The Best Dyson Vacuums of 2021

The Dyson V11 Outsized is an upgraded version of the V11 Torque Drive. It has the same LCD screen that shows battery life and adjusting suction, but with a larger brush head and dust bin. It also has a removable battery, meaning you can swap over to a new one when the first runs out of power.

With the extra battery you get twice as much runtime as the V11 Torque Drive, and the Outsized has a larger cleaning path. But, the extra-large dust bin and brush head makes the whole unit a little unwieldy, making it awkward to hold up and maneuver. Combined with the increased price tag, the V11 Torque Drive edges this model out.

However, if you’re interested in a replaceable battery and a cordless that has proportions closer to a full-sized vacuum, check out the Outsized.

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

However, after spending time testing the V10, we found that its Absolute moniker is apt. The V10 comes with absolutely everything: a 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, a drive cleaner head, and a soft dusting brush for computers and delicate items. These all attach to a 5.6-pound, wall-mountable package, making it one of the lightest cordless vacuums on the market.

Without a doubt, the Dyson V10 puts all its tools to good use. In our testing lab, it picked up 89% of the dirt we left out for it.

It 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, the Absolute can run for 9 minutes on the highest setting.

If you haven’t noticed a trend, do so now: The Absolute’s downside is its absurdly expensive price tag. Still, if you want zero compromises in power or battery life, this is the cordless vacuum to buy.

The Dyson V8 Absolute is near the pinnacle of cordless vacuum technology, i.e. it’s one heck of a vacuum.

The V8 almost overwhelms with its number of included attachments: a 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 weighs 5.6 pounds.

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

On the low setting, the battery lasted an amazing 40 minutes. (The max suction setting drains the battery in 7 minutes, though.) When you’re done, you can empty out the V8’s dustbin with the pull of a single lever on top of the machine.

If you like the Dyson V10’s sleek design but don’t want to spend as much money on it, the V8 is a viable option. However, the Dyson V8 still costs twice the average cordless vacuum.

We weren’t sure what to make of the Dyson Omni-Glide when we first unpacked it in our labs. The design of the body suggests that it’s a hand vacuum, but it can also clean the floor like a regular cordless vacuum. This Dyson is somewhere in between and does an equally good job at cleaning floors as it does countertops.

Even with its heaviest attachments on, the Omni-Glide tips the scales at just around four pounds. This means you don’t break a sweat lugging it up the stairs or cleaning your car. You might even be able to do it in one charge. Our lab tests show that the Omni-Glide can run for about nine minutes on its max setting and about 18 minutes on regular.

After spending a few days cleaning with this Dyson, we think that it’s perfect for small apartments. The titular Omni-Glide brush head is just eight inches wide with a swivel joint that’s limber enough to twist around chair and table legs. It’s powerful as well as flexible. During testing, it picked up 70% of the dirt we laid out for it, which is higher than the average of 57% across all brands we’ve tested. However, the Omni-Glide is below average when it comes to Dyson cordless vacuums. They average around 85% in our dirt pick-up tests.

The Omni-Glide is pretty expensive, but since it cleans floors and furniture well in equal measure it’s like getting two vacuums for the price of one.

The cordless Dyson V7 Car+Boat is a crowd favorite for handheld vacuum, due to its tremendous ability to clean around furniture, tight spaces, and floors.

This handheld offers long battery life, powerful suction, and a flexible set of attachments including: a motorized rotating brush head is compact, just six inches across, and designed to resist tangling hair, two dusting brushes, a crevice tool for tight spots, and a flexible hose that extends out two feet for more reach under seats. We understand the high price tag is a little hard to swallow for most people, so if you’re willing to get by with the minimum number of attachments, the Dyson V7 Trigger lacks the Car+Boat’s included car charger and some tools—but costs less.

When tested, this bagless vacuum beat all its competitors on pick-up for strong suction; it cleaned over 75% of the dirt we laid out for it.

Battery life is up to 30 minutes of low-power cleaning or 7 minutes at full power—the setting we used for testing.

The Dyson V7 Car+Boat’s attachments also impress: A motorized rotating brush head is compact, just six inches across, and designed to resist tangling hair. The Car+Boat model also includes two dusting brushes, a crevice tool for tight spots, and a flexible hose that extends out two feet for more reach under seats.

No matter whether you’re doing some spot cleaning on upholstery or going at some dirt in pile carpets, the V7 will get the job done.

The downside is that the V7 Car+Boat model is strictly a hand vacuum, so it can’t clean floors.

The Dyson Big Ball Canister is a sight to behold. It has a specialized self-righting design which means that if you take hard corners or happen to kick the unit, it may roll over, but it will always get back up on its wheels.

This canister vacuum also has superior reach. Its skinny hose and small brush head lets it get into every cranny with ease.

While we like the design of this canister, it has weak suction for a vacuum in its price range. It picked up 34% of the testing dirt, which is average, but not what we’d expect from high-calibre Dyson.

The Dyson Ball Multifloor 2 upright vacuum marks a crossroads between the company’s cordless and full-sized efforts. It weighs about 10% less than the Dyson Ball Animal 2 upright and is subsequently about 10% less powerful.

The Multifloor 2 picked up around 64% of the testing dirt we laid out for it, which is well-above average, but it lagged behind more powerful Dyson models like the Dyson Animal 2.

This being said, the Multifloor 2 offers a great value: Dyson engineering and attention to detail at a relatively affordable price.

Tipping the scales at 19.4 pounds, the Dyson Cinetic Big Ball upright vacuum is the largest Dyson we’ve ever tested, but its massive bulk does not translate to raw power.
The Cinetic Big Ball picked up around 62.15% of the testing dirt on the normal carpet, which is about the same as the Multifloor 2.

Maneuverability tests show that the Cinetic Big Ball isn’t the best at cleaning under furniture, because its titular Big Ball gets in the way. Even with a foot of clearance, you can only push the brush head in about 15 inches before the vacuum gets stuck.

Dyson makes up for this by including seven cleaning attachments so you don’t need to rearrange all your furniture if you want to clean your floors.