“For cordless vacuums, you should look at the battery life and charge time to see if it’s practical for your needs,” advises Sarah Dempsey at Myjobquote.co.uk. 

As well as large bin capacity, she recommends thinking about ease of use when it comes to choosing the best cordless vacuum cleaner.  

“Weight is an important factor that’s often overlooked,” she says. “The heavier they are, the more difficult they’re going to be to manoeuvre and use for long periods of time.” 

In our buyer’s guide to the best cordless vacuum cleaners, we’ve looked at a wide range of designs from the top brands available in the UK. Every cordless vacuum cleaner featured in our guide has been rigorously tested by our experts in the Saga Exceptional test centre and reviewers in a home environment. We can safely say they’ve been put through their paces.  

Read on to discover which vacuums we thought didn’t suck – except when they were supposed to.

Scoring the highest across the board in our cordless vacuum tests is the Shark Stratos Anti Hair Wrap Plus IZ400UK. While it’s not the most expensive vacuum we tested, it doesn’t come cheap at £449.99, but the thoughtfully–designed features really do make it a standout cleaner. Plus, if you buy it directly from the official Shark website, you get a five–year guarantee. 

The Shark Stratos scored top marks for performance, thanks in part to its Clean Sense IQ mode, which is designed to automatically sense dirt, adjusting the cleaning suction performance to suit the task in hand. Anti-hair wrap technology also ensures that minimum hair is left on the brush bar after use, while the anti-odour cartridge leaves room smelling fresh after vacuuming.   

The cleaner head glides very easily under furniture and pivots smoothly, while the cleaner wand bends with a click of the button, giving it the ultimate flexibility when cleaning around or under awkward furniture. It also transforms to a handheld vacuum cleaner really easily and comes with some attachments that help make it a more versatile cleaner. 

The design, while it may not be on a par with the Dyson V15, still has a premium finish and we loved that it can be stored by pinching the middle of the stick and folding downwards. 

As with many cordless stick vacuum cleaners, it is a little clunky to use. In fact, at 3.92kg (8oz 10lb) it’s one of the heaviest cordless vacuums we’ve tested. For short bursts of vacuuming, it wasn’t too much of a problem, but it could be exhausting if you need to do a whole house. 

The RRP of £449.99 also tips this into the expensive bracket, however, the Shark website regularly offers deals throughout the year and we’ve previously seen it on offer for £329.99. 

The Vax ONEPWR Blade 4 cordless vacuum is a great choice if you’re watching your pennies or want a second vacuum cleaner.  For under £200, you’re getting a decent all-rounder that can tackle upholstery, carpets and hard floors.  

This vacuum is made for carpets and is a “carpet warrior”, according to our head tester Philip Sowels. Aside from the great suction, it comes with a wide variety of tools, which can easily take you from carpets to cars in just a quick click of an attachment.  

We also loved the simplicity of how easy it was to put together and use, including the control panel. You won’t get the wow design factor of more expensive machines, but you will get a vacuum cleaner that will do the job well and is simple to use straight out of the box. Our one recommendation? Buy a second battery to extend runtime.  

It is a slightly top-heavy cordless vacuum, which can be tiresome at times, but it’s lighter than the more expensive Vax Blade 5. We would have liked a bigger bin capacity, but we still found it sufficient for a small-to-medium house. 

There’s no denying that Samsung’s Bespoke Jet Pro Extra vacuum cleaner is one of the most expensive vacuum cleaners available , but we think its features make it worth the price. Thankfully there are deals to be had on this model as well and if you can get it at a cheaper price, you’ve got a deluxe cordless that not only empties itself, but also mops floors. 

Without a doubt this is the most stylish cordless vacuum cleaner we’ve tested – it’s a rare vacuum that you don’t mind having on display. The premium build quality is obvious and combined with the powerful suction, makes it a must-have for any modern home. 

The cleaning station really makes this vacuum stand out from the cordless crowd. It automatically empties the bin and charges the machine, meaning you can forget about it until your next vacuuming session. It’s a particularly good buy for allergy sufferers as not only does this vacuum empty itself while in the cleaning station, but it also seals the bags, meaning no dust, dander or allergens can escape back into the room. 

The ultimate accolade for this beauty? After putting it through its paces at the Saga Exceptional testing centre, Sowels bought one.  

“The build quality is phenomenal, as is the suction – this thing rocks and it’s quiet as well,” he told us.  

The price is on the expensive side at £999, but there are deals to be had, especially if you have an old vacuum cleaner to trade in. We also found the mop head was redundant, so if you don’t feel the need for this you can go for the slightly cheaper model, priced at £549. 

With is Hepa filtration system and illuminated cleaner head, the Dyson V15Detect Absolute+ is a great option for anyone who suffers from allergies and wants to ensure their house is dust-free.

Stylish and versatile, there’s lots to like about the Dyson Detect Absolute+ Gold. It was smooth to use on both wooden flooring and carpets, and we particularly loved the illuminated cleaner head that highlights dust on hard flooring. It comes with eight attachments to tackle various surfaces, including a dusting brush and a low reach adaptor that allows you to vacuum underneath furniture.

The digital display is a useful addition and shows the remaining runtime as well as allowing you to switch between eco, auto, and boost modes easily. We also liked the fact that it shows you which dirt particles are being picked up as you clean.

If you can get over the cost, the real downside to this cordless vacuum cleaner is the fact that the on/off trigger needs to be pressed constantly to work. While this didn’t particularly bother our tester, if you have a poor grip or reduced mobility in your hands, this won’t be the vacuum for you.

The only other downside was the short battery life, which was around 35 minutes. For the price and considering how long it takes to charge (nearly four hours), it really could do with a longer runtime.

Dyson claim this is its most powerful cordless vacuum cleaner yet and, while it has undeniable suction, it comes at a price – £849.99, to be precise. It’s the most expensive vacuum in the Dyson range but it’s loaded with lots of innovative technology that fans of Dyson will love.  

Undoubtedly one of the most stylish cordless vacuums we’ve tested, the Dyson Gen5detect comes loaded with technology. Unlike many Dyson vacuums, instead of a trigger it has a power button on an LCD display. This not only shows you the mode and remaining power left, but also the type of dust and debris it’s sucked up.

It’s a brilliant choice if you have allergies as the Hepa filter captures even the smallest microscopic piece of dust, and the suction is so strong that our carpets have never looked cleaner.  

The price is off-putting, especially as it’s not perfect. As with many cordless stick vacuums, it’s top heavy and given the powerful suction, pushing this around was like a workout at times. The exceptional suction also stopped the brush head from working occasionally, which we found frustrating.  

As the latest vacuum from GTech, the AirRam Platinum offers cordless convenience in an upright model. With its innovative technology, such as Forward Inertia Drive, it’s been designed to be easy to operate and promises a runtime of one hour, which means more cleaning before being recharged.  

Compared to many of the cordless stick vacuums, we loved how light the AirRam Platinum was. It was definitely the best lightweight cordless vacuum we tested, making it perfect if you don’t have the grip or strength to deal with heavyweights like the Dyson Gen5detect or Vax Blade 5. It’s simple to operate straight from the box and with no fiddly controls or LCD displays – you literally step on the power and go. The upright design also makes it easy to store.  

The only thing that lets it down is the lack of attachments. Yes, you can buy an attachment which allows you to add a hand-held handle to the floor head, but we really missed attachments like a crevice tool. You can buy a hand-held GTech separately and the company does do special bundles, but it seems a faff having two machines. 

The Blade 5 Dual Pet and Car is powered by a replaceable battery that can be shared across all products in Vax’s ONEPWR range. Featuring a “CleanControl” LCD display and a new brush head technology, it’s Vax’s most innovative cleaner on the market.  

This is a versatile vacuum that’s definitely one of best cordless vacuums for pet hair. It works well on carpets and comes with a dazzling array of attachments, which we used across the home on upholstery, blinds and even our computer keyboard. It also comes with two batteries, which makes sense as you can always have one ready to go.

The single battery life is pretty impressive as well – we were able to do four runs of a three-bedroom house before needing to swap batteries. 

The distribution of weight in this cordless vacuum cleaner meant it was a bit of a struggle to vacuum the whole house. You will need an element of strength and a firm grip, which won’t suit everyone. Despite this, the head is lightweight and easy to manoeuvre under furniture and around corners.  

The AirRam MK2 is cited by GTech as its bestselling cordless vacuum cleaner, and it combines the design of an upright vacuum cleaner with the flexibility of a cordless. The range was designed by founder Nick Grey in 2012 when he saw his elderly mother struggling with heavy corded uprights.  

At just £179.99, this cordless vacuum cleaner provides excellent value if you’re after a cordless upright. It’s simple to put together and use and though it’s lacking the fancy technology of some other cordless vacuums, it’s got good suction power on both floor types, picking up 99% of debris in our in-house tests.  

We do wish this model came with attachments as it would make it a super versatile machine. But if you just want an effective carpet cleaner it’s a great choice. It is a tad noisy, especially on hard floors, thanks to its innovative “AirLOC” technology, but it’s a trade-off with the great performance.  

The Shark ICZ300UKT Cordless Upright Vacuum combines the power of an upright vacuum with the convenience of being cord-free. It also utilises Shark’s anti-hair wrap technology, which actively separates and removes hair as you clean, helping to leave the bristle brush-roll tangle-free.  

We love that this vacuum has the power of a corded upright but with the convenience of a cordless. It also makes it much easier to store. The “lift away” technology allows you to convert it easily into hand-held, upping the versatility factor.

While it’s not the most powerful cordless we’ve tested, it’s a delight to use – going from carpet to hard floor mode with the touch of a button – and does a pretty good job at picking up most debris.  

The battery doesn’t last as long as we would’ve liked, but that’s probably because to be truly effective you need to use the Boost mode frequently. The design was also divisive – not all our reviewers loved it but we liked how Shark had useful instructions printed across the vacuum, such as how to remove the battery pack, which makes things simple.   

The Hoover HF500 Pet vacuum offers some staple features, as well as new anti-wrap pet hair-tackling technology. Not only does it convert easily to a hand-held for versatile cleaning, but it’s also super lightweight, easy to use and small enough to store without taking up much space.   

Built to tackle pet hair, this reasonably priced vacuum is easy to use. Even though it is a stick design, we liked that it stands unaided so you don’t have to prop it up. The outstanding feature of the HF500, though, is that it’s lightweight, making it a must-buy for anyone who wants to keep storage to a minimum or has issues with mobility. 

The Hoover HF500 isn’t as powerful as many other models out there, even similarly priced ones. It took several passes to get both carpets and hard floor clean. We also wish it had a longer battery life, as at 29 minutes runtime, it was just enough to do one run around a three-bedroom house before needing a recharge. 

The first cordless from the home of the infamous Henry vacuum cleaner lives up to expectations. Unlike most other cordless stick vacuums, this model uses throwaway dust bags. If you have allergies, it’s a perfect choice as this ensures all dust is safely packed away, ready to be thrown into the rubbish bin. 

Hello big bin capacity. At 1 litre (1.75pts), the Henry Quick has the largest bin volume of all the cordless vacuums we tested, which means no annoying stops mid-vacuum to change the bag. We are also impressed with the battery runtime – a whopping 75 minutes in our tests – which surpasses the one hour suggested by Numatic. 

While we can see the appeal of using bags to collect the dust, especially if you suffer from allergies, it does add to the cost of running the Quick. We also found that to really give our carpets a deep clean, we needed to use the Boost mode frequently. This does drain the battery – but with such a long runtime, it’s not something to worry too much about.