Verdict

Pros

• Good cleaning on all surfaces
• Long hose and tubes
• Robust and reliable
• Excellent value for money

Cons

• Less good on pet hair
• Heavier than most
• Tool needed for edge cleaning

What is the Numatic Henry HVR200-A2?

Numatic’s iconic Henry vacuum cleaners have been around for over 20 years. From cleaning offices to cleaning up after building work, Henry’s smiling face remains the professionals’ vacuum cleaner of choice because they are simply cheap, effective and reliable.

The HVR200-A2 is the latest generation of base-model Henry, sporting a bijou 580W motor and an official EU A class energy rating. The HiFlo motor and HepaFlo bags promise exceptional suction despite the low power consumption. This A2 model comes with a wide range of tools, long hose and near 10m cable for exceptional cleaning range. All this for less than £100 would seem outstanding value too.

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Numatic Henry HVR200-A2 – Accessories

The usefully long 2.3m hose is robust, stretchy and very flexible and attaches to three stainless steel tubes that simply push together. These are a friction fit so there are no clips to break, but avoid pushing too firmly or they will be difficult to part.

The tool pack includes a main floor head with manual drop-down bristles for hard floors, a crevice tool, dusting brush and a combination upholstery tool with slide on compact short bristle dusting brush. For close-to-hand cleaning you can dispense with the steel tubes and use a supplied short plastic connector.

The main cleaner is robust ABS plastic with clips for the plug and a single tool stand, and a manual cable winder on top. It rolls freely on two large wheels at the rear and two trolley-type wheels at the front making it highly manoeuvrable.

The unit splits between the coloured plastic bin and black top section, which houses the motor, to reveal a washable cloth filter and access to the bag. Depending on where you buy, between one and four HEPA class bags are supplied.

Numatic Henry HVR200-A2 – How easy is it to use on stairs?

With its long, flexible hose that stretches well and three steel tubes, the Henry cleaned to the top of our domestic stairs, while the main cleaner was still on the ground floor. There is little need to drag it up stair-by-stair, which is just as well as it’s no lightweight at 8.5kg – although it is far from being the heaviest cylinder cleaner we have tested, we can’t recommend this cleaner for anyone with a bad back.

The main head swivels well but proved a little too big for stairs with turns that narrow at one side. For this we switched to the upholstery brush, which worked into the corners. Like cleaning on carpeted floors, some effort is required as there is no rotating brush bar to agitate dirt from the carpet. However, as its exceptional reach meant we didn’t have to drag the cleaner half way up stairs and start again, we were happy to put in the elbow grease.

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Numatic Henry HVR200-A2 – How does it cope with pet hair?

As with all models that have a static main cleaning head, pet hairs posed a challenge for Henry. Using the main head our 30cm test patch of mixed Labrador and collie hair rubbed into the carpet took around 16 seconds to clean completely.

This was actually not a bad result at all considering the low power motor and lack of turbo brush bar, but it wouldn’t be our first choice of Henry for pet owners – the Henry Xtra HVX1200 comes with Numatic’s Airo Brush head and costs around £50 more. This model far from disgraced itself where cleaning up after our furry friends, though.