The best cheap vacuums to buy from £45, tried and tested

Score: 89/100

With lights in the floor head and strong suction, this budget stick vacuum outperformed its price tag. Its pick-up on floorboards and laminate was particularly impressive and the battery lasted 45 minutes on eco mode, giving you plenty of time to get round your home. Turbo mode reduced the battery length to 16 minutes though, so we recommend using this setting for high-traffic areas only.

The vacuum’s performance dropped slightly on long pile carpet as the suction failed to reach deep down between the fibres. It’s on the heavier side too, at 4.7kg, making it uncomfortable to hold after long periods. That said, it could be worth the compromise for the price.

Score: 76/100

This lightweight vacuum is best for picking up large debris such as biscuit crumbs and cereal. It’s also excellent as a handheld, making it a good pick for busy households looking for an affordable vacuum for daily touch-ups.

Throughout testing, the controls felt sturdy and were easy to use, plus there’s a good selection of tools to tackle different cleaning tasks. Its battery life exceeded our expectations too, running for 35 minutes on eco and 20 minutes on turbo mode.

Score: 76/100

Lightweight and easy to manoeuvre, our expert loved how comfortable this stick vacuum was to use throughout testing. The integrated lights in the head help reveal hidden dust and we liked the clip-on tool holder so that you can carry the crevice attachment with you as you clean.

In terms of performance, this worked best on hard floors, and it cleared most of the pet hair we laid down in one pass. The battery lasted over 20 minutes on full power, but we found the buttons to switch settings weren’t always responsive – a second press did the trick though.

Score: 75/100

A well-designed cordless vacuum, this Keplin model proved effective on hard flooring in testing, scoring full marks for dust pick-up on laminate and floorboards. Most pet hair we laid down was lifted in one go, but a few follow-up sweeps helped collect finer strands ingrained in the carpet pile.

With a 15–20-minute runtime on max power, you’ll have just enough time to whizz round your car’s interiors. Just note, the cleaning tools struggled to pick up finer debris and hair in the footwell.

All in all, it’s an easy-to-use, cheap stick vacuum that’s ideal for homes with hard floors.

Score: 85/100

Picking up almost all the dust laid in our tests, from carpet to floorboards, this vacuum was a hit in the lab.

It lacked a little suction power along the very front of the floorhead, but with the crevice tool stored on board, you can easily follow up on any missed dust. The vacuum moved smoothly over most floor types but tended to push larger debris along rather than sucking it up. The hose comes in handy here though, and it can be transformed into a handheld model by pressing the pedal to make cleaning stairs a breeze.

Score: 74/100

This well-priced machine is one of the lightest we've tested and doesn’t compromise on performance. It lifted most dust from carpet and hard floors, even cleaning crevices well, but the small amount it failed to pick up was pushed around a bit. It cleaned up pet hair quickly (some detangling of the brush was required) and its hose could clean eight stairs up from the base.

Note that the rotating brush can’t be turned off, so choose another model if you have delicate flooring or rugs, as this could cause damage.

Score: 73/100

With a 2.5-litre dust canister, this vacuum can collect a lot of debris before you’ll need to empty it. On short pile carpet, it lifted over 80% of the dust we laid down, while on long pile carpet, it sucked up even more, reaching in between the fibres for a deeper clean.

It performed best on hard floors where it removed 93% of dust. We did find some got caught up in the ridges of the wheels and that pet hair tangled a little in the floor head. But those are minor niggles.

Score: 94/100

Proving that you don’t need to spend a fortune to get top-level performance, Beko’s robot vacuum scored full marks for its dust pick-up on all surfaces – and it lifted pet hair like a pro.

While it doesn’t have premium features like a self-emptying docking station or voice control, it makes up for this with its mopping function, which swiftly cleaned up small spillages without a fuss in our lab.

It does flick away smaller debris like cereal crumbs occasionally, and you can’t set no-go zones, but this is the perfect entry point model for anyone wanting to try a robot cleaner.

Score: 75/100

Our expert said this robot vacuum was super easy to set-up thanks to the self-mapping technology, which can store up to five rooms and 10 no-go zones, all of which are simple to edit in the app.

It effectively cleaned the whole test room in under 12 and a half minutes, but it struggled to pick-up dust on carpet. It put in a better performance on hard floors, but the two rotating brushes tended to push clumps of dust around rather than lift it up. That said, all the Rice Krispies we laid down were collected and the robot coped well with pet hair.

It required multiple passes to completely remove tomato ketchup stains, but we can’t complain too much – especially when it saves us getting the mop out ourselves.

Score: 84/100

Scoring full marks on all our dust pick-up tests, this cylinder vacuum really put in the work in the lab. Its lightweight design makes it easy to manoeuvre over different surfaces, and the long eight-metre cable gives you plenty of room to move around your home.

The hose is a little stiff, which made cleaning the stairs slightly tricky and the power button wasn’t always responsive – it sometimes needed a second push to work. That aside, this is a great cleaner you can rely on.

Score: 84/100

A star performer on hard floors, this is another reliable buy from Hoover. It cleaned short pile carpets well too, but struggled a little with long pile. If you have pets, be sure to use the turbo brush, which should lift hair in a couple of sweeps.

A standout feature of this vacuum is its wide reach, making it suited to bigger homes; its hose can extend up to four metres (meaning less unplugging), and it's good on stairs, with our testers able to vacuum 10 steps before needing to move the body. It’s also easy to use, even when it comes to emptying the dust canister.

Score: 82/100

This vacuum has excellent dust pick-up on short pile carpet, floorboards and laminate. Its two-litre capacity means less time spent emptying the dust canister and the built-in HEPA filter promises to collect fine particles, pet dander, and pollen in your home.

It lacked slightly on suction when we were cleaning up close to skirting boards, but it does come with a crevice tool to help tackle tight spaces.

Score: 81/100

A good choice for homes with mixed floor types, this vacuum delivered excellent results on laminate, carpet and floorboards. Most surfaces just needed a few sweeps for spotless results!

Pet hair did get a little tangled though and it only reached up seven steps before we needed to reposition it as the hose was a little stiff. That said, it’s still an excellent choice for an affordable vacuum cleaner.

Score: 79/100

If you’re looking for a bagged model, opt for this one from Vacmaster. At eight litres, it has one of the largest capacities of all the models we’ve tried, and it has a HEPA 13 filter for trapping pet dander.

This vacuum is best suited to short pile carpet as its suction made it tricky to push over long-pile and multiple sweeps were needed to collect dust on hard floors. We love the compact, easy to use design though.