Handheld vacuum cleaners Hoover Handy Plus SP60DBR6

This handheld Hoover has a Hepa filter

The Hoover Handy Plus is certainly handy, but will it be a real ‘plus’ around the home? One of our experts has given this futuristic-looking handheld vac a quick trial run, and here are their first impressions.

Our expert thought the vac was best suited to light cleaning tasks, such as removing dust, cereal crumbs, lentils and fluff from hard surfaces. It had trouble with hair and fluff, which was picked up but blocked the Hepa filter on more than one occasion.

The plastic crevice tool (which flips over the end of the vac and clicks into place) looked flimsy but worked well behind radiators, around skirting boards and between dusty kitchen appliances and cupboards.

The vac base unit has a red light to indicate the unit is charging, but it doesn't indicate when it’s fully charged. One charge lasts around 15 minutes depending on whether you use it continuously or in short bursts, but our expert found the vacuum lost suction power when the filter was covered in dust, fluff or hair.

There’s a single switch to turn the vacuum on, so you can operate it one-handed. Although it’s light for a handheld vac - weighing in at 0.7kg - our expert found that the handle could be uncomfortable to hold after a while, owing to its shape.
It’s easy to open (you press one button but you'll need to hold the bottom half of the vac with your other hand) and easy to empty.

The soft-touch material gathered dust and marks easily, so it'll need a quick wipe with a damp cloth to keep it clean.

Pros: Easy to use

Cons: Filter gets blocked up quickly; we found the handle uncomfortable to hold after a while