Best Vacuum Cleaner 2024: Ensure a proper clean with these picks

Not just a simple update to the previous model, the Shark Stratos Pet Pro Anti Hair Wrap Plus Anti-Odour Upright Vacuum NZ860UKT is a brand-new vacuum cleaner, with several neat new features. First up, is the new DuoClean floor head, which is designed to work on hard floors and carpets.

This new model has an updated version of Shark’s Anti Hair Wrap tech: in testing, both the soft brush roll and carpet brush came out completely clean.

This floor head takes the Shark Anti-Odour pod, which release a sweet smell as you vacuum. It’s a neat add-on, and we like the fresh smell if left behind, making our house feel as clean as it was.

What hasn’t changed is performance, and the Shark Stratos Pet Pro Anti Hair Wrap Plus Anti-Odour Upright Vacuum NZ860UKT is hugely powerful, coming in at 268AW. That’s not the most powerful we’ve seen (the Henry has more suction), but the NZ860UKT doesn’t need quite as much power, as its floor head agitates dirt for removal. It works brilliantly: on hard floors, carpets and with pet hair, the NZ860UKT aced every single test. Our one minor complaint is that the bin can take a bit of shaking to get everything out of it.

This vacuum cleaner has Lift-Away mode, where the central cylinder lifts out. This makes it easier to get the wand and floor head under sofas and the like, plus it makes this a more nimble vacuum cleaner, whether you’re cleaning your car or just getting into a hard-to-reach place in your home.

All-round, this is the best overall plug-in vacuum cleaner that we have reviewed.

Shark is best known for its upright and cordless models, but with the Shark Bagless Cylinder Vacuum Cleaner CZ500UKT the company debuted its first cylinder cleaner. This model has many of the features that we’ve come to know and love from Shark cleaner, only in a different form factor. Its excellent cleaning on all surfaces and brilliant design make it our favourite cylinder cleaner.

Cylinder cleaners are often easier to move around because you drag the cylinder behind you. Here, Shark has made that job very easy with four caster wheels that we found made it effortless to slide around.

If there’s one issue with cylinder cleaners, it’s that the controls are on the main unit, so you have to bend down to use them. Here, that’s not the case, as the controls are all on the handle, so we could toggle power and change mode all with the flick of a thumb. This certainly saved our backs.

In the box, you get a motorised pet tool, crevice tool and brush, which gives you plenty of flexibility for detail cleaning. The main cleaning head is a DuoClean (this has a soft roller for hard floors and a brush for carpets) with Anti Hair Wrap (this honestly works and stops hair from wrapping around the brush).

Shark has clips to hold the wand and floor head in place, and there’s an accessory clip so you can carry around the detail tools with you.

I measured the vacuum cleaner at a decent 92AW on Eco mode (about the same as a cordless in its regular mode), 227AW on Standard and a massive 285AW on Max: that’s a truly huge amount of suction power for the biggest spills.

Not that we needed this often. We found that Eco mode was enough to tackle our test dirt on carpet, with the floor head agitating dirt brilliantly. One sweep through was enough to leave a clean path. We used Standard for everything else: hard floors and pet hair. On our edge test, the cleaner slightly lagged behind Shark’s best uprights and we did have to finish off with the crevice tool, but that’s our only minor complaint.

If you like cylinder vacuum cleaners and want the features that Shark usually has with its uprights, then this is the a great choice.

Normal vacuum cleaners aren’t built to handle the kinds of dirt and mess you get from DIY, which is why you may also want a powerful wet and dry vacuum cleaner, such as the Stihl SE 33. This looks much like any cylinder vacuum cleaner, but as well as sucking dirt into a paper bag, and make for easier emptying, you can fit the filter and suck up wet mess, too. It’s hugely powerful but great value, making this the best wet and dry vacuum cleaner that we’ve reviewed.

One big difference between wet and dry vacuum cleaners and your standard models is that they can exceed the power limits set: the SE 33 draws 1400W, whereas a standard cleaner will be 750W or less. This translates into more raw power: we measured it at 406AW, which is double the power of many other models in this list.

In fact, it’s so powerful that we found the suction makes the bog-standard floor head hard to push on some surfaces, such as carpet: we needed a huge amount of force at times to get the head to move at times. It should be no surprise that this vacuum cleaner scored perfectly in our carpet, edge, pet hair and hard floor tests. We also spread wet Weetabix onto the floor: no problem for the SE 33 at all.

So, why so much power? With the accessories, the amount of suction on offer let the SE 33 quickly suck up DIY mess, even bigger bits of debris. For these kinds of jobs with more mess than general house dirt, the SE 33 excels and shows why it needs so much power.

The difficulty pushing this cleaner on everyday surfaces mean that it’s not the ideal everyday cleaner: instead, this level of power is best directed at DIY debris, from sawdust to wet plaster mess. This is a great addition to any household, as a DIY or workshop vacuum cleaner, able to cope with those dirty jobs that a regular vacuum can’t touch.

The Shark Anti Hair Wrap Upright Vacuum Cleaner XL with Powered Lift-Away & TruePet PZ1000UKT takes everything great about the company’s Lift-Away vacuums and super-sizes it. Here, there’s a wider floor head than normal and a huge 1.6-litre bin, so we could clean for longer without having to empty. Its incredible cleaning power and wide floor head let us cover a big area in a short amount of time, making this our best upright vacuum cleaner for large homes.

Shark has used its DuoClean tech on the floor head: it has a soft roller for hard floors and a brush roll for carpets. It’s a smart design, as you don’t have to swap floor heads ever, and it’s Anti Hair Wrap: genuinely, we have never managed to clog this floor head with hair.

Having a wide floor head means you can do more in one go. With our regular carpet test, the PZ1000UKT made a clean sweep through the middle of our test mess, leaving nothing behind and, the width of the head meant fewer sweeps were needed to clean everything. Multiply that up around a house, and the wide head captures more dirt on fewer sweeps, so you we found that we could clean faster. Performance right to the edge of rooms was excellent, as was the perfect pet hair and hard floor pick-up.

It helps that this vacuum cleaner is so powerful: 270AW on hard floor mode (more than most cordless cleaners in their short-lived boost modes), and 254AW on carpet mode (here, the brush roll spins faster to agitate dirt). There’s also a Deep Pile mode, which cuts suction to 159AW and reduces the roller speed: this prevents clogging and tangling.

Power and mode selection controls are all on the main wand, so you can reach them without bending down. As this is a Lift-Away model, the main cylinder comes out, so you can use the long-reach of the wand and hose to use the detail tools, including the excellent crevice tool and powerful anti-tangle pet brush, which worked wonders on our sofas.

The slight downside is that this large vacuum cleaner is heavy at 6.8kg, and it’s large. If you’ve got lots of storage room and a big house, it’s a brilliant choice, but those of us in smaller homes or flats may find we’re better off with a smaller cleaner from this list.

A beast of a cylinder vacuum cleaner, the Bissell SmartClean Pet weighs 9.98kg. This size doesn’t go to waste: the wide head and large 3-litre bin mean that you can clean a large area quickly, making this our favourite cylinder vacuum cleaner for large homes.

If the weight is causing concern, don’t let that put you off, as the large wheels make this much easier to move around. In our review, we found that this cylinder cleaner was as easy to move as any. There’s a long 3m hose gives you plenty of reach: we could tackle our stairs with the cleaner at the bottom. In fact, the only time we had to lift this vacuum cleaner was to physically go upstairs.

The core tool is the motorised brush, which is suitable for carpets and hard floors alike. It’s an anti-tangle brush, designed to stop hair wrapping around it. And, it works well: we didn’t have to cut any hair away from the roller during our testing.

As this is a large vacuum cleaner, it has a huge 3-litre bin. That’s absolutely massive to the extent that we only had to empty it every couple of weeks or so.

We measured suction at 227AW in maximum mode (that’s the required amount of power and outdoes many cordless cleaners on turbo mode), down to a more sedate 185AW on minimum: that’s a more useful power mode for thicker carpets. There’s an Auto mode, too: we found that this lets the SmartClean Pet adapt to the surface it was on perfectly.

Real-world tests showed that this cleaner was excellent: perfect cleaning to the edges, clean sweeps on carpet and hard floors and pet hair removed with no issue.

There’s are multiple clips for the wand: one for storage while cleaning, and a second one underside for storage when the vacuum is stood on its back. It’s a shame that there are no clips for the brush and crevice tool. The lack of a mini motorised tool for upholstery is a little disappointing, particularly for a vacuum cleaner aimed at pet owners.

This is a very large and heavy cylinder vacuum cleaner, but if that doesn’t bother you, its power and cleaning ability make it a great choice, particularly in large homes.

If there’s one problem with cylinder vacuum cleaners, it’s that they’re often bulky and messy to store. The Miele Boost CX1 is different.

First, it’s very small (280 x 400 x 400) and it weighs 7.8kg, which makes it more compact than the competition. Secondly, there’s room on board for all of the tools (dusting brush, crevice tool and upholstery brush), and there’s a clip for stowing the floor head. All-in, we found this the neatest and most compact cylinder we have tested.

The minor downside to such a cleaner is that the hose is a little shorter than on rivals, as is the power cable. As such, you may need to use a couple of extra power sockets to clean your home, compared to a regular cleaner.

We loved the power settings on this vacuum cleaner: they’re clearly labelled for the job at hand with settings for curtains and upholstery, rugs, carpet and hard floors. No more guessing which mode to use.

There’s a lot of power in this cleaner, too. We measured it at 89AW on its lowest setting, up to a massive 422AW on its maximum power. That’s a huge amount of suction, and great for picking up larger spills fast.

In our real-world tests, we found that mess on carpet was gone straight away and that the cleaner reached right to the edge of rooms. Hard floor pick-up was flawless. The only test that this cleaner struggled with was pet hair removal: with suction only, the Boost CX1 struggles to agitate and remove hair, and a cleaner with a motorised brush is really required. Miele does sell a Cat & Dog version that adds a motorised brush for these jobs.

If you’ve got a more modest home and like the idea of a cylinder cleaner, this compact and powerful model is a great choice.

Even though the outstanding Hoover HL5 has a secure spot on this list, the company has another excellent vacuum that’s well worth checking out in the form of the Hoover HL4 Pet. While it shares quite a few similarities with the HL5, the HL4 is a smaller device overall which makes it better suited to those who don’t want to push around a heavier vacuum cleaner, or those who don’t have much in the way of storage space.

At its core, the HL4 has all of the main features that you’d want out of a vacuum, namely the ability to swap between hard floor and carpet modes, as well as a vent to give you more precise control over the suction’s power.

That suction power is pretty high too, with our in-house tests showing a peak of 243AW. At that rate, it’s just shy of the Shark NZ860UKT and can pick up plenty of debris, even from a distance which is handy for any hard to reach places.

As its name implies, the HL4 Pet is more than ready to tackle any loose hair found on your floors, packing the same great Anti-Twist floor head from the HL5 which can funnel hair into the 1.2-lite bin without it getting tangled, which saves you from any additional bother after the cleaning’s done.

Also working in the HL4’s favour is its low price point. With an RRP of just £219, and the fact that it can often be found for less, the HL4 is cheaper than both the HL5 and a fair amount of competing upright cylinder vacuums, making it an easy one to recommend for anyone on a budget.

The only thing that holds the HL4 back is its lack of accessories. There are only two included in the box – a crevice tool and a mini pet brush – so if you’re looking to give every area of your home a good clean then you might want to pick out a vacuum with more versatility.

Big and powerful, the Karcher WD6 P Premium can suck up dust and larger debris from any surface fast. It comes with a smart filter cleaner, and can tackle wet spills without you having to change the filter. It’s perfect for proper filth and mess, such as wet plaster dust and sawdust from DIY jobs. If you find yourself doing a lot of work in and around your home, then the Karcher WD6 P Premium could well be for you.

Offering phenomenal power, an integrated power socket for power tools, and the ability to handle wet and dry mess, it’s an exceptional all-round vacuum cleaner. It’s quite large, though, and a bit unwieldy to store. As such, it’s best suited to those who have a garage or shed in which they can store the vacuum when it isn’t in use.

Karcher provides a few accessories in the box: a crevice tool, floor head (with a switch to raise the brushes for normal vacuuming, and lower them for water removal), a tool attachment, and a mini detail hose. The tool adapter lets you plug the vacuum cleaner into the back of a power tool to suck away dirt as you work.

Wet and dry vacuum cleaners aren’t subject to the same power restrictions as normal vacuum cleaners, which means there’s a lot more power on offer here. This enables the Karcher WD6 P Premium to suck up water, large bits of debris, and even higher volumes of dust and dirt than a regular vacuum cleaner. We measured it at at a huge 472AW, the most that we have seen from any vacuum cleaner.

Its huge capacity, the ability to tackle wet and dry mess, and a ridiculous amount of power means that the Karcher WD6 P Premium is perfect for any messy cleanup job. Try to suck up sawdust, and it will quickly clean an area in a fraction of the time that it would take a regular vacuum cleaner. And with wet spills or larger debris, it sucks up the mess in an instant. It’s also easy to empty, and the integrated filter cleaning option helps to maintain top performance as you work. If you regularly have dirty jobs to contend with, you’re unlikely to find anything better.

A design classic, the Numatic Henry HVR160 is more than just a pretty face. Its high suction power, large capacity and reasonable price make it one of the best cylinder cleaners you can buy, and it has a reputation for lasting forever.

It’s quite chunky, weighing 7.5kg, but you won’t have to pick up the vacuum cleaner too often, since it can be wheeled around easily. It has a long 10m power cable, plus a 2.4m hose length, providing a total reach of 12.4m from a power socket. In most homes, you’ll be able to clean an entire floor from a single power socket.

Part of the reason that the Henry is so large is that it holds 6-litre bags that will last you for some time to come. Replacements are well priced and cost from £4.49 for three.

In the box, you get the standard set of accessories, including a floor head that can switch between carpets and hard floors, plus a crevice tool, dusting brush, upholstery brush and extension tube.

The Henry is one of the most powerful vacuum cleaners we’ve tested, coming in at 408AW. Part of the reason for this power is that Henry doesn’t have any motorised tools for agitating dirt. Instead, it relies on good old-fashioned suction power to pull dirt out of carpets and off hard floors, which it does superbly well. However, all that power does mean that the floor head can be difficult to push across some surfaces, having a tendency to suck up lighter rugs.

In our carpet test, we throw a teaspoon of flour onto the carpet. A single sweep forwards and backwards was all it took to leave an entirely clean path through the mess. In the tricky edge test, where we sprinkle flour on the carpet tiles right up to the skirting boards, the Henry performed perfectly, clearing everything right to the edge. It also picked up pet hair, although this required a bit of back and forth as the cleaner doesn’t have a motorised brush, and excelled in our hard floor test.

If you want a solid, reliable bagged vacuum cleaner offering plenty of power, this is a well-priced option. The relatively low price, excellent cleaning ability and the track record of previous Henry vacuum cleaners to last a fair while make it a great vacuum cleaner for any home, although go for a cleaner with a brush roll if you have pets.

The Vacmaster Respira offers a back-to-basics approach for vacuum cleaners, but it doesn’t skimp out on the amount of power on offer.

It offers an upright shape that’s designed for more standard cleaning jobs, and comes either with or without a pet tool, depending on the model you go for. Even if you don’t have the pet model though, there are still a few functions to use on the Respira that make it a versatile cleaner. For instance, the three-in-one crevice tool is especially handy for dealing with upholstery.

This vacuum has a 2-litre bin, which should prove sufficient for a couple of cleans at least. It comes away from the vacuum cleaner’s body, with a button to open the trapdoor at its bottom releasing the dirt collected into a bin. This door was a little stiff at first, so I recommend opening and closing it manually a few times before using the Respira.

Open the top of the bin and the central filter pulls out for easy cleaning. Plus, there’s a secondary filter on the underside of the bin that can be removed and washed.

The Vacmaster Respira has a single suction mode, although the button on the side lets you switch the floor roller speed between Hard Floor (labelled as “I”) and carpet (labelled as “II”). It’s a little cheap-looking, but that’s a minor complaint. If there’s too much suction to move the vacuum cleaner – as I found on short-pile carpet – then there’s an air vent that can be opened to reduce suction pressure.

At least the reason that the Respira is so hard to move is because it has a lot of power. I measured it at 229AW, which puts it within reach of the Shark NZ850UKT. That power translates into decent performance: a solid sweep through our test mess, although a trace of dirt left behind towards the edge of the floor head. Pet hair removal was spot on, removing every trace of dirt.

Vacmaster has opted for an anti-tangle head that stops hair from becoming caught around the roller. It’s a welcome addition, particularly on such a low-cost vacuum cleaner, since it saves the horrible job of cutting away tangled hair.

I found the Vacmaster Respira easy to manoeuvre, but the presence of the bin meant that often I couldn’t get the floor head underneath all furniture. The advantage of a rival cleaner, such as the Shark NZ850UKT, is that its Lift-Away mode lets remove the main cylinder and push just the wand and floor head around.

If you’re searching for a big vacuum cleaner on a small budget, the Numatic Henry XL Plus is an excellent pick. 

The Henry XL Plus presents a supersized alternative to the classic Henry vacuum cleaner, ideal for tackling bigger spaces that require a larger capacity cleaner. 

This model is large, measuring 510x350x370mm and weighing 10kg. Thankfully, the attached wheels make it easy enough to move around despite its size. The vacuum has a huge 15-litre capacity (twice that of a regular Henry) and requires NVM-2BH HepaFlo bags. There’s also a second filter that sits on top of the bag, locking in dust effectively. 

The controls are comparable to a regular Henry, with Numatic including a single on/off switch to toggle power and an air vent at the top of the wand to reduce airflow. 

The wand and hose have good reach and we found that we were able to clean a full flight of stairs without moving the vacuum further than the top and bottom steps. 

The Henry XL Plus comes with a regular floorhead for cleaning hard floors and carpets, along with a dedicated hard floor tool and a turbo tool to agitate dirt that works well with pet hair, though it’s a shame the brush isn’t an anti-tangle one. For this reason, you’ll be better off opting for one of our best vacuums for pet hair if you’re a pet owner searching for something a bit more adept at tackling fur. 

The vacuum has 431AW of power, which is similar to the suction power of the standard Henry and just above that of the Shark CZ500UKT. The Henry XL Plus performed admirably in our tests, making it an excellent pick for anyone looking for a large-capacity vacuum cleaner to tackle big spaces.

Reviewer: David Ludlow

Full Review: Numatic Henry XL Plus

The Hoover HL5 Pet is a vacuum cleaner with anti-twist technology, making it ideal for cleaning up after your furry friend. 

The HL5 Pet is a smart-looking vacuum cleaner with a bold blue and yellow finish. There are also some useful design details, including a clear porthole in the top of the bin to show how full the vacuum is while cleaning. 

This particular model includes a large 1.4-litre bin with a filter that lifts out easily to be fully cleaned from time to time. There’s a washable foam filter beneath the bin and a HEPA filter at the front to keep dirt locked inside the vacuum. 

The HL5 Pet is easy to use in its upright mode and the LED lights highlight the floor as you clean, though not quite as strongly as the laser on the Dyson V15 Detect. The vacuum is lightweight and easy to push around with an air vent that helps reduce power when needed. There’s also a carpet mode, which sets the brush to maximum speed. 

The Push&Lift feature makes this cleaner very nimble when tackling tricky areas like stairs and car interiors, while the anti-twist technology prevents hair from getting caught in the roller making the HL5 Pet ideal for cleaning up after pets. 

Furthermore, there’s a crevice tool and a motorised pet tool in the box for stairs, pet beds and sofas, along with a wand and hose for reaching ceilings. 

The HL5 Pet is incredibly powerful for an upright vacuum, hitting 332AW in our tests. For comparison’s sake, the Shark NZ860UKT has 268AW of power, though the Shark vacuum does do a faster job in many instances. The HL5 Pet also performed well in our real-world tests, especially when faced with pet and human hair. 

Reviewer: David Ludlow

Full Review: Hoover HL5 Pet