Vacuum cleaner reviews: Handheld vacuum cleaners
Handy vacs
If you need a cleaner for tidying worktops in a trice, it might be worth considering a handheld vacuum cleaner. We've given a few models a quick try to bring you our initial impressions. For more on these models, see our separate first look review of handheld vacuum cleaners.
Hoover Handy Plus SP60DBR6
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 not as heavy as the Hoover Jovis, our expert found that the handle could be uncomfortable to hold after a while, owing to its shape.
It’s is 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
Dyson DC16
Launched in 2006, the DC16 is Dyson’s first handheld vacuum cleaner. Although we haven't tested handheld vacuum cleaners for a while, retrospective comparisons suggest that the DC16 will certainly hold its weight.
It’s great at vacuuming hard surfaces and carpet, and gets tightly into corners. At 1.6kg it’s light, and because it’s battery operated, you’re not restricted by a cord. You won’t be able to use it for prolonged periods of time, however, as regular charging is required.
It has brush and nozzle attachments and the unit can be stored horizontally or vertically if you wall-mount the charging unit. In some tests, this handheld even out performed some of the upright vacuum cleaners that we’ve tested in the past, which is no mean feat. Pet hair is likely to take longer to clear up than with an upright, however.
It’s worth noting that this handheld vac only comes with a 2 year guarantee as standard, as opposed to the 5 year guarantee offered with most Dyson upright and cylinder cleaners.
It’s also available in Car and Boat (with lighter socket charger) and Animal (with motorised brush) variants.
Pros Great on hard surfaces and carpets, gets tightly into corners, light, and easy to use on stairs
Cons Needs frequent recharging, takes time to pick up pet hair
Black & Decker Dustbuster Eco Extreme DV1205
Black & Decker claims that its new Eco Extreme handheld vacuum cleaner uses 66% less energy than a standard hand vac.
We’ve tried out the model, part of a new 2009 range that marks the 30th anniversary of the Black & Decker Dustbuster, but can’t comment on its energy-saving credentials.
We got around eight minutes continuous vacuuming from one charge. It picked up dust and larger bits and pieces such as crumbs or tiny stones from hard surfaces. The nose also extends making it easier to reach into smaller spaces. There’s a narrower nozzle and tiny brush attachment clipped into the bottom of the vac which helps if you’re trying to lift fluff or thread from material or carpeted surfaces. It struggles a little with longer hairs, though.
The charging unit can be laid flat or wall mounted. A red light shows when it’s charging and this blinks when the vac is fully charged.
It’s reasonably quiet for a handheld vac, but a bit heavy if you use it for the full length of its charge. You’re most likely to hold it with the nose tilted downwards and in this position it’s fairly well balanced and comfortable to use.
The on/off switch is within easy reach of the handle but you might find it a little stiff to use with just your thumb so you may need to switch it on and off with your other hand.
The cleaner isn’t as easy to move around in tight spaces as you might hope – it proved difficult to vacuum round car seats, a common problem for many handheld vacs. Unsurprisingly, pick-up isn’t as good as a regular vacuum cleaner as the handheld seems to have less suction power.
Pros Extendible nozzle, brush head attachment, reasonably quiet
Cons A little heavy, no mains adaptor for prolonged continuous use
Gtech HV01
This distinctive-looking Gtech handheld vac has two attachments to help clean different surfaces. We’ve given it a try to see how easy it is to use.
The long narrow nozzle makes it easier to get into tight spaces. There’s also a V-head attachment with castors designed to make it easier to manoeuvre on hard surfaces. The two prongs are also supposed to be better at channeling dust.
It was capable of drawing fluff in at the prongs, but it was difficult to see a major benefit to this. With the V-head attached, the cleaner is easy to move round on hard surfaces – the nozzle can pivot on the neck of the cleaner making it more directional. When working with the long nozzle the pivoting action is disabled.
The Gtech is reasonable at picking up dust and small debris from hard surfaces, but as there’s no brush attachment it’s not as good on carpeted and material surfaces - later versions of this vac are due to include a brush attachment, which should help.
We got around 12 minutes continuous vacuuming from one charge on the freestanding charging unit. The power button illuminates when the cleaner is charging but there’s no indication of when it’s fully charged.
The cleaner is a little noisy, but it’s fairly easy to lift - most of the weight seems to be positioned under the handle making it well balanced. It isn’t as easy to move around in tight spaces – such as around car seats – as you might hope, but that’s common with many handheld vacs.
It’s fairly easy to unclip the dust container, but you have to lift the filter out by hand and we found removing clogged dust from the filter was messy. The filters are washable, but you need to take care that you put them back correctly once they’re dry.
Pros Adequate for small debris pick-up on hard surfaces, easy to hold, more than 10 minutes use on one charge
Cons No mains adaptor for prolonged continuous use, noisy, no ‘fully charged’ indicator, needs brush attachment to help on fibrous surfaces
Hoover Jovis SJ144WRS4 wet and dry
A new addition to the Hoover range, this Jovis wet-and-dry handheld vacuum appeared in the shops earlier this spring and these are our first impressions.
The Jovis is Hoover’s most powerful handheld vac, boasting a 14.4-volt motor that had no problem picking up all manner of dirt from hard surfaces. It managed to suck up crumbs, rice, dust and soil, even from between cracks in surfaces. The crevice tool made it easier to vacuum right up into the creases of your car seat and helped reach into those tighter spaces. It did struggle to be effective when vacuuming on carpet, though, even when used with its integrated dusting brush, but this is common with many handhelds.
Assisted by its squeegee tool, the Jovis did a decent job of sucking up wet spills on hard surfaces, but wasn’t that good on carpet. Plus you can only pick up a small amount of liquid before it needs to be emptied.
We didn’t like the power switch at the top of the handle. It was fairly stiff to push, and almost impossible if your hands were slightly damp or greasy.
Hoover claims that it has up to 20 minutes’ running time and, after timing it a few runs, we found this to be a pretty accurate time frame. We like the fact that the crevice tool and squeegee tool are stored in the charging unit, which doubles up as the wall mount, so as to prevent them being lost.
Hoover recommends that you should empty and clean the filter after each use to maintain performance. We found this a simple process, as the dust container and filter were easy to remove and refit.
The Jovis will cost around £54 from Argos and independents.
Pros Good for picking up debris and small spills from hard surfaces, long vacuuming time from one full charge compared with some other handhelds
Cons Not as good on carpet and fibrous surfaces as it is on hard surfaces