Dyson Humdinger
Our score: 9/10 | Max runtime: 25 minutes | Charge time: 3.5 hours | Weight: 2.2 pounds | Number of attachments: 3 | Bin volume: 0.8 cup | Filter type: Whole-machine HEPA filtration | Noise level: 78 dB
Best for:
- Filtering out fine particles to keep household air clean
- Extended runtime for longer jobs
- Anyone who appreciates sleek, well-designed attachments
Skip if:
- You’re on a budget
The Dyson Humdinger stood out as the most aesthetically pleasing and meticulously designed vacuum I tested. However, its appeal extends beyond aesthetics, and it quickly emerged as the top choice for individuals or families dealing with allergies, thanks to its comprehensive whole-machine HEPA filtration system, which traps an impressive 99.99% of microscopic particles. Unlike many other vacuums I tested, the Humdinger didn’t require manual tapping of the filter to remove dust. This feature significantly reduces exposure to allergens and fine particles during emptying. Notably, Dyson vacuums adhere to the ASTM standard for whole-machine filtration, ensuring every filter and seal meets HEPA-grade specifications. Additionally, emptying the dustbin is hygienic and hassle-free, as an external ejection mechanism pushes dirt directly into the trash bin without requiring any contact with the contents.
Furthermore, the Humdinger has an impressive battery life, lasting up to 25 minutes on a single charge—nearly double the combined average of the other contenders, at 15 minutes. This extended runtime makes it an excellent choice for larger homes or for individuals who tend to forget to recharge their devices promptly after use. I was particularly impressed by the powerful hair screw attachment, which effectively removes pet hair and dander, as well as the crevice tool, which is equipped with an optional brush for tackling dusty areas like baseboards and blinds. While it may be the priciest model on this list, I found it to be a worthwhile investment, especially for those prioritizing allergy relief.
Best Compact Handheld Vacuum
A Lightweight Vacuum That Doesn’t Compromise On Suction Power
Shark Wandvac Cordless Handheld Vacuum
Our score: 8/10 |Max runtime: 10 minutes | Charge time: 2.5 hours | Weight: 1.4 pounds | Number of attachments: 2 | Bin volume: 0.3 cup | Filter type: Washable | Noise level: 82 dB
Best for:
- Super-quick cleanups
- Keeping in the car, at your desk or in the kitchen
- Anyone with limited wrist or arm mobility
Skip if:
- Tackling pet hair is one of your requirements
When it comes to handheld vacuums known for their ease and portability, the Shark Wandavac Cordless Handheld Vacuum stands out. Weighing a mere 1.4 pounds, it claims the title of the lightest vacuum on my list of winners, making it feel practically weightless during use—an excellent feature for individuals dealing with wrist or arm mobility issues. It performed exceptionally well during suction tests, effortlessly tackling both small particles and larger debris. However, owing to its compact size, it does come with a drawback: a small dustbin that necessitates more frequent emptying compared to some competitors.
Equipped with a charging stand, this vacuum offers added convenience by remaining upright while charging, making it a breeze to store on the kitchen counter for quick cleanups of dry spills and accessing crevices between appliances and cabinets. Moreover, it’s a great choice for keeping your car tidy and handling swift cleanups in an office environment. While the duster crevice tool is effective for cleaning baseboards and car crevices, the pet hair attachment fell short in my tests, lacking significant functionality. For effective pet hair removal, I recommend opting for a vacuum equipped with a brush roll.
A notable advantage of this vacuum is its user-friendly design when it comes to emptying the dustbin. With the press of a button, the dustbin swiftly flips open, catapulting debris into the trash can—a simple and efficient process.
Best Handheld Vacuum For Cars
A Sleek Option With A Removable Battery For Convenient Car Charging
KitchenAid Go Cordless Kitchen Vacuum
Our score: 8/10 | Max runtime: 20 minutes | Charge time: 3 hours | Weight: 2.14 pounds | Number of attachments: 2 | Bin volume: 0.5 cup | Filter type: Washable | Noise level: 79 dB
Best for:
- Keeping in the car for quick cleanups
- Convenient charging of the battery in the cigarette lighter/dedicated USB-C port
- Completing a full job before needing a recharge
Skip if:
- You need to remove pet hair from upholstery
The petite KitchenAid Go Cordless Kitchen Vacuum has an impressive runtime of 20 minutes, making it an ideal companion for car cleanups. Consider the typical vacuuming duration at a car wash—likely no more than 5 minutes, right? With 20 minutes of cleaning power, this little guy will easily see you through a thorough sedan deep clean. And when it’s time for a recharge, the relatively small battery can be removed from the vacuum and charged with a USB-C cord, a convenient option given that you probably already have one plugged into your car’s USB or USB-C charter to charge your phone. One downside, owing to its size, is that the dustbin holds only 1 cup of dirt, requiring more frequent emptying compared to other vacuums on this list. However, the dustbin cup is dishwasher-safe, which is great if you happen to suck up a particularly messy spill—simply toss it in the dishwasher’s top rack.
This vacuum doesn’t comes with two basic attachments, which is both a drawback and a bonus. On the one hand, the lack of excess attachments means you won’t have to worry about storing them in your limited car space. On the other hand, it may not be as effective as some other
Best Handheld Vacuum For Stairs
An Easily Maneuverable Option With Attachments That Tackle Stairs
Bissell Pet Hair Eraser Lithium Ion Cordless Pet Hand Vacuum
Our score: 8/10 | Max runtime: 17 minutes | Charge time: 5 hours | Weight: 3 pounds | Number of attachments: 3 | Bin volume: 3 cups | Filter type: Washable | Noise level: 82 dB
Best for:
- An ergonomic grip that won’t tire your wrist out while cleaning
- Removing embedded hair with a brush roll attachment
- Completing larger jobs without needing to be emptied
Skip if:
- You want a vacuum that recharges quickly
Vacuuming the stairs can be quite a chore, but the compact Bissell Pet Hair Eraser Lithium Ion Cordless Pet Hand Vacuum makes the task much more manageable. Designed with pet hair removal in mind, it’s both agile and powerful enough to effectively clean the stairs within its 17-minute runtime. With a generous dustbin capacity of 3 cups, the largest of any vacuum on this list, you’re unlikely to need to empty it mid-cleaning session. I found it particularly comfortable to hold, causing no unnecessary strain on the wrist or arm during use.
The brush roll attachment rivals that of the Shark UltraCyclone Pet Pro, but since it features traditional plastic bristles, you may need to detangle it and remove hair more frequently. While the upholstery tool didn’t prove to be very useful in my testing, I found that using the vacuum alone without an attachment worked well for delicate upholstery. While the filter is washable, you can buy additional replacement filters from Bissell, with a recommended replacement interval of every three to six months.
Other Handheld Vacuums I Tested
I tested one other handheld vacuum that didn’t make the cut.
Vortix Smart Car Vacuum/Air Blower: While initially appearing to be a promising contender, I ultimately found this little vacuum to be disappointingly cheaply made and unable to meet the specifications listed on the manufacturer’s site. During runtime testing, it fell significantly short, lasting only about 12 minutes, and its charging time exceeded two hours, far from the 20 minutes claimed by the manufacturer. Despite possessing decent suction strength and intriguing attachments, they ultimately felt more gimmicky than genuinely useful.
How I Tested The Best Handheld Vacuums
I tested these eight vacuums over the course of a month, evaluating their suction power, cleaning effectiveness, battery life and charging speed, among other important criteria. To assess suction strength and cleaning ability, I sprinkled 25 grams of baking soda, a handful of Cheerios and 25 grams of coffee grounds on a medium-pile rug. I then ran each vacuum through two passes over each mess and measured how much baking soda and coffee grounds each vacuum had picked up. Additionally, I noted how effectively each vacuum had handled picking up Cheerios. I also tested each vacuum by rubbing light-colored dog hair into a dark upholstered chair seat and then running two passes with each vacuum to observe hair removal performance.
For battery life and charging time, I fully charged each vacuum and ran it on its lowest setting until it stopped. I recorded the duration of operation for each and then timed how long each took to fully recharge based on their respective charging indicators. These tests were conducted while referencing manufacturer specifications to ensure accuracy.
I also used each vacuum for everyday tasks such as cleaning baseboards, removing dust bunnies from under furniture, vacuuming kitchen debris and even dusting, which I would typically do with a damp microfiber cloth. I assessed the comfort of each vacuum’s grip, the practicality of its design for intended uses and the usefulness of any included attachments.
How To Pick A Handheld Vacuum
While suction strength is an important consideration when choosing a handheld vacuum, I found that most vacuums performed similarly despite the wide range of suction information provided by manufacturers.
Suction strength can be measured in various ways, and the lack of a standardized unit across manufacturers can be confusing. “Air watts,” explains Austyn Hoelter, merchandise director at The Home Depot, “is a metric that is intended to measure the effectiveness of a vacuum cleaner by taking into account the airflow as the power. Pascals are another, less common unit of measurement that focus more on vacuum pressure, and the sealed suction of a vacuum cleaner is measured in inches of water (IOW), which refers to the water lift that the vacuum is able to achieve,” she adds. However, James Brown, a vacuum repair specialist, suggests that air watts may not tell you much about actual performance, often serving as more of a marketing tool. He likens it to thread count in sheets, which doesn’t necessarily reflect quality. According to him, metrics like pascals and water lift may not directly correlate with a vacuum’s ability to effectively clean dust and dirt from floors.
All this is to say that the suction measurements listed in manufacturer specifications don’t always translate directly into real-world cleaning performance. Instead of delving into unit conversions, my focus was on practical tests to assess how well each handheld vacuum cleaned. A top-notch handheld vacuum should swiftly and effortlessly remove particles of varying sizes in minimal passes. It should have sufficient suction to handle heavier debris like cereal without being overly cumbersome to maneuver on different surfaces.
In my extensive experience testing vacuums, I’ve often found that not all included attachments significantly enhance their functionality. However, certain attachments can greatly improve the vacuuming experience. Typically, vacuums come with three main attachments.
The most effective attachment, based on my testing, is the motorized brush roll or beater bar. It operates similarly to an upright vacuum but on a smaller scale. The rotating bristles dislodge hair and debris from surfaces while the vacuum provides suction. It’s essential for pet owners and anyone looking to deep-clean upholstery.
A crevice tool is another common attachment that extends the vacuum nozzle, enabling access to narrow spaces where the main vacuum head can’t reach, such as corners of ceilings or under furniture. While useful, I find myself using this attachment less frequently, often preferring the vacuum itself, the beater bar or a dust brush.
The dust brush attachment, resembling a crevice tool but with bristles around its edge, is often underestimated in its ability to clear surfaces of dust. It effectively loosens debris while the vacuum removes it, making it ideal for cleaning baseboards, windowsills and blinds.
You might be surprised by how much cleaning you can accomplish in under 10 minutes. During my testing, I found that this duration wasn’t a deal-breaker for any of the contenders. Ideally, however, a handheld vacuum should have a battery that lasts long enough to complete your household tasks, and the longer the battery life, the better. On average, my top picks provided about 15 minutes of runtime. The two Shark models I tested tied for the shortest runtime, at 10 minutes, while the Dyson Humdinger was the leader, at 25 minutes. I tested these vacuums rigorously over a month and will continue to monitor their performance over the long term, bearing in mind that battery life can diminish with use.
Charge time is another critical consideration when selecting a handheld vacuum. My top choice, the Ryobi 18V One+, fully charges in as little as 45 minutes. In contrast, some models on this list require at least five hours to recharge fully. While handheld vacuums of this size and power naturally require longer charge times compared to devices like smartphones or beard trimmers, opting for a model with quicker charging and an extended battery life can prevent inconvenience when you forget to plug it in promptly.
Comfort during daily use was a key consideration in my testing process. While the average weight of the contenders is 2.3 pounds, weights ranged from 1.2 pounds for the lightest model to 3.5 pounds for the heaviest. However, actual weight isn’t the sole factor influencing how heavy a vacuum feels in your hand. For instance, the Black+Decker Dustbuster AdvancedClean weighs almost a full pound more than the Ryobi 18V One+, yet the Ryobi model feels heavier due to its top-mounted battery and less ergonomic handle. If comfort during extended cleaning sessions is a concern, I’ve provided detailed notes on handling in each review.
Bin volume is an additional consideration: While a larger capacity is advantageous, a smaller bin isn’t necessarily a deal-breaker. It may be inconvenient to empty the vacuum mid-job, but it’s manageable.
All the handheld vacuums I tested, and indeed all top-rated models on the market, are bagless. I paid meticulous attention to how each dustbin operated. Ideally, a handheld vacuum should expel debris from the dustbin with minimal contact and without releasing a puff of dust, which is especially important for allergy sufferers. Dr. Tania Elliott, an allergist and immunologist at NYU Langone Health, advises wearing a mask when cleaning and emptying the dustbin and filter and recommends choosing a vacuum with a HEPA-grade filter for optimal filtration of allergens.
My Expertise
During my seven-year journalism career, I’ve extensively tested and researched a wide range of products for shopping guides and reviews. My expertise spans robot vacuums, dishwasher detergents, bed sheets, mattresses, spray cleaners, brooms and more. I’ve also contributed review and shopping content for publications including the Strategist, Domino, Insider Reviews and Real Simple.
For this story, I reached out to four experts: James Brown, a vacuum repair specialist known as Mr. Vacuum Cleaner and the owner of a UK-based vacuum museum, who provided maintenance tips and demystified an intimidating shopping process; Melissa Maker, cleaning expert and founder of the cleaning blog Clean My Space, who offered a host of helpful vacuuming tips for getting the best clean, as well as individualized advice for vacuum shopping; Austyn Hoelter, merchandise director at The Home Depot, specializing in consumer products like vacuums, who advised me on vacuum maintenance and general use from an industry insider’s perspective; and Dr. Tania Elliott, dual board certified in internal medicine and allergy/immunology at NYU Langone Health, and a spokesperson for the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology, who contributed valuable insights about how certain handheld vacuums can mitigate allergens in the home.
