Gtech ProLite cordless handheld vacuum cleaner review

Gtech ProLite two-minute review

If you’re in the market for a decent handheld vac that is among the lightest you can buy, consider the Gtech ProLite. Since it uses a disposable bag system and direct dust injection, the ProLite is capable of collecting even the finest of particles like fire ash and sawdust without killing the electric motor.

Granted, the system is let down to some degree by the paucity of included tools but in the main it performs very well at sweeping shelves and blinds, cleaning up the hearth and keeping the car’s dash looking swanky. For that reason, it holds up pretty well amongst today's best handheld vacuums, as well as the best car vacuums. Don't expect the same suction power you'll find with one of the best vacuum cleaners on the market, but if you regularly need to take care of little clean-ups that aren't really worth the effort of getting out the big vac, it's a solid choice. 

• Gtech Prolite for £129.99 at Gtech

Gtech ProLite review: price & availability

• How much does it cost? £129.99
• Launch date: 2022
• Where can you get it? In the UK

When compared with some of the leading handheld vacs like the Shark WV270UK (around £90), Roidmi P1 Nano (£65 on Amazon) or Worx Cube Vac WX030 (£84 on Amazon), the Gtech ProLite doesn’t seem as good value. In its defence, though, it has a much bigger dustbin than the Shark and Roidmi and it’s a lot more practical to use than the Worx. Also, one shouldn’t underestimate the convenience of a bagged bin system, especially if you’re in the market for a vac than can collect fine particles like drill dust and fireplace ashes.

The Gtech ProLite is only available in the UK though most Europeans should still be able to order it. Gtech sells the ProLite for £129.99 but you can snap it up at a more reasonable price from Amazon and AO.

• Value for money score: 4 out of 5

Gtech ProLite specs

Gtech ProLite review: design

• Very light in the hand
• Excellent bagged dustbin system
• Not enough detail tools

Having reviewed a veritable horde of vacuum cleaners over the years, I’ve been mindful of just how few dedicated handheld vacs there are on the market when compared with the plethora of stick vacs. Yes, I know that every cordless stick vac can be easily converted to handheld mode by simply removing the extension tube and fitting one of the supplied detail tools. But the problem with this is that the vast majority of stick vacs are designed for sweeping up large volumes of dust and floor matter and are therefore heavy and ungainly to use for lighter cleaning duties like dusting shelves, blinds and picture frames, along with quick shimmies along the skirting boards or around the fireplace.

I’m talking about vacuum cleaners that were designed for the sole purpose of handheld cleaning only. Something that’s quick to grab, practical and very light in the hand for use on a regular basis without your arm aching after a few minutes of holding it in the air. An easy-to-use complement, in other words, to your current stick vac. The Gtech ProLite is one such model.

At this juncture I should point out that the ProLite is far from perfect, mostly because it doesn’t have the best suction power and it only comes with a removable circular brush-tipped cleaning head and a slim push-in crevice nozzle. Yes, you can buy a ProLite Accessory Kit with extension hose, motorised upholstery brush and wall mount for £50, but I personally feel these should have been included in the package since they would increase the ProLite’s versatility quite substantially. 

As it stands, the circular nozzle is only capable of cleaning a strip that’s no more than 4 or 5cm in diameter, and that’s not very practical in my book. In fact it’s quite a laborious task cleaning anything large in scale like a big spill of dry cereal. Had Gtech designed and included one of those slim rectangular shaped suction nozzles that ship with most stick vacs – including, perhaps, a light plastic extension tube for working above head height – I might have been persuaded to give the ProLite an extra star.

The Gtech ProLite weighs just 970g and that’s way lighter than any stick vac in handheld mode that I know of. It means you can hold it high for cleaning shelves, picture frames and anything else at arm’s reach without feeling too much fatigue. Try that with a Dyson, Shark or any other stick vac and see how far you get before your biceps and wrist give in.

The ProLite features two power bands but there’s not a lot between them so I always just leave it at full power, which happens to be its default setting. Gtech doesn’t list the ProLite’s suction power rating, but from my many tests it’s proved to be easily powerful enough for collecting dust and most larger items like oat flakes and cereals.

The main reason I originally called in this vac was to test it around my wood burner. Having already destroyed the motors on a Shark Premium Handheld Vacuum WV270UK and Roidmi P1 Nano by simply collecting remnants of ash around the hearth, I was keen to find a bagged handheld cleaner since they are so much better at collecting fine dust particles like ash and powdered sawdust than bagless vacs. In fact you can find out more on this subject by dipping into my article on why I think bagged vacs are best.

Six months on, I’m still using the Gtech ProLite almost solely for fireplace cleaning duties – not the fire grate area but all the loose ash that inevitably gathers on the hearth – and I’m impressed by how well it’s still running. I shouldn't be surprised, mind, because all dust and ash goes straight into the ProLite's 0.5-litre disposable dust bag without passing through any filters or motor housings.

And speaking of dust bags, don’t be deceived by the tiny size of the ProLite’s bag because it has capacity to hold far more dust and debris than you ever thought possible. The bags themselves are constructed using three breathable layers of material that do a grand job of filtering even the finest of dust particles. And because the bag features a dust cap, all detritus is well and truly sealed within – a big bonus for allergy sufferers. You can purchase a pack of 15 replacement bags for £12.99.

The Gtech ProLite also features an LED headlamp and this really is useful, especially when doing shelves or tracking down cobwebs in the darker recesses of a home. It also has a small transparent window on top that’s illuminated by a blue LED. I still haven’t discovered its purpose so I put it down to just being an aesthetic gimmick.

As mentioned above, this vac has two power levels – Max and Eco – and they’re assigned via a click-style on/off switch that, on my review sample unit, became sticky after a few days so I had to use some WD40 Contact Cleaner to free it. Let’s just say that it’s not the most robust switching system I’ve ever seen and it’s therefore good to know that Gtech provides a generous two-year warranty on the product

The ProLite’s battery provides an operating time of around 20 minutes in Max mode and up to 28 minutes in Eco. From my experience, the ProLite has lasted a lot longer than most other handheld vacs I’ve reviewed. With regard to operating volume, this vac is a lot quieter than other handhelds I’ve tested, though at an average of 82dB, it’s still pretty noisy.

Had this model shipped with more tools as standard – or at least a flat-headed rectangular suction head – I’d have had no compunction in awarding its design credentials with an extra star. But as it stands, I think £50 is a mite too much to ask on top of the already slightly lofty £130 asking price.

• Design score: 3.5 out of 5

Gtech ProLite review: performance

• Practical and lightweight
• Ability to vacuum fine particles
• Desperately needs a wider tool brush

As I’ve outlined above, this handheld is crying out for a wide, flat detail head so it can suck up more dust in a single sweep. As it stands, the small 4mm aperture of both the main fixed suction head and its push-on brush head are too small for any meaningful cleaning tasks short of a few clumps of stray ashes around a fireplace or around ornaments on a shelf.

However, there’s no denying that the ProLite’s relatively low level of suction power is more than enough for the majority of handheld cleaning scenarios. And if you add the optional motorised brush head you could feasibly tackle a carpeted staircase, too.

I’ve mostly used this handheld model for fireplace duties and it continues to suck up small quantities of ash without any drop in power or any weird whining noises from the motor. I guarantee this level of ash-sweeping activity would eventually destroy a conventional bagless vac, so hats off to Gtech in this regard.

When it came to conducting my tests, I reached for the usual ingredients of flour, biscuits and oats and the ProLite collected everything. Mind, I fully expected a 100% success rate because the tests were performed on a smooth kitchen work surface. As anticipated, it simply couldn’t handle the same ingredients on the sofa, especially the flour on which it made very little impact. But, hey, I have a Dyson Gen5detect for that kind of heavier-duty work.

Should you buy the Gtech ProLite?

Buy it if…

Don't buy it if…

How I tested the Gtech ProLite

Having owned this handheld for the past six months or so, I’ve used it on a regular basis during the winter months to clean stray ashes from my wood burner’s hearth and it still runs as perfectly as the day I removed it from its box. I’ve also used it to sweep shelves and along the edges of the kitchen work top.

For my official TechRadar tests I used it to collect flour and oats on the kitchen work surface and it passed with flying colours, even though the narrowness of its suction head increased the length of time to complete the process.

Read more about how we test

First reviewed September 2024