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Jun 05, 2024

7 Best Cordless Vacuums (2023): For Carpet, Hardwood, and Hard

Medea Giordano If you buy something using links in our stories, we may earn a commission. This helps support our journalism. Learn more. Please also consider subscribing to WIRED A cordless vacuum

Medea Giordano

If you buy something using links in our stories, we may earn a commission. This helps support our journalism. Learn more. Please also consider subscribing to WIRED

A cordless vacuum might not change your life, but it can make the housework easier. Not being tethered to the wall is freedom you didn't know you needed, letting you move from room to room without having to unplug and find a closer outlet. They're also generally lighter and take up less space than upright vacs, and they're great for getting under couches or coffee tables.

However, they aren't for everyone or every situation. If you have a big house, you may need to recharge the battery just to finish the job. They're also generally less powerful than upright vacs. Also, most of them can't stand up on their own, and they require a base or somewhere they can lean against a wall.

We've tested a handful of cordless vacuums, and these are our favorites so far. We're continuing to test more, so check back for more recommendations if none of these catch your eye. And be sure to check out our other buying guides, like the Best Dyson Vacuums, Best Robot Vacuums, and Best Eco-Friendly Cleaning Products.

Updated July 2023: We've added the Black+Decker Powerseries Extreme Max as our new top pick, and the Dirt Devil Power Swerve Pet as a budget option. We've also added the pricey LG CordZero All in One to the honorable mentions.

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The best way to test a vacuum is to use it like you usually would. So for a few months, we lived with these cordless vacuums, rotating through them to handle day-to-day messes and weekly deep cleans on hardwood floors, area rugs, and carpets. We charged them, asked our partners to use them, and even took some to a retail store to clean up after antique furniture and heavy foot traffic.

We also performed head-to-head testing, comparing how each picked up piles of Cheerios and cat litter, seeing if they blew debris around or needed several passes. We took heaps of dust and dirt already matted up from inside the vacuum bins to see how easily they could suck them back up in their thickened state as well.

The Black+Decker Powerseries Extreme Max did the best job of picking up cat litter, especially on a deeply corrugated litter mat. It also picked up Cheerios, hair, and other debris on carpet and hardwood floors. It stands on its own, which is thankfully becoming more common among cordless vacuums, but the balance felt a little precarious sometimes.

It also turns into a hand vacuum and comes with three attachments, including a unique silicone pet brush that easily gets hair off your furniture. The battery isn't the best I've ever used—at low speed you'll get 37 minutes of cleaning or 56 while using the hand vacuum—and it has a plasticky, whiney sound sometimes, which I didn't like.

★ A hand vac from Black+Decker: Even though the Powerseries turns into a hand vac, I also loved the brand's Dustbuster Max hand vac. If you already have a vacuum you like, this is a good pairing. The nozzle pivots for easier cleaning and storage, and there's a small extension on the top for reaching something particularly small, like the dryer lint trap.

The cute Lupe Pure Cordless (8/10, WIRED Recommends) is a capable vacuum—and it can stand!—but it's really expensive, and the price has only risen since we first tried it. If your wallet won't mind and you don't want a Dyson, consider this one. It's meant to be repairable, with affordable replacement parts, so it should last for a good long time.

The cleaner head has a standard rotating brush and a composite foam roller. My husband says he doesn't like that the Pure doesn't propel you forward the way our Dyson upright vac does. I didn't notice this as a problem, and in fact, when it's at its highest setting, the foam roller creates a strong seal against the ground that feels satisfyingly powerful. I hate the way the Lupe sounds though—like there's something perpetually stuck in it. There's also no laser or light for illuminating dust like on the Dyson V15 Detect.

It was a close race for the top spot. The Bissell IconPet Turbo Edge picked up hair and cat litter well, and its brush moves so quickly that it almost looks like it isn't. It also easily turns into a capable hand-held vac for hard-to-reach areas like ceiling fans or couches. As an animal lover, I appreciate that money from every Bissell purchase goes toward the Bissell Pet Foundation.

It doesn't stand on its own, and it needed some help picking up the Cheerios—they got stuck on the front of the vacuum and got pushed around. The Bissell comes with attachments for harder to reach areas, like on a low-profile couch. The battery lasts longer, around 50 minutes on low mode, but it's not removable, so you can't stow the vacuum away while you charge the battery.

Julian Chokkattu

Joe Ray

Medea Giordano

Tim Barber

Before Dyson had a robust catalog of products, including ever-popular hair tools, it was known for its great vacuums. We've tested a bunch, cordless and otherwise, and our favorite of its lineup is the Dyson V15 Detect. If you can afford to shell out for this expensive appliance, you get a cool green laser that illuminates all the dust particles you're about to obliterate. Plus, a sensor counts the number of dust particles, displaying it on the LCD screen while automatically adjusting the power level for proper suction.

You probably don't need laser beams and micron calculators, but they can be helpful if you have severe allergies. It's also just an all-around reliable vacuum that comes with an array of handy accessories, even a wall mount for a more elegant charging system. It's easy to convert to a hand vac for cleaning up the couch. Consider the V12 Detect (8/10, WIRED Recommends) if you want something even slightly cheaper and lighter (though it's not as powerful and has a smaller bin).

I was shocked at how well this Dirt Devil vacuum worked, considering how cheap, small, and light it is. It stands on its own, takes up very little room, and it easily sucked up litter and Cheerios on both carpet and hardwood.

I think it's best for a dorm or small apartment, or for in-between cleans. There's only one setting, so some messes, and deep carpets, will need more power. The battery lasts only 14 minutes, and there's no light on the front to illuminate dirt as you go.

The Hoover OnePwr Evolve Pet Elite Cordless Vacuum used to be our top pick. I still think it's a great vacuum, but the Black+Decker is nicer. I've been using the Hoover at my part-time retail job, and I don't think it's stood up to that heavy traffic use.

At home, it picked up hair, dirt, cereal, and litter with one pass on its medium setting. And it stands! Its battery isn't the best among the vacuums we tested—it gets 35 minutes on the low suction setting. If you need the vac to run longer, you can either buy a spare battery and swap it out or buy this larger-capacity battery. It doesn't come with any attachments, but it strikes a nice balance with its price and has a large 1-liter dust bin.

Julian Chokkattu

Joe Ray

Medea Giordano

Tim Barber

We've tested several carpet cleaners for both small and mighty stains, and the Bissell Pet Stain Eraser PowerBrush is a cordless option for portable spot cleaning. It's lightweight and removes most stains without much effort. The battery seemingly lasts forever—I cannot remember the last time I charged it, and unfortunately I have to use it often.

I also appreciate that it's easy to clean the vacuum itself, which can get gross quickly, especially when you're cleaning up pet messes. It's easy to rinse the parts, and there are no long hoses where nasty grime can fester. Read our Best Carpet Cleaners guide for more recommendations.

We haven't tried a vacuum yet that we absolutely hate. These ones below are solid vacuums, and in some cases are much cheaper than our top picks, but we didn't like them as much.

Levoit VortexIQ 40 Cordless Stick Vacuum for $230: This used to be our budgetish pick. It's still a solid vacuum, but stock is becoming limited. With a few passes, it sucked away all the hair, cat litter, and Cheerios I laid out for it. I like its auto mode, which adjusts the power as needed, like when I went over a patch of litter and it jumped to high suction and then dropped back down again. It can also turn into a capable hand vac like some pricier vacs.

LG CordZero All in One Cordless Stick Vacuum for $999: The LG CordZero is a great vacuum, and I could hear it sucking up dirt from the carpet even after using another vacuum over it. It has nice features like a stand that auto-empties the dirt basket and charges it. That stand also holds the attachments, which include a mop head. If you have money to blow, you'll probably like this, but I don't think any stick vacuum is worth $999.

Eureka Innova Cordless Stick Multi-Surface Vacuum for $229: This is a good stick vacuum at a reasonable price. It cleaned up my litter mat especially well, and there are specific carpet and hardwood settings. However, to suck up larger pieces like Cheerios, I had to lift the vacuum up and place it directly on top of them.

Shark Wandvac Self-Empty Cordless Vacuum for $330: I love that this turns into a little hand vac with its own small attachments. It worked well for cleaning my desk. It has a base that automatically collects the dirt from the dust bin, meaning there are fewer dust clouds you have to breathe in. I liked cleaning with it, but it's probably best used with a powerful upright vacuum, as its suction power isn't as strong as I'd like. It also feels like it needs to be just an inch or two taller, and the dustbin is small at just 0.13 quarts. If you don't care for the self-emptying bin, the Wadvac Pet System ($200) works the same without the base.

Hoover OnePwr Emerge Pet for $330: Though the name is similar to the Hoover above, this is a different version. It's a traditional stick vacuum and comes with attachments, but our tester says they felt flimsy, and the suction power is weak when you have the attachments on. Otherwise it got the job done, but you might be better off waiting for a more powerful vac like the Dyson V10 to go on sale.

Adrienne So

Adrienne So

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Julian Chokkattu

Joe Ray

Medea Giordano

Tim Barber

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