This guide rounds up the best Dyson vacuums for a range of use cases and budgets. This brand is known for its meticulous engineering, creating vacuums that are powerful, extremely maneuverable, and pack clever features to help take the hassle out of cleaning. We rate Dyson models to be amongst the very best vacuum cleaners on the market.
We've personally tested all of Dyson's vacuums, including every model featured in this ranking. (We've also reviewed plenty of alternatives from competitor brands, so we know how Dyson's models compare in the wider market.) For each review, we run standardized cleaning tasks to assess the vacuum's cleaning power, but we also look at things like battery life, ease of use and maneuverability, how useful any extra tools are, and if it offers good value for money.
Right now, we think the best Dyson vacuum for most people is the Dyson V15 Detect. This is one down from the newest flagship, and offers outstanding cleaning power, alongside useful advanced features such as the ability to adjust suction based on how dirty the floor is. Our runner-up is the V11, which forgoes some of the V15's fancier features but is still a supremely capable cleaner, and is a little cheaper.
Dyson is widely considered to make the best cordless vacuums on the market, although it's facing increasing competition from Shark, in terms of price and value for money if not outright quality. Check out the best Shark vacuums, or see how the brands compare in our Shark vs Dyson showdown.
All clear? Read on for our pick of the best Dyson vacuums you can buy right now.
Best Dyson vacuum cleaner: the quick list
Best overall
The V15 packs incredible power, plus useful smart features like automatic adjustment based on dirt levels, and a laser to illuminate hidden dirt.
Runner-up
The V11 is the model down from the V15. You'll sacrifice some of the fancier features, but it's still a supremely capable cleaner, and often more affordable, too.
Most advanced
If money's no object, invest in the Dyson Gen5Detect. This is the latest and greatest cordless vacuum, with the most powerful suction and longest battery life.
Most affordable
Cheap by Dyson standards, the V8 is light and versatile, but its short battery life, small bin and power trigger (not a button) could prove irksome.
Best corded upright
It's bulky and heavy, but in terms of pure power, the Ball Animal can't be beaten. This beast will suck up anything in its path, including any volume of pesky pet hair.
Best wet cleaner
The WashG1 isn't a vacuum because it doesn't actually suck, but the dedicated wet cleaner can get your hard floors sparkling clean with minimal effort from you.
Best robot vacuum
If you're set on a robot vac and it has to be a Dyson, this is it. It's great at cleaning edges, but we're less keen on its limited features and high price.
Best vacuum and mop
This 2-in-1 machine has a swappable floorhead, which means it can vacuum your carpets and wet-clean your hard floors too.
The best Dyson vacuums in 2025: tried and tested by experts
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The best Dyson vacuum for most people
The best Dyson vacuum for most people right now is the Dyson V15 Detect. In our tests, we found it offers the best balance of price to features, and will suit most people's cleaning needs.
It boasts clever automation features to take the hassle out of vacuuming. The main Motorbar floorhead has sensors that alert it to the type of floor it's on and how dirty it is, and the vacuum can then adjust suction in response. The screen on the main body of the vacuum will then show you exactly what it's sucking up, as it does so. The latter feature might not be absolutely essential, but it does mean you can be sure the patch of floor you're cleaning is clear of dust before you move on. There's also an upgraded Fluffy floorhead for hard floors; with added lasers to illuminate dust that might otherwise go missed.
Aside from those special features, you're getting absolutely excellent cleaning power. There's a considered and usable design, long battery life, well-designed accessories for tackling a range of cleaning tasks, and a very easy-to-maneuver floorhead that'll be able to get into all the nooks and crannies. An outstanding all-rounder.
Alternatives
In terms of the lineup, the V15 Detect was the flagship model that followed the V11 (#2). Price-wise, nowadays there often isn't a massive gap between the two, and the V15 offers more powerful suction, as well as those dirt-detecting features mentioned above. However, if there is a big price difference, the V11 is still well worth considering – see exactly what you'd be sacrificing by going for the model down in our Dyson V15 Detect vs V11 comparison.
The V15 Detect is one down from the latest and greatest Dyson (the Gen5detect at #3). That one is slightly better in terms of specs, but a significant jump up in price – we don't think it'll be worth it for most people. See exactly how the two compare in our Dyson V15 vs Gen5detect article.
Read our full Dyson V15 Detect review
The second best cordless Dyson vacuum
The Dyson V11 holds second place in our best Dyson vacuum list, and it's a close-run thing. Released in 2019, this model doesn't have fancier features such as dirt-detection (found on the V15 at #1 and Gen5detect at #3), but it does have excellent cleaning powers. The price varies depending on where you live and the deals available when you buy. If it's roughly the same price as the V15, that's a better vacuum. However, if there's a big price gap, the V11 will be an excellent choice and more than meet most people's needs.
There are three suction modes: Eco for a lower-powered maximum cleaning time, Boost for when you need extra power and Auto, which adapts to the type of floor you're cleaning. In our tests, we found Auto to work particularly well, and even the supposedly lower-powered Eco was able to effectively deal with large amounts of debris and pet hair. There's a handy LCD screen that tells you how much juice it has left (in hours and minutes), informs you which mode you're in and alerts you of any blockages, plus how to clear them. Other features include an excellent hour-long runtime, and an easy-to-empty 0.8 liter bin.
Alternatives
The model before the V11 is the Dyson Cylone V10, but it's a bit of a step down to that model – it has a less efficient motor, no LDC screen, and no auto-adjustment based on floor type. For more info, head to our Dyson V10 vs V11 article.
Read our full Dyson v11 review
The most advanced Dyson cordless
If you want the best cordless stick Dyson that money can buy, then you'll want to look at the Gen5detect range – which includes the Gen5detect, plus the Gen5detect Complete, Outsize and Absolute – and boasts Dyson's most powerful cordless motor, running at 135,000rpm. The only model to deliver better suction is the corded upright Ball Animal (#5).
It has a power button rather than the trigger of older models (don't underestimate how much easier this will make your cleaning sessions – it's a perpetual complaint of ours that Dyson doesn't even include a clip to lock its trigger in place for longer vacuuming sessions.) There's also a bigger battery that Dyson says lasts for 70 minutes – we managed to squeeze 75 minutes out of it.
You can turn the Gen5detect into a handheld with just a press of a button, there's an integrated crevice tool for getting in hard to reach areas, an improved motor with 262 air watts of suction and a brighter and easier-to-see Fluffy Optic floor head laser, which highlights dust with precision. This is the most powerful Dyson cordless vacuum – the only thing to pack more of a punch in this list is the upright Ball Animal 3 at #3 (both feature in our best vacuum for pet hair guide).
Unfortunately, that power comes with a compromise: weight. This is the heaviest Dyson cordless, and feels noticeably weighty for a stick vacuum – especially when used in handheld mode.
However, the main deal-breaker for most will be the price. While the innovation and engineering go some way to justifying it, the fact remains that many of the extra features are nice-to-haves rather than essentials, and for many people it just won't be worth the extra cost. It's still a brilliant piece of machinery, though.
Read our full Dyson Gen5detect review
The cheapest Dyson cordless stick vacuum
The V8 launched in 2016 and has dropped in price since then, making it the best cheap vacuum currently available if you have to have a Dyson. It's also the lightest model on this list and converts easily into a handheld, so it's ideal for cleaning stairs or the car. You're still getting that high build quality and very easy-to-maneuver floorhead, and it's the lightest Dyson cordless vacuum too.
At 40 minutes the battery life is shorter than others in this roundup, and it's operated via a trigger that needs to be continually depressed. All that, plus the smaller-than-usual dust cup, make this model better suited to those with smaller homes.
Despite its age, the V8 has decent suction, powered by two-tier radial cyclones and a motor spinning at 110,000rpm. In our tests, we found the it worked particularly well on carpet. There's no Fluffy floorhead included as standard, so it's worth investing in one as an extra if you have a lot of hard floors (our Dyson tools guide explains more about the various attachment options).
Alternatives
Bargain hunters might also want to consider the Dyson Cyclone V10 – it boasts 125,000rpm so may be better value (see exactly how the two compare in our Dyson V8 vs V10 article). In 2024, a mysterious Dyson Digital Slim started popping up. This isn't a flagship model (and indeed, it seems to come and go from Dyson's website), but looks like a pared-back, cheaper stick vacuum option. We haven't tested this one out yet, but it's worth being aware of if you're after Dyson engineering on a budget.
Read our full Dyson V8 review
The best Dyson upright vacuum
Dyson is known for it cordless stick vacuums, but there are a handful of outliers in the range; one being the Ball Animal 3 (known as just the Ball Animal in the UK and Australia). This is the only upright vacuum in the current lineup. If suction is your priority, you won't get anything like the power of this beast from a cordless stick vacuum. If you want something heavy-duty to handle large volumes of dirt or sticky pet hair, it's an outstanding choice – and the large dust up means you won't end up having to empty it every two minutes (we rate it amongst the best upright vacuums on the market).
On test, we found it did an excellent job at deep-cleaning carpet. In fact, at times it was a little too sucky, requiring a fair bit of effort to push on deep-pile carpet. The ball also means handling is good, and you'll be able to pivot into corners with ease.
However, there are compromises. One is that it's corded. Even though said cord is long – 30ft / 10m – if you're used to cordless models, you'll probably be a little irritated to find yourself tethered to a wall once again. The second is that it's really very heavy and bulky. Our tester found it a real pain to heave over thresholds and up stairs – something to bear in mind if you have a household with a trickier layout or multiple floors.
Read our full Dyson Ball Animal 3 review
The best Dyson wet cleaner
The WashG1 is Dyson's first and only dedicated wet cleaner. There's no suction here, but instead it adds water, and agitates dirt using its microfiber rollers. The USP compared to most other wet cleaners is that it separates the wet and dry waste to make disposal and maintenance easier. There's a self-clean cycle to take care of daily upkeep, too, although you will need to supplement this with periodical deep cleans.
Like the best Dyson vacuums, the WashG1 is extremely easy to steer and maneuver, and it's cordless so you won't be tethered to a wall. The dock is compact and unimposing. During our tests, it worked extremely well on perfectly flat floors, cleaning a range of spillage types with minimal effort required.
The downsides are that it can't really cope with uneven flooring, and won't get into grouting (this is an issue with most wet cleaners on the market, not just Dyson's model). Our tester also found the water tanks could be fiddly to close properly, and experienced occasional leakages. These aren't major issues, although given the sky-high price point, we'd expect it to be pretty much perfect.
Alternatives
The WashG1 isn't suitable for carpet, so if you want a multi-use appliance, consider the V15s Detect Submarine (#8) instead, which has separate floorheads for vacuuming and wet cleaning. If you want something with suction, head to our roundup of the best wet-and-dry vacuums you can buy.
Read our full Dyson WashG1 review
Best robot Dyson
The Dyson 360 Vis Nav is the only robovac Dyson currently offers. With 65 air watts of suction plus a motor that spins at 110,000rpm, it packs a decent amount of power. Thanks to the unusual D-shaped build and automatically extending side duct, it's particularly good at vacuuming room edges and around furniture legs. It has four modes, Auto, Boost, Quiet and Quick, and while we found that the super-charged Boost tends to drain the battery (it lasted around 15 minutes), in Auto mode its performance really impressed.
There were, however, a few niggles. The D-shaped body doesn't really work around corners and the Dyson 360 Vis Nav lacks features offered by other best robot vacuums in this price bracket, such as mopping or self-emptying bin. Its navigation is also a little unreliable – it has a tendency to stop in the middle of a room, get its bearings and then carry on, which can be a bit disconcerting. But if you have money to spend, want a Dyson robot vacuum cleaner and you care about having super-clean edges of your rooms, then the 360 Vis Nav could be the vacuum for you.
Read our full Dyson 360 Vis Nav review
The best wet & dry Dyson
In 2023, Dyson finally announced its first wet-dry vacuum. With advanced HEPA filtration and a new Submarine wet roller head, the Dyson V15s Detect Submarine is adept at cleaning up a range of wet and dry spills.
The base model of the Dyson V15s Detect Submarine comes with a separate crevice tool for getting in hard to reach areas, which works brilliantly. Note that some versions of the Complete and Absolute iterations have this tool integrated, which our tester found didn't work as well. There's also an improved Fluffy Optic tool for cleaning hard floors, with an LED light rather than the laser of older Dysons, though again this isn't available with all models.
There are, however, a few flaws. We found the V15s Detect Submarine left some streaks when we paused while cleaning, though it was fine in continuous use. The dirty water tank can leak and the LED display only shows the clean water level, so it's hard to tell when the dirty liquid is filling up. Dyson has addressed this issue in its dedicated wet cleaner Dyson WashG1, which has transparent water tanks (but note, that one is not suitable for carpets).
Overall, if you want a Dyson for keeping your hard floors clean then this model is very efficient, though we hope to see its flaws mentioned addressed in future models.
Read our full Dyson V15s Detect Submarine review
Best Dyson vacuum: specs compared
| Model | Weight | Bin size | Max runtime | Max suction | Filter |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| V8 | 5.6 lbs | 0.6L | 40 mins | 115AW | Whole-machine filtration |
| V11 | 6.6 lbs | 0.8L | 60 mins | 185AW | Whole-machine filtration |
| V15 Detect | 6.8 lbs | 0.8L | 60 mins | 240AW | Whole-machine filtration |
| Gen5detect | 7.7 lbs | 0.8L | 70 mins | 280AW | Whole-machine HEPA filtration |
| Ball Animal 3 | 17.3 lbs | 1.7L | Unlimited | 290AW | Whole-machine filtration |
What do the different Dyson naming conventions mean?
Dyson's naming models can be a little confusing. For each model, there's a standard iteration, ie. Gen5detect, and then there are different model names i.e. Gen5detect Outsize/Absolute, which denote variations in tools, attachments, size or where the product is available. Note that these names can also be combined i.e. Outsize Absolute. The main ones are:
Absolute: Absolute Dysons are usually only sold via Dyson's website and include special accessories/features such as extra heads/advanced HEPA filtering. They may also be a special color.
Outsize: As the name suggests, Outsize Dysons are bigger than standard ones, with bigger bins and wider floor heads. You can also get a Plus option (or sometimes Outsize Plus), which comes with extra heads/tools. Outsize iterations are typically not available in the UK.
Slim: This one is also fairly self-explanatory, Slim denotes slimmer variations of Dyson.
Animal: Animal Dysons include accessories such as the pet groom tool, which picks up hair from medium/long-haired pets.
Whichever version you choose, make sure you look carefully at what's included, as this can vary between regions and some attachments are only available direct from Dyson.
How we test Dyson vacuum cleaners
The best Dyson vacuum cleaners get subjected to the same rigorous testing regime that we apply to all the vacuums we review. We start off by evaluating how well each vacuum cleaner performs at picking up fine dust and larger debris, as well as testing how well the main floorhead (and any appropriate attachments) cope with hair. We also test all included accessories, as well as taking measurements of how much noise each vacuum makes at all power settings.
To test the batteries of cordless vacuums we'll run each machine continuously at both its lowest and highest power settings, and measure exactly how long it takes for the battery to run out. We also measure how long it takes for the battery to fully recharge.
Read more about how we test vacuum cleaners.
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