Vax ONEPWR Blade 5 Dual Pet and Car Cordless Cleaner review 

In addition to taking the Blade 5 through various tests in the Saga Exceptional testing centre, we used it on carpet, tiles and laminate floors to see how well it performed. We also tested how well it picked up various things, such as hair, dust and cereal, across different types of floors.  

Over the course of a week, we ran the vacuum every day throughout a three-bedroom house, measuring how long it would last on a single charge. Besides vacuuming floor spaces, we also tested it on upholstery and stairs. 

Last, but not least, we looked at the bin capacity, trying to determine how much we could vacuum before we needed to empty it. 

If you’re looking for a vacuum with style, the Blade 5 is it, thanks in part to its contemporary blue and black finish. The product appears well-made, with no protruding parts that might get damaged over time, while the controls are conveniently placed at hand level, making it easy to switch on/off and to change floor mode. 

As with most cordless models, it doesn’t stand upright on its own. To store it, you must remove the bin from the handle, so you’ll need to make sure you have the space to do so. Alternatively, it can be mounted to a wall via the wall mount, which is included. 

While the wall bracket has space for storing two of the tools, it comes with more attachments than that, so you might want to store them in a bag or box so you can keep them all together.

If you buy this model direct from Vax, it comes with an extra toolkit, which does include a tote bag for this purpose. 

Opening the box was overwhelming to say the least, especially compared to the simplicity of other vacuum cleaners we’ve tested. The vacuum and various attachments are all nicely laid out – and there’s a lot to take in.

Thankfully, assembly was pretty straightforward, with just three parts that had to be put together before we could use the vacuum.  

Our first thought after assembling it was how heavy it was. At 3.82kg (8lbs 4oz) it’s by no means the heaviest cordless vacuum we’ve tested, but because most of the weight is in the handheld unit, it was difficult to carry.

It is, though, relatively easy to push around, and it swivels around corners and skirting boards with ease. But our hand did ache after using it for a while. If you have a disability or need a lightweight vacuum cleaner, the Blade 5 might not be for you. 

What we liked most is the ‘CleanControl’ display, which is new to this model. It’s positioned next to the handle, so easy to operate without having to bend down.

We particularly loved the LCD screen, which shows you what mode you’re in – hard floor, carpet or boost – and how much run-time you have left. It also alerts you to any jams in the machine.

It’s simple, easy-to-read and a great addition, as it takes the guesswork out of knowing when to recharge the batteries. It also made us realise just how much power the ‘boost’ mode uses. 

While, at first glance, we weren’t entirely sure what all the many attachments were for, they all attach and remove easily with just a click. As with many cordless vacuums, the Blade 5 also converts into a handheld. We didn’t need the manual to work out to do this, but it did need a bit of a tug to get it out.  

The filter is located within the hand-held section and handily, there’s a label on the bin containing all the cleaning instructions. This meant we didn’t have to bother finding the manual to work out what to do.

Vax advises tapping the filter and separator over a bin every four-to-six uses and then washing the filter every six months. The filter was easily located and just needs a rinse with warm water to get it clean. We also found it easy to wipe out any remaining debris from the bin with a cloth, leaving it sparkly clean for our next vacuuming session. 

If, as happened in our test centre, you get hair or other debris trapped around the brush, it’s a simple process to sort. We did find removing the roller was a little fiddly, as you need a coin to ‘unlock it’, but once we did, it was easy to remove the trapped items by cutting away with scissors.   

The Blade 5 uses brand new ‘VersaClean’ technology. Basically, this means the head consists of two brush bars that tackle both carpets and hard floors by agitating and lifting debris.  

Our testing centre put the vacuum through its paces by seeing how it picked up various items, from wool to cereal. It definitely fared better on carpets, picking up to 97% of the debris used.

Hair and longer fibres, such as wool, did become tangled within the brush, and we found we needed to use the boost mode to pick up some of the remaining dirt and dust.  

On using it in a home environment, we found it super effective on carpets and rugs, and were impressed with how well it picked up dirt and debris close to the skirting board. The only issue we had was trying to vacuum a thin rug, which kept ‘jamming’ up the machine. We instead turned to the handheld attachments to sort that out. 

The vacuum cleaner goes under tables and sofas easily to get to all that hard-to-reach dirt. For the bits we couldn’t get to, we used the extending flexible hose, which is also good for vacuuming high-up places.  

On hard floors, though, it didn’t seem quite as effective. The first forward and backward pass scattered debris everywhere, and it took numerous passes before all the debris was collected. We did love the headlight though, which helped showed up the dirt and dust well on hard floors.  

The only thing we really struggled with when vacuuming the house was the distribution of weight. As it’s all in the top half, it felt like a mini workout and left us with a painful hand due to having to grip so tightly.

You definitely need an element of strength and a firm grip, which won’t suit everyone. That said, the head is lightweight and easy to manoeuvre around corners and under furniture.  

We also appreciated how easy it was to switch from hard floor to carpet mode, compared with other cordless vacuums we’ve used. The same goes for operating the boost mode as well. 

As mentioned before, this vacuum comes with an abundance of attachments, and this specific model has an additional tool kit that’s worth more than £50.

Once we worked out what everything was for, they all worked reasonably well. The upholstery tool, for example, made light work of the pet hair on the sofa. It also cleaned up the dog bed nicely.

Perhaps we weren’t using the motorised pet tool right, but we found it hard work on the stairs, and it didn’t seem to pick up much. We did find, though, that all the attachments really needed to be used on boost mode to improve their suction. 

As soon as we were done cleaning, it was time to empty the bin and, thankfully, it came out fairly easily. With a press of a button, the end of the bin opens, though we had to use our hands to get rid of pet hair and debris, even after a tap on the side of the bin.

The capacity was sufficiently big enough to capture all the dirt from one clean of a three-bedroom house – it was ready to be emptied but wasn’t bulging at the seams. 

Vax says the batteries for this machine have a run-time of 45 minutes, and our lab found this to be pretty accurate, measuring a battery life of around 43 minutes. 

We managed to do four runs around a three-bedroom house within the charge of one battery. This included the stairs and use of the tools over upholstery.

There was still a couple of minutes left for hard floor and carpet after this time, but the control panel told us to we’d need to recharge the battery if we wanted to use the boost.  

The LCD display is one of our favourite things about this vacuum cleaner as it shows the battery life, dependent on the mode you’re in – and ‘boost’ mode really sucks up that battery. It’s useful in understanding how much charge it uses, but also for timing those all-important battery-charging session. 

A real bonus with the Blade 5 is that it comes with two batteries, effectively doubling your run time. You just need to remember to have one ready and charged to go.

You can also swap the batteries between different ONEPWR devices such as its hard floor cleaner, the Vax ONEPWR Glide (£249.99 – currently reduced to £199.99), which is great if you own more of this range. Additional batteries can also be bought separately from the Vax website and cost £79.99 (currently down to £69.99). 

Charging the battery is very easy. You remove it from the handheld unit by squeezing the battery sides and then place it in its own charging dock. Thanks to this, you don’t have to recharge it where you keep the vacuum. Indicators on the dock – four small lights – show how much charge the battery has.

Vax states that it takes less than three hours to charge. Our testing lab confirmed that it took two hours and 50 minutes to fully recharge the battery.   

At the current offer price of £279.99 on the VAX website, the Blade 5 Dual Pet and Car is really good value, especially as it can be used in so many ways.

If you buy it from the site, you also get a free toolkit worth more than £50. This includes an upholstery tool and other attachments that are perfect for vacuuming the car. 

It’s probably better for those that have carpets more than hard floors, but for a pet vacuum, it’s a good price.

We especially like the three-stage filtration system that Vax says traps up to 99.8% of particles, such as dust and pet dander, in the dirt bin. This is particularly great if you suffer from allergies.

It also comprises of an anti-odour carbon that helps to neutralise unpleasant odours, which is good if you have pets. 

While Hoover’s pet cordless only comes with 30 minutes of run-time, like the Blade 5, it comes with special attachments, including a motorised mini power nozzle. The other plus is it can be ‘parked’ upright, so you don’t have to deal with that annoying dilemma of where to lean it when you take a break in between vacuuming rooms. Its RRP is £379, but we’ve found it much cheaper than that on the official site and on Amazon.

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If you want to blow the budget, the pet version of Samsung’s Bespoke Jet range is for you. Not only does it look stylish, but it also has a special filtration system that claims to trap 99.999% of dust to boost air quality – perfect if you suffer from allergies. It also comes with special pet tools and will even empty itself while it charges, thanks to the all-in-one cleaning station.

Not surprisingly, it’s not cheap at £529, but you can get financing offers on the official site, including money off for trading in your old vacuum cleaner.

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We were super-impressed with the pick-up of this vacuum cleaner on carpets and soft furnishings, especially when it came to pet hair.

The array of attachments also makes it versatile – you can even clean your computer keyboard with one of them – so if you’re looking for one vacuum that can do it all at a reasonable price, this is for you. 

It may not be the best cordless vacuum cleaner for hard floors, but the design and LCD display make it an attractive choice from the many cordless cleaners that are available currently.