The best cordless stick vacuums we tested
Best cordless stick vacuum: Dyson V11 Animal
Best budget cordless stick vacuum: Bissell 3177A IconPet Turbo Edge
Best cordless stick vacuum for smaller spaces: Black + Decker Powerseries Extreme Max
Unlike their bagged, corded siblings, today’s cordless stick vacuums are compact and lightweight cleaning powerhouses. Cordless stick vacuums are slim but powerful enough to tackle most jobs around smaller homes, apartments and college dorm rooms. Some of these vacuums even excel at challenging tasks like vacuuming pet hair.
We’ve been testing all kinds of vacuums for years, including handheld, upright and canister models, as well as robot vacuums and robot mops. We’ve found they can all help make it easier to clean your home. But in the case of upright and canister vacuums, it can sometimes be a pain to deal with their heavy vacuum bodies, cords and bags. This is where a good cordless stick vacuum can come in handy.
To find the best, we tested 12 highly rated cordless stick vacuums to assess their performance, suction power, ease of use and battery life. We used each cordless stick vacuum to suck up pet fur, cat litter and pine needles, along with all the dirt and debris that’s left behind daily. Once testing concluded, three models stood out from the pack.
The Dyson V11 Animal is a powerful stick vacuum that handles high- and low-pile area rugs and carpets and performs well on hard floors like vinyl, tile and hardwood. We appreciated its swivel head and lightweight body that's easy to move around and into tight corners. It also has four additional attachments: a combination tool, a dirt brush, a crevice tool and a mini motorized tool.
The Bissell 3177A Icon Pet Turbo Edge is great for cleaning low-pile carpets and throw rugs. During testing, we liked its swivel head that made it easy to reach under furniture and into tight corners. It was also great at vacuuming up dog hair and never clogged once. We found its dustbin easy to empty, and we also liked its battery strength display indicator in its handle that made it simple to see how much charge was left.
The Black + Decker Powerseries Extreme Max cordless stick vacuum works incredibly well in smaller spaces. Its strong suction easily picks up debris, crumbs and hair, and its three attachments are versatile enough to clean tile, wood flooring, carpet and rugs. Plus, it offers 30 minutes of cleaning on its Full power setting with a fully charged battery.
Best cordless stick vacuum: Dyson V11 Animal
If you’ve ever used a Dyson vacuum (or anything Dyson makes), you’re likely not surprised to see the Dyson V11 Animal come out on top. This stick vacuum is an absolute powerhouse that made easy work of everything we threw at it. It performed equally well on high- and low-pile area rugs and carpets, as well as all types of hard floors — vinyl, tile and hardwood. The swivel head and lightweight body — it weighs in at 6.68 pounds — also made it easy to move around the room.
The swivel head was especially impressive on carpets and area rugs. No animal fur, dirt or dust escaped the V11 Animal. It sucked up so much debris from our living room rug that we were as embarrassed as we were impressed by the results.
The Dyson V11 Animal has three modes, Boost, Auto and Eco, you can easily cycle through via a button on the LED screen. The vacuum defaults to Auto, which was plenty powerful for most of our needs but Boost mode helped pull dirt and heavier debris, like cat litter, out of the plush carpet.
The screen has a battery monitor that gives you a rough estimate of the battery life. On paper, the Dyson V11 Animal should give you 60 minutes of continuous runtime on a full charge. In reality, the usage drops down to around 30 or 45 minutes when it’s used on Auto or Boost, the latter of which sucks up the most juice. The 0.2-gallon (or 0.76-liter) dustbin was one of the most generously sized in our testing pool and though it made the Dyson V11 Animal one of the bulkier models we tested, we’ll gladly take a bit of bulk to have to empty it fewer times.
Aside from the main high-torque cleaning head, the Dyson V11 Animal comes with four additional attachments — a combination tool, dirt brush, crevice tool and mini motorized tool — which aren’t revolutionary but serve their specific purposes well. You can swap out the main brush head for each attachment, or remove the wand portion altogether, and use the V11 Animal as a handheld. It’s a bit bulky and heavy in this application, but we found it convenient for vacuuming couches, cat towers and the car.
There were only two minor things we didn’t love about the Dyson V11 Animal. The first is that the power button operates on a trigger mechanism, meaning we had to continuously hold it down as we vacuumed. Being able to just switch it on and go would have been preferred. However, on the plus side, the trigger mechanism makes it easy to shut it off quickly.
The second thing we didn’t love — and common to most of the cordless sticks we tested — is that it doesn’t stand on its own. If you’re using it around the house as part of your weekly chores and don’t return it to its dock right after using it, you’ll need to lean it carefully against a wall or lay it on the floor.
Best budget cordless stick vacuum: Bissell 3177A IconPet Turbo Edge
The Bissell 3177A Icon Pet Turbo Edge is ideal for cleaning low-pile carpets and throw rugs. We brought it to a college dorm move-out (the ultimate test) where we easily vacuumed all the dirt and debris from an area rug as well as the low-pile dorm room carpet.
When testing it in our home, the swivel head makes it easy to reach under furniture and it even features a bright light that helps light up the vacuum path. It comes standard with several useful attachments, including a bendable hose and brushes that allow us to clean a dog bed thoroughly with only a few passes.
It never clogged during testing, either, even after sucking up piles of dog hair from a Pembroke Welsh Corgi, who sheds tremendously.
It also easily converts to a handheld vacuum and is lightweight and powerful enough to clean the wood floor of a set of stairs in one pass.
Another feature we liked was that its dustbin was easy to clean. All we needed to do was lift the outer portion off the rest of the vacuum and shake the contents into the trash. We had to use our fingers to gently pull some tangled dog hair out of the bin a few times, but dirt and debris easily came out on their own.
It also features a battery strength display indicator in its handle that makes it easy to see how much juice is left before it runs out. It took roughly 4 hours to charge from empty but lasted 30 minutes on its highest setting while we vacuumed the dorm room carpet.
Best cordless stick vacuum for smaller spaces: Black + Decker Powerseries Extreme Max
While not as powerful as the Dyson V11 Animal and the Dyson Gen5detect, and at 10.8 lbs, a little heavier, the Black + Decker Powerseries Extreme Max cordless stick vacuum works wonderfully in smaller spaces. The suction was strong enough to pick up everything from debris and crumbs to hair (so much hair!) even from hard-to-reach places, and the fully-charged battery lasted around 30 minutes on full power, even longer on the Low power setting. Granted, this isn’t on par with the Dyson V11 Animal’s running time but this is what makes the Black + Decker a perfect apartment vacuum.
With three attachments, the Black + Decker Powerseries Extreme Max easily went from tiles to wooden floors to carpets and rugs without any hassle. It did struggle a little on a high-pile shaggy rug, though. Thankfully, the motorized rug attachment helped this along and we were so impressed by how much dust and dirt the attachment picked up from the shaggy rug that we had thought was relatively clean.
What we loved most about the Black + Decker Powerseries Extreme Max was how easy it was to clean every nook and cranny of every room — even under furniture — due to its swivel head and ability to lay down flat and still pick up dirt with the same suction power. The LED lights are a nice touch, which made it easy to see into dark corners (though again, this doesn’t come close to the Dyson V11 Animal’s illumination technology). The Black + Decker Powerseries Extreme Max model also converts to a handheld version, which is perfect for stairs, cars, car seats and dog beds.
Another reason the Black + Decker Powerseries Extreme Max is our pick as the best cordless stick vacuum for smaller spaces is that the vacuum’s anti-tangle beater bar is designed to reduce hair wrap and is removable for easy cleaning. After two months of regular use through an apartment with plenty of hair and fur, the beater bar was still relatively free of hair and didn’t need to be cleaned.
The Black + Decker Powerseries Extreme Max also boasts a cyclonic filtration system, which admittedly, we had to ask the company to see why this was an important or even necessary feature on a vacuum. According to Black + Decker, a cyclone filter separates dirt particles and objects from fine dust to reduce the load on the filter, meaning you have to clean and replace it less frequently, allowing the vacuum to perform better and last longer. This is hard to do a real test of but it is a good addition based on what it aims to do.
Other features we liked were the noise (or lack thereof), as it was quiet enough not to disturb anyone even when vacuuming very early in the morning (as is our preferred time of day to do this chore). It can also free-stand without a wall mount, though it does come with one.
As for what we didn’t like about this vacuum, the battery takes quite a long time to charge. Our tests showed that it needed more than three hours to fully charge and some online reviews claim it can take even longer. The dustbin is a little smaller than the others so it needs more frequent emptying but we honestly didn’t mind due to the ease of doing so. You simply cannot beat the Black + Decker Powerseries Extreme Max as a reliable and powerful stick vacuum perfect for smaller spaces.
How we tested
After scouring online user and professional reviews and product specifications, we chose 13 stick vacuums to test. Each of the models is marketed toward users with pets. We decided to go this route because these vacuums are typically more powerful than other models, and they’re versatile too — they all come with upholstery tools that you can use even if you’re not plagued by pet fur everywhere.
We rated each vacuum on setup, different aspects of design like maneuverability and dustbin size and overall performance, considering things like suction power, effectiveness on various floor types and battery life.
Setup
- Each vacuum arrived in some degree of disassembly, so we lightly factored the setup process into our ratings. Because this is something you only have to do once, we didn’t weigh it too heavily but we did consider whether any of the models were especially difficult to put together.
Design
- Ease of use/maneuverability: How easy was it to use the vacuum in different areas of the house? Part of the benefit of a stick vacuum over an upright is that they’re more convenient to use. We considered how well the vacuum swiveled and moved, how much it weighed and whether the design allowed it to reach under furniture and into tighter spaces. We also considered whether the vacuum glided smoothly over carpets and hard floors or if it got stuck or pulled.
- Dustbin size: The size of the dustbin determines how often you have to stop and empty the vacuum canister. Smaller dustbins fill up quickly for those who own many pets, so we factored this into our testing, too.
- Ease of emptying: In addition to the size of the dustbin, we considered how easy (or difficult) it was to empty the canister. Was the process automatic, or did it require us to get our hands a little dirty? The answers helped us narrow down our top picks.
Performance
- Suction power: Suction power was one of the most important factors in our ratings. We tested the main brush head and each attachment on pet fur, cat litter, pine needles and the regular daily dirt and debris that inevitably get dragged into the house when you have two humans and five animals living there. We noted the suction power when the dustbin was empty versus full, and whether a full dustbin negatively impacted the suction power. We also paid attention to battery life and noted whether or not suction power started to diminish as the battery drained.
- Effectiveness on different floor types: We tested each stick vacuum on four types of floors — carpet/rug, tile, vinyl and hardwood — using pet fur, cat litter and pine needles and took note of the performance as well as maneuverability.
- Effectiveness on different pile heights: In addition to testing on different types of floors, we tested each vacuum on high-pile (very plush) carpet, a medium-pile area rug and a low-pile area rug.
- Effectiveness on various surfaces: Since all of the vacuums came with targeted attachments aimed at vacuuming different surfaces, like stairs and upholstery, we tested how well they worked and how convenient they were to use. We vacuumed couches, cat towers, car seats and a mattress.
- Battery life: How much use we could get out of a single charge. One major perk of stick vacuums is that they operate on a battery, so you’re not tethered to the wall by an electrical cord. We timed how long each battery lasted on different power modes in between charges and factored this into our results.
Other cordless stick vacuums we tested
The Dyson V12 Detect Slim Cordless Stick performed very well with picking up dog hair and cleaning it off pet beds, wood floors, low-pile mats and high-pile carpets. It’s a powerful, lightweight vacuum that's easy to maneuver. It took around 3.5 hours to charge but we git 30 minutes of use on its highest power setting. With HEPA filtration, it’s a great choice for anyone needing to keep things dust-free and clean.
The Dyson V12 Detect Slim Cordless Stick did an outstanding job picking up mounds of dog hair from two dog beds, wood flooring, a dirty outside welcome mat, and a low-pile hallway and bedroom carpet.
It’s a powerful, lightweight vacuum with great maneuverability and a head that turns to the left and right to get into corners and tight spots without too much effort.
It took around 3.5 hours to charge from an empty battery to fully charged but we got roughly 30 minutes of use on its highest power setting. There’s also a turbo strength setting that’s quite powerful but runs the battery out after about 20 minutes of carpet and rug cleaning.
The V12 also has HEPA filtration and sports a digital display at the top of the unit to alert you of battery strength and other useful information such as the current power level and when to unclog a clogged dust bin. Although it was powerful enough to suck up loads of pet hair, it did clog on us once and we had to manually clean out the dustbin.
While cleaning a dustbin is never fun, the V12’s was actually quite easy to clean; all we had to do was lift its red handle and the dustbin door opened up, dumping all its contents into the trash. We didn’t even have to touch any dirt, debris or dog hair to help guide it out of the bin. Just ensure the bin is pointed toward the trash before lifting the red handle.
The Dyson Gen5detect stick vacuum is easy to use and features an auto-calibrating vacuum power system and HEPA filtration. During testing, we found its 7.7-pound body to be a bit heavier than other models we tested, but we could still move it around with no problem. We liked its Fluffy Optic hard surface attachment, which uses an angled green light to illuminate floor dust. It also comes with an integrated crevice-and-dusting tool built into its wand section. It is, however, very expensive.
As the latest in Dyson’s?cordless stick vacuum?lineup, the Dyson Gen5detect covers the expected bases for a Dyson vacuum. It’s impeccably designed, easy to use and powerful enough for routine or deep house cleanings. The Dyson Gen5detect could even work as the primary?vacuum?in your?home. So long as you don’t mind spending upwards of $950 on a vacuum.
Throughout our testing, the Dyson Gen5detect had excellent usability, thanks to Dyson’s sharp design touches. At 7.7 pounds, the Dyson Gen5detect is slightly heavier than the competition — comparable models like the Samsung Bespoke Jet AI clock in at around 6 pounds. Still, we had no issues using the Dyson Geb5detect as a floor cleaner or lifting it above our head in?handheld?mode.
The Dyson Gen5detect carries over some of the great features from recent Dyson vacuums like the Fluffy Optic hard surface attachment, which has an angled green light that illuminates floor dust, and a 0.2-gallon bin with a convenient no-contact emptying latch, but it also comes with several new upgrades. We liked the Dyson Gen5detect’s integrated crevice-and-dusting tool, which is built into its wand section. If you’re cleaning multiple areas during a cleaning session, you won’t have to awkwardly switch between additional attachments to dust shelves or clean between furniture.
The Dyson Gen5detect’s auto-power system is also intact, another impressive feature we liked in recent Dysons. This system automatically increases or decreases the Dyson’s suction power based on the size and amount of dirt it picks up. During our testing, the Dyson Gen5detect quickly revved up when we moved from a hardwood floor to a living room rug. Impressively, the cleaner’s power system also distinguished between surface-level dust and larger dust bunnies while we cleaned a stairwell.
For as good as the Dyson Gen5detect’s performance is, this cordless vacuum’s high price tag will likely give some potential shoppers pause.
This cordless combination vacuum and mop is a simple and convenient way to keep your home clean between more comprehensive cleanings.
The Bissell SpinWave + Vac is lightweight enough to pick up and carry into any room but also has enough suction power to pick up most types of mess while simultaneously doing a light mop. It uses?Bissell’s Hard Floor Sanitize Formula?to clean but without steam, it won’t do a deeper clean for stickier debris. We found it perfect for spot-cleaning our bathroom floor or for a quick spill.
The controls are easy to use, you can press one button underneath the handle to vacuum and another to either add the mop or do a wet clean. We also liked the swivel head, though it took a minute to get used to, and its flat design let it slide easily under furniture. The Bissell SpinWave + Vac comes with an extra set of microfiber scrubbing pads and you can pluck them right off to throw in the washing machine when they are dirty — which we found to be a boon. Plus, it’s safe to use on sealed hardwood, linoleum, tile, laminate and even vinyl floors.
From the inside and outside, the Dyson Gen5outsize is essentially an upgraded version of the Dyson Gen5detect. For a bit more money, you’ll get a larger 0.5-gallon bin, a 12-inch multi-surface cleaning head, and a second battery pack.
As with other high-end Dysons, the Gen5outsize’s design is stellar and emphasizes usability. The cordless vacuum’s attachments handle excellently, and the Gen5outsize replaces Dyson’s traditional power trigger with a simple power button that keeps the vacuum running. We loved the Dyson Gen5outsize’s hard floor attachment, which comes with a green light that illuminates dust and gives you an additional layer of cleaning precision.
We also liked the Dyson’s dirt sensor system, which automatically adjusts the suction power depending on the amount of dirt it picks up. In our testing, the Dyson Gen5outsize quickly adjusted between a medium-pile rug, hardwood living room, and kitchen floor without missing a beat.
However, the Dyson’s extra horsepower and bin capacity come with a slight downside. At 8.6 pounds, it’s notably heavier than comparable cordless stick vacuums, which typically clock in at around 5 to 6 pounds. The Dyson’s extra weight was slightly alleviated when we attached the extension wand and did floor cleaning. But in handheld mode, our arms started to fatigue after using the Dyson Gen5outsize for more than a few minutes.
You can’t compare the Dyson Omni-Glide directly to the other models we tested. It’s optimized for hard floors and on those surfaces this vacuum’s performance is unmatched. It has two brush bars covered in soft nylon and engineered to pull larger debris and finer particles, like dust, off hard floors.
This cordless stick vacuum effortlessly sucked up clumps of fur, pine needles and random dirt off tile, hardwood and vinyl floors without ever losing suction power or getting tangled.
The cleaner head is omni-directional, meaning it rotates 180 degrees or any which way you turn it. This makes it the easiest to maneuver out of all the vacuums on the list (and all the vacuums we’ve ever tried). It glides smoothly over hard floors and gets right into corners, thanks to the brush head’s rectangular shape.
The main downside of the Dyson Omni-Glide is the size of the dustbin. It has a 0.05-gallon capacity, which translates to just under a cup. This is fine for quick touch-ups, but it filled up fast with five animals running around the house. The good news is that it’s easy to empty. It has what Dyson calls a “point and shoot” mechanism where you press a button and push down on the handle, and the dirt and debris eject into the trash can without getting your hands dirty. If there’s a lot of pet fur in the dustbin, you might have to assist the emptying by pulling it out but for the most part, it’s pretty hands-free. To be clear, because of the special brush rolls, this vacuum will only work on hard floors and does not effectively clean any type of carpet. But if that’s what you need, get it now.
The Hoover Onepwr Evolve Pet is a fairly impressive machine you can nab for a fraction of the price of the other models we tested.
While it gives off more of an upright vacuum than a stick vacuum vibe, the Hoover Onepwr Evolve Pet is cordless and works well on all types of flooring, though it struggles a little bit on really plush carpet.
There are three settings — carpet, hard floor and no brush roll — that you can toggle through manually, and each does a decent job of sucking up all types of debris off various floor types, although high-pile carpet took a few passes. We think the Hoover Onepwr Pet is a good choice for smaller living areas or homes that only have low-pile rugs or hard floors.
The Eufy Mach V1 Ultra not only saves you a ton of time, but it packs several high-end features that will make you almost enjoy cleaning.
The multi-tasking MACH V1 Ultra cordless stick vacuum plus steam mop is Eufy’s first foray into premium cleaning products — under its new MACH subgroup. The MACH V1 Ultra will save you a lot of time and it features many high-end features that will make you enjoy any cleaning task.
However, at $700, the V1 Ultra is an investment, though we appreciated that this cordless stick vacuum was easy to store and didn’t take up too much room in our home. But, at nearly 13 pounds, it’s not as easy to take it out to clean up just a simple spill. If mopping isn’t as important to you, you might be better off with the?Dyson V11 Animal; it’s half the weight, easier to maneuver and carry from room to room and has accessories for cleaning carpets, bedding, blinds and other household areas. If you frequently vacuum and mop the floors in your house, you’ll save a lot of time and elbow grease with the super-productive MACH V1 Ultra.
The Miele Triflex HX1 Cat & Dog performed similarly to our top pick, the Bissell IconPet Edge but it ultimately fell short for two reasons: It’s considerably more expensive and wasn’t as easy to maneuver under couches and furniture.
This vacuum has some interesting design features along with similar suction power and performance that may make it worthwhile if you like the options it offers.
There were some standout features. The Miele Triflex HX1 Cat & Dog can be set up in three different configurations — power unit on top, power unit on bottom and handheld — a feature exclusive to this model. It also automatically adjusts the roller head and suction power when transitioning from carpet to hard floor, so you don’t have to fumble with manual settings. It was the most visually appealing of the bunch and stands on its own, which seems like a minor detail but comes in handy during use. If you don’t mind shelling out the extra cash, you’ll likely be just as happy with the Miele Triflex HX1 Cat & Dog as you would the Bissell IconPet Edge.
The Samsung Bespoke Jet AI, Samsung’s top-of-the-line stick vacuum, comes with all the features you’d expect from a premium home appliance.
The Samsung Bespoke Jet AI, Samsung stick vacuum is powerful enough to handle everything from small spills to full house cleans, and it’s extremely light at only 6.3 pounds. After cleaning sessions, you’ll dock the Bespoke into the All-in-One Cleaning Station, which charges the vacuum and empties the dustbin into a 0.5-gallon removable dust bag. The Bespoke Jet AI’s upgrades are more incremental than game-changing, but they’re still solid additions.
Compared to Samsung’s $600?standard Bespoke?stick vacuum, the Bespoke Jet AI includes better battery life, a more powerful motor, and a surface detection system that automatically calibrates the Bespoke Jet AI’s suction level. The Bespoke Jet AI isn’t without a few design annoyances though. For instance, there’s no place to mount its cleaning accessories. But overall, we’d recommend this Samsung stick vacuum if a cleaning station is a must-have feature — and the price isn’t too much of a concern.
