Best cordless vacuum cleaners worth upgrading to in 2021

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Cordless vacs are cleaning up. There’s been a huge shift to battery powered vacuum cleaners over the past year or so, thanks to massive leaps in performance and design. Better suction and decent battery life has made the idea of tethering your vacuum to a plug seem positively antiquated.

So what’s the best cordless vacuum cleaner for you? Do you invest big bucks or stay frugal? Do you buy an upright stick or cylinder model?

Bagless cylinder vacuum cleaners are ideal for hard flooring, and with a rotating brush head, they’ll tackle carpet debris just as efficiently. Manoeuvring is a bit of a chore though, as they drag along behind you.

Upright vacuum cleaners are easier to steer, because you push them forward. They’re also better for carpets, but will do a decent job on hard floors. They also tend to take up less room when it comes to storage, and many come with on-wall mounts.

3 cordless vacuum cleaners worth upgrading to

1. Dyson V11 Absolute Cordless Vacuum Cleaner

We don't mind admitting to being a little bit infatuated with this flagship Dyson upright. Maybe it’s the quirky design, or its sterling performance, but it’s darn impressive. Not only is it enormously powerful, it also has smart features, like a full colour display that relates battery reserves and animated troubleshooting advice. At 3kg it’s relatively light and easy to manoeuvre, and the filter pops out for cleaning. The V11 comes with a variety of accessory heads and tools, including a Soft Roller Head specifically for hard floors. Pricey but brilliant.

Buy it: Dyson V11 Absolute Cordless Vacuum Cleaner | £599 from Currys PC World

2. NUMATIC Henry Cordless Vacuum Cleaner

We’d hesitate to call Henry stylish, but there’s no doubting his prowess when it comes to getting carpets spin and span. This cordless edition features on board storage for the accessory kit, and has a battery life of around 30 minutes. For smaller properties it’s a great option.

Buy it: NUMATIC Henry HVB160 Cordless Vacuum Cleaner | £219 from Currys PC World

3. Hoover H-FREE 500 3-in-1

Lightweight and surprisingly powerful, this cordless bagless stick cleaner is our best value buy. The battery life clocks in at just over 30 minutes, and it’s relatively light at 2.2kg. It comes with a number of cleaning gadgets, including a crevice tool, upholstery brush, and mini turbo head, and even sports built-in LED lighting for those shadowy areas (something even the mighty Dyson V11 doesn’t offer). What’s more, it’s currently available with a sizeable saving over on Amazon.

Buy it: Hoover H-FREE 500 3-in-1 | £159 (Was £199.99) from Amazon

Also available at Hoover Direct.

What did we say about cleaning up?

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