11 best cylinder vacuum cleaners for easy, effective cleaning

Score: 92/100

Like the other Miele vacuums we’ve tested, this bagged model seriously impressed with its suction power, scoring full marks on all our dust collection tests. Even long pile carpets and rugs proved no challenge – it picked up every single speck we laid down on both surfaces.

It glided smoothly across different floor types and easily stretched under furniture. This vacuum even shone in one of our trickiest tests – edge cleaning – leaving an average of just 7.9mm of dust along the skirting board. It lacked suction slightly along the front, but you’re equipped with a variety of tools to tackle this, and the attachments can be stored onboard.

We recommend using the provided turbo brush for collecting pet hair, although we still had to do two passes over each section to collect all the finer strands. Note too that you can’t use the turbo brush on deep-pile rugs. Overall, though, this is a well-designed, mid-sized cylinder vacuum that would make a great investment for most family homes.

Score: 89/100

Scoring full marks on dust pick-up, this is the cylinder vacuum to turn to for deep cleaning. In fact, on three out of four tests, this vacuum picked up more dust than we’d laid down – an impressive performance.

It left a lot of debris behind when vacuuming head-on along skirting boards, though. Luckily, it comes with lots of useful accessories, including a crevice tool, to help you tackle those harder-to-reach areas.

Overall, our experts found it a breeze to use. It glides easily across carpet and hard floors and the controls are accessible on both the handle and machine itself. Allergy-sufferers will love the bagged design which keeps emptying the canister a neat and tidy task, while the HEPA filter locks in dust and dander when vacuuming.

The accompanying app was useful for checking on the lifetime of the filter and keeping track of how full the dust bag was, although we would have liked a little more functionality, such as remote control options.

Score: 84/100

Affordable, with excellent cleaning performance, this cylinder vacuum really impressed us in the lab. It scored full marks on all our dust pick-up tests, collecting even more than we’d laid down on laminate and short pile carpet.

With a long eight metre cable, you can navigate round rooms and obstacles with ease, and the vacuum lies flat to the ground, so it can reach under furniture easily. The hose was quite stiff though, making stair cleaning trickier than we’d have liked and it missed an average of 17 millimetres of debris at the edges of skirting boards, so we recommend using the crevice tool for this job.

The power button wasn’t always responsive and there’s no on-board storage for the attachments. However, if it’s great cleaning power you’re after, this is a reliable pick.

Score: 84/100

This is a great vacuum if you need good reach, thanks to its hose, which can stretch up to four metres. This means you won’t need to unplug it too often, and it’s great for stairs, cleaning 10 steps in our lab before the body needed moving.

It performed well on hard flooring – earning full marks for its dust pick-up – and was reliable on short pile carpet too. But it wasn’t that effective when cleaning long pile. Its main head took a few sweeps to lift pet hair too, but the dedicated turbo brush lifted it in just two, so it’s worth making the switch if you have furballs at home. Niggles aside, it’s a solid pick that cleaned room edges well and is easy to use, from set-up to emptying.

Score: 83/100

Coming in above the iconic original Henry is the brand's new, revamped cordless vacuum. Its fresh design makes it easy to move around and removes the risk of tripping over any wires or getting them caught on furniture.

It performed well in testing, too, excelling at picking up dust on short pile carpets, floorboards and laminate; it struggled more with long pile, taking a few extra sweeps and a bit more force. It lost most of its marks in the edge cleaning test; it left dust along the side edges and pick-up was minimal along the front of the vacuum due to low suction. Our testers also found the instructions lacked detail around use on different floor types so that’s something to keep in mind.

Despite these niggles, day to day cleaning is easier thanks to its easy, lightweight, cordless design. The easy removal, charging, and refitting of the battery got a big thumbs up from our testers, too.

Score: 82/100

This cylinder vacuum has a two-litre capacity and a built-in HEPA filter that promises to collect fine particles of dust, pet dander and pollen, making it an ideal pick for smaller homes. The cord is six-metres long too, which offers plenty of manoeuvrability without you having to navigate masses of cord when vacuuming.

Our experts found its dust pick-up excellent, awarding it full marks on short pile carpet, floorboards and laminate. It struggled a little to lift dust on long pile carpet but, even so, it managed to remove most of what we’d laid, and it glided easily over floors.

The included pet tool removed dander in two to three sweeps, but there were mixed results on our edge cleaning test – it left an average of 11 millimetres of dust by the skirting board. A quick follow up with the crevice tool should do the trick though.

Score: 82/100

The Henry vacuum we all know and love has had a growth spurt – more than doubling the capacity of the original Henry and the brand’s cordless model. This model shone on hard flooring, scoring full marks for its excellent dust pick-up. Don’t get us wrong though, it’s still a great vacuum for carpets, collecting half the dust laid in a single sweep.

We reached up 11 steps of our staircase with the long hose – ideal, considering the vacuum itself won’t fit safely on a single step – and we had no trouble reaching under furniture.

For ease, we’d have liked an indicator light to show when the dust bag needs to be changed, as well as an auto-rewind for the long 12.5 metre cable. But we can forgive Henry for these niggles considering his cheeky smile, intuitive controls and dust-free emptying.

Score: 81/100

Delivering excellent dust pick-up on laminate flooring, this affordable vacuum collected almost all the dust we laid down in one sweep. On carpet and floorboards, just one or two extra passes achieved similarly spotless results, making it a smart choice for households with mixed flooring.

The compact, lightweight model comes with a five-metre cable, a two-litre capacity and a decent-sized hose. However, the vacuum only reached up seven steps before we needed to reposition it.

Some longer strands of hair tangled in the turbo brush attachment too, but shorter pieces and clumps of pet hair were successfully lifted.

Score: 79/100

This cylinder vacuum has the largest capacity of all the models we’ve tried so far, which means even fewer trips to the bin and less dust bags used.

Its dust pick-up on carpet was excellent, removing the majority of what we laid down. However, its powerful suction meant it was tricky to push over long pile carpet. On hard floors like laminate, roughly five sweeps were needed to collect every speck.

The long 10-metre cord provides flexibility and smooth navigation around furniture, but the two-metre hose was on the stiff side, making it tricky going up stairs – we could only clean five before needing to reposition.

Score: 76/100

On test, this six-litre Henry was easy to assemble and impressed with its long reach, stretching up 10 stairs. It also rivalled the top scorers with its dust pick-up on hard floors, removing 98% from laminate and 95% from floorboards, with little left in crevices.

It proved less reliable on carpet though. It lifted 80% of dust from short pile and an average of 86% on long pile. Steer clear if you’re the proud owner of a fur ball as well. We had to sweep the same spot three times to lift pet hair.

Alternatively, you can buy a turbo brush, which should speed things up. It’s only got one power option but was notably mess-free when emptying. One for bigger homes.