The 13 Very Best Vacuums

Type: Cordless stick, bagless | Run time: 70 minutes | Weight: 7.72 lbs. | Attachments: Digital Motorbar cleaner head, Fluffy Optic cleaner head, combination tool, hair screw tool, built-in dusting and crevice tool

Dyson owners are so loyal to the brand, I wasn’t surprised to find a slew of Gen5detect diehards, even though it just landed on U.S. shores in June. Emily Ranager, director of business operations at Shelfie, an NYC-based organizing service, is “obsessed” with her Gen5detect and says it’s a favorite of many in her circle. In addition to its 70-minute run time, she’s a fan of its dust-illuminating technology that has twice the power of previous versions. “It illuminates invisible dust and hair on my floors, so I can be sure I’m sucking up as much filth as possible.” Ranager also raves about how it converts to a handheld vacuum, which is ideal for countertop spills. That’s likely why Toni Roberts, the executive pastry chef at the Ritz-Carlton, Chicago, loves using her Gen5detect in the kitchen. “It’s superlight and gets all kinds of dusty bits,” she says. “It also has multiple cleaning heads that can be swapped in, and the filter is washable, so there’s less waste.”

When I tested a Gen5 myself (I got my hands on a Gen5outsize, which has double the run time and a dustbin that’s over twice as large as the Gen5detect), what blew me away was the vacuum’s built-in LCD screen that gives you a satisfyingly grotesque count of how many particles it nabs from your floors. One pass beneath my writing desk yielded 108 million microscopic crumbs — an impressive amount of WFH bagel bits.

Type: Cordless stick, bagless | Run time: 60 minutes | Weight: 8.9 lbs.| Attachments: Duster crevice tool, anti-allergen brush

For best overall vacuum, it was neck and neck (wand and wand?) between the Dyson Gen5detect and the Shark Stratos. Ultimately, the Dyson snagged the top spot for its run time, but the Shark has some major tricks up its cordless sleeve and is less than half the price.

For one, the stick bends at a right angle so you can slide the whole vacuum under tables, couches, and beds. Ceramicist Liz Burns says, “It’s a dream to slide my Shark Stratos under my pottery wheel and beneath nearby shelves to pick up dust and debris with ease. Plus the whole thing folds in half for super-compact storage — it’s seriously amazing how small it becomes.”

In addition to its contortionist capabilities, the Shark Stratos, like the Dyson Gen5detect, automatically boosts its suction power when it comes across bigger messes. This feature, called Clean Sense IQ in the Stratos, visually shows you when debris is detected and when it’s clean. I tested the Stratos after hosting my three kid nephews for dinner, and we laughed that it works as a messy-eater detector when you run it under each dining chair.

Type: Upright, bagless | Cord length: 27 feet | Weight: 13.65 lbs. | Attachments: Pet TurboEraser tool, 2-in-1 dusting brush and crevice tool

While cleaning expert Sarah McAllister relies on the Bissell Zing for hard floors, she counts on the Bissell CleanView for carpets, noting once again that she prefers a corded option. “For carpets,” she says, “we like an upright vacuum with replaceable filters that you can clean easily,” which helps the filters last much longer — up to eight months. With a specialized roller head covered in heavy-duty bristles, the CleanView loosens, lifts, and sucks up deeply embedded debris from carpets. McAlister says that even after running other vacuums over carpeting first, the CleanView still manages to scrounge up a good amount of additional dirt, providing a truly thorough cleaning.

Type: Canister, bagged | Cord length: 18 feet | Weight: 13 lbs.| Attachments: Combination floorhead, dusting brush, crevice tool, upholstery tool

While some vacuums are like meaningless flings — in and out the door, never quite right for your lifestyle — others are for going the distance. Miele vacuums are the latter, according to Leah Guadagnoli, an artist and the founder of the monthly dinner party Fancy Feast Supper Club, which she often hosts in her upstate New York home. “For deeper cleans, I’m in love with my Miele Classic C1 Pure Suction,” she says. “It works great for getting in between the crevices in my wood floor where flour and crumbs annoyingly always accumulate. This is for those nitty gritty corners of my kitchen and home.” It’s also the vacuum she uses to prepare for her mother coming over. “Mom’s coming to visit?” she says. “Better bust out the Miele!”

Shara Kay, a certified professional organizer and the founder of SK Organizing in Beverly Hills, agrees about the reliability of Miele canisters. She praises their high suction, efficient size, and retractable cord storage. “They’re expensive but last for decades,” she says.

Type: Cordless stick, bagless | Run time: 40 minutes | Weight: 5.58 lbs. | Attachments: Digital Motorbar cleaner head, Fluffy Optic cleaner head, combination tool, hair screw tool, built-in dusting and crevice tool

Among pet pros, Dyson gets a lot of love. The Dyson V11 Torque Drive Cordless Vacuum landed the “best overall” title in our story about the best vacuums for pet hair. And here, the animal lovers I spoke with recommended the V8, a similar but older model. Kelly Crook — who fosters both cats and dogs and founded an ice cream company for canines called the Pupper Cup — appreciates how efficiently it sucks up animal hair in her Bronx apartment. “The V8 is lightweight, easy to maneuver, cordless, a breeze to empty (a.k.a. not gross!) and has never clogged, even though I’m vacuuming up tons of fur every day,” she says. Andrea Arden, founder of Andrea Arden Dog Training appreciates that it transforms into a handheld and “eliminates the need for an additional device.” Arden keeps a V8 as well as a Dyson Cyclone V10 at each of her five NYC locations.

Beyond fur, Jen Jordan, a hairstylist who often works out of her Brooklyn apartment, raves about the V8’s ability to pick up human hair. “Brooms and Swiffers push the cut hair into unreachable corners while this attachment has a felt roller at the front that draws the hair (and dust and cat litter) into the vacuum.” Meanwhile, Patrice Novkov, who founded the NYC-based Mulberry Nanny Agency, relies on the V8 to suck up Play-Doh and car-seat crumbs.

Type: Cordless stick, bagless | Run time: 60 minutes | Weight: 8 lbs. | Attachments: Crevice nozzle, dusting brush, upholstery nozzle, multi-floor electric brush

Longtime Shark fan and even longer-time allergy sufferer Naveen Singh became an instant Miele convert after testing the Triflex HX2. “I’ve always assumed Miele vacuums are all canister design, so it was cool to find out I could get the maneuverability of a cordless stick with the power of a Miele motor,” he says. Singh was impressed by the Triflex HX2’s ability to capture dust on both hardwood floors and rugs — something he doesn’t mess around with in order to keep sneezing and runny noses at bay. With its HEPA lifetime filter, this model claims 99.999 percent filtration, picking up dust, allergens, and viruses. “Plus it turns into a handheld, so I can use it in my car, too,” Singh says. “I’m the kind of guy who even keeps a mini trash can in my car, so this level of trustworthy cleanliness is major.”

Type: Cordless stick, bagless | Run time: 60 minutes | Weight: 6.8 lbs. | Attachments: Digital Motorbar cleaner head, Fluffy Optic cleaner head, crevice tool, hair screw (anti-tangle) tool, combination tool

Before the Gen5detect, there was the V15, which introduced laser illumination to the Dyson lineup and had some users happily comparing vacuuming to playing a video game. And while the Gen5 has a slightly more powerful motor (spinning at 135,000rpm compared to 125,000rpm) and a maximum run time that’s a touch longer (70 versus 60 minutes), the V15 is still a solid choice, especially for smaller homes where an hour’s worth of vacuuming is more than enough.

And that’s not to say the V15 is a consolation prize. It’s still beloved among our experts, including Ryan Easter, who appreciates solid suction as the “chief cleanologist” at New Jersey–based Spark Car Wash. “I think the best vacuum is the Dyson V15,” he says, noting that the Dyson V11 ($480) is a great substitute if you have a lower budget. For his car, Easter only relies on the high-powered central vacuums at work, but at home, he’s all about Dyson’s versatile stick options because they’re “lightweight, cordless, modular, small, and still do a great job.”

Strategist senior editor Winnie Yang also likes the V15 for its effective and efficient cleaning and compact design (and is a fan of Dyson stick vacs in general, having previously owned the V8 and V11). Dyson’s diminutive footprint in the home is also what appeals to Vivien Lee-Mayhue, a certified KonMari organizing consultant and the founder of Tidy Up Los Angeles. She owns the now-discontinued V6 and maintains that Dyson’s stick design is the best because the vacuum and its attachments can be easily stored in a wall docking station. “Vertical wall storage means not using precious floor space in a utility closet — a dream feature for professional organizers,” she says.

Type: Cordless stick, self-emptying, bagless body, bagged storage tower | Run time: 60 minutes | Weight: 5.95 lbs. | Attachments: Power Carpet/Universal nozzle, Power Mini nozzle, Power Mop nozzle (with two Power Mop microfiber pads), 2-in-1 combination tool, crevice tool

At first, the more than three-foot storage tower that’s included with the CordZero seems like overkill. Sure, other cordless sticks lean (and fall) awkwardly when not in use, but when mine arrived I wondered if it was really necessary to pair such an easy-breezy, lightweight machine with such a sizable station. However, once I vacuumed my entire apartment off one charge and docked this cordless stick, I realized the true beauty of the tower — once the CordZero returns to its stand, the dustbin empties automatically. Within the tower, the dust is funneled into a bag that you pop out and throw away when full (about once a month). No more hovering over a garbage can to dump dirt, only to accidentally spill dust back onto your clean floors. The CordZero’s hands-free auto-empty feature makes it especially great for allergy sufferers (no wonder it’s earned certification from the British Allergy Foundation). The tower also charges the vacuum and stores its attachments too.

When Strategist senior writer Liza Corsillo tried another LG CordZero model (the A9 Kompressor Stick Vacuum with Power Mop) she was amazed by how much dust, dirt, and dog hair it picked up from her rug and how it outperformed her robo vac. “Please don’t judge me when I say this, but the dustbin on the LG filled up and needed to be emptied after just 20 minutes of vacuuming,” she says.

Type: Canister, bagged | Cord length: 18 feet | Weight: 14 lbs. | Attachments: Dusting brush, upholstery tool, crevice tool

Compared to the Miele Classic, the Compact (as the name suggests) has a smaller canister, but still delivers the same suction power — 1200 watts. Note, however, that the Compact does weigh two pounds more. It’s a favorite of Chrissy Fichtl, founder of the Brooklyn-based candle and fragrance brand Apotheke. “It’s small and compact to store, but most of all, it’s easy to move around from one level of your house to the next,” she says.

Type: Upright, bagless | Cord length: 25 feet | Weight: 12.5 lbs. | Attachments: None

The name of the vacuum game these days is multifunctional: Uprights transform into handhelds, pet-hair erasers also clean upholstery, and dusters become brooms. So when I heard about the CrossWave HydroSteam — a vacuum, mop, and steamer in one — I had to give it a go. Fortunately, the aftermath of a family BBQ presented the ideal testing opportunity with a minefield of mustard-strewn tile, crushed Cheetos on an area rug, and the remnants of a pukey mess in the entryway from a friend’s daughter who went too hard on the bounce house.

For a machine that promises so much, setup is surprisingly easy. The CrossWave HydroSteam comes with sterilizing formulas (for both hard floor and multi-surface), so you simply fill a tank with water and formula, then snap it into the back of the vacuum. You switch between modes (hard floor, steam wash, or area rug) on the handle, which sits at the end of a, dare I say, lovely copper stick. Within minutes I tackled my multi-surface mess and was very happy with the ease of cleanup and end results. You do have to empty a dirty water tank after each cleaning, but you’d have to do that anyway if you were mopping. Plus, an automatic self-cleaning cycle takes care of the brush roll, which is more than you can say for any mop head.

Type: Cordless handheld, bagless | Run time: 25 minutes | Weight: 2.2 lbs. | Attachments: Hair screw (anti-tangle) tool, combination tool, worktop tool

The Dyson Humdinger is how interior designer Kellie Sirna — founder of Studio 11 Design in Dallas — tackles messes in her projects, which include restaurants, hotels, spas, and even casinos. The feather-light machine comes with three attachments to make digging into console nooks and crannies, as well as cleaning car upholstery, a breeze. “It’s compact and easy to carry, making it perfect for keeping in my car … Plus, it’s relatively quiet, so I can use it at home or, if the need arises, on project sites without worrying about noise,” Sirna says. Even on days off, Sirna regularly reaches for her Humdinger. “As a mom of two, having a handheld vacuum is a necessity for quick cleanups,” she says.

In addition to its sleek and silent appeal, the Dyson Humdinger stands out for its exceptional run time — up to 25 minutes. This is longer than any of the vacuums in our roundup of handheld vacuum cleaners, and twice as long as similar vacuums of the same light weight.