When choosing the best rechargeable vacuum cleaner, you want to look for how long the battery lasts, how easy it is to recharge the battery, and if you can have multiple batteries.
Additionally, you want to get one that has great suction, and an easy to clean debris cup. Plus, if you have lots of pet hair, you want to make it easy to clean the beater bar.
Some options are better for hard floors, and others are better for carpeting. Some specifically are designed to go from hard flooring to carpeting. The key is to retract the beater bar a bit so you’re not quite so rough on the hard floors.
Getting to Know Your Rechargeable Vacuum
A rechargeable vacuum cleaner is also usually referring to a stick vacuum cleaner.
But there’s more than one type of cordless vacuum.
There are also little robotic vacuums that can be programmed to clean your floors automatically. (And yes, some are programmed using your smart phone)
Best Overall Rechargeable Vacuums
Let’s look at the best cordless vacuums for your home. Thankfully there’s a variety of sizes and features to allow you to choose the best one for you.
Some people have a lot of hair. In my family, we three all have long hair. And we had one long haired cat (who sadly crossed over the rainbow bridge). We still have another cat but he’s not quite so “shed-y.”
It was essential for me to vacuum every day, and even still we’d get fur on clothes. I declared that my husband had “lint rage.”
Plus, it’s important for me to be able to quickly vacuum both levels and the stairs, because, as you know, I’m not a big fan of chores.
Are You Sure You Know What to Look For?
Everyone’s home is different, even if you have the same layout and size.
So you may want to spend some time analyzing your home. Do you have stairs?
How large is your home? And what type of flooring is common?
Do you have pets? There’s more to be concerned with pets than just their fur. There are pictures out there of what happened when a robotic vacuum hit a patch of dog poo and spread it all around the room.
Do you have long hair? Does your family have long hair? Do you have other people living with you who may track in dirt?
And one that people don’t often think of: how much weight can you lift?
Some cordless vacuums are super light and others are heavier due to larger battery size.
Will you be lifting up the vacuum to clean cobwebs?
It’s important to consider first all the variables that will be important to you.
How Long is Long Enough?
Battery life is important only in how much space you’re vacuuming. If you’re in a small apartment, you may only need 20 minutes of vacuum time. But if you’re in a large three story home, you’ll need a lot of battery life.
And you may want the one that recharges the quickest because you’re constantly vacuuming up messes.
Some stick vacuums allow you to have multiple batteries. This is great allowing you to charge one while you use the other.
How Big is Big Enough?
The dirt cup size can be important if you have a lot of dust, hair, and debris.
If it’s tiny, you’ll be spending a lot of time running over to the garbage bin to empty it out. Although I’ve found I’ll look at my debris cup on my Dyson, and it will seem empty. So I keep vacuuming and then when I stop, it’s cram packed.
It makes me wonder where it’s all hanging out.
Many people had concerns about robotic vacuums because their debris cup was so tiny. But now there’s a Roomba that docks and can automatically empty itself into a larger debris container.
The Best Stick Vacuums Under $200
You should buy the best vacuum you can.
But I know how sometimes, you have a budget. We have all been there. When I first moved in with my husband, we got this tiny $40 canister vacuum from Price Club (yeah it was that long ago).
It was cheap but it was ours and we used it to vacuum our tiny studio apartment we had with our two cats. It actually lasted about 3 years.
But I digress.
Deik Stick Vacuum Cleaner
This cordless vacuum is fully functional with a HEPA filtration system, LED headlight, and 25 minutes of solid suction.
What I also love about it is that you can remove the long tube, and connect the attachments directly to the vacuum.
This makes it so much easier to clean your stairs, or your car.
This model weighs 3.2 pounds and the debris cup holds 0.5L. Deik doesn’t seem to publish how long the battery takes to charge, so it’s probably around the industry average of 4-5 hours.
Shark Navigator Freestyle
This cordless vacuum is the closest you’ll get to an upright vacuum. It weighs about 7.5 pounds, and has a very large debris container (0.6L capacity).
The head of the vacuum is very maneuverable, and you can adjust speeds for cleaning hardwood flooring or carpeting.
This does not have the LED headlights, and no one has published how long it will run on a single battery charge.
ONSON Stick Vacuum Cleaner
This cordless vacuum is quite light coming in around 4.85 pounds. It’s battery life is 20-40 minutes, and does have a power booster function when you need extra suction.
The dirt cup holds 0.55L and the charging time is 4-5 hours.
Like the Deik, you can remove the long handle and turn this into an easy to use handheld vacuum cleaner.
And also like the Deik, there are headlights so you can see where you’re vacuuming. But this model does not have a HEPA filter.
Bissell Lift-Off
If you live in a tiny place yet still want a vacuum with a beater bar that you can turn on for carpet and off for hard flooring, you need to check out the Bissel Lift-Off.
While I couldn’t find the exact amount of time the battery is supposed to last on a charge, the reviewers on Amazon felt it lasted through a few cleanings before needing to be charged.
It weighs about 7 pounds. And you can remove the center part and run the vacuum as a handheld unit.
The Best Robotic Vacuums
Robotic vacuums are better when used on hard flooring. They can handle some low pile carpeting, but I think people are disappointed when they try robotic vacuums on normal carpet and it doesn’t get things clean.
Earlier I mentioned about pet accidents. When you choose a robotic vacuum, you need to be aware of power cords. When the vacuum goes over it, the brush sometimes tries to pick it up, and that can break the brush.
The Affordable One
ILIFE V3s Pro Robotic Vacuum is less than $200, has a long run time of approximately 100 minutes, and was designed to pick up pet hair on hard floors.
It can handle area rugs with no problem. And it can lift itself over trim board when transitioning from one room to another.
You know how some pet fur gets stuck in the corners? Yeah, this one can suck it up.
The ILIFE uses a remote control for programming and scheduling.
ILIFE also has a few different models. The V5s can wet mop a hard floor as well as vacuum. And the A7 allows you to program with a remote control or a WiFi app.
Tried and True
iRobot pioneered robotic vacuums with their Roomba. They’ve worked out a lot of the standard problems.
The Roomba 891 is ideal for picking up pet hair. It has a 3-Stage cleaning system that loosens, lifts, and suctions dirt, dust, and pet hair. The Auto-Adjust Cleaning Head adapts its height to keep the Multi-Surface Brushes in close contact with different floor surfaces, directly engaging with both hard floors and carpets.
It can run for up to 90 minutes before it needs to go back to home base and plug in for charging.
To program, there are voice activated controls as well as an app that you can use to control the Roomba over WiFi.
Like the ILIFE, the Roomba also has corner cleaning technology to fetch those naughty dust bunnies.
And The Winner Is…
I always hate to say the best one is something since it’s kind of personal. It would be like saying what’s the best smartphone or laptop. It depends on what you want to do with it.
Still, you are reading this post for a reason. So I will say my favorite bands are the Dyson and the Shark. They are reputable brands with solid customer service.
Buy the best rechargeable vacuum cleaner you can afford, and it will take care of you for a long time.