Home: We roadtest the latest vacuum cleaners 

Kya deLongchamps test-drives cylinders, uprights and wands to see what's cleaning up this season

Vacuum cleaners for spring cleaning 2024.

Sweeping the showrooms for a new vacuum for your cleaning arsenal? In general terms, top quality starts with Dyson, Shark, AEG, Miele, and Vax. Still, don’t overlook new brands to the market here in Ireland, including Roidmi (the leading Chinese maker worldwide). It does a very nice line in both powerful manual and sleek automatic robot machines in that mid-range bracket. After a test run in-store, trawl those “real customer” reviews before you buy. Weeks of use can pick up unexpected pros and cons for well-priced vacuums.

PET LOVERS

If you have a few hairy beloveds, creative children, or a serious party habit, stains are not an occasional problem but a daily headache. The Shark StainStriker is a dedicated cylinder-style machine, with 20X the power of a conventional domestic carpet cleaner. It grabs out the stain and hair from most piles and weaves without over-saturating carpet or upholstery. 

You will have to budget for the dual-activated solution (Deep Clean Pro and Oxymultiplier), but you can also use this useful newcomer on grotty stairs, carpets in high-traffic zones, and even out in the car. We really liked the stain-lifting head and it’s lightweight at 3.8kg — ideal for toting around the house or trucking upstairs for that spot-cleaning emergency; from €149.99, multiple suppliers, with Shark concentrated solutions from €16.99 for 946ml.

Shark Stain-Striker, €149.99.

For general cleaning ranging all over the home of a furry family, I’m going with Shark again, for its Stratos upright Pet Pro, superbly effective for hair pick-up, together with anti-wrap brushes and bars that will need less clipping and teasing out.

You need a good turbo-tool to gather fluff. The Stratos Pet Pro also includes a unique cartridge system that guards against dust-cup odours commonly caused by pet hair, dust, and dander. It’s a manoeuvrable, corded machine, which will serve a large home perfectly, and includes a patented lift-away cylinder for stairs, sofas and cushions, making it the weapon of choice for clean-fluencer Mrs Hinch; €299.99 best price from very.ie.

New tech check 2024: LED headlights, double self-cleaning brush bars, and HEPA filtration as standard. Look for machines that offer odour control systems if you have pets.

ROBOTS WE RATE

For the most powerful robot vacuum, James Dyson’s R&D rises to the challenge with the 360 Vis Nav, with six times the suction of a standard robot. With its signature D-shaped body to prod deeper into corners, the Vis Nav has an extended side duct and three action brush bars which clean right up to the edges of the room. 

Keep in mind — double brush bars are standard, with triples engineered into more pricy brands. Control this little beauty with the MyDyson app to set cleaning modes for individual rooms and surfacing, schedule service, and instruct it where not to go (over delicate antique rugs or steep stairs).

With robots you get what you pay for. James Dyson's R&D rises to the challenge with the 360 Vis Nav, with six times the suction of a standard robot; €1,299.99.

It has traction talent and a dual-link suspension to avoid hang-ups on odd flooring and can climb shallow steps of 21mm too.

Dyson recommends the use of its auto mode, which will take a taste of the floor, analyse the dust levels and vary the power to suit. This will deliver the optimal clean and extend running times. It will even send you a comforting deep-clean report on completion of the run. It costs €1,299.99 at dyson.ie.

The Roomba i8.

For that mind-blowing number, you could buy a couple of superb iRobot Roomba i8 machines that not only tackle carpeting and hard flooring but give them a light damp dust with a quick change to a mop canister. Featuring Clean Zones, Keep-Out instructions and excellent “learning” and navigation skills, the i8 is a reviewer favourite. 

App-enabled for Alexa, Siri, and Google Assistant-enabled devices; €349, reduced from €599. I would spring for the i8 Clean-Base, allowing your little wonder to self-empty for up to six months; €499, down from €799, irobot.ie.

New tech check 2024: Self-emptying robot machines, with three to six-month capacities, are becoming common in robots and popular even with wands.

WICKED WANDS

Priced under €500 or so, cordless wand or stick machines don’t feature the same powerful motors as mains uprights and cylinders. Still, they have multiple advantages. When it comes to cleaning hard floors, their performance, lightweight, versatility, and increasing run times are perfect for everywhere from bachelor apartments to busy family homes. Look out for good run times of 40 minutes or more and expect a thick carpet to suck this figure down to as little as a quarter of an hour.

This Shark Detect Pro features self-emptying, rare in a wand, from €379.

My first choice is the Shark Detect Pro, which not only charges after every run but self-empties to a 1.3l bin too — a talent formerly reserved for expensive robots. This is a neat trick for anyone with a respiratory issue, as the Anti-Allergen Complete Seal captures and traps 99.9% of dust, allergens, and irritants.

Shark machines tend to be slightly cheaper than their Dyson competition and a little more robust in my experience. This machine features DirtDetect, technology that reads the dust at the head and automatically boosts suction power for deep cleaning on pile carpets.

We love the Henry smile, and there's a lot to smile about with its new Henry Quick, a wand model with bags in 65% recycled materials; €299.99.

EdgeDetect doubles suction for more powerful edge and corner cleaning, and FloorDetect, reacts to a change of going and optimises performance, increasing the brush-roll speed; €379, various suppliers.

For a budget alternative, try out the brand-new Numatic Henry Quick. It features a 60-minute run time, a super easy-to-clean brush head (no faffing with tools), and dust-free emptying with Henry Pods (six supplied in 65% recycled materials), €299.99.

Alternatively, the Miele Tri-flex provides three useful machine configurations in a powerful Li-Ion rechargeable battery for the same price, €299.99, miele.ie.

New tech check 2024: Several machines including the Shark Detect Pro offer a charging base on wheels you can move anywhere, rather than sticking the wand up on a predetermined spot on the wall — ideal for two and three-level homes.

Miele's C3 cylinder range has a dedicated following for reliability and German build quality. Prices from €249.99.

SUPER CYLINDERS

If you want the growl of mains power in your hand, with the reach of a flexible hose, nothing beats a cylinder.

For build quality and German engineering, I’ve stuck with Miele and AEG for decades for everything from their body sealing to their reliable powerful performance. The technology is sound, and the dust pick-up is superb.

Miele’s C3 range is an acknowledged winner for demanding households.

My pick for this year is the 890w C3 Parquet Powerline as it offers extra attention to delicate hardwood flooring, and features a clever Parquet Swivel head that scoots around table and chair legs. The swivel casters move like silk with shock absorbers steadying and quieting the ride — typical extra attention to detail with the brand.

Together with a basic stick vacuum for quick runarounds — unbeatable; from €288, multiple suppliers.

Where space is at a premium, but you need the muscle of a cylinder machine, the Hoover H-Energy 300 has a clever nano-storage system that allows it to slip into a standard kitchen base cabinet. With a considerable 850w of welly in the motor it has a wide cleaning radius of 9.5m, variable power and a dusting brush and crevice nozzle on-board. It’s excellent value too, priced from €94 depending on the supplier.

New tech check 2024: Well-sealed cylinder bodies to improve suction power and reduce energy consumption.

All-new machines will be under 1,000w. Reconditioned models of expensive machines are now on offer nationwide.