Best vacuum cleaners

Cylinder vs upright vacuum cleaners

Your first choice when buying a vacuum cleaner will be between upright vacs and cylinder vacs – there are pros and cons for each type, and Which? can help you compare them (click on 'Type of cleaner').

For example, if you have stairs, a more lightweight cylinder could be the best vacuum cleaner for you. But people with pets may find that uprights are the best vacuum cleaner option, as they have independent motorised brushes that are better at picking up hair from carpet.

•  Upright vs cylinder vacuum cleaners
• Which? Best Buy upright and cylinder vacuum cleaners
• How to buy the best vacuum cleaner

Bagged vs bagless vacuum cleaners

Bagless vacuum cleaners can save you money on replacement bags, but they can be messy, and spillages from bagless vacuum cleaners aren’t great for allergy sufferers.

In Which? tests, the best vacuum cleaners at keeping dust locked away were bagged models – but not all bagged vacuum cleaners did well in this test. Some were poor at keeping dust particles in – Which? ratings can help you compare vacuum cleaners for allergen retention (click on 'Which? ratings' then select 'Allergen retention'). 

• Compare types of cleaner - bagless vacuum cleaners
•  Bagged vs bagless vacuum cleaners explained

Can I get by with a handheld vacuum cleaner?

Handheld vacs are no good for cleaning a whole house, but if you need to quickly clean up spills, consider a handheld vacuum cleaner.

Which? doesn’t put handheld vacs through our full vacuum cleaner test program, but our experts have given some models a try. Find out how handheld vacuum cleaners from Dyson, Electrolux, Hoover and more fared in our hands-on tests.

• Which? handheld vacuum cleaner reviews

How reliable is my Dyson, Hoover or Electrolux vacuum cleaner?

The best vacuum cleaners are also ones that last, so we rate both cylinder and upright vacuum cleaners’ reliability based on the real-life experiences of thousands of owners.

Find out if Hoover’s upright vacuum cleaners rate better than Electrolux’s, and if Miele’s cylinder vacs are more reliable than Dyson’s, plus we reveal the most common problems people have with their cylinder and upright vacuum cleaners.

• The most – and least – reliable vacuum cleaners
• Owners' views on vacuum cleaner brands

Watch out for vacuum cleaners that don’t clean or are noisy

Which? has reviews of more than 100 vacuum cleaners, and there are seven vacs that we recommend you avoid as Which? Don’t Buys.

Some Which? Don't Buy vacuum cleaners don't clean well on different floor surfaces, and many are too loud – higher wattage usually means a more noisy vacuum cleaner, but more powerful vacs don't necessarily do a better job of cleaning. Watch our video to see how noisy some vacuum cleaners can be.

•  FAQs on vacs
• Which? Don't Buy vacuum cleaners