Few of us look forward to doing the vacuuming, but it's all the more frustrating with a cumbersome machine that does a mediocre job and takes twice as long as it should.
CHOICE expert Adrian Lini.
Our vacuum cleaner reviews have found that barrel and upright vacuum cleaners are the best option for thorough carpet and floor cleaning, but not all vacuums are created equal.
We lab-tested more than 40 popular models and found a huge difference in their performance for carpeted and hard floors, pet hair pick-up, ease of use, noise and more.
Our testing revealed some high-quality cleaners (both expensive and cheap) but also exposed a number of duds bound to make vacuuming even more of a drag.
We don't want you to end up with a dud buy, so here are the products that scored lowest in our lab tests. Consider becoming a CHOICE member to see the best performers.
Scraping the bottom of the barrel: This Big W bagless vac came last in our tests.
Contempo Bagless Vacuum Cleaner BW-1602
- CHOICE Expert Rating: 52%
- Pet hair removal score: 10%
- RRP: $52
You probably wouldn't expect much of a $50 vacuum, and in the case of this Big W barrel vac, you'd be right.
It was the lowest-scoring model in our tests, with our experts rating it as "borderline".
So what makes it so sucky? Well, it's not very good at the main thing you buy a vacuum to do: clean your carpets. It received a decidedly disappointing score for its cleaning performance, particularly when giving carpet a quick once-over.
While it's not great for regular cleaning, it's especially terrible for pet-friendly homes. It scored a truly abominable 10% for picking up pet hair from carpet, leaving lots of large clumps behind.
It scored a truly abominable 10% for picking up pet hair from carpet, leaving lots of large clumps behind
Apparently pet hair is something Big W vacuums just don't do well: the next lowest-scoring vacuum for pet hair was another Big W vacuum, which scored just 20%. That particular model costs $85, so it's nice to see that paying extra at least buys you slightly better performance – but not by much.
Unfortunately most of the cheapest vacuums we tested were also the lowest scoring, so we suggest you save up if you want a decent clean.
Read the full Contempo Bagless Vacuum Cleaner review.
Dirt Devil Rebel 4.0 Bagless Vacuum Cleaner DACBLV21E2.
Dirt Devil Rebel 4.0 Bagless Vacuum Cleaner
- CHOICE Expert Rating: 55%
- Pet hair removal score: 50%
- Price: $99
At less than $100, this Dirt Devil won't put too much of a strain on your wallet, but it will put a strain on your arms – and your patience.
It's difficult to move over carpet, and what little pet hair it does suck up is difficult to extract from the bin.
This Dirt Devil won't put too much of a strain on your wallet, but it will put a strain on your arms – and your patience
And just for good measure, while it's busy not picking up dirt from your floor, it'll make an irritating, high-pitched noise. Avoid it like the devil.
Read the full Dirt Devil Rebel 4.0 Bagless review.
Bissell Cleanview Turbo Multi Cyclonic 1994U.
Bissell Cleanview Turbo Multi Cyclonic 1994U
- CHOICE Expert Rating: 56%
- Pet hair removal score: 50%
- Price: $249
This vacuum comes with a range of tools, but all the accessories in the world can't make up for its poor performance.
Our experts rated it as "borderline" for cleaning, and it only managed to score 50% for pet hair removal.
Several vacuums recommended by our experts cost less than this one, so you can definitely do better for your money
It was fiddly to empty, and the cleaning head often got stuck when first pushing it along the carpet.
Several vacuums that are recommended by our experts cost less than this one, so you can definitely do better for your money.
Read the full Bissell Cleanview Turbo Multi Cyclonic 1994U review.
Anko Anti-Allergy Bagless Vacuum SL155B-H13.
Anko Anti-Allergy Bagless Vacuum SL155B-H13
- CHOICE Expert Rating: 56%
- Pet hair removal score: 50%
- RRP: $75
This vac claims to be anti-allergy, but if you're allergic to pet hair it won't do much for you: it only scored a pass mark for removing pet hair from carpet.
And with a cleaning performance score this low, it's no great shakes at cleaning up dust, either, so it's probably not much help for dust mite allergies.
This 'anti-allergy' vac is poorly named and should probably be renamed 'anti-cleaning'
Plus, it has a canister to collect dust and debris which, even though it's convenient, isn't the most allergy-friendly solution to emptying your vacuum. A bagged vacuum is a better option because you can close it up and throw the whole thing in the bin rather than risk coming into contact with the dust and other allergens when you empty the canister.
It does have a washable HEPA filter though, so whatever little it sucks up can at least be washed down the drain.
In short, this 'anti-allergy' vac is poorly named and should probably be renamed 'anti-cleaning'.
Read the full Anko Anti-Allergy Bagless Vacuum review.
Bosch Series 4 BGL38BA3AU.
Bosch Series 4 Bagged BGL38BA3AU
- CHOICE Expert Rating: 57%
- Pet hair removal score: 50%
- Price: $369
You'd expect a well-known European brand to do better than cheapos from discount stores like Kmart and Big W, right?
Unfortunately that's not the case for this Bosch Series 4 bagged vacuum, which came in a full three percentage points behind some of the vacs we tested from budget retailers.
You can pick up far better vacuums for around the same price, so don't get sucked in by the European brand name
On the upside, you'll be able to cancel your gym membership if you buy this Bosch: it takes a lot of strength to push it across carpet. And since it doesn't clean especially well, you'll probably need to vacuum the floor twice to get it clean – you'll end up with some serious biceps with this machine!
You can pick up far better vacuums for around the same price, so don't get sucked in by the European brand name.
Read the full Bosch Series 4 Bagged BGL38BA3AU review.
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Stock images: Getty, unless otherwise stated.
