The 10 best Dyson vacuums out of 42 models tried and tested in the lab

Score: 96/100

This powerhouse of a vacuum scored full marks for dust pick-up and crumb removal and lifted most of it in one swift sweep. With a powerful 315 air watts of suction, we’re not surprised it aced our tests and our expert loved the real-time feedback on the LCD screen, showing exactly what you’re sucking up as you vacuum.

Dyson debuted a new cleaning head with this vacuum, which is specially designed to detangle long hair. It features two rotating cone-shaped brushes that push any strands towards the outside of the head before they’re sucked up into the dust canister – and this system worked a treat. Some clumps got stuck at the end of the head but they were eventually taken into the dust bin.

It's here that the design gets really clever – the dust bin has a compacting lever that squashes down debris, so you can spend more time vacuuming. You won’t be restricted by battery life either as it lasted over 20 minutes on high power.

If we’re being picky, the crevice tool failed to suck up finer debris when we were cleaning our car, but it’s very hard to find fault with this vacuum.

Score: 96/100

Designed to detect even microscopic dust, we expected this stick vacuum to excel at pick-up – and we weren’t disappointed. It aced our cleaning tests, even when it came to picking up pet hair (notoriously tricky).

It shows you what it’s picked up on its LCD display, and our testers liked the lasers that illuminate dust as you go, even if this didn’t have a huge impact on the overall cleaning experience. The suction was almost too powerful for our long pile carpets, which made them hard work to clean – we recommend using the eco mode for fluffier carpets. Otherwise, this model moved smoothly and was intuitive to use.

While this scored the same as the Dyson above, we picked the V16 Piston Animal as our overall favourite cordless vacuum cleaner due to the longer battery life and larger dust canister.

Score: 94/100

Dyson’s latest robot vacuum is packed full of great tech. The mapping capabilities have been improved from the previous model – LiDAR (light detection and ranging) is used to scan the environment up to seven times a second, so the robot avoids all obstacles in its path. It also features AI programming that’s trained to recognise hundreds of household objects, just in case something falls into its path.

Set-up is simple and the MyDyson app makes it easy to programme cleaning schedules and edit no-go zones. When vacuuming, it performed best on hard floors, collecting debris and dust with ease, and it smoothly navigated all the edges and corners of our floorcare room in the GHI lab. When mopping, it removed fresh stains and spills with ease and we loved that fresh, heated water is added to the roller as it works so you’re never mopping with dirty suds. That said, it struggled a little with dried-on coffee, leaving some traces behind.

As robot vacuum tech gets updated so quickly, this is no longer the most innovative on the market (some now come with extendable legs!), but it’s still impressive and aced almost every test we threw at it in the lab.

Score: 90/100

If you want powerful cleaning performance and a mop, Dyson’s submarine vacuum cleaner is your answer. It vacuums both carpet and hard floors effectively, removing most of the dust and debris in one sweep. You can then follow up with the wet roller on hard floors to pick up spills, any lasting debris, and remove tough stains.

Most food stains lifted within a few sweeps, with zero scrubbing, which took the hard work out of mopping. We noticed that a puddle often formed around the head of the mop when we left it, so it’s worth cleaning up quickly. But this is a smart multi-tasker.

Score: 89/100

If you hate having to empty the dust canister, this Dyson vacuum is the one for you. It features a new self-emptying dock, which holds up to 60 days' worth of dust, essentially acting as an extension of the small 0.5L canister in the cordless vacuum. It was very effective in the lab, and we liked that it charges the vacuum too; however, it’s a chunky bit of kit, so you’ll need more storage space than you would for a regular stick vacuum.

Onto its cleaning performance, and it was excellent on hard floors, collecting almost every speck of dust we laid down. It struggled with pick-up a little on carpet though, only lifting around 75% of dust. This model features the same floor head as the Dyson V16 and the nylon bristles once again proved great for collecting pet hair, removing most of it in one clean sweep.

It works well as a handheld too, and the crevice tool made cleaning our car a breeze. Note, the tools can’t be stored onboard, and the full-power mode drains the battery quickly, only lasting around 11 minutes in the car.

Score: 89/100

This powerful handheld proved itself a reliable buy in the lab, scoring full marks for its biscuit crumb and cereal pick-up on both hard floors and carpet. Occasionally, the vacuum flicked smaller pieces of debris instead of sucking them up, but the included crevice tool helps with any stragglers.

The battery only lasts 10-15 minutes on max mode, so we didn’t manage to clean an entire car in one go. A full recharge takes five hours too, so we recommend using this for quick spot cleans when you don’t want to pull out your cordless or upright vacuum.

Score: 88/100

Arguably one of Dyson’s most innovative releases, the PencilVac (billed as ‘the world’s slimmest vacuum’) is the go-to for homes with hard floors instead of carpet. It weighs just 1.8kg and is only 38mm wide, making it the perfect choice for anyone short on storage space, too.

In the lab, it picked up 100% of the dust on our floorboards and only missed 1.2% on laminate flooring (and that’s because the dust was stuck on the wheels). It removed crumbs and cereal with ease too and the vacuum head’s conical design helped prevent any hair tangling around the brush.

Speaking of the cleaner head, it has an angled design that comes to a point in the middle, and we found its suction power slightly lacked here. Swivel the head to the side to clean along skirting boards though and you’ll see how much it excels.

Score: 86/100

It may not be cordless but with a 10-metre-long lead, you won't have to worry too much about where your nearest plug socket is. Plus, you’re not at risk of running out of battery mid-clean, either.

This upright’s suction on short pile carpet and hard floors was excellent, but it struggled on long pile, removing just 79% of the debris we'd laid down. It removed pet hair without any tangling though and has a wide array of tools to help with cleaning. One for big homes or spaces.

Score: 84/100

An oldie but a goldie, this affordable Dyson vacuum was first released in 2016 before getting an upgrade in 2023. It’s been a bestseller for years and its performance in our lab shows why. Its dust pick-up on hard floors was hard to fault, and we only needed one sweep to suck up pet hair from short pile carpet, making it a dream buy for pet owners.

Finer particles like dust proved trickier to lift from carpet, needing a couple of sweeps to remove the majority laid down. It struggled to clean round edges too, but the crevice tool comes in handy here.

The other six tools also helped with tasks like cleaning the stairs and getting into awkward spaces, and we found the vacuum lightweight and easy to use throughout. Read our Dyson V8 review for more information.

We’ve also tested Dyson’s newest version of the V8, the Dyson V8 Cyclone, which scored 82/100 in the lab. It was effective at picking up dust and pet hair but struggled to remove all the crumbs. Plus, it lacked some suction along the front of the cleaning head.

Score: 84/100

This affordable cleaner tackles wet and dry mess, stains and dust. It doesn’t suck it up like a regular vacuum but instead uses an absorbent roller to collect everything.

This clever set-up includes eight different hydration points across the roller and a squeegee-like mechanism in the back of the floor head. This removes the dirty water and then coats the roller in fresh water on every rotation for more effective cleaning. The brush bar is also motorised, so the cleaner has a self-propelled motion, making it a great option for anyone who struggles with heavy tools.

In the lab, the roller often smeared stains when moving forwards but then cleaned them up when going backwards. The overall clean was good though and the floor was only left slightly damp afterwards. We recommend using the maximum power setting for dried-in stains and we found two or three passes produced the best results.