What better thing to do on a Saturday night than research vacuum cleaners?

Our cordless Vax blade V1 is dying.. The button now needs to be pressed so **** hard to switch it on/off it’s painful, it sounds like its about to explode too with a real high pitched metallic scraping sound.
We are on our 2nd brush bar too due to a fault with the first.

So its time for a change.

I know they now do a V2 Blade.. But to be honest i’m done with Vax for now. The attachments are a pain in the rear to attach/detach and with our past issues, I’m out.

So….. Dyson V8 is a contender and the obvious choice.

For similar cash I can get the Gtech AirRam V2 and the Multi together. Two separate vacuums for each task (carpets and crevices) so my theory is they will last longer from general abuse as each will get half the use.

Gtech

Anyone with any experiences with the Gtech vacuums?
Or Gtech themselves as I see they do other cordless stuff like lawnmowers and even ebikes.!

My answer would be no, we bought the twin set Air Ram & multi & have been very disappointed with both.
Very little actual sucking power from the Multi, it seems to rely too heavily on the brush flicking the dirt in the right direction & what suction there is drawing it up the pipe.
Its fine for a quick dust around but has nowhere near the power of our old Dyson.
Similar story with the hand held, just sorely lacking in suction, so much so that it rarely leaves the cupboard.
Parts started to wear out on the Dyson & it was also very heavy to use on & up the stairs, but we’ve been so disappointed with the G Tech stuff that we’ve been & bought the parts to bring the Dyson back to life.
When it does eventually die, we’ll buy the newer handheld Dyson with extension tube.

If you want a proper vacuum cleaner then I wouldn’t get a Gtech.

My mum bought my wife the upright, and whilst it’s ok, it’s more of a powered sweeper than a vacuum IME.  We’ve also tried my mums Gtech handheld and again it was ok – but in a Black and Decker DustBuster way, rather than as a proper handheld vacuum.

mrs b has the blade v2 40w. she likes it so much she doesn’t let me use it.

what’s not to like 😏

Had the Gtech AirRam/Multi for a few years. Wouldn’t get them again. Power is OK but not brilliant, the Multi (the original one) has an issue where the case splits. Sorted under warranty twice. When it splits the next time I’ll get something else.

Can I throw the shark cordless vacuum into the mix? Not had it a year yet but it’s been great so far, very powerful, useful attachments & seemingly quite robust.

I’d second a Shark cleaner.

We’ve had Dysons, Vax, Miele, Henry, Hoover and most recently a Shark.

So impressed that there are now 3 of them in the family (different houses) including one cordless at the eldest daughters. All very impressive cleaners and all bought direct from there web site when they were available on offers at around £200 each.

Xiaomi Roidmi F8 ?

Review

We binned a Dyson Animal upright for a Vax Air steerable (upright). Much lighter, and the morot unit detatches for doing the stairs and car. Cable long enough for the whole house.

Superior suction to the Dyson. Weve had two for about 3 years (one at our caravan). Wouldn’t touch Dyson again, as ours ended up like triggers broom – everything replaced at least once.

The cleaners at work had some Gtech cleaners a few years ago for the offices. Whilst i know theyre not really supposed to be commercial cleaners, they didn’t last 2 weeks.

We have a Dyson V11, it’s ok for a cordless. Not worth the cash imo. Shark seem to come up on Amazon daily deals a lot with good discounts. MIL has one, heavier than the Dyson but a good £400 cheaper.

That Roidmi does sound great… I’m adding that to the list.
So the Gtech is out.. Thanks for the feedback.
The Vax Blade V2 is still a possible but our V1 has really not been that good to be honest.
2 brush bars (the 2nd is starting to go faulty too with the same problem), the motor/impeller/turny thing inside is about to explode and the power button is ****. Oh and I hate they way you need two hands to change attachments, its a PITA.

So:

Dyson V8
Roidmi
Blade V2 (if I can somehow find out if its better built than the V1)
Shark

That Shark does look good actually and so does the Roidmi.
5yr warranty on the Shark is tempting me too.

Purchase to be made today.

We have this gtech and it’s great and gets good reviews.
https://www.argos.co.uk/product/7342912

Get a shark do do de do de do
Get a shark do do de do de do
Get a shark do do de do de do
Get a shark

I’m having a break from cleaning the house top to bottom.
Forgot how good this Shark beast is.

Have filled the container thing twice over three floors (2 cats and a dog) and the front of the powered roller stops and tells you it needs cleaning. Two clips, 5 minutes untangling and back to full power.

I think that is why I like these so much. Any other cleaner and you can’t tell how clogged it is – beyond the bag / cylinder filling. This thing tells you it’s in need of sorting. Easy to do and ten away again at full suction.

This is ours, although we paid £179 for it when it was in the sale. I think there is a similar one for £199 now.

https://sharkclean.eu/uk/product/shark-duoclean-lift-away-vacuum-cleaner-nv700ukt/

I have a bosch cordless that’s lasted 3 years before the batteries went. So I replaced them with more powerful li ion ones and it’s back to duracell bunny mode.
If the shark cordless is as good as the corded one then you won’t go far wrong with it. Very easy bag and tool swapping.
Edit I mean dust container not bag.

Shark here.

Get a shark do do de do de do
Get a shark do do de do de do
Get a shark do do de do de do
Get a shark

🙂

Shite (on hard floors at least)

IIRC The Gadget Show did a review a few years ago when they compared all of the available vacuum tech. And tbh the GTECH stuff was a joke performance-wise.

May be available on catch up or YouTube to watch again. Worthwhile when you’re spending a few hundred £s.

OK, ordered.
And despite my issues with Vax I got the Blade V2 Max.

Detailed googling and image zooming / video pausing does show they have redesigned most of the problems with the V1 apart from the attachment connectors (which I am happy to live with if all other bits are improved..)

The annoying bin design has gone.
The annoying small rubber flap entry to the bin has changed.
Brush head looks redesigned too.
Motor redesigned.
Power button different.
Good price and a tool kit free.
And with an increased 3 year warranty (Blade V1 was only 1), I’m happy.

Contenders:
Shark: Bin a bit small (my wife moans about the Vax and the Shark is smaller)
Roidmi: Same as above.
Gtech: Too many bad reviews.
Dyson: Nahh.

Cheers all for your help.
(yes I am this anal over any purchase, it normally includes spreadsheets with weeks of research before I buy anything of value)

I would have advised a Shark, as most did, but you’ve ignored all of their advice, so.. 😂

I know I know.!
The Shark was in the basket.

I assumed it was just a re-brand so discounted the V2 initially.
But everything I researched shows the Blade V2 is an improvement (in all but 1 of my annoyances) over the V1.

If the Shark had a bigger dust bin (my wife already complains that she has to keep emptying the dust bin on our current so downsizing was not an option), it would have been purchased. Cost also came into it, the budget this month has already been blown.

Thread resurrection:

Our 15+ year old Henry is now very, very tired and has always been rubbish on carpet. The 7yr old Vax upright is just crap and always has been.

What’s the best all-round Shark vacuum model as they seem really popular?
We need it to do carpet and hard floors, pick up hairs, new carpet fluff, easy to use and light too. Also need tools for doing stairs, under furniture etc. etc. Don’t need cordless.

I have the corded shark lift away . Its easy to use although a tad heavy. I would definitely buy another shark.

We had a Henry and a 10 or so year old Dyson, my wife wanted something cordless, so we bought a Dyson v10 Animal a few months ago. I know they’re not well thought of on here, but I’ve spoken to quite a few people who have had similar ones for a good while and really rate them. There was 50 quid off at the time, and work perks bought it down some more.
I was sceptical, but I have to admit, it’s bloody good.

There, that’s all the enthusiasm I can summon for a Hoover.

Does all the things you’re after, and although it’s not light as a feather, it’s light enough for my wife with a buggered skeleton to work with no complaints.

4 months into owning a dyson v8 here.

Works well, no complaints. It’s replaced pit Henry for everything except diy dust.

Bought it from they dyson outlet. Cheaper but they have a 1 instead of 2 year warranty. I doubt it will be perfect forever, it’s great now.

Dyson outlets

Think dyson and sharks are the top ones at the mo based upon what our friends and family. You probably would find either of those two fine so go on whatever the best deal you can get.

Got a Shark Duo Clean “Stick” here, copes well with the kids and the dog, always seems to forget to charge it after us though…

you sure you don’t want a cordless???

I got a shark lift away duo-clean (hyper super shiny shiny) and it’s REALLY good…
Twin brushes are great on hard floor and carpet.
And the cordless means that I just pick up up and given the crumby carpet/sofa a quick whizz after the kids have made a mess.

The duoclean is £270 on shark website at the moment.

Reading this thread has prompted me..I might spend tonight stripping mine apart, and giving it a good clean!!!

I know how to live eh!

DrP

@DrP – don’t really need cordless and I’m never that far from a power outlet

do you have the Shark model number? – there’s so many to choose from !

In August 2018 we bought a Shark Cordless Stick Vacuum Cleaner [IF250UK] Twin battery.

It’s excellent. We’ve given away our old Dyson corded. Being light and convenient means you do more occasional cleaning so the smaller capacity isn’t an issue.

If we had to buy again, that’s what we’d get.

How exciting!!!
My wife has been bugging me about are Henry hoover being to cumbersome to bother using, I can now impress her with some new found knowledge!!
Shark cordless seems a good bet based on reviews here
Thanks!

don’t really need cordless and I’m never that far from a power outlet

Cordless is a total game-changer in vacuum cleaning

@nickjb –  cordless sounds good but they cost an awful lot more plus I’ll probably forget to charge it just before I most need it 🤔

The recent Dyson’s store wall-mounted in their charger so impossible to forget to charge, not sure about the Vax and Shark equivalents though. But yeah although I’m happy with my Dyson v10’s performance they do cost stupid money.

I do vacuum way more often than I used to with a corded one though, it’s just so easy to pick it up off the wall and do a room here and there (rather than making a big thing about vacuuming the whole house at once and then putting it off :p ).

Cordless is a total game-changer in vacuum cleaning

When we want to do a proper house clean we get out our Miele cylinder cleaner. It’s much quicker to cover the whole house and actually sucks – The Dyson shares some of the charatteristics of the g-tech in that it relies quite a lot on the brushes to pick stuff up. Raw suction isn’t that good.

I see Miele now do a rechargeable, but it makes the Dyson look cheap….

I’ve always thought Dyson was all marketing and no substance. Recently we got one at work – an ‘animal’ I think.
I have to say I’ve been impressed. I work in a theatre, so it’s been used for all sorts of stuff, and it’s done well so far.

I wouldn’t have another Dyson again, last one just made it to the other side of warranty before it started playing up, I ended up doing my best Pete Townshend impersonation with it, only other thing I’ve done that to is a Flymo….

Realistically…. how much sucking power is a shark cordless going to have in comparison to a new Henry?

We bought a Dyson V11 a few months back, way better than the Henry or the upright Dyson we had before.