Best cordless vacuum cleaner 2023: The 15 best stick vacuums from Dyson to Shark
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Keep your house dust- and dirt-free without the hassle with our selection of the best cordless vacuum cleaners
Nobody loves cleaning, but cordless vacuum cleaners make the whole ordeal a little bit more bearable. They’re wonderfully convenient and are able to handle most dirt spillages without you ever having to drag the cumbersome Henry out from under the stairs. The problem is that there are so many brilliant handheld vacuum cleaners, it can be tricky to pick out which is the best cordless vacuum for you.
While most models look the same, not all are created equal. This is where we come to the rescue – we’ve rounded up the best handheld and cordless vacuum cleaners you can buy right now. Below, you will find our pick of the best cordless vacuum cleaners to buy in 2023. Whether you’re tired of lugging a hefty cylinder vacuum around your home or you just need something to clean up after a messy pet/child/partner, we’ve got you covered.
Best cordless vacuum: At a glance
- Best Dyson alternative: Shark IZ300UKT | £430
- Best budget: Bissel Multireach Active 21V | £140
- Best of the best: Dyson V15 Detect Absolute | £630
- Best Dyson for most people: Dyson Cyclone V10 | £425
How to choose the best cordless vacuum cleaner for you
What specifications should I pay attention to?
There are a handful of specifications to look at before you begin, of which the most crucial are weight, bin capacity and battery life.
Weight: It isn’t so much of an issue when you’re vacuuming the floor, but you will certainly notice a heavy model when you’re standing on a chair and cleaning a lampshade or lugging it up and down the stairs. The lightest models we’ve seen are around 1.3kg, while the heaviest can weigh more than 2kg – that may not sound like a big difference, but you will notice the extra weight when you’re holding a handheld vacuum at arm’s length.
Bin capacity: This determines roughly how much dirt you can collect before you have to empty the vacuum. The models on this list range from tiny handhelds with 250ml capacities to larger uprights with up to 1.2l of bin space. Even if a model has a small bin, however, it’s not a deal-breaker as long as the bin is quick and easy to empty.
Battery life: Or perhaps more accurately battery power determines roughly how much suction power a vacuum will have, as well as how long it will last on a single charge. The models on this list range in longevity from under ten minutes up to one hour, which is a pretty good cross-section of cordless vacuums more generally.
Keep in mind that handheld cordless vacuums won’t last anywhere near as long as upright models. On the flip side, however, keep in mind that even a seemingly miserable eight-minute battery life will be enough to deal with a car interior or unexpected kitchen spillage.
What accessories and features are worth having?
Accessories: Keep an eye out for detachable hoses or pivoting nozzles for awkward spaces; crevice tools for sofa cushions and tight spots; and powered vacuum heads for stubborn carpets. There are other, more unusual accessories, but these are the most common.
Charging: Most of the models on this list will come with either a charging dock – many of which can be mounted to a wall – or a standard DC mains plug and cable. Some smaller models come with removable batteries or, in rare cases, a second power pack so you can switch batteries mid-clean and enjoy twice the longevity.
READ NEXT: Best full-sized vacuum cleaners
The best cordless vacuum cleaners to buy in 2023
1. Dyson Cyclone V10: The best Dyson for most people
Price: £425 | Buy now from Amazon 
The Dyson Cyclone V10 was once the king of cordless vacuum cleaners and was a noteworthy improvement over the V8 in almost every way, but it’s still worth a recommendation today. It’s incredibly powerful – so much so that Dyson ceased development of new corded cleaners because of this vacuum – and we agree that the V10 is easily good enough to replace your old upright if you’re hoping to upgrade.
Considering how powerful it is, the Dyson V10 Cyclone has an excellent battery life of up to 60 minutes in the default mode and 30 minutes on the more powerful “Max Boost” setting. The dust container is also 40% larger than the V8 (it’s now 0.76l) and while that makes it more expensive, it’s still exceptional value if you want to keep your house spotless.
Read our full Dyson Cyclone V10 review
Key specs – Dimensions (WDH): 250 x 256 x 1,249mm; Weight: 2.68kg; Bin capacity: 0.76l; Runtime: 60mins; Warranty: 2yr RTB
2. Shark IZ300UKT: The best Dyson alternative
Price: £430 | Buy now from Amazon 
Shark’s cordless vacuum cleaners have an array of features that its rivals don’t have. One of the best is its DuoClean floor head, which incorporates both a fluffy roller and a brush bar in a single unit. This means you don’t have to switch floor heads when you move from carpet to hard floor, which saves both time and hassle.
The IZ300 range uses its new PowerFins technology on the brush bar: these stiff fabric fins work alongside the usual brushes to agitate your carpet more vigorously. In our tests, we saw this help the vacuum perform as thorough a job on our controlled spills of cereal and flour as we’ve seen from any cordless vacuum, including more expensive models.
Read our full Shark IZ300UKT review
Key specs – Dimensions (WDH): 260 x 245 x 1,180mm; Weight: 4.58kg; Bin capacity: 0.7l; Vacuum type: Cordless stick; Bagless: Yes; Vacuum power: 309W
![Image of Shark Cordless Stick Vacuum Cleaner [IZ300UKT] 60 Minute Run Time*, Pet Tool, Anti Hair Wrap, Powerfins, Black & Red](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41BCorr5ZXL._SL160_.jpg "Image of Shark Cordless Stick Vacuum Cleaner [IZ300UKT] 60 Minute Run Time*, Pet Tool, Anti Hair Wrap, Powerfins, Black & Red")
3. Bissell Multireach Active 21V: The best budget cordless vacuum
Price: £140 | Buy now from Bissell Direct 
A solid mid-range cordless vacuum with a good balance of features and accessories for the price, Bissell’s Multireach Active is a good choice if you don’t mind cutting out a few bells and whistles to suit a more modest budget. A 2-in-1 vacuum, the Multireach can operate as a standard stick vacuum, using the motorised head and included extension pole, as well as transforming into a handheld by removing the extension. The two power modes – high and low – are designed to be used on carpet and hard floors respectively, and can be easily switched between with the conveniently placed control buttons.
At 0.5l, the collection bin is fairly small compared to others on this list, so will need to be emptied quite regularly (and that process itself can be pretty fiddly), but for the price, these small gripes are easy to forgive. It may not have all the functionality of a Dyson, but the Multireach is still a well-balanced and reasonably priced cordless vacuum.
Read our full Bissell Multireach Active 21V review
Key specs – Dimensions (WDH): 270 x 240 x 1,194mm; Weight: 3.6kg; Bin capacity: 0.5l; Battery power: 21V; Runtime: 30mins; Warranty: 2yr
4. Dyson V15 Detect Absolute: The best cordless vacuum
Price: £630 | Buy now from John Lewis 
If you want the very best cordless vacuum cleaner, the Dyson V15 Detect Absolute is king of the hill. It takes the brilliant form factor of Dyson’s previous models, beefs up the suction without compromising battery life and introduces a raft of new features to help you clean.
For those with hard floors, the Slim Fluffy motorised head now comes with a laser that shines out at the front, illuminating tiny dust particles. This helps you spot places that need a clean and provides reassurance that a quick pass with the V15 has done its work. The other motorised heads in the box have anti-tangle rollers.
The most important thing is the cleaning ability of the device, though, and the Dyson V15 Detect Absolute happily powered through our tests with ease. It isn’t cheap but, if you can afford it, it’s easily the best.
Read our full Dyson V15 Detect Absolute review
Key specs – Dimensions (WDH): 250 x 252 x 1,264mm; Weight: 3kg; Bin capacity: 0.76l; Runtime: 60mins; Warranty: 2yr RTB
5. Dyson V12 Detect Slim: The best cordless vacuum for smaller spaces
Price: £530 | Buy now from John Lewis 
If your living space doesn’t really warrant the purchase of a full-sized Dyson, the Dyson V12 Detect Slim is a brilliant alternative. It comes with most of the bells and whistles of the more expensive Dyson models, but in a more compact device.
Both of Dyson’s best floor heads come included; the De-tangling Motorbar for all floor types, and the fluffy illuminated head that’s so good at cleaning hard floors. The vacuum also features a bright OLED screen for selecting settings, keeping an eye on battery life, while also providing data on exactly the number and type of particles it’s pulling off your floor.
The vacuum is less powerful than Dyson’s larger models, and the collection bin is smaller, meaning you’ll need to empty it more often. However, in our tests it cleaned just as efficiently as its larger siblings.
Read our full Dyson V12 Detect Slim review
Key specs – Dimensions (WDH): 250 x 252 x 1,234mm; Weight: 2.2kg; Bin capacity: 0.35l; Runtime: 60mins; Warranty: 2yr RTB
6. Vax ONEPWR Blade 5 Dual Pet & Car: Best-value cordless stick for tackling pet hair
Price: £280 | Buy now from Argos 
Anyone with a furry friend in their lives will understand how important it is to have a vacuum cleaner that isn’t just good at extracting hair off carpet, but can tackle hard floor, furniture and car interiors, too. The Vax ONEPWR Blade 5 Dual Pet & Car is perfect for such tasks, with exactly the right attachments included for the job.
New to this model is the dual roller floor head which features both a regular brush roller and a soft roller for tackling hard floors. For lifting pet hair from furniture and upholstery, it comes with a motorised mini accessory, which is also handy for smaller areas such as stairs and mats. For car interiors, there’s a handy flexible hose to reach into all the nooks and crannies.
Last but certainly not least, the kit comes with two batteries, so you can charge one while using the other. This provides a combined run time of well over 40 minutes, if using the vacuum’s most economical suction setting, but it can last well over 15 minutes even at full pelt if you switch batteries part way through.
Read our full Vax ONEPWR Blade 5 Dual Pet & Car review
Key specs – Dimensions (WDH): 270 x 260 x 1,040mm; Weight: 3.85kg; Bin capacity: 0.7l; Runtime: 45mins; Warranty: 3yr
7. Dyson Micro 1.5kg: The best lightweight cordless
Price: £299 | Buy now from Donaghy Bros 
Dyson has a broad range of cordless vacuums to choose from but, if you’re looking for something small and compact, the Dyson Micro 1.5kg lives up to its name. The vacuum can operate in either handheld or hard-floor modes and weighs 1.5kg at its heaviest, which is when it has its soft roller motorised floor head and extension pole attached. In handheld mode, with one of the other attachments clipped straight into the vacuum cleaner, it weighs less than a kilogram.
Unfortunately, this is not a vacuum that’s designed to tackle large carpeted areas but, if you’re mostly cleaning a modest area of hard floor, you can expect it to clean as well as Dyson’s more expensive models. Because of its smaller size, however, you will need to empty its 200ml collection bin and recharge its battery a little more often than you might with a larger model.
Read our full Dyson Micro 1.5kg review
Key specs – Dimensions (WDH): 207 x 220 x 1,200mm; Weight: 1.5kg; Bin capacity: 200ml; Vacuum type: Cordless stick; Bagless: Yes; Stated suction power (AW): 50
8. AEG QX9: The best cordless stick/handheld hybrid
Price: £370 | Buy now from John Lewis 
The AEG QX9 is an unusual cordless stick vacuum: instead of a stick with the motor at the handle and a motor head attached to the bottom, it’s made up of an alloy frame with a space in the middle where the vacuum resides. This part can be removed to be used for small jobs such as the stairs or the inside of your car and replaced when you simply need to vacuum your carpets.
In stick form, the AEG QX9 is easy to manoeuvre, has great battery life and cleans well. It can’t quite match the most powerful cordless vacuums on the market for cleaning power but it did well in our tests, and it also comes with anti-hair wrap tech so you don’t need to get your hands dirty removing tangles.
Read our full AEG QX9 review
Key specs – Dimensions (WDH): 256 x 132 x 1,102mm; Weight: 2.8kg; Bin capacity: 0.3l; Vacuum type: Cordless stick/handheld; Bagless: Yes; Suction power: 30W
9. Shark ICZ300UKT: The best cordless upright
Price: £430 | Buy now from Amazon 
Anyone looking for something with a bit more power than a cordless stick should seriously consider the Shark ICZ300UKT. It has many of the benefits of a cordless stick but it’s heavier duty and configured for more serious work. Unlike most cordless vacuums, it can also stand up by itself, so you don’t have to keep finding somewhere to lay it down or prop it up.
Although it’s heavier than many cordless alternatives, all the weight is kept at the bottom, near Shark’s useful multi-surface DuoClean floor head, so it’s not cumbersome to push around. When required, the floor head can be disconnected and the body lifted away ready to tackle stairs, mattresses and upholstery or to reach dust and dirt in high places.
Read our full Shark ICZ300UKT review
Key specs – Dimensions (WDH): 260 x 250 x 1,080mm; Weight: 6.2kg; Bin capacity: 0.6l; Vacuum type: Cordless upright; Bagless: Yes
10. Hoover HF500: The best self-supporting cordless vacuum
Price: £280 | Buy now from Amazon 
One of the biggest annoyances of cordless vacuums is that you have to find somewhere to lean them when you’re mid clean. The Hoover HF500 doesn’t have this problem. When it’s upright you can let it go and hey-presto, it waits there, ready to resume cleaning when you want to restart.
It’s not the only balancing act it can perform. You can also remove the vacuum section from the top and hang it further down the extension wand, reducing its height significantly for storage purposes. It supports itself in this position, too.
Factor in the anti-tangle floor head and sensible price, and you’ve got a real winner, particularly for anyone who’s cursed their previous cordless vacuum cleaner for not being able to stand by itself.
Read our full Hoover HF500 review
Key specs – Dimensions (WDH): 250 x 200 x 1,080mm; Weight: 2.5kg; Bin capacity: 450ml; Battery power: 22V; Runtime: 45mins; Warranty: 1yr
11. Dyson Omni-glide: The best cordless vacuum cleaner for hard floor
Price: £350 | Buy now from Dyson 
Where most of Dyson’s cordless vacuum cleaners follow a familiar design, the Omni-glide is something different. With a tiny bin and low suction power, the specification doesn’t look that great, but by introducing an incredible new type of motorised floor head, Dyson has created a cordless vacuum cleaner that’s perfect for small flats with hard floor throughout.
The cleaning action has to be experienced to be believed. The vacuum glides around your floor like a hovercraft, with a unique joint between the handle and the floor head that lets you spin and rotate the vacuum into the tightest places.
It’s not kitted out to cover much more carpet than the occasional small rug (using the supplied small carpet head), but if that suits your lifestyle the Omni-glide is an excellent vacuum that’s very good at its specialist subject.
Read our full Dyson Omni-glide review
Key specs – Dimensions (WDH): 206 x 91 x 1,077mm; Weight: 1.9kg; Bin capacity: 0.2l; Runtime: 20mins; Warranty: 2yr RTB
12. Gtech HyLite 2: The best compact cordless vacuum
Price: £150 | Buy now from Amazon 
If you’re really short on space, the Gtech HyLite 2 can be packed up so small it can be stored in a drawer. Easy to disassemble and put away, this diminutive marvel has a telescopic handle that can be detached and compressed down to a quarter of its full size.
All the vacuuming power is kept in the floor head, including the collection system, which uses small 0.3l disposable bags. These fill rapidly, and the battery only lasts around 20 mins, so it’s best for cleaning smaller properties.
With a vacuum this small, you can’t expect the kind of power we find on larger models, but it still performed surprisingly well in our cleaning benchmarks, collecting 85% of the tricky spillages we tested it with.
Read our full Gtech HyLite 2 review
Key specs – Dimensions (WDH): 280 x 180 x 1,090mm; Weight: 1.5kg; Bin capacity: 0.3l; Battery power: 14.4V; Runtime: 20mins; Warranty: 2yr
13. Numatic Henry Quick: The best cordless vacuum for no-mess emptying
Price: £299 | Buy now from Amazon 
You might be more used to seeing the cheery face of Henry on Numatic’s iconic barrel-shaped vacuum cleaner, but it also adorns this cordless stick. As with most sticks, the Henry Quick can be operated as a handheld, or connected to its floor head with an extension wand.
The main difference between the Henry Quick and most of its rivals is that it uses a bag to collect the dirt. These 1 litre Henry Pods slot into the collection bin and work as the filter, helping to keep both the vacuum cleaner and the air around you clean, as well as giving you as-new performance with each replacement Pod. When it’s full, it can be ejected from the vacuum straight into the bin, avoiding the dusty cloud often created by bagless vacuums.
At £299, it’s more affordable than many cordless sticks and comes with 26 Pods – enough to last perhaps a year or so, depending on how dirty your house gets – though it doesn’t come with any fancy accessories, like an anti-hair detangler or a soft floor roller. And, if red’s not your colour, it’s also available in graphite grey and as the pink Hetty Quick.
Read our full Henry Quick review
Key specs – Dimensions (WDH): 240 x 270 x 1,220mm; Weight: 3.2kg; Bin capacity: 1l; Battery power: 25.2V; Runtime: 60mins; Warranty: 2yr
14. Samsung Bespoke Jet Pro Extra: The best cordless vacuum cleaner that empties itself
Price: £749 | Buy now from Argos 
It’s not unusual to see self-emptying robot vacuum cleaners, but the Samsung Bespoke Jet is one of only a small handful of cordless stick vacuum cleaners that empty themselves automatically.
It comes supplied with a self-emptying station. When you’ve finished cleaning, simply hook the vacuum onto this free-standing dock, and a secondary vacuum empties the collection bin into a larger 2l bag. This gives it enough capacity to empty the Bespoke Jet at least four times before you need to replace the bag.
There are four models in the Bespoke Jet range, but the Pro Extra also comes with a mopping attachment. This uses a second floor head with two rotating pads and a water reservoir, which is more than capable of giving your floor a good wipe - perfect for households with messy eaters or muddy paws.
Read our full Samsung Bespoke Jet Pro Extra review
Key specs – Dimensions (WDH): 250x210x1,000mm; Weight: 2.7kg; Bin capacity: 0.5l (vacuum), 2l (emptying station); Battery power: 25.2V; Runtime: 120mins; Warranty: 5yr
15. Roidmi RS70: The best vacuum/mop hybrid
Price: £658 | Buy now from Amazon 
Plenty of robot vacuum cleaners come with a mop attachment but it’s much less common to see them on cordless sticks. Unless, that is, it’s a Roidmi.
The top-of-the-range Roidmi RS70 comes with two heads. The first is a regular vacuum head with a soft brush bar that’s best for cleaning hard floors (although it does have lines of bristles for agitating short-pile carpet). The second is a mop head with two cloth pads that rotate at 200rpm. These are kept dampened with a small reservoir you can fill with tap water, and they do a good job of lifting light stains and other problems that vacuuming alone can’t tackle.
Overall it’s quite pricey, but the RS70 makes a great choice for anyone living in a house with mostly hard flooring.
Read our full Roidmi RS70 review
Key specs – Dimensions (WDH): 254 x 152 x 1,219mm; Weight: 2.7kg; Bin capacity: 0.55l; Battery power: 28.8V; Runtime: 80mins; Warranty: 2yr RTB
