home, brands like Shark and Dyson are team favourites! Each one has been assessed in terms of pick-up power, weight, extra features, emptying, maintenance, and how easy it is to use. That's how we complied this expert list, where your next vacuum cleaner is ready and waiting for you to pick it.

Our top 6

The best vacuum cleaner overall

The Dyson V15 Detect is a vacuum cleaner of wonder, with tech to make cleaning your home easier. The standout feature with the V15 is the Fluffy Optic cleaner head, which when used on hard floors illuminates dirt and dust that you can't see as you get around your home day to day. That means that honing in on certain areas for a deeper clean becomes so much easier.

Rather than one changeable floorhead for both carpet and hard floor, with the V15 you switch out to a dedicated carpethead. This, the Digital Motorbar cleaner head, is a hard worker in its own right. During testing, we found we never had to untangle pet hair or human hair from the brush roll, and the suction power it has on carpet is pretty extraordinary. 

The extra attachments pack a punch too. During testing our favourite was the hair screw tool, which almost acts as a miniature version of the Digital Motorbar head. It's divine for use on mattresses, sofas, stairs, and any other surface in your home, with no danger of hair getting wrapped in the attachment. 

As if that wasn't good enough, you can't deny that the bin mechanism on this Dyson vacuum is better than any other out there. Simply point the canister at your bin, press one button and everything inside will be pushed out with force, which means no more manual cleaning of the dust bin. 

The only downsides with this vacuum? The trigger can get a little tiring to hold down to operate after a while. And you might still consider the price astronomical despite all of this vacuum's strengths. 

Best Shark vacuum

If you’re looking for an adaptable vacuum cleaner, the Shark ICZ300UKT may well fit the bill. It’s as convenient for quick cleans (it converts into a handheld portable machine with an attachment) as well as whole-house vacuuming, with the power of a corded vacuum but in a cordless form. 

The battery sits low down, next to the dust cup, so that it’s light and versatile to steer—perfect for anyone who doesn’t like the top-heavy nature of some cordless sticks. Another reason this Shark model is our favourite is the amount of kit included—there's a dusting brush, crevice tool, motorized pet tool, and wide upholstery tool, with a handy bag to keep all the accessories together too. 

It has the ability to switch between carpet and hard floor, headlights, and three power levels. The quieter eco mode was all we needed to pick up dust and debris on hard floors, while standard worked well on fine dust on carpet. The boost mode was also great for picking up a few larger specks of debris. However, boost does run the battery power down quickly though, so use it sparingly. 

On the plus side, the display clearly shows battery power in percentage, so you can see how much is left which is a very handy feature. We liked that it has a good dust cup capacity for a cordless model and emptying was straightforward. Perhaps the only thing that could change is that the default setting is for carpet and standard power (not a previous selection), so you’d have to change it each time to eco mode, if you wanted to preserve battery power.

Best vacuum for pet hair

If the thought of lugging around a heavy vac puts you off the idea of a corded model, the H-Upright 300 should settle that doubt. That’s because it weighs less than 5kg (excluding cable and tools), so you can carry it easily without breaking a sweat. 

It’s easy to navigate around a crowded home thanks to a floor head that allows it to swivel by up to 80 degrees, and has a capacious bin for the size of the machine. Its controls are more basic than some, but still helpful—there’s a button for switching the brushes on and off depending on your floor type, as well as a slider switch on the front for adjusting the suction for hard floors or carpet.

Its two tools clip onto the machine—there’s a 3-in-1 tool that transforms from crevice to upholstery or dusting, as well as a mini turbo brush that we found brilliant for cleaning pet hair from a sofa. 

And while this vacuum doesn’t convert into a handheld, it does allow you to add the tube handle to the hose to extend its reach, which was great for tricky corners. In testing, the H-Upright 300 needed just one pass for picking up dust and debris on hard floors, and a couple on carpet with the brushes in use, so overall its cleaning performance was excellent. 

We also liked that the bin clipped off easily, ejected cleanly with no mess and only a few dust clumps hung on inside the machine (but these were easily brushed away). On top of all of that, this is a total bargain, at around the £150 mark, so if it's a simple value for money buy you need, this is a no-brainer.

Best affordable vacuum

For those who want a cordless model on a budget, the VAX ONEPWR Evolve could be the one for you. It’s a compact stick model with a seriously inexpensive pricetag that's tailor made for dealing with everyday dust and dirt. 

It is missing the full kit that makes other vacuums on this list better overall and more expensive, such as a crevice tool or attachments for cleaning the stairs and furniture, but the suction on hard floors and carpet is perfectly passable. 

This vacuum did a great job during testing thanks to the lightweight design, which we'd also recommend for older or less able users, as it's simply so easy to push around. There are other conveniences too, such as the large dustbin and the fact that you can just pop the ONEPWR battery on charge, rather than having to wire up the entire unit to gain power. 

Overall, we were happy with the performance, but if you want the whole package when it comes to attachments and you're prepared to spend a little more, then you may want to look elsewhere. 

Best lightweight vacuum

For a lightweight cordless vac that does more than floors, look no further than Bosch’s Unlimited ProHome BCS612GB. Its range of specialist tools gives it more versatility than many that come with standard accessories, making it ideal for rooms beyond the lounge. 

It’s especially suitable for bedrooms, equipped with a flat scraper-style nozzle for cleaning mattresses and a long, flexible crevice tool that we found invaluable for reaching behind furniture, into the corners of a wardrobe and underneath the bed. Plus as a handheld, it only weighs 1.4kg. 

There’s also an XXL nozzle—perfect for quickly getting around an upholstered bed, and two batteries. The batteries are compatible with other products from Bosch’s cordless range, but even though they detach, they need to be charged on the machine, so you can only have one powering up at once. It also comes with a wall mount with space for two tools, but there’s no on-board storage, so you’ll need to remember to take the right one with you.

Controls are straightforward—there’s a trigger for on and off that doesn’t need to be held down and a turbo button. We used normal power for hard floors and it performed excellently, sucking up both dust and debris with a single pass. This power level was less effective on carpet, when it tended to drag on a backward pass and needed the turbo mode to pick up remaining dust and debris. The dust bin was easy to detach, if messy to empty, as the filter had to be removed first. But on the plus side, there’s nowhere for dust to gather so emptying was otherwise a simple process.

Best vacuum for carpet

Given that so many vacuums are bagless, it’s easy to forget how good a bagged vacuum can be when it’s designed well. The Felix is one such vacuum, equipped with a huge capacity, excellent filtration and bags that securely seal before being removed, making it perfect for allergy sufferers. 

Another of its clever features is that it’ll let you know when the brush bar is in the right position for the floor type, using a series of lights, so you can be sure that each clean is the most thorough it can be. The brushes can be switched off with a button push, so you can protect delicate floors or simply save power when you don’t need them. 

Other features we appreciated were the height-adjustable handle—great for anyone who struggles with too tall or too short models—and the attachment clip that stores both the crevice tool and upholstery nozzle on-board.

The Felix is controlled by a slider to scroll from low to max power, with a dial for adjusting the brush height. We found that 1 was good for hard floors and 4 for our deep pile carpet. 

However, it’s not the most intuitive vacuum to use in general and the instructions are lengthy, which is something to note. It swiveled around corners well but was quite heavy to push around, especially as the bag filled up. 

Overall, we were impressed by its performance—only one pass was needed on the lowest power level for dust and debris on hard flooring, and the same for dust on carpet, which was a revelation, and makes it firmly our best vacuum for carpet choice. Only a second pass was needed for debris on soft flooring. Perhaps the only thing on the wishlist would be a longer hose, as we found vacuuming low down meant the machine could tip over.

Best budget vacuum

Cutting away clumps of hair from a vacuum brush must rank in the most hated household jobs—so if you'd prefer to avoid that, choose the appealingly budget-friendly Bisselll Multireach Active 21V cordless vacuum. 

It has a large tangle-free brush roll that stops hair wrapping around it, so it gets sucked up instead, which is super handy. Plus, it comes with a crevice tool and an upholstery tool with rubber teeth so it can clean away pet hair—we found this very effective on both furniture and stairs. There’s no on-board storage for these but they can be stored on the wall bracket. Headlights for spotting dirt, and the fact that it can convert into a powerful handheld vac are also big pros.

There are a few niggles though. One is that the battery can’t be removed for charging, so after 30 minutes, you’ll have to wait for it to power up again before use. 

What's more, the Multireach Active 21V also doesn’t stand up by itself, which is a pain if you need to stop while cleaning. Another is that there are only two cleaning power options—hard floors or carpet—with no boost or eco mode. 

That said, it excelled on hard floors in testing, picking up dust and debris with a couple of passes. And while dust needed multiple passes to pick it all up, debris only needed a couple of passes for it to be visibly gone.

Best wet dry vacuum cleaner

The latest release from Dyson's vacuum lineup, the Dyson V15s Detect Submarine combines both a wet and dry roller to easily mop hard floors and transition into powerful carpet cleaning with ease. We're big fans of the original V15, and this amped-up model is a great alternative if you want an all-rounder and live in a home with a range of floor types. 

We were impressed at how much the Submarine brush head could handle. Whether it was fresh spills or day-old soup splashes on the kitchen floor, it blitzed through even dried-on messes. Its small water tank was no issue for our test kitchen, but we'd caution that its dirty water tank can fill up very fast if your entire home is hard-floored, so keep an eye to prevent it from overflowing. 

Wet attachment aside, you get Dyson's iconic fuffy roller attachment with this vacuum, which illuminates hidden dust on hard floors to ensure you don't miss a single spot. You can also switch to the Digital Motorbar cleaner for high-powered cleaning that works best on deep carpet, pulling out dust we didn't even know was there. 

Best robot vacuum cleaner

For a more effective pick-up than many robot vacuums, choose the iRobot Roomba S9+. It’s large and expensive, but it has a lot to offer for the price—solid build quality, great cleaning on different floor types and a convenient automatic emptying system.

 What also sets it apart is the mapping function, allowing it to know where it’s cleaned and where it needs to go, giving you more control over which areas are vacuumed using the app, which makes cleaning very easy for you. For example, rather than vacuum a whole floor every day, it can be programmed to clean high-traffic areas daily. Or, as it is Alexa and Google Home-compatible, you can ask it to clean a specific space. 

Once it’s finished, it’ll empty itself into a bagged base station automatically—meaning once it’s set up, you may only have to think about it once a month. This means it's as handy for busy families as it is for busy professionals who are out of the house often.

The Roomba S9+ features a Quiet clean setting and a more powerful Detailed mode that’s ideal for carpet. We found that it handled dust and debris on hard floors with ease in Quiet, and debris on the carpet well, whilst on the Detailed setting. Dust on carpet was more of a challenge, with some ingrained dust left behind. But overall, it was the best dust pick-up we’d seen by a robot vac on soft flooring.

How we tested the best vacuums

To help you find the best vacuum cleaner, our selection includes larger and compact vacuums at a range of price points, from good-value cordless models to more expensive, high-tech machines. You’ll find the most popular brands as well as a few newer names too.

Each vacuum cleaner has been tested on a number of criteria. This included:

• Design—including its dimensions and weight, which would in turn affect how easy the vacuum was to maneuver and store.
• Additional tools and attachments—our expert assessed how easy they were to clip on and detach, whether there was storage for them on the vacuum, and their general usefulness when using the product.
• Ease of use—we also looked at how simple the vacuum was to put together, how intuitive the controls were, and what it was like to use over an extended period of time.
• Cleaning power and performance—arguably the most important factor, our tester spent hours assessing the cleaning power for each model, using both fine dust and larger debris on hard and soft floors, testing in its standard mode unless otherwise noted.
• Value for money—like the best air purifiers, vacuums can be pricey, so we judged whether the more expensive models were worth the money, or whether a more affordable option provided as good an experience.

FAQs

What vacuum cleaner do professionals use?

Like chefs with the best induction pans, we all want to know what the professionals actually use in their own homes when it comes to appliances. When it comes to choosing a vacuum, professional cleaners and cleaning companies tend to prize reliability, durability and a solid performance over other factors (such as design, extra tools and storage), with many preferring:

• Numatic’s hard-wearing Henry Hoover machine
• Miele’s cabled and bagged models
• Dyson’s cordless vacuum cleaners

It's also interesting to know that Sebo makes a wide range of vacuum cleaners for the commercial market (including hotels, airports and hospitals) and uprights for professional use, often including similar features and technology on its domestic models, such as the Sebo Felix reviewed above.

However, while these models are expert-approved, it's worth noting that they aren't always right for domestic homes (as opposed to large corporate buildings, where cleaning teams tend to be employed mostly). Whether you want to know how to deep clean a carpet or how to clean an upholstered chair, the vacuums within this guide should be more than powerful enough to tackle any hoovering job you have. 

Are expensive vacuums worth it?

Up to a certain point, the price of a vacuum cleaner corresponds to its build quality (with more durable parts) and how many added extras are included. For example, a £300 vacuum cleaner is likely to last longer than one that costs around £100, and should offer more versatility. 

However, at the more expensive end of the market, price is more of an indicator of how much technology is packed in, meaning you’ll find features such as app compatibility, voice control, digital displays, and sensors. They may do a slightly better job of cleaning, or make some jobs more convenient. Whether the price makes it worth it depends on how much you value those high-end features in your regular cleaning routine.