11 best upright vacuum cleaners tested on dust, crumbs, and hair

Score: 93/100

This top scorer aced our testing, earning full marks for its dust pick-up on all surfaces. It performed solidly when taking on pet hair too, lifting everything within two sweeps. Happily, there was none tangled in the brushes afterwards, either. The only area where it faltered was collecting dust from the edges of our room – but using the crevice tool should help capture any stubborn particles.

It’s a smooth mover too, gliding across all our flooring. Not to mention, its push and lift technology lets you remove the canister from the main body, which is helpful when moving from room to room or up the stairs, especially if you prefer carrying something less cumbersome. Finally, all controls are sturdy and straightforward to use.

We’ve also tested the standard Hoover HL4, which comes without the motorised pet brush. This scored 86/100.

Score: 91/100

If it feels like you spend all your time vacuuming behind your furry friends, this model will impress. One swift sweep was enough to lift all our ground-in pet hair, and none of it got caught on the brushes. It was a star on carpet too, sucking up 96% of the dust laid on short pile and rooting out more than the set amount on deep pile.

It tackled floor edges brilliantly, getting notably close to the wall for an upright. To increase reach on stairs, we suggest using the hose and lifting the canister from the body.

While a fairly bulky model, this has the largest dust capacity on our list. There’s no onboard storage for accompanying tools, but our tester still found it easy to manoeuvre and lift.

Score: 90/100

This pet-specific model is similar in design to the Hoover vacuum above, except that it’s a different colour and comes with a mini rotating brush to help you lift fur from stairs and upholstery – simply press the foot pedal to turn it into a handheld, then attach it to the end of the nozzle.

It scored a perfect 10 for its pet hair pick-up, removing it from carpet in a single sweep, and its anti-twist mechanism stopped any longer strands from tangling around the brush roller. It struggled slightly on stairs, edges and corners – its large front frame blocked it from getting into crevices – but its strong, adjustable suction power impressed in our dust pick-up tests across all floor types.

Testers did find the bin hard to empty fully; however, if you’ve got a dog or cat, that shouldn’t be a dealbreaker as we found this robust, reliable model the best choice for stubborn pet hair.

We’ve also tested the Hoover HL5, which also scored 90/100, but comes without the specified pet tool.

Score: 89/100

Another well designed model, this upright vacuum features Lift-Away technology that lets you detach the canister from the floor head for easier stair cleaning. It came in handy too as the hose could only reach up seven steps before the main vacuum began to wobble.

Around the home, you’ll have eight metres of cord to work with, allowing a decent amount of flexibility around furniture. It impressed during our dust pick-up tests, collecting almost every speck of dirt we laid down (including those stuck in floorboard crevices). In fact, its powerful suction even managed to reach into the depths of our long pile carpet, providing a really deep clean.

Score: 86/100

Well designed and a breeze to use, this Vax upright vacuum cleaner glides smoothly over all floor types, and the generous 2 litre capacity and long cord offer plenty of flexibility when vacuuming large spaces.

In the lab, it aced our dust removal test on short pile carpet and performed well on other types of flooring too, with just a little dust caught on the wheels. While it comes with two specialised pet tools, we found the standard floor head and brush bar did the trick against pet hair, sucking it all up in one sweep. Detaching the canister from the main body made stair cleaning easy and effective too.

The hose was slightly stiff, and the vacuum struggled to clean right up against skirting boards but otherwise this is an excellent choice for a busy family home.

Score: 86/100

With a cord that’s over 10 metres long, this should make light work of most rooms, saving you from having to pause and change plug sockets mid-clean. It scored full marks for its swift pet hair removal, and it excelled at dust pick-up on all surfaces from laminate to floorboards.

On short pile carpet, its suction proved so powerful that it even lifted stubborn dirt that we hadn’t laid, meaning it picked up an average of 125%. However, it struggled somewhat on long pile carpet, removing just 79% of debris.

When tackling stairs, it cleaned up to nine steps easily and testers found it lightweight and easy to manoeuvre. A wide array of tools (including a tangle-free tool and a combination tool) makes it a versatile choice.

Score: 85/100

Scoring full marks for its dust pick-up on short and long pile carpet, as well as floorboards, our testers were thoroughly impressed with this great value vacuum.

It glides smoothly over most floor types (a little extra effort is needed on long pile carpet) and all the controls are accessible and well-labelled. The hose only managed to reach up seven steps before tipping over and was a little stiff to move, but the vacuum can be transformed into a handheld model with the tap of a single pedal for better reach and flexibility.

Suction lacked a little oomph along the front of the floorhead, leaving dust behind on our edge cleaning test but the provided crevice tool should help with any corners and tight spaces. Pet owners will also love the ‘Pet Mate’ tool and WrapFree brush roll, which ensures no hairs get stuck as you vacuum.

Score: 83/100

If you’re looking for something more affordable but like the Hoover design, this is a great choice. This vacuum shares a lot of the same technology with the high-scoring Hoover HL4 Pet and HL5 Pet but makes some subtle changes to the overall package to reduce the price.

One key difference is that this model doesn’t come with a pet tool, and while it still picked up hair in two sweeps, it was less effective than models that include the motorised tool. In testing, it excelled on hard floors, collecting 98% of the dust we laid down, but it only removed between 83 and 88% of the dust on our carpet tests.

It also struggled to clean the edges of the room, so it’s worth switching to the crevice tool when you’re vacuuming the skirting boards. That aside, it glides smoothly across floors and manoeuvres easily around furniture and we love that it comes in different colours, including teal, pastel green, and pastel pink. Who knew cleaning could be so chic?

For homes with hard floors, this is an excellent buy. However, those with mixed floors or mainly carpet may want to consider Hoover’s other models if the budget allows.

Score: 74/100

This Russell Hobbs model is the lightest of our traditional uprights. It’s also more affordable than most, without compromising on performance. Our tester found it good for cleaning short pile carpet and even better on deep pile, where it picked up 92% of dust.

On hard floors, it was better still, lifting 93% and getting most specks out of crevices. That said, it did push dust around a bit.

Its hose reached up eight stairs and its substantial two-litre canister proved easy to empty. But if you have delicate flooring or rugs, you may want to look elsewhere; you can’t turn off its rotating brush, which could cause damage.

Score: 73/100

This upright won’t break the bank but will still provide a good clean. It lifted over 80% of dust from short pile carpet and averaged 89% on deep pile.

On hard floors, it improved again, lifting 93% and cleaning edges and crevices well. It did disperse some of the dust as it travelled, though, and its wheels trapped some in their ridges. It picked up pet hair in one sweep but this tangled slightly.

Its hose has a long reach and its 2.5-litre canister houses a lot of dust. The controls are straightforward, but it’s bulky and not the easiest to carry upstairs or store. And, as with the above Russell Hobbs model, you can’t turn off the beater bar.