Picture this: you’ve just stumbled home from work. You’ve had a long week, but tomorrow, guests are coming over, and the floors… well, they could do with a bit of cleaning up. The thought of pulling out that loud, heavy vacuum cleaner and battling the power cord doesn’t exactly fill you with joy.
What you need is a cordless vacuum cleaner – a lightweight cleaning tool that’s perfect for quickly cleaning all types of flooring, without a lot of effort. But aren’t they expensive?
Yes, a lot of them are – but our team have found you the best cordless vacuum cleaner under £300 that’s beating corded uprights, and is packed with the latest technology. Let me proudly introduce you to the incredible Vax OnePWR Blade 4 cordless vacuum;
Vax ONEPWR Blade 4 Cordless Vacuum Key Features
- Matches cleaning Performance of the UK’s Best Mains Powered vacuums, in a cordless package.
- No loss of suction with Direct Helix Technology.
- Very light weight makes it easy to carry.
- Premium ONEPWR Ah battery provides 40 minutes runtime.
- Premium brushless motor with Boost Mode
- Triple Stage Filter Traps 99.8% of Particles
- Transforms to handheld and Long Reach Stick Nozzle
- Suitable for carpet and hard floors.
- Features three-year Vax UK guarantee.
Ultra Powerful Cyclonic Technology Doesn’t Miss a Speck
Unlike ordinary cordless vacuum cleaners, which just stir up dirt and draw it into a canister with a fan, the Vax OnePWR Cordless Vacuum Cleaner uses cyclonic technology: Air, rife with dust and dirt, gets channelled into a chamber at an angle that creates an incredibly fast-moving vortex.
How fast? So fast that bigger dirt particle are thrown from the air stream to land in a collecting cup. Then, the rapidly rotating air gets forced into a smaller chamber, increasing the speed of the cyclonic spin, forcing out even the minutest particles of dust. If you need even more power, a boost button provides extra suction – perfect for cleaning heavily trafficked areas and removing pet hair or caked-on dirt.
Lithium Battery Technology for Longer Runtime
The Vax OnePWR Blade 4 cordless vacuum is powered by a revolutionary lithium-ion battery. This type of battery technology is light, powerful and fast-charging, and provides a runtime of up to 40 minutes, making it possible to tidy six or more rooms on a single charge. And in Boos Mode, you’ll get twice as much power as the UK’s best-selling cordless vacuum for less than 300 pounds.
Super Lightweight Cordless Vacuums for Ease of Use
Vax has managed to fit a lot of power into a lightweight device. At only 3.1 kilograms, the Vax OnePWR Blade 4 can be easily carried up or downstairs and from one room to the next. It’s also easy to manoeuvre, making cleaning around furniture (and stubborn pets) a breeze. Extending your arm to reach those high areas won’t leave you with a burning shoulder, comfortable one-armed vacuuming is now a reality.
Edge-to-Edge Cleaning for Maximum Efficiency
A lot of vacuums apply suction over only a small portion of the cleaning head – sometimes using nothing more than a single hole! But the new Vax OnePWR 4 uses WindTunnel 3 technology: Three suction channels mean that anywhere the cleaning head is placed, even caked-on dust and dirt will be lifted away. The result is a cleaner floor, faster and with less effort.
Removable Cleaning Wand Lets You Tidy Up, Higher Up
The floor is where most – but not all – household dirt gathers. Let’s not forget about skirting boards, stairs, curtains, blinds, shelves and windowsills. Over time, these neglected areas may become caked with dust. Luckily, Vax has a solution: a removable cleaning head. With the press of a button, the head detaches from the vacuum’s main body, making it possible to clean even difficult–to–reach areas with ease.
A Range of Accessories for Maximum Versatility
The OnePWR Blade 4 Cordless Vacuum Cleaner includes a 2-in-1 dusting brush and crevice tool, which is excellent for getting into dusty corners; a soft dusting brush, perfect for cleaning delicate items; and a Lithium Life Charger, which I found particularly handy – it looks very much the type of charger used on the new generation of lithium ion-powered drills. Popping the battery out of the vacuum for a quick recharge is simpler than fumbling around with a cord.
The Vax OnePWR Blade 4 CLSV-B4KP cordless vacuum is light enough that using it will never tire you out, even after cleaning a couple of large rooms. The placement of the battery creates a nice centre of gravity that makes pushing the vacuum around easy – almost enjoyable, in fact.
It’s incredibly quiet for such a powerful vacuum, it’s not whisper-quiet, but far from deafening – and that’s more than I can say about some cheaper cordless vacs I’ve tried, which were disproportionately loud (and disappointing weak). The Vax OnePWR Blade 4 Cordless Vacuum has failed to disappoint in any regard – it’s powerful, cleans quickly on multiple surfaces, frees me from dragging along an electrical cord, and suits most budgets at under £300.
Why Go Cordless, anyway?
A cordless vacuum cleaner offers a number of advantages over a large, loud corded, centrally-located vacuum system:
- Portability. Cordless vacuums can be moved easily from one room to another, taken upstairs into bedrooms and attics, or downstairs into basements. All without having to plug and unplug, looking for power outlets when moving room to room. They’re also easy to store – a small closet, shelf or spare corner will do.
- Lower cost. Many high quality central vacuum systems cost in excess of £300. Their cordless counterparts are more affordable, more economical, and in many living situations, all that’s necessary.
- Ease of use. Cordless vacuum cleaners are small and lightweight. Many can be operated with one hand, and can be used in confined spaces, making it possible to finally get rid of those dust-balls that have been living under your bed for the last five years! But probably to best feature of a cordless vacuum cleaner is not having to deal with messy wires getting in your way… Effortless vacuuming without tripping over the cord or having it snag on furniture.
- Less Mess. Some cordless vacuums such as the Gtech AirRam will compress the dust and dirt into small cubes for easy disposal, eliminating the common dust cloud associated with emptying traditional vacuum cleaners. Other popular models are bagless and super easy to empty!
More Power Equals Better Performance
Most cordless vacuum cleaners are rated in volts (12V, 24V, etc.), or watts (W). The higher the voltage or wattage, the more power the vacuum has, and the better it will be at removing dust, dirt, cobwebs and crumbs. If the vacuum cleaner has enough power, it may include a rotating brush bar that allows you more effectively clean your carpet, especially if it’s full of pet hair.
How Much Runtime Will You Need?
When a cordless vacuum cleaner is in use, it runs on batteries. The greater the batteries’ capacity, the longer the runtime (how long you can use the vacuum cleaner before it needs to be recharged).
Consider what you’d like to use your vac for – if it’s just to give the bathroom or kitchen a quick going over, a model with a 15 or 20-minute runtime may be perfectly sufficient – but if you anticipate cleaning several rooms, going into corners and underneath beds, look for a model with a runtime of 30 or more minutes. An advantage of higher-capacity batteries is that you’ll have to recharge your vacuum cleaner less frequently.
Lithium-ion batteries – the same sort that power your laptop and smartphone – are smaller, lighter, more powerful, faster-charging and longer-lasting than older battery technologies. If your cordless vacuum cleaner will be your primary cleaning tool, look for a lithium ion-powered model.
Capacity Counts
Cordless vacuum cleaners use rigid canisters in which dirt and dust are collected. Canisters are superior to the old style dust-bags, which were notorious for puffing out large clouds of stale, allergenic dust every time you tried to empty or replace them. The canisters found on cordless vacuum cleaners range in size, typically between 0.3 and 1 litre (or a bit larger).
For small or less-frequent cleaning jobs, a smaller capacity is adequate – but for larger, more frequent, or dirtier jobs, consider a vacuum cleaner with a bigger canister – it will need to be emptied less often, and will allow the vacuum to run at full power longer, saving you time and effort.
How Much Weight Can You Comfortably Manage?
Most cordless vacuum cleaners are quite light in weight — some weigh just a little over 2 kg, while others are closer to 4 kg. These weights are manageable for most people, but it’s still something to think about, particularly if the person using the vacuum cleaner has any sort of physical limitation.
Also, take into consideration how the vacuum will be used – a heavier model will be less of a detriment if it’s designed to be pushed back and forth over the floor than if it’s meant to be lifted above your head to clean windowsills, corners and high-up shelves.
What Will You Use Your Cordless Vacuum Cleaner For?
There exist a few types of cordless vacuum cleaners. Which one is appropriate for you depends on your needs:
Standard models resemble the old, upright style of vacuum cleaner, but in a smaller, lighter and easier to use format. They’re designed to be pushed along the floor and may include hoses and nozzles that allow you to reach further, or clean tricky areas, such as stairs.
Two-in-One or extendable models feature detachable bodies, giving you the power of a larger cordless vacuum cleaner with the flexibility of a smaller handheld model that’s perfect for tidying up in hard-to-reach areas, like your car’s grimy floor mats.
Handheld or stick vacuums models are best reserved for quick, light-duty cleaning jobs. Though they’re extremely portable and don’t weigh much, their runtime is usually quite limited, and they can’t deliver as much power as a larger model.
Accessories Increase Versatility
Look for a cordless vacuum cleaner that includes accessories such as soft brushes for fragile items, stiff brushes for loosening patches of caked-on dirt, and angled or wedged cleaning wands for getting into corners or under objects which sit close to the floor – like dressers and beds.
You Get What You Pay For – To a Point
There’s no sense in buying the cheapest cordless vac you can find. Chances are that it’ll be poorly made, likely to break or simply not powerful enough. Spend a bit more on a high-quality cordless vacuum, from a reputable manufacturer. You don’t need to fork over a fortune, but don’t skimp, either. As you can see from our best-recommended vacuum, you don’t need to spend more than three hundred to experience exceptional cleaning performance.
A cordless vacuum cleaner is a perfect solution for keeping your home tidy. It bridges the gap between a dustbin and handheld brush, and a costly, full size and often needlessly powerful central vacuum system.
