Steer clear of rubbish cordless vacuums this Black Friday

Cordless vacuums are a popular Black Friday purchase, as the flurry of deals can tempt you to finally splash out and ditch your corded model.

But beware, our independent tests have found that more than a third of cordless vacuums are so poor at cleaning they just aren’t worth buying.

Of the 118 cordless vacuums we’ve tested, 44 score less than 45% in our tests. This means they’ve done so badly in key floor cleaning tests – or across the board – that we can’t recommend them.

Plenty more are merely mediocre, despite some costing hundreds of pounds.

So, as well as checking the deal you’ve seen will actually save you money compared with other times in the year, use our cordless vacuum cleaner reviews to make sure you’re buying a vacuum that will clean your home effectively.

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• Best cordless vacuum cleaners – get straight to our top picks
• Cordless vacuum cleaners to avoid – see the hit list of models that don’t cut the mustard

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How much does a good cordless vacuum cost?

A Best Buy needn’t break the bank – we’ve found some brilliant options for less than £200. However, there’s no denying it’s harder to find a good model at the cheaper price points.

Paying more is no guarantee, either. As the graph below shows, we’ve found some clangers costing more than £400.

You might be able to get away with paying less if you just have hard floors such as laminates, as some cheaper models may do well on some floor types, but struggle on others.

Check our cordless vacuum reviews to find the best option for your budget.

Why are some cordless vacuums so bad?

While cordless vacuums are lighter and can boast some impressive features, plenty struggle with the basics of cleaning.

A Don’t Buy is likely to be poor at cleaning several key floor surfaces (most often it’s carpet that is the biggest challenge) and leak dust back into the room via poor allergy filters.

This means they suck up less dust and then blow some of the dust they do suck up straight back into the room, which is hardly ideal. We’ve found some of the worst models make a right racket, too.

Don’t think a big brand name means you’re guaranteed a decent product either, we’ve found both Best Buys and Don’t Buys from some big vacuum brands.

Check the full list of Don’t Buy cordless vacuum cleaners.

Why trust our cordless vacuum cleaner tests?

At Which? we put cordless vacuum cleaners through more than 70 individual tests so we can tell you which models clean well and are easy to use.

Our tests are done in a lab so that scores between different models can be easily and accurately compared, but set up to reflect performance in real-life cleaning scenarios:

• We see how well each vac sucks up fine dust and larger crumbs from carpets, hard floors and floorboards
• We check how effective they are at cleaning up fur and fluff from floors and upholstery, so pet owners know which vacs to trust
• A panel of people try out the vacuum and assess how easy it is to use, empty, carry up stairs, clean up high and more besides
• We also test the battery, checking if it runs for as long as it claims to and if suction is affected when it starts to run dry
• We’ll warn you if a model is particularly noisy or if it’s prone to leaking dust back into the room

No other organisation tests as many vacuum cleaners as thoroughly as we do.

We can also compare corded and cordless models. Our tests show that the best cordless vacuum cleaners can clean just as well as even the best corded equivalents.

So with a Best Buy cordless vacuum, you can be confident that there’s no need to compromise on cleaning in order to get the ease of use benefits that a cordless vacuum brings.

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Just want the best cheap vacuum cleaner? We’ve found some brilliant corded cleaners for less than £100. See our corded vacuum cleaner reviews

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Finding the best cordless vacuum Black Friday deals

Prices for popular vacuums can vary dramatically depending on where or when you buy.

We’ve seen prices on models from the main brands jump around by several hundred pounds or regularly cycle between an offer price and full price.

Below, we’ve rounded up the best deals on big-brand models spotted by our market experts.