We Tested a Variety of Cordless Stick Vacuums — These Are the Ones Worth Buyin g

Courtesy of Erica Snyder

If you're like us, the right product can make all the difference when it comes to cleaning. If it delivers instant results and makes life a little easier, then we're willing to give it a try. Enter the cordless stick vacuum. We love the fact that cordless vacuums allow you to easily move about your space as you clean without the hassle of having to be near an outlet or worrying about tripping over a tangled cord. Plus, stick vacuums are lightweight and easier to manage than bulkier machines. They're great for moving from room to room with ease and cleaning hard-to-reach areas.

If you're in the market for a cordless stick vacuum, factors such as size, price, battery life, and capacity can help you decide which one will work best for your home. We tested cordless stick vacuums from top brands like Dyson, Shark, Hoover, Bissell, and more. Read on for our top picks.

Best Cordless Stick Vacuums:

• Best Overall: Shark Rocket Cordless Pet Pro Lightweight Stick Vacuum
  This Shark cordless vacuum manages to combine easy, lightweight maneuverability with deep-cleaning suction power.

• Best for Hard Floors: Dyson Omni-glide
  The omni-glide is Dyson's slimmest vacuum and is designed specifically to clean hard floors.

• Best for Hair: Shark Wandavac
  Shark's Wandavac is half stick vacuum, half handheld vacuum and features settings that clean all types of surfaces.

• Best Budget-Friendly: Inse Cordless Vacuum Cleaner
  An affordable option that features five different cleaning attachments.

• Best Handheld: Bissell ICONpet Cordless
  Caters to pet owners with features that promise to clean up all kinds of pet messes.

• Best Lightweight: Tineco A11
  The Tineco is very lightweight and has three power modes to target messes in carpets, hardwood floors and tile.

• Best for Embedded Messes: Hoover Evolve
  Offers more capacity for clean ups than your average, smaller cordless stick vacuum.

• Best for Small Spaces: Dyson V8
  This Dyson stick vacuum has two cleaner heads and six accessories as part of its cleaning arsenal.

How We Tested:

Our testers evaluated the performance of eight vacuums when faced with various types of debris on different types of flooring. We ran the vacuum once over cat litter, crushed and whole Cheerios, hair, pet hair, and embedded dirt on short pile carpeting, plush rugs, tile floors, hardwood floors, and transition spaces. We rated each model on its suction strength, battery life, handling and ergonomics, and durability. We also considered ease of storage, design and aesthetics, warranty, and our experience with each brand's customer service team. After testing, taking notes and giving ratings across all testing categories, we came up with our list of the best cordless stick vacuums.

Best Overall: Shark Rocket Cordless Pet Pro Lightweight Stick Vacuum

What you'll love: The vacuum offers two types of suction power, one for floors and another for carpet.
What you should know: It can't stand on its own upright and must lean against a wall for support.

If you're looking for a vacuum that provides superior suction, regardless of the surface or size of your space, you'll be pleased with this Shark cordless stick vacuum. First and foremost, this vacuum is fantastic at picking up hair, thanks to its tangle-free brushroll. Many of the other vacuums we tested claimed to have a tangle-free brushroll, but this one actually vacuumed up hair without creating tangles, had powerful suction strength, and was easy to maneuver.

The Shark Rocket cordless also excelled in picking up common house debris, including dirt, food crumbs, and cat litter.

What our tester said: "I was really impressed by the Shark Rocket Pro. It picked up everything with ease and did not struggle or get hair tangled up in it. I would actually use this vacuum in my own home." — Amina Lake Abdelrahman, Product Reviews Writer

BUY IT: $249.99 (orig. $299.99); amazon.com

Best for Hard Floors: Dyson Omni-glide

What you'll love: The Omni-glide has a hands-free emptying mechanism for its dustbin.
What you should know: The vacuum had a mixed performance on carpets.

The Dyson Omni-glide lived up to its name, sucking up all types of debris with one single push across bare floors. The vacuum is actually designed for hard floors, so it's not totally surprising that it struggled to pick up messes on rugs, including Cheerios and pet hair (the latter of which ended up getting tangled in the brush roll instead of getting sucked up into the dustbin). However, on hard floors, the vacuum was able to pick up whole Cheerios, cat litter, and hair, outperforming other vacuums that struggled to keep up. As such, if you have little to no carpeting in your home, this Dyson cordless vacuum is your best option.

In addition to solid suction power, the Omni-glide is compact and easy to maneuver with little effort. Plus, with its slim vacuum head, the Omni-glide can reach nooks and crannies both near and under furniture.

BUY IT: $399.99; dyson.com

Best for Hair: Shark Wandavac

What you'll love: Shark offers a 60-day satisfaction guarantee.
What you should know: The dustbin is small.

Whether you have a pet, or you or someone in your family has hair that tends to end up in places other than a hairbrush or shower drain, opt for the Shark Wandavac. This stick vacuum picked up both the short and long hair on our low-pile testing rug in one swipe. Other vacuums we tested took either took multiple tries to pick up the hair or the hair got tangled in the brushroll and didn't completely make it into the dustbin (or both).

For a vacuum that only has one suction setting, the ability to handle that kind of clean-up is impressive. The Wandavac is also a fantastic handheld vacuum, able to detach easily from the stick to clean up hair and other debris in hard-to-reach places.

BUY IT: $199.99 (orig. $239.99); amazon.com
BUY IT: $199.99 (orig. $239.99); sharkclean.com

Related: 13 Top-Rated Handheld Vacuums That Shoppers Say Make Cleaning a Breeze

Best Budget-Friendly: Inse Cordless Vacuum Cleaner

What you'll love: Its compact size makes it easy to store in smaller spaces.
What you should know: The suction strength isn't strong enough to clean up all types of messes on rugs and carpeting.

The Inse Cordless Vacuum Cleaner's suction strength is not as powerful as some of the other vacuums we tested, but it does convert into two additional handheld versions, making it a good pick for small spaces with minimal carpeting. Our tester used this to clean her two-bedroom apartment and found it to be "surprisingly effective."

When it came to vacuuming carpeting, the Inse performed well on her lightweight, faux fur, and shaggy rugs but not on a dense, low pile rug.

What our tester said: " After vacuuming my baseboards, there was a significant amount of dust collected on the brush head. It felt more like it was sweeping the baseboards rather than vacuuming." — Ruby Grais, Product Reviews Coordinator

BUY IT: $129.78; amazon.com

Related: The 11 Best Vacuums You Can Buy Under $100, According to Thousands of Customers

Best Handheld: Bissell ICONpet Cordless

What you'll love: The vacuum headlight is great for spotting hard-to-see debris.
What you should know: This model has a short battery life.

You might initially think that this Bissell cordless vacuum is great at picking up pet hair (and it is), but what buyers might not know is that it works great as a handheld vacuum. The handheld portion of the vacuum made it super easy to clean the crevices in both home and car. Our tester noted that the Bissell's suction power rivaled that of her old Dyson, but she found the battery life to be lacking.

What our tester said: "The stick is long enough for me to reach up to the high corners of the ceiling to get cobwebs. The official specs state that the battery lasts 50 minutes, but that must be a lower power—I don't see the point of vacuuming on low; let me get all the dirt at once, please." — Sabrina Rojas Weiss, Parenting and Lifestyle Editor

BUY IT: $265.99 (orig. $365.99); target.com

Related: The 9 Best Robot Vacuum Cleaners, According to Reviewers With Pets

Best Lightweight: Tineco A11

What you'll love: It works particularly well on carpets.
What you should know: This vacuum is better at cleaning carpet than hard floors.

More often than not, vacuums—even cordless stick models—tend to be on the heavier side, which can become especially laborious when you have a large area to clean. What makes the Tineco A11 stand out is that it's not only lightweight, it's also quiet, a rare quality in any vacuum. When used on the max setting, the suction strength is nothing short of profound.

What our tester said: "I love how lightweight and easy it is to maneuver. It's super strong, almost as if it's pulling the rug up." — Katie Macdonald, Senior Food Writer, Ecommerce.

BUY IT: $259.99; amazon.com
BUY IT: $259.99; tineco.com

Best for Embedded Messes: Hoover Evolve

What you'll love: It has a large dustbin for a cordless vacuum.
What you should know: The Evolve is not great at picking up large pieces of debris.

To reach debris that you know is hiding deep down in your carpet, go with the Hoover Evolve. This Hoover model performed spectacularly with embedded messes, showing off great suction strength when picking up dirt in carpeting as well as pet hair. In addition to giving your rug a good, deep clean, this vacuum also leaves those super satisfying vacuum lines in its wake.

BUY IT: $149.99 (orig. $199.99); amazon.com
BUY IT: $149.99 (orig. $199.99); hoover.com

Best for Small Spaces: Dyson V8

What you'll love: It comes with a crevice tool, combination tool, mini motorized tool, mini soft dust brush, and a wall-hanging storage component.
What you should know: It takes five and a half hours to get a full charge.

With its eye-catching designs and loyal following, it's hard not to consider splurging on a Dyson vacuum. The vacuum's suction is particularly powerful when used on the max power option, allowing it to pick up dirt and food crumbs with just a few swipes. However, in using the max power option, the battery life is shorter (about 25 minutes compared to 40 minutes on the normal power option). Because of this, this wireless Dyson vacuum is best suited for small spaces like apartments and preferably those without pets.

What our tester said: "When I use it on thicker carpet, it can push the dog hair around in clumps versus vacuuming it up," she says. "It's a good vacuum, but I need a more powerful vacuum that is better for pet hair." —Chloe Reznikov, GM, Commerce Content

BUY IT: $399.99; dyson.com

FAQS

Are cordless vacuums better than cord vacuums?

In terms of performance, the difference between cordless vacuum cleaners and corded vacuum cleaners—other than the fact that the former runs on battery power, while the latter must be plugged into an outlet—depends on the brand and the user's own cleaning needs and preferences. Some models of cordless stick vacuums perform just as well than more traditional corded and canister vacuums. The main difference is that corded vacuums, which are bulkier, usually have larger dustbins and more powerful motors that might make the suction power stronger.

What are the benefits of a cordless stick vacuum?

Cordless stick vacuums allow you to clean your house without having to deal with being tethered to a cord. If you find yourself annoyed having to plug and unplug your vacuum as you move around, or worry about tripping over the cord, a cordless stick vacuum may be the best option. A cordless stick vacuum is also great if you don't have a lot of storage space. Most cordless stick vacuums are small compared to traditional corded vacuums, and some can even be taken apart, so you can store the parts on a shelf instead of upright.

What are the drawbacks of owning a cordless stick vacuum?

The biggest drawback to using a cordless vacuum is working with limited battery life. Charging times depend on the model, but some cordless stick vacuums can take up to five and a half hours to fully charge. As such, it's important to remember to charge it between uses. Fully charged, most cordless stick vacuums will only have enough power for about 40 minutes of use. If your cordless stick has multiple suction settings, know that the higher the suction setting, the more power your battery will use. For higher suction settings, expect your battery to give out after around 25 minutes.