Honorable mention
We haven’t tried vacuums that we absolutely hate yet. These below are solid vacuums and in some cases are much cheaper than the top picks, but I didn’t really like them.
Dirt Devil Power Swell Pet Cordless Stick Vacuum $93: Previously, this was recommended as a budget choice. It’s a good vacuum for money, but there are various consequences for how long the battery lasts and the quality of the build.
Eureka Innova Cordless Stick Multi-Surface Vacuum for $207: This is a good stick vacuum at a reasonable price. Clean the garbage mats especially well and have specific carpet and hardwood settings. But to suck up big pieces like Cheerios, I had to lift up the vacuum and place it directly on them.
Hoover OnePWR registers pets for $230: Our tester said this is not a bad vacuum in normal mode, but the attachment felt it had a weak suction power. Otherwise, it got the job done.
Mova S1 detects cordless vacuums for $299: This was a nice stick vacuum with a nice set of attachments and worked well in my home. However, our top picks can do the same job even if it’s cheap.
Procenic P13 Cordless Vacuum for $200: I have never tried the above Dyson Pick with a Green Laser, so I was surprised at how well this green light from the vacuum illuminates dust and dirt. It was almost awful to see how unnoticed they were with regular lighting. However, it took a lot of passes to actually clean up most of the debris. As for the price, it’s not bad as a modest daily vacuum, but there’s no doubt that a stronger upright vacuum will be needed to clean it deeper.
Worx 20V Cordless Stick Vacuum for $228: This is a great vacuum enough, but compared to the others I tested, the dust bin was difficult to clean.
Testing method
The best way to test vacuum is to use it as usual. So for a few months we lived with these cordless vacuums, going through them, running through them in daily chaos and weekly deep clean, dealing with hardwood floors, local rugs and carpets. We even charged them, asked our partners to use them, and even took them to retailers for cleaning up after antique furniture and loads of traffic.
We also conducted head-to-head tests by comparing how each of them picked up a pile of Cheerios and cat trash, looking at whether they blew off some passes or needed. I also took a pile of already matted dust and dirt from the inside of the vacuum cleaner to see how easily the vacuum cleaner was sucked in when it was thicker.
