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DEAL WATCH: Keurig K-Express | 22% off $69.99

Keurig has changed the face of coffee, and snagging one of these for less than $70 is a solid deal. Read Review

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  • Introduction

  • Front

  • Side

  • Handle

  • Hose

  • Cleaning Tools

  • Controls

  • Dirt Container

  • Underside

  • Overall Cleaning

  • Long Carpet

  • Short Carpet

  • Wood Floor

  • Pet Hair

  • Debris Pickup

  • Dirt Holder Capacity

  • Handling

  • Cleaner Controls

  • Cleaning Tools Use

  • Power Cord

  • Hose Use

  • Dirt Holder

  • Filter

  • Weight

  • Noise

  • Energy Use

  • Hoover Platinum S3865 Comparison

  • LG LuV200R Pet Care Comparison

  • Comp 3

  • Overall Verdict

  • Performance

  • Usability

  • Noise

  • Introduction
  • Front
  • Side
  • Handle
  • Hose
  • Cleaning Tools
  • Controls
  • Dirt Container
  • Underside
  • Overall Cleaning
  • Long Carpet
  • Short Carpet
  • Wood Floor
  • Pet Hair
  • Debris Pickup
  • Dirt Holder Capacity
  • Handling
  • Cleaner Controls
  • Cleaning Tools Use
  • Power Cord
  • Hose Use
  • Dirt Holder
  • Filter
  • Weight
  • Noise
  • Energy Use
  • Hoover Platinum S3865 Comparison
  • LG LuV200R Pet Care Comparison
  • Comp 3
  • Overall Verdict
  • Performance
  • Usability
  • Noise

Introduction

Front

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Side

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Handle

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Hose

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Cleaning Tools

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Controls

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The power cord retracts into the crevice on the bottom left.

Dirt Container

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Underside

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Overall Cleaning

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We test the cleaning performance of vacuum cleaners with a number of tests that include how much dirt they pick up from long, medium and short carpets as well as wood floors. We also test how well they pick up pet hair from both carpets and wood floors, and how much larger debris they can handle. Overall, we found that the {{product.name}} had acceptable all-around performance, though lacking in long carpet cleaning.

Long Carpet

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In our tests for picking up dirt from long carpets, we found that the {{product.name}} didn't do the best job, picking up only 12 percent of our embedded test dirt. Most vacuums struggle with this test, but this was far less dirt than more powerful models picked up. For this test, we set the carpet depth dial to the maximum setting.

Short Carpet

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On shorter carpets, the {{product.name}} did an adequate job, picking up an average of 65 per cent of our test dirt. This means that it would take longer to do a decent cleaning job on this length of carpet than the more powerful models. For this test, we set the carpet depth dial to the minimum setting.

Wood Floor

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On a bare wooden floor, the {{product.name}} did a very good job, picking up just over 91 per cent of the dirt that we use in our tests.

Pet Hair

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Anyone with pets will know that pet hair gets everywhere, and it can be a real problem to remove from carpets and fabrics. We found that the {{product.name}} did an acceptable job of removing ground-in pet hair from our test carpet, but it wasn't able to pick up some of the more embedded hair. For these stubborn bits, a turbine head is included which does a better job, and which can be used on fabrics.

Debris Pickup

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Our debris test looks at how much of our test debris the cleaner can pick up from a carpet, and we found that this cleaner did a decent job. Our test debris includes rice, pasta and coins, and we found that this cleaner was able to pick up about 74 per cent of this debris overall across both carpets and wood floors.

Dirt Holder Capacity

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The dirt holder of this cleaner is fairly big: we measured the maximum capacity at 0.52 gallons. That is larger than average, so you should not need to empty the container that often.

Handling

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The {{product.name}} is a large upright vacuum cleaner, but with a trick up its sleeve: the guts of the cleaner come out to convert it into a canister cleaner. This conversion process is pretty easy: you just press the yellow button on the top of the cylinder handle and lift it out. The power cable and hose are both attached to the canister body, so it comes out cleanly. Replacing the cylinder is just as easy: just line up the bulges on the bottom of the canister with the indentations on the base and push, and it clicks back into place.

In the upright configuration, this cleaner is easy to use, with a large, comfortable handle and two large wheels on the back of the base that mean that not much force required to move it. A latching switch on the back of the body unlocks the cleaner for use, and the body angles down to 90 degrees, so it is easy to get it under furniture. The cleaner does require a fair amount of clearance under furniture: it won't fit under anything with less than 4.5 inches of clearance, and it can only go 4.5 inches under before you need more clearance.

As an almost-canister, the {{product.name}} is relatively easy to use, although it is somewhat larger and bulkier than other dedicated canister models, with the dual cyclone design adding some bulk to the canister. It doesn't wheel around, but the large handle on the top is easy to grasp and it doesn't require much effort to lift and move about for short cleaning projects. It also stands upright on its own and is so heavy that it isn't likely to tip over.

Cleaner Controls

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There aren't many controls on this cleaner, with just two power switches (one for the main power and one for the brush) and a dial for carpet height. The carpet height control dial does require you to reach right down to the floor, and could be a pain to use if you have a house with different length carpets and bare floors, which would involve a lot of dial turning.

Cleaning Tools Use

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The {{product.name}} comes with 4 cleaning tools for use with the hose. Although these are all designed for use with the canister section of the cleaner, these are all stored on the main body. So, you will need to keep the main body close to hand when using the canister if you want to change tools. From let to right, these are:

Nozzle - The standard nozzle is 11.5 inches long

Dust Brush/Upholstery Tool - This dual purpose brush can be used as a conventional bristly dust brush, or as a tool for cleaning upholstery without brushes, which could damage fabrics. You switch from one to the other by rotating the head around, which blocks off one of the side of the tool.

Wand Extender - This can be installed on the end of the hose to extend the reach of the hose end. With two telescoping sections, this can extend the hose by 2 feet.

Turbo Brush Pet - This pet hair brush uses a single air-driven rotating brush to help pick up pet hair and dander from carpets and fabrics.

Power Cord

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The power cable of the {{product.name}} is 30 feet long, and is stored by winding it onto two hooks on the side of the canister. There is no automatic cord rewind.

Hose Use

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In the upright configuration, the hose loops around the back of the detachable canister. When in use as a canister vacuum, this hose is detached by pulling on the rather stiff release latch. The hose on this cleaner is a little short: using the nozzle and the hose extender, the furthest that we could get from the canister body was just 8 feet 1 inch with the hose fully extended. Likewise, it wasn't able to get very high, allowing us to vacuum just 3 feet and 4 inches above. We don't include the user height in this: to find out how high you could get, add the distance from your hand to the floor with your hand up in the air. These are both somewhat disappointing numbers, especially given the significantly longer and higher reaches that other models offer.

Dirt Holder

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The dirt holder of the {{product.name}} is a small plastic bowl located below the cyclone device. With a capacity of just over 0.5 gallons, this is a little larger than most. The dirt holder is removed by moving the grey lever below it, which allows it to be pulled out. The container is not sealed, so any slips or tips when emptying it could result in a spillage and more vacuuming. This also means that you cannot empty this into a trash bag without some of it escaping: an issue for those with allergies who want to get the dirt out without more escaping. It is also rather too easy to replace the dirt container wrongly and not realize it until you turn it on, which could result in a blast of dust escaping the cleaner. Both of these are serious issues that could make this a no-go cleaner for those with allergies or a dust phobia.

Filter

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There are two filters on this device: one just below the dust container in a slide-out tray, and another on the back of the body over the air vent. The first filter is an active carbon model which helps to capture smells. Both filters are replaceable, but cannot be washed and reused.

Weight

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In the upright configuration, the {{product.name}} weighs in at a fairly hefty {{product.manufacturer_specs['Weight']}}. In the canister configuration, it weights 11.0 pounds. Both of these are on the heavy side, so this cleaner would not be a good pick for someone who has problems lifting heavy objects.

Noise

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The {{product.name}} is a rather noisy cleaner. We measured the average noise level in the upright mode at about 77 decibels. The noise is the usual high-pitched whine of a vacuum cleaner, but there is more of a rushing sound at the rear. Either way, this is not a quiet device to use by any stretch of the imagination.

Energy Use

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The {{product.name}} uses quite a lot of electricity. We measured the power drawer of this device when cleaning a carpet at a hefty 1088 watts. We wouldn't recommended plugging this into a heavily loaded circuit, or running it over a lightweight extension cable.

Hoover Platinum S3865 Comparison

Both cleaners specialize in picking up pet hair, but the Dyson is easier to use and had better performance. It is more expensive, though.

Although it was a close run thing in a few of our tests, we found better overall performance from the Dyson vacuum, especially in our tests that look at how well the cleaner can extract dirt from carpets.

The Dyson is the easier cleaner to use, with a simpler, more straightforward design. Both cleaners offer a good selection of cleaning tools and plenty of reach, but the Bissell tries to do too much, over-complicating the cleaning process. The Bissell can convert from an upright to a canister style vacuum, but this doesn't make the cleaner that much more flexible.

Both cleaners are somewhat noisy, and are equally likely to frighten small children and animals.

LG LuV200R Pet Care Comparison

The Bissell can convert from an upright to a canister-style cleaner, but the Hoover is the stronger performer.

The Hoover was the stronger performer in the majority of our tests, although it was a close thing in our tests on picking up debris. Both cleaners had decent performance, though, and could handle a range of cleaning jobs from small to large.

The Hoover has a simple design approach that doesn't confuse with knobs and buttons. The Bissell, however, has a profusion of buttons, knobs and handles that makes it somewhat confusing to use. It can also convert from an upright to a canister-style cleaner, but this feature doesn't really add anything to the usability of the cleaner.

The Hoover is the quieter cleaner, which is typically true of canister style cleaners. The Bissell is somewhat noisy in use, with the carpet cleaning brush producing a rather annoying droning noise when it is in use on a carpet.

Comp 3

These two cleaners are quite similar in offering a lot of features in a sometimes confusing package. They are also both expensive cleaners.

We found that in our tests, the LG was the stronger performer, picking up more dirt from deep and short carpets, and doing a better job of picking up other debris. The two cleaners were equally matched in our test with pet hair, though, and the Bissell offers an additional pet hair cleaning tool that does a better job of removing pet hair from fabric.

both of these cleaners suffer the same problem: over complication. Both have a number of latches, switches, dials and buttons that are used to control the cleaner, which can get somewhat confusing when you just want to vacuum up a spill. Both offer large dust containers, though, which is useful for big cleaning jobs, and a good selection of cleaning tools. The LG includes a wiper inside the dust canister that compresses the dirt to try and fit more in (hence the Kompressor name).

Both cleaners are somewhat noisy, so they wouldn't work for stealth cleaning.

Overall Verdict

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Decent cleaning performance, but the design is overly complicated and confusing to use.

Performance

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We found decent performance from the {{product.name}}, but it never really excelled in any of our tests, usually being outclassed by cleaners like the Dyson DC28. But it does have good overall performance and can handle cleaning jobs both large and small.

Usability

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The {{product.name}} is a complex cleaner, and many of the more complex features don't add much. It can convert from an upright to a canister-style cleaner by lifting out the center section, but doing so leaves a canister cleaner that is larger, bulkier and more awkward than others.

Noise

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The {{product.name}} is a noisy cleaner in both configurations, producing a lot of noise when cleaning both carpets and wood floors.

Meet the tester

Richard Baguley

Richard Baguley

Contributor

@@rbaguley

Richard Baguley is a veteran writer who has written about technology ranging from Alphabet to Zip file utilities. He has contributed to pretty much every major tech publication, including Amiga Format Magazine, PC World, Wired, CNET, Toms Guide, Forbes, and many others. He lives in the Boston metro area with his wife, dog, and an indeterminate number of cats.

See all of Richard Baguley's reviews

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