The best vacuum cleaners 2022

This is a great product, at a great price, particularly when compared to market-leading brands. Capsule is an independently designed and produced vacuum cleaner, the creation of an engineer with two decades of industry experience.

Cordless, manoeuvrable and very light at 2.6kg – thanks to its carbon-fibre shell – it has the power of an upright and some very nice design features that set it apart from competitors.

Its specifications are also an improvement on those of rival products. Capsule needs three hours to charge its lithium-ion batteries and after that will run for at least half an hour without a loss of suction. It also has a dust-collection capacity of 1.6 litres.

Replacement parts are easily available and Capsule’s makers encourage you to send it in for servicing, so it’s both environmentally friendly and budget friendly as well. 

There are no bells and whistles, just solid cleaning power. We’d highly recommended it for smaller homes, flats or as a versatile handheld.   

The latest Dyson vacuum cleaner not only ups the power (from the V11’s 185AW to 240AW) but adds totally new technology in the form of a green laser, which illuminates dust that would otherwise be invisible to the naked eye. Bear in mind that this is only effective on hard floors, not on carpets.

But that’s not all. A piezo sensor links to the LCD screen, showing the size and volume of dust particles captured, allowing you to see exactly how much dirt you’ve sucked up. Is it a bit of a gimmick? Maybe, but it’s pretty addictive to use and gives you a sense of a job well done. The screen also displays arguably more useful info, such as the battery life and troubleshooting help.

On the minus side, the battery will only last you for about 20 minutes if you’re using the High Torque head in Auto mode and it then takes 4.5 hours to charge. A second battery will solve this problem but will add to the V15 Detect’s already significant price.

Samsung’s latest cordless cleaner is the Bespoke take on its Jet vacuum cleaner.

The Bespoke Jet builds on all the features that made the Jet 90 a really effective cleaner: it’s powerful, modular, comes with well-designed cleaning accessories, has a swappable battery, digital display and washable filter. It’ll give you 50 minutes of cleaning time on its lowest setting and will charge in 3.5 hours.

But the real selling point of the Bespoke is the fact that you won’t need to find a dark corner to store it. The completely redesigned dock is slim and attractive, and it not only charges the cleaner but will empty it via suction as well. 

Our only issue with the vacuum itself is that it feels heavier than its 6lbs (2.72lbs with its main cleaning head), something that’s compounded by its uncomfortable grip.

But we do have to take issue with Samsung’s definition of Bespoke: in the UK, you can’t just choose the colour option you’d like from Woody Green, Midnight Blue and Misty White – each of the three colour options is a different model with a different price point and accessories. 

Corded vacuum cleaners are making it back into this round-up as brands are releasing more innovative designs. That’s certainly the case with Miele’s Boost CX1, a corded vacuum cleaner with many of the design features of a cordless, including a bagless system, adjustable wand length and 360° manoeuvrability. 

It’s a very compact canister vacuum (its body can sit within the footprint of an open magazine) with impressive suction and an automatically retracting cord. 

It telescoping wand means you’ll be able to remove cobwebs from your ceilings with the vacuum on the floor. However, even though it has a useful carry handle on top, it’ll still feel heavy if your stairs aren’t deep enough to stand it on while you vacuum. And, although it has the power to clean carpets, it’s not as easy to use as it is on hard flooring. 

Still, if you have a smaller place and are looking for a compact alternative to a corded vacuum, with better cleaning power, this well-made, well-priced appliance should be a contender.

The Shark Anti Hair Wrap Duo Clean Cordless Vacuum Cleaner (IZ201) has pretty much everything you could want in a vacuum cleaner, except for a snappy name.

It has many of the features of a luxury cleaner, but at half the price of the market leaders. It’s powerful, it has headlights and its jointed “Flexology” stick makes it easy to vacuum under furniture without stooping or bending.

Its specifications are comparable to the best on the market as well, although with a maximum cleaning time of 40 minutes compared to rivals’ 60 minutes, a second battery would be a useful purchase.

Happily, you can buy a model with a spare battery, and with that in mind, this is a budget-friendly cordless that we’re happy to recommend to people with a home of any size.

It has an RRP of £349 but if you shop around, you should be able to buy it for £249 and at this price, it’s a bargain.

This is a brilliantly designed vacuum cleaner for hard floors. Its manoeuvrability takes a lot of the labour out of vacuuming.

But it is specialist vacuum cleaner. It won’t be ideal if you have (for example) a large, fluffy dog as pet fur is likely to clog up the tiny bin and get tangled in the casters that give the Omni-glide its impressive moves.

Still, if you have a city pad, or if you’re looking for a second vacuum cleaner as a kitchen runaround, we’d recommend it. 

This high-quality cleaner would be an excellent option for people with larger homes who are looking to replace their upright with something cordless. However, we’d recommend investing in a second battery, or buying the Pro model, which comes with one.

The TriFlex is a solidly built appliance that we would expect to last for a very long time. As a trade-off, it’s heavier than the V11 and the Samsung Jet 90. This isn’t an issue in Comfort mode, which is where the TriFlex really comes into its own and beats the competition hands-down (and, in fact, hands-off). It bears its own weight and will stand up by itself, unlike most other stick cleaners, so it has all of the advantages of an upright cleaner, without the cord.

However, in its Range and Compact modes, it’s a little heavier than competing stick/handheld cleaners. But if you want a replacement for an upright, with the versatility you need to clean upholstery, blinds and curtains, the TriFlex is our recommended option.

The Cyclone V10 is undeniably a phenomenal cordless vacuum. It packs more than enough power to justify the steep price, with three settings, multiple attachments, and a slick design with added options like wall-mounting.

The hour-long battery life (less on higher speeds) isn’t quite enough to clean a big house top-to-bottom, and the weight will also be an issue if you’re trying to clean for that long anyway – but for most people, this will be plenty.

Just stick to the Animal model, and resist paying over the odds for unnecessary add-ons in the Absolute and Total Clean versions.

For a reasonable price, the Hoover H-Free 500 is a decent little stick vacuum. And we mean little: it’s really lightweight and packs away in a cleverly compact, transformer-like way.

Like others, it offers a modular system so you can clean in different ways. We found it to be very versatile and reasonably powerful, too.

However, the turbo mode will only give you eight minutes of cleaning and, with an average of 25 minutes overall, you’ll need to be organised about charging. This, combined with a small dustbin, means it’s more suited to flats and small homes. You might want to consider an Energy model, which comes with an extra battery.

The Proscenic P11 isn’t for everyone, but if you live in a flat and have a fairly minimalistic lifestyle – that is, if you have hard floors, not carpet and don’t own a giant shaggy dog – it could be for you.

The P11 has a lot of high-end features, including LED headlights, a touchscreen that displays battery life, two charging options, a swappable battery and a mop attachment. It’s also very light and easy to use as a handheld cleaner. 

It’s not the most powerful vacuum cleaner (in spite of its impressive on-paper suction), and it’s not hugely robust. But if you’re looking for an appliance to help you with a bit of light cleaning, it’s a pleasure to use.