8 Best Vacuum Cleaners To Buy Part 2
5. Miele Complete C3 Comfort Boost EcoLine review - bagged brilliance
A brilliant bagged cylinder, the high-end Miele C3 Ecoline has thought of everything
Miele has long been known for its cylinder vacuums, which have changed little in appearance over the years, with their understated but richly-coloured units and stainless steel extension tubes. Some thought that bagged devices such as these would be eradicated by bagless vacuums but Miele has stuck with the concept, as have many consumers. There’s a wide range of bagged models from the company but here I’m looking at one of the top-end models, the Complete C3 Comfort Boost EcoLine.
With the recent EU regulations on wattage and some tough energy regulations, the Comfort Boost EcoLine neatly walks a balancing act between performance and power efficiency. It has an A-rating for power efficiency, with numerous power settings on offer to strike the correct balance. It matched its quoted EU power rating, drawing just 700W at the plug on its standard setting.
Performance
Its power draw may be low but I was still highly impressed with its cleaning capabilities. This C3 comes with a basic cleaning head, with two settings for carpets and hard floors respectively. It relies purely on suction without the powered, spinning brush you get with the Electro Plus model (which costs an additional £130). Even then it whizzed through our tests without any major hitches.
On hard floors it sucked up practically everything at the first time of asking. I poured a cup of cat litter over a carpet and it all went in with only a few passes. I often find a lot of litter falls back out when you turn off the vacuum and shake it, but here only a couple pieces were regurgitated, which was a good result.
I tested it across our standard pair of large shiny tiles, pouring a cup full of fine powder other both. This can be tricky to deal with, but the Miele sucked it no problem in a single slow pass (pictured) and then took a couple more to tidy up the edges. The 275mm head means you should be able to cover plenty of ground quickly.
Using our suction meter the Ecoline acquitted itself respectably. When the bag was empty it provided 21kPa (Kilopascals) of suction power on its standard maximum setting, though you can go to Boost mode to push this up to 24kPa. However, that draws 1200W destroying both its low-noise and low-power credentials. It didn’t lose much suction when the bag was half-full or full (there’s an indicator on the device to tell you how full it is), losing around 1kPa across the board.
We’ve seen vacuums that score much higher than this, of course, but then some of those were drawing three times the amount of power at the wall - to only provide around 50% more suction. All that said, it’s results that count and the Miele C3 Ecoline delivers where it counts.
Bagged vs bagless
All the muck and dust you suck up is going into a bag inside the machine. On the plus side that bag can hold up 4.5l of muck, so you won’t need to change it very often - that’s around double the capacity of a bagless cylinder. Once you’ve sucked it up you’ll never see that muck again, which will appeal to some (particularly allergy sufferers).
The downside is that you will have to buy new bags and filters from time-to-time. Official packs with 4 bags and a new filter cost around £10 a piece, though you can buy much cheaper bags if you wish.
Design
Miele has had a few years (actually a few decades) to perfect the design of its bagged cylinders and I have to say it feels pretty flawless. The foot pedals are a good size and never required a second press; plus the cord tidy button only requires a single tap, you don’t need to hold your foot down on it.
The wheels on the bottom are padded, so it rolls around almost silently and won’t damage your floors. There’s a respectable 7.5m of cable tucked away inside, so you’ve plenty of range before you need to switch plugs.
The middle section pops open to reveal a selection of handy tools for upholstery, crevices and dusting. There’s also a hard floor brush that clips to the side or back of the chassis, though you’ll rarely need this given the main head design, so pretty much everything is fitted inside the machine itself.
The handle is comfortable to hold, with the pipe suspended underneath rather than out of the back, keeping the weight distribution just right. You can switch the power level up and down from the handle, or turn the C3 on and off. It’s easy to adjust the tube length and everything clips together firmly and audibly.
Finally, the lower wattage means the C3 is far quieter than you might expect. It’s rated to 72db at standard power, which is pretty impressive and easy to talk over. You can reduce that down considerably while still doing less-demanding tasks such as a basic weekly once over, by choosing the middle power level and then it’s quiet enough to watch TV or listen to the radio while you clean.
Conclusion
With a £300 list price, and costing around £240 if you shop around, the Miele Complete C3 Comfort Boost EcoLine (SGUG1) isn’t cheap. However if you’re looking for a bagged vacuum then this one just feels so well thought out. It’s power efficient, relatively quiet, brilliantly designed and will cope with anything but deep pile carpet, for which you might want to splash the extra cash for the Electro Plus. I’m still not convinced that bagged cleaners are the best choice for most people, as buying bags is something of a faff, but if you prefer the cleanliness of a bag then this is a great buy.
Click Here To Learn More About Miele Complete C3 Auto Comfort Boost, 4.5 L, 800 W - Marine Blue.
6. Gtech Multi review - the AirRam's companion handheld vacuum
The Gtech Multi is a good companion to the Gtech AirRam but it's expensive if you buy it alone
Gtech describes its Multi as the ‘perfect partner’ for its AirRam, which goes some way to indicate how the Multi is designed to be used. It’s not going to be your main vacuum cleaner, but rather an additional device for when the high-specialised AirRam carpet cleaner isn't suitable. That said it's potentially a good companion to any big, hefty upright or corded cylinder device, I personally couldn't get by without a decent handheld vacuum anymore.
And that's just what the Multi is, weighing 1.6kg it’s not too laborious to carry around and there’s a nice soft-touch grip for you to hold on to. A little more padding wouldn’t have gone amiss, but it's more comfortable to hold than most of the handheld devices out there. Otherwise, the Multi takes a lot of design cues from its bigger, upright brother, the Gtech AirRam and AirRam K9. The same green and grey colour scheme is evident again and there's a clear bin so you can see the dust accumulate.
Accessories
There is a good array of accessories included for cleaning tasks such as skirting boards and cobwebbed corners. In the box you get a crevice tool, dusting brush, power brush head, extension tube, and an extendable hose. The power brush head is designed for cleaning areas like upholstery and stairs, making it easier to pick up things like pet hair. Due to its shape, it sometimes felt a little awkward to use as it wasn’t always obvious if the internal rollers were correctly pressed against the surface to be cleaned.
If you buy the Multi direct from Gtech, you also have the option of buying it with the Car Accessory Kit for £174 at the same time. If you buy the kit separately it will cost £50. The kit adds a small upholstery brush, soft dusting brush, flexible crevice tool, and a padded case. Unfortunately, we weren’t sent the optional kit to test but it seems like it would be a useful addition, especially the flexible crevice tool. It’s similar to the included extendable hose but has a flat profile, which will enable it to get into more hard to reach areas.
At first, I wasn’t really sure how useful the extendable hose would be as it bends and contorts so you still need to have your other hand support the cleaning head. But in testing, I appreciated how it made cleaning hard-to-reach areas like skirting boards easier. The crevice tool is cleverly hidden away in the base of the Multi when not in use, but you’ll need to find somewhere to store the other accessories separately. The reasonable weight of the Multi meant that holding the vacuum up one-handed to clean ceiling corners didn’t become too tiring.
I was slightly disappointed that you turn the Gtech Multi on with a power button on its top. It would have been preferable to have a trigger power button as that would have meant toggling the Multi on would be easier. There’s a trigger shape to the grip already, so it could easily have been used as a power trigger instead, as is the case with Dyson’s V6 series. Instead, I found having to press the power button with my thumb a little inconvenient and I did it far less frequently or naturally compared to using my index finger on a trigger. The Multi has also integrated lights that help illuminate the area you’re trying to clean. I found these particularly useful for cleaning in dark corners.
A bank of four LEDs on the top of the vacuum tells you how much charge is left. A single charge will last 20 minutes of operation, and this seemed accurate in testing. To fully recharge the Multi will take four hours, which is a little long, but a 1-hour charge will give you a quick burst of additional run time. The battery detaches from the base of the vacuum, so you can charge that independently if you want. Those figures are roughly in line with say Dyson's most basic handheld cleaner, the DC58, which costs £180 at present.
Performance
As the Multi is really only designed for light cleaning of areas where most traditional vacuums can’t reach, the suction power isn’t particularly strong. With an empty bin, it only generated 2kPa of suction, dropping to 1.5kPa when the bin became more full. For cleaning dust and dirt from a hard surface using the more concentrated heads, such as a surface top or skirting, it’s adequate, but cleaning carpet or upholstery often took more than one pass. The Gtech Multi really should only be used as a more nimble companion vacuum to a more capable cylinder or upright.
The Power Head has a roller inside to pull up dirt making it better suited for upholstery and small areas of carpet such as the stairs. As you can see from a single sweep across a hard surface, the suction power is still reasonable.
Emptying the bin is a little awkward as there’s no proper release mechanism. Instead, the bin just pulls out after you exert a little wiggling motion, which doesn’t always feel the most consistent. It sometimes takes a little more effort than usual to remove. Occasionally, this resulted in some dirt spilling out, too, so you’ll want to do this over a bin. You can then open a flap on the bottom to empty out the contents of the bin. The filter can then also be taken out and washed easily.
Conclusion
In the end, used as intended, the Multi is a good performer. It will never clean up major spills or dirt but used alongside your conventional vacuum it helps give the finishing touches to a room clean or helps take care of the smaller dirt accumulation that occurs day-to-day.
It costs £150 alone, however, if you buy it the same time as the Gtech AirRam it’s only £300 for both, saving you £50, or with the Gtech AirRam K9 for £329, saving you £69. We weren’t massively enamoured by the £250 Gtech AirRam K9, finding its handling, in particular, a little lacking but if you’re in the market for one anyway it wouldn’t be a bad idea to buy the Multi at the same time. Priced alone, the Multi is otherwise rather expensive for a handheld vacuum cleaner even if it does perform its intended tasks decently well and we'd pick up the Dyson DC58 instead at current prices.
Read More About Gtech Multi Hand-held Vacuum Cleaner Mk.1 - Cordless Lithium Powered, hand held edge hoovering Find Here.
7. Gtech AirRam K9 review - the cordless that thinks it's an upright
Great at cleaning carpets but the AirRam K9 lacks flexibility and struggles away from its element
The original AirRam first came out in 2013 when cordless vacuum cleaners weren’t as fully established as they are today. It was lightweight, compact and, in many ways, a big improvement over more conventional cleaners. However, unlike Dyson’s popular handheld cleaners, for instance, the AirRam kept things simple with its traditional upright design.
The new Gtech AirRam K9 is an upgraded version of that original model. On the surface, it looks practically identical, but inside it’s been decked out with more durable metal components. There are also built-in fragrance inserts to banish bad smells, plus a redesigned brush to better handle pet hair. Gtech reckons its pretty tough and gives it a two-year warranty to support that claim.
Design
The AirRam is very simple to use. There’s one button halfway down the device for on-and-off and that’s pretty much it. However, I do wish there were a few more controls to make it more practical. For instance, there aren't any additional power settings to help conserve battery life or reduce the amount of noise it makes.
The latter would have been particularly useful, as the K9 is pretty noisy. It doesn't make the shrill whistle that some cordless designs make, but the throaty, slightly mechanical roar definitely isn't very subtle. In terms of battery life, you’ll get around 40 minutes of cleaning out of it, but it then takes four hours to fully recharge the battery, equating to roughly an hour for each 10 minutes of use.
It charges from a compact plug-socket charger. The cable isn't terribly long, but you can always remove the battery from the bottom of the vacuum and charge it separately if you prefer. This is a nice touch, as it means you carry on vacuuming with a spare battery, which costs around £40.
The design means it stands up unassisted like a regular upright, and you put your foot on the top and pull the ergonomic handle back to move it into the right position for vacuuming the floor. However, vacuuming floors is about the only thing you can really use the AirRam for, as Gtech doesn't make or supply any additional accessories.
This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it is strange when most cordless devices are designed for spot-cleaning and flexibility. To be fair, it does a pretty good job of getting into the edges of your floor, but there’s no attachment to get into nooks and crannies, no way of vacuuming upholstery or curtains, and you definitely can't use it in the car to give it a quick spring clean.
Performance
If you're only looking for good carpet cleaner, though, the AirRam K9 does a pretty good job. I gave it a serious test both at home and in our labs, and it picked up hair and fluff without a problem, rarely requiring more than a single sweep. If this covers your vacuuming needs, then you’ll be more than pleased with the K9, but it's worth noting that it did have a horrible tendency to belch out dust as it began reaching full capacity. In a way, it's a useful indicator of when you need to empty the K9, but it's still rather alarming all the same.
However, the K9's lack of flexibility showed up in our more demanding tests. These involve fine powder and cat litter to really put a vacuum through its paces. On a hard surface, the AirRam K9 tended to push the powder around as much as it sucked it up. It’s not an easy test, but other cordless devices we’ve seen have coped better than this.
^ Before (above) our hard surface powder test, and after (below)
The cat litter test was equally taxing for the K9. This test takes place on a carpeted floor, and while most of the litter went in - after quite a bit of effort on my part, mind - some was kicked out the back of the vacuum while I was moving it. Then, more fell out when I put the K9 away, which isn't great.
Due to the design of the vacuum, I wasn't able to perform our usual suction test, which measures the level of suction when the vacuum is full and empty. However, it was clear that the K9 had plenty of power during our tests, and this didn’t seem to diminish as it filled up.
Handling
At just 3.8kg, the AirRam K9 is a lightweight compared to other upright-replacements, which are often 5kg or more, but it's still considerably heavier than a typical Dyson cordless, which are usually nearer 2.2kg depending on the model.
In terms of handling, the K9 was a bit of a mixed bag. It’s very light and there aren't any cords to contend with, but I found it really likes to glide and shoot forward, with the powerful brush gently pulling it along as you go. Likewise, when you try and move it back and forth over a tricky spot, it can often feeling like there's too much resistance. It’s not a big deal, but it just felt a bit unpredictable at times.
The base part of the vacuum is around 100mm high, so it won't fit under anything lower than that, but its flexible handle, which almost tilts right back down to floor level, means you should be able to get the K9 under most sofas. To lie it completely flat, you'll need to twist the handle to one side, but this makes using the K9 much more awkward than it needs to be.
Emptying
The AirRam is very easy to empty. Lift off the top panel and you'll immediately see the dust tray underneath. You then simply take that tray out, tip it in the bin, and put it back again. There aren't any clips or catches either, as everything just pushes firmly into place. The capacity isn’t huge, so you might find yourself emptying it a lot if your carpets are very fluffy, but the same could be said about many smaller cordless devices.
The filters sit in the top panel, and these can be removed and washed when needed. The vacuum also comes equipped with a fragranced filter, that can be topped up with scented refills, which are also supplied in the box. It’s a nice touch for those who like a bit of air freshener, but personally I wasn’t that keen.
Conclusion
Like the original AirRam, the K9 is a rather specialised device. It works just like a regular upright, but it's much lighter and it's great at cleaning carpets. It's also easy to empty as well. Many people will consider it a huge upgrade over their ageing, socket-bound upright, but it doesn't provide the same flexibility you'll find on a handheld cordless. Other devices are better on hard floors and with grittier substances, and we’re also not entirely convinced by its handling either. It will no doubt be good for some, it simply isn't a good all-rounder.
Click Here To Read More About Gtech AirRam Cordless Vacuum Cleaner.
8. Vax Air Cordless review
A distinctly average cordless upright vacuum, the Vax Air Cordless is better than its cheaper rivals but not by much
Unlike Dyson’s handheld cordless vacuums, Vax has taken a more familiar upright approach to its latest battery-powered model. The Air Cordless looks a lot like any other upright bagless vacuum, with a detachable bin in the centre and a handle for pushing it around the house. The only major difference is the chunky battery pack plugged into the base.
Vax has cleverly designed the box so the Air Cordless arrives almost fully assembled, with the base of the box folding out to reveal the charger and extra battery pack. The primary battery arrives with 20% charge, so you can start cleaning straight away while you connect the second to the mains. The charger only holds one battery at a time, and isn’t a docking station for the vacuum, so you’ll have to find room for both; other cordless vacuums tend to double up their chargers as storage for when you aren’t using the cleaner.
Ease of use
At 4.6kg, the Air Cordless is light enough to push around with just one hand, but it’s too big and bulky to lift comfortably. Thankfully, you won’t need to do that often, as the vacuum tube can be detached from the fixed brush head and an extension tube removed from the upright handle for cleaning above floors. It’s nowhere near as convenient as Dyson’s modular approach, as you have to stoop down to floor level to unclip the vacuum hose.
It has about 2m of reach and, with a crevice tool and soft dusting brush attachments, it can be used for furniture or for getting into corners. That’s handy, as the main brush head is rather wide, meaning there’s a sizeable gap to the left and right that you won’t be able to cover when sweeping parallel to walls or furniture. There’s, annoyingly, only room for one attachment on the vacuum itself, with nowhere to store the other when you aren’t using it.
The Air Cordless turns easily enough on carpets and hard floors alike, with an articulated, left/right up/down joint connecting brush to vacuum. The direct drive brush bar can be engaged when sweeping carpets, and disabled for hard floors using the button on the top of the cleaner opposite the power switch.
The bin lifts out of the machine with a quick-release switch, and a second switch unclips the lid and empties the bin into a rubbish bag. The bin has a 1.05l capacity, which is more than twice that of Dyson’s V6 cordless models. It should mean you’ll spend half as much time emptying the Air Cordless, but things aren’t quite that simple. The cylinder takes up a large portion of the bin, at least near the channel that connects to the brush, and it got clogged on several occasions when tackling large spills or a particularly dusty carpet.
Performance
With only one power level, I measured suction at 7.5kPa with an empty bin. This is almost half the suction of one of Dyson’s cordless models, and a third of what they are capable of when used in MAX mode. Disappointingly, this power quickly drops off to 6kPa when the bin gets filled; while this was still sufficient for dust and light spills like paper shreddings or Rice Krispies, it then struggled with heavier bits like cat litter.
Hard floors are a real weak point for the Air Cordless, particularly when fine dust and dirt is involved. A baking powder spill on tiles left lots of dusty streaks after a single pass and needed six slow swipes to collect everything. Even then, there was a fine amount of dust that was left behind. You can see the before and after results of a single pass below.
Spills comprised of larger particles were even worse, with cat litter remaining on the floor even after ten passes. The small wheels made it hard to push the vacuum over a big spill, and the lack of suction meant dirt was frequently left in crevices between floorboards.
The Air Cordless fared better on carpets, where the direct drive brush bars could be used to better capture larger particles. Around 80-90% of a cat litter spill was picked up on the first pass, but it left a lot of fine grains behind. It took several more sweeps before the carpet looked clean, but this was with an empty bin; it struggles when the bin is full.
Battery life is something of a mixed bag. You get two in the box, meaning you can leave one on charge and swap out the other when it runs out of juice; they clip into the front of the vacuum, with a release lever popping them back out again when they are drained. Charging takes around three hours per battery, and each one should last for around 25 minutes of use. The 50-minute total runtime should mean you can clean an entire house without needing to wait for it to recharge, although that figure will drop if you engage the brush bars because they are driven by the vacuum rather than by your sweeping motions. You’ll also have to go over areas multiple times in order to leave them completely clean, which isn’t the case with Dyson’s cordless models. You do at least get a three-stage power indicator LED, letting you know when it’s time to swap out the batteries. Should you completely run out of power, the vacuum will simply shut down; there’s no loss of suction as the battery drains.
Conclusion
The Air Cordless has merely average suction for a cordless vacuum, and while the design might appeal to those more familiar with an upright cleaner than a handheld one, it’s not as efficient as a mains-powered machine; you’ll often have to cover the same area multiple times to ensure it’s clean.
It’s hardly cheap at £280, so while it undercuts Dyson’s models, it’s just as expensive as many mains-powered vacuums. If an upright vacuum is a must, a wired model makes more sense; it will do a better job with less effort, and you don’t have to worry about recharging batteries. If wireless convenience is more important, you really should save up and pick up a Dyson V6 Absolute instead.
Learn More About Vax U85-ACLG-BA Air Cordless Lift Solo Upright Vacuum Cleaner, 1 Litre, Graphite/Blue/Black Find Here.
8 Best Vacuum Cleaners To Buy Part 1
