A good handheld vacuum cleaner is lightweight, fast and able to poke around in hard-to-reach corners. Some run for just 10 minutes while others stretch to 30. The warranty can be anything from 1 to 5 years. And one that’s great for pet hair might be less effective for a dusty car.
Handheld vacuums vs cordless stick vs corded
Handheld vacuums are the lightest and smallest vacs, built for dealing with minor spills in awkward places… like Cheerios under the sofa. They have an average run time of about 15 minutes and an average capacity of 0.3 litres, which isn’t a huge amount. Their suction typically lacks the oomph you’ll get with bigger vacs but they’re easy to store and manoeuvre. Brands include Dyson, Shark, Vax and GTech.
Cordless stick vacuums are handhelds’ bigger brothers and are typically upright. You could get away with having just a cordless stick vac in a small apartment, but for a whole house, you’ll need a corded vac, too. Stick vacs are useful for getting to hard-to-reach spots and have an average capacity of 0.7 litres, and a run time that’s typically longer than a handheld, at 30 to 60 minutes. They’re also heavier, more cumbersome and typically more expensive. Brands include Dyson, Samsung and Shark.
You’re probably most familiar with a corded vacuum. Plug it in, switch on and you’re wielding a cleaning beast that’ll clean your whole pad and has the best suction – especially good for deep carpets. But, with great power comes greater bulkiness, storage issues and less maneuverability. They’re not ideal for cleaning stairs or cars. Brands include Hoover, Henry, Bosch, Miele, AEG, Electrolux and more.
Why should I get a handheld vacuum cleaner?
- Typically comes with a range of accessories for tackling pet hair, upholstery and and crevices
- Great for zapping crumbs, dust on the stairs or in the car, and pet hair on the sofa
- Fast to use – take it off the dock, clean the mess and charge it again
- Can sniff out hard-to-reach places such as under the sofa or the back of a cabinet
- Lightweight enough so you can extinguish cobwebs on ceiling corners without straining your back
- Washable filters
- Typically bagless
- Typically cheaper than other types of vacuum cleaner
Finder’s best handheld vacuums in the UK 2022
- Dyson V7 Trigger: Best for pet hair and overall
- Shark WV251UK: Best for speedy recharging
- Shark CH950UKT pet model: Best under £70
- BLACK+DECKER Flexi: Best for tricky cleaning
- Gtech Multi MK2 K9: Best for heavy duty cleaning
Best for pet hair and overall
Finder's pick: Dyson V7 Trigger
Price (from)
£200
Run time
30
Capacity
0.54l
Charging dock
Where to start with this maestro of a vac? It's got superb suction on all surfaces, and will clean up small and large debris without any fuss. It's fab with pet hair too, with a motorised tool that doesn't tangle. Plus its other attachments are simple to use. It's got the largest capacity of any vacs we tested, and is simple to empty. The charge time to run time ratio is excellent, too. Oh, and MAX mode will tear through any large messes without clogging.
- Fantastic suction on all surfaces
- Great on pet hair
- Large capacity
- Simple to empty
- MAX mode is powerful
- Intuitive attachments
- Impressive run-to-charge time
- Heavy
- Clogging with cereal (standard mode)
- Not the best for low furniture
- Not the best to clean heights
- Expensive
| Charge time (hours) | 5 |
|---|---|
| Run time (minutes) | 30 |
| Capacity | 0.54 |
| Dirt release button | Yes |
| Warranty | 2 |
| Variable power | Yes |
Best for speedy recharging
Finder's pick: Shark WV251UK
Price (from)
£129
Run time
16
Capacity
0.1l
Charging dock
This lightweight vac is fab for light pickups and speedy cleaning around the house or car. What makes the WV251UK different from other vacs we've reviewed is its the extra battery supplied. So you can charge the spare one on the dock whilst cleaning with the other, and do a switcheroo when the other runs out of juice. It's easy to empty and has easy to use attachments for crevices and small debris.
- Lightweight
- Dual battery
- Great for light messes
- Great for crevices
- Easy to empty
- Easy to manoeuvre
- Limited capacity
- Will struggle with larger pieces of debris
- No motorised pet tool
| Charge time (hours) | 4 |
|---|---|
| Run time (minutes) | 16 |
| Capacity | 0.1 |
| Dirt release button | Yes |
| Warranty | 2 |
| Variable power | No |
Best under £70
Finder's pick: Shark CH950UKT
Price (from)
£69.99
Run time
10
Capacity
0.45l
Charging dock
The CH950UKT is best for anyone on a budget and with pets. It's got an excellent capacity for large debris and tufts of hair. It's bigger than any of the other Shark handhelds, but is still light and manoeuvrable on all surfaces. Its motorised tool whirs and sweeps up pet hair without clogging, and its other attachments clean crevices and upholstery well.
- Excellent at picking up pet hair
- Great suction and smooth cleaning
- Simple accessories
- Large capacity
- Budget buy
- Short run-time
- Niggly dust release button
- Heavy for height cleaning
| Charge time (hours) | 2 |
|---|---|
| Run time (minutes) | 10 |
| Capacity | 0.45 |
| Dirt release button | Yes |
| Warranty | 2 |
| Variable power | Yes |
Best for tricky cleaning
Finder's pick: BLACK+DECKER Dustbuster Flexi PD1020LPGB
Price (from)
£79.99
Run time
10
Capacity
0.56l
Charging dock
The Flexi's 1.5m long hose is what makes it stand out from the rest of the vacs. You can reach into narrow gaps, high places, under and behind furniture, and really get into those corners of your car with this vac. It's got a good capacity and a nice crevice tool for those sofa ridges, plus it is great at sweeping up debris off hard floors.
- Flexible and easy cleaning with the hose
- Spacious capacity
- Great on crevices
- Replacement batteries available
- Short run time
- Noisy
- Mediocre carpet cleaning
- Not the best for pet hair
| Charge time (hours) | 2 |
|---|---|
| Run time (minutes) | 10 |
| Capacity | 0.56 |
| Dirt release button | No |
| Warranty | 2 |
| Variable power | No |
Best for heavy duty cleaning
Finder's pick: Gtech Multi MK2 K9
Price (from)
£165
Run time
20
Capacity
0.4l
Charging dock
This K9 is also one of the best we tested, narrowly missing out on top spot. It's the best vac out of our collection for not clogging on standard mode, so you can clean a larger mess without worrying about it spilling out. The attachments are handy and the motorised tool won't snag any hair when cleaning on carpet or sofa. It's got an excellent capacity and good run time, plus a few bonus features - an LED light for dust detection, and scented cartridges for a pleasant smell after cleaning.
- Bunch of tools for convenient cleaning
- Motorised tool sweeps up pet hair
- LED light bonus
- Useful on stairs and hard floors
- Good capacity
- Good run time
- Relatively expensive
- Noisy
- Hard to empty
- Bulky
| Charge time (hours) | 3 |
|---|---|
| Run time (minutes) | 20 |
| Capacity | 0.4 |
| Dirt release button | No |
| Warranty | 2 |
| Variable power | No |
How to pick the best handheld vacuum cleaner
Aside from the price, there are a few key points to consider when choosing your handheld vacuum.
- Accessories. Vacs come with different tools that you can switch on to the end to cope with different cleaning challenges such as small spaces and corners, pets and dusting. Some have multi-tools – the Hoover H Handy 700 comes with a 3-in-1 tool that’s designed for pet hair and also features an LED light for cleaning dark spaces.
- Capacity. If you’re just using it for occasional spills, a vac with a capacity of even 0.1 litres is fine. But if you’re planning to use it often and don’t want to constantly empty dust from the container, go for a bigger model like the Dyson V7 Trigger, which rocks a 0.54L capacity.
- Charge time. Handhelds take a while to fully charge – 2.5 hours is relatively quick. You’ll get that with the Shark WV251UK.
- Run time. Some handhelds have a short run time of 10 minutes, while others, like the Beldray Revo BEL0944SL, claim to go for 30 minutes on regular power.
- Variable power (turbo mode). Can the vacuum switch to turbo mode, increasing its suction? Some can (it also decreases the run time).
- Replaceable batteries. Not all vacs have these – it’s good to know you can replace your batteries rather than having to buy a new vacuum.
- Dirt release button. This is a useful feature that some models lack – just hit the button and the dust drops into the bin. A gentle release means it won’t fly everywhere, too.
- Designed for pet hair. Fido’s fur is a pain to scrape out of the rug, but some vacs have the suction power and accessories to deal with it.
- Warranty. You can get up to 5 years of cover for certain models.
- Good at its job. You can see what owners say in our individual reviews, alongside our expert reviews from trying out many of the vacuums on pet hair, spills and more.
Pros and cons of handheld vacuum cleaners
Pros
- Lightweight
- Relatively cheap
- Easy to use and steer
- Good for hard to reach areas
- Good for tricky cleans (car/stairs)
- Some are excellent for pet hair
- Easy to store
Cons
- Shorter run time than other vacs
- Smaller capacity
- Long charge-time-to-run ratio compared to certain cordless vacs
- Not suitable for cleaning the whole house
Bottom line
It’s worth getting a handheld vac if you want a powerful and lightweight companion to banish nuisance spills and dust from hard-to-reach places in a flash. They’re not designed for longer, deeper cleans, so many people have a handheld in addition to their corded (standard) vac.
Frequently asked questions
Finder handheld vacs scores
★★★★★ — Excellent
★★★★★ — Good
★★★★★ — Average
★★★★★ — Subpar
★★★★★ — Poor
Finder scores are based on an assessment of 11 different aspects of each appliance. Full methodology in our guide to ratings.
The offers compared on this page are chosen from a range of products we can track; we don't cover every product on the market...yet. Unless we've indicated otherwise, products are shown in no particular order or ranking. The terms "best", "top", "cheap" (and variations), aren't product ratings, although we always explain what's great about a product when we highlight it; this is subject to our terms of use. When making a big financial decision, it's wise to consider getting independent financial advice, and always consider your own financial circumstances when comparing products so you get what's right for you.
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