Best Cordless Vacuums of 2019

Dyson Cyclone V10 Absolute

When we first heard about the Dyson V10 Absolute, the details made us skeptical. Dyson announced that it would stop developing new corded vacuums because of how confident the R&D team was in the V10.

However, after spending time with the V10, we found the "absolute" moniker to be apt, since the V10 comes with absolutely everything: a unique, powered brush head that's designed for hardwood floors, a motorized mini brush for cleaning upholstery, a soft brush for hardwood, a combination upholstery/bare floor tool, a crevice tool, drive cleaner head, and a soft dusting brush for computers and delicate items. They all attach to a 5.6-pound wall-mountable package, making it one of the lightest cordless vacuums on the market.

The V10 puts all these tools to good use. In our testing lab, it picked up 89 percent of the dirt we left out for it, better than any other cordless. Even more surprising, the V10 also dominated the battery tests. On the low setting, it can run for 60 minutes, perfect for day-to-day maintenance. For intense cleaning jobs, you can run the Absolute for nine minutes on the highest setting.

The one major downside of the Absolute is that it's absurdly expensive. In fact, you could buy six of our best value pick for what you'd spend on this Dyson. Still, if you want no compromise in power or battery life, this is the cordless vacuum to get.

Tineco A10 Hero

The Tineco A10 Hero comes from the same people that brought us the Ecovacs robot vacuum series. It has a lot to live up to, iLifes are known for being affordable workhorses. The A10 does its robot vacuum cousins proud. And if you're worried about delving into a new brand, the A10 is covered by a two-year warranty.

We liked the fact this vacuum picked up 47 percent we laid out for it. For the going rate, the performance impressed us. Aside from the spot on performance, the A10 has the endurance to match our top pick, around 7 minutes on the max settings and 14 minutes on the regular. Unlike the Dyson, you can buy additional batteries and swap them in for even more cleaning time.

The A10 comes with the standard assortment of attachments including a crevice tool, a mini-powered brush, and an upholstery brush. While none of these wowed us, we like the fact that the default brush head had bright LED lights to help us spot dirt and debris under furniture.

When you combine these aspects, we consider this cordless a great value pick.

Dyson V8

The Dyson V8 Absolute is near the pinnacle of cordless vacuum technology. It's one heck of a vacuum.

The V8 almost overwhelms with the number of attachments: powered brush head that's designed for hardwood floors, a motorized upholstery brush, a soft brush for hardwood, a combination upholstery/bare floor tool, a crevice tool, and a soft dusting brush. As a hallmark of Dyson design, the handheld unit only tips the scales at 5.6 pounds.

The brush head is made from carbon fiber and nylon. It's softer than a puppy—and infinitely more gentle on floors and better at picking up dirt. In our labs, the V8 picked up 88 percent of the dirt we put down for our tests.

On the low setting, the battery lasted an amazing 40 minutes. (The max suction setting will drain the battery in 7 minutes, though.) When you're done, the newly designed dustbin empties out dirt with the pull of a single lever on top of the machine.

If want the V10's sleek design, but for less, the V8 is a viable option. However, the V8 still costs twice as much as most of the vacuums on our list. For everyone else, our Best Value pick works almost as well but costs a quarter as much.

Dyson V6

Formerly Dyson's cordless flagship until the V8 replaced it, the Dyson V6 is the cordless vacuum to buy if even your smallest messes require significant cleaning. The V6 sells for $299—about twice as much as most of its competitors—and it proved to be the most powerful of the cordless vacuum we've tested, making quick work of dirt and debris. It's as powerful as the V8, but it doesn't clinch the top spot because of its weaker battery life (20 minutes on low compared to the V8's 40 minutes) and lack of a bare floors attachment.

However, the V6 does not lack for customizing options. It can be reconfigured to better clean your car, the stairs, the ceiling, the floor, and your carpets. On paper, that's all very well and good, but we found it cumbersome in practice. That's because there's no place for the extra parts to go when they're not in use.

For all its faults, the V6 has the best cleaning-to-price ratio. It picked up 10 percent less dirt than the V8, but costs half as much. The V6 is the second most expensive cordless on our list, and it cleans the second best. Normally, we'd give it some sort of laurels, but it lacks the raw power of the V8 and the flexibility of the Hoover 2-in-1.

Tineco A11 Master

The Tineco A11 Master stands as the best of what the company has to offer. It’s like an affordable Dyson V8. Like the V8, it has two different brush heads, one for carpet and one for hardwood. So if you ever find dust sticking to the floor, a specialized brush head may be just the ticket. Beyond the floor, the A11 has tools for cleaning under and around furniture which we appreciated.

Aside from having more tools, the A11 also comes with two batteries. During testing, the two batteries gave us about 14 minutes of cleaning power on the highest setting.

The downside is that while the A11 apes many of Dyson’s moves it can’t match its power. It required four passed to get our testing area clean while the Dyson V10 needed only two.

Kenmore Elite 10441

When it comes to vacuums, Kenmore makes some of our favorite models. This time around, the storied company wowed us with its new cordless duo: the Kenmore Elite 10441 Complete and the 10440 Quick Clean. The Complete comes with an additional brush head that specializes in carpets, while the Quick Clean should only be used on bare floors. We also found that the Complete has a teloscopic arm to give you that extra reach when you need it.

We liked the 13-minute battery life and the fact that they picked up around 45 percent of the dirt we laid out for it. The Quick Clean was in strong contention for best value model, but it has a relatively high price and it’s heavier than most of the models in this roundup. However, if you like the vibe of Kenmore's canister vacuums, you'll love these two Elite vacuums.

Oreck POD BK51702

The Oreck BK51702 PODS is the only bagged vacuum in our roundup. The titular POD is a self-sealing bag that traps dirt and odors that ensures you never have to touch any mess when you empty this vacuum. An LED light on the back tells you when it’s time to change the bag out. The PODS do add to the cost of owning this vacuum, which is already on the pricier side. However, the BK51702 did well in the majority of our tests.

The battery proved to be the best one we’ve tested, thus far. On its max settings, the Oreck ran for over 20 minutes. Not even much-vaunted Dysons can do that. While cleaning, the Oreck fell closer to the middle of the pack. It picked up about 28 percent of the dirt per pass, so expect to run the vacuum over an area three or four times to get it spotless.

The reason the Oreck didn’t claim a top spot is that it tips the scales at six pounds fully loaded, hampering its mobility. We also think the bagged concept is too niche and expensive. Households who have issues with allergies will benefit the most but people can handle emptying their cordless vacuum into the trash. If you want an American-made cordless with a solid three-year warranty, the Oreck BK51702 is worth checking out.

Kenmore 10341

Only available at Sears, Kenmore is new to the cordless vacuum game. We think its first offering—the Kenmore 10341—is a promising debut, although we weren't thrilled with some of its rough edges.

We'll start with what we loved: the charging dock and the look. A docking dock is great because it allows you to simply plop the whole unit down, standing straight up and forget about it until your next cleaning session. We also loved the look of this vacuum. The glossy silver and black finish gave the 10341 a futuristic design that's just toned down enough not make you want to shove it in a closet. Unfortunately, we found the touch controls didn't always respond on the first try.

In the cleaning department, we kicked the 10341 up to is highest setting in our labs and it picked up 67 percent of dirt. The handheld portion fared a little better, cleaning up all crumbs we left out for it. The tradeoff is that we only got 11 minutes of power before the battery gave out. That battery can't be swapped out, either—it's sealed within the machine.

Dirt Devil Extreme Power

The Dirt Devil BD20040RED Extreme Power 14.4 Cordless Bagless Stick Vacuum proves that you get what you pay for. Easily found online for less than $50, the Extreme Power failed several of our tests. It only picked up 40 percent of the test dirt we put down, and its sealed battery is of the nickel-cadmium variety.

Such batteries suffer from a myriad of problems that newer, lithium-ion batteries don't. Be prepared to see this Dirt Devil lose the ability to charge over time, and get ready for less suction as the battery drains. When we put the battery to the test, we got about 10 minutes of normal suction before the power started to fade, finally dying out at the 20 minute mark.

The Extreme Power isn't the best performer but it wasn't designed to be. It will work for a dorm room or small kitchen, although you'll need to take it to a proper recycling facility once the battery goes kaput. After all our testing, we can say the Dirt Devil Extreme Power isn't the best, but at least it's cheap.

Electrolux Ergorapido EL2081A

The original stylish stick vac, the Electrolux Ergorapido EL2081A has been around for a decade. The lineup got an update in 2014 that made the Ergo a great all-rounder. A 2.2-pound handheld vac detaches from the main cleaner for easy spot cleaning. We measured a 16-minute battery life, with decent dirt pickup: on average, 56 percent of soil and dust got picked up after a single pass. There is also a swivel joint in the brush head so the Ergorapido can twist and turn around corners.

While this Electrolux showed good performance in every category, it excelled at none of them. It's not as affordable as the Dirt Devil, as powerful as the Dysons, and—unlike the Hoover 2-in-1—it has a sealed battery. Even the original can only hold out against its competitors for so long.