I tested Dyson and Samsung's most expensive vacuums side-by-side – here's how they match up

The Dyson Gen5detect and Samsung Bespoke AI Jet Ultra are two of the most expensive vacuum cleaners you can buy. Both hold the lofty position at the top of each brand's range, and boast features that elevate them above the rest of the best vacuum cleaners on the market. So which one is more worthy of your money? I tested both, side-by-side, and here's what I found.

The Dyson Gen5detect launched in 2022 (although didn't come to the US and UK until 2023), and at time of writing is the best Dyson vacuum in terms of specs. It has sensors that enable it to detect the size and volume of particles it's sucking up, adjust power to suit, and report back in real time on its LCD screen. You can read all about it in our Dyson Gen5detect review.

At time of writing, the Samsung Bespoke AI Jet Ultra is fresh on the market (March 2025). It claims to use AI to optimize its cleaning, based on five different parameters, most of which concern the floor type it's tackling. In addition, it comes with a base that will automatically empty its bin, and is supported by a companion app. It costs a few hundred more than the Gen5detect (which is far from cheap in the first place). Get the full low-down in my Samsung Bespoke AI Jet Ultra review.

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While both vacuums offer excellent suction, I think the Dyson Gen5detect is the better choice if the quality of the clean is your priority. It's easier to maneuver, the automation features are more reliable (and logical), and features such as laser illumination on the hard floor floorhead are genuinely helpful. However, the Samsung comes into its own if you have a larger house. It's more comfortable to hold, offers ultra-long runtimes thanks to a dual-battery setup, and the self-empty dock proves super convenient.

That's the short version. To help you figure out which is the best cordless vacuum for you, read on for a more in-depth comparison...

• View Bespoke AI Jet Ultra at Samsung US

Samsung Bespoke AI Jet Ultra vs Dyson Gen5detect specs

Samsung Bespoke AI Jet Ultra vs Dyson Gen5detect: price & value for money

• At list price, Gen5detect costs from $949.99 / £769.99 / AU$1,549
• Bespoke AI Jet Ultra is $1,099.99 / £1,199.99 / AU$1,699
• Both have similar detail tools; the Samsung has the extra base

In the US, the Gen5detect costs $949.99. It's also available as an "Absolute" version – essentially a different colorway – for the same price. The UK just has the Gen5detect, with a list price of £769.99, and in Australia it's the Gen5detect Absolute for AU$1,549. In US and Australia, you also have the option of supersizing with the Gen5outsize, which arrives with a larger dust cup, wider floorhead and more cyclones. All of this is at list price, and based on what's available direct from Dyson.

The Samsung has a list price of $1,099.99 in the US, and will cost £1,199.99 when it goes on sale in the UK and from AU$1,699 in Australia. However, Samsung often offers hefty discounts on its home appliances during sales events, so you could pick it up for less. [Update: in fact, it's already discounted in the US, on the launch date, so it looks like overpricing might be part of the strategy on this one.]

It's worth noting that while an auto-empty base will naturally come at a bit of a cost, it isn't solely responsible for the Bespoke AI Jet Ultra's eye-watering price. Shark is the other major brand to offer auto-empty technology, and its Shark PowerDetect cordless and Detect Pro cordless vacuums both sit in the mid-range price bracket, even with auto-empty bases.

So neither the Gen5detect nor the AI Jet Ultra are what I'd call a budget vacuum. In fact, they're the most expensive manual vacuums we've tested at TechRadar and among the priciest on the market in general. Both look and feel premium, although perhaps the Dyson more so, and come with a very similar selection of accessories.

Samsung Bespoke AI Jet Ultra vs Dyson Gen5detect: design

• Both button-operated stick vacs with LCD information screens
• Bespoke AI Jet Ultra has an auto-empty dock and app control
• Samsung more comfortable; Dyson more maneuverable

Broadly speaking, both models sport the silhouette of a standard – if high-quality – cordless stick vacuum. In terms of aesthetics, the Dyson has the vibe of a children's toy, whereas the Samsung looks like a prop from Star Trek.

Dyson has opted for a configuration where the filter, cyclones, dust cup and wand all sit in a straight line. This apparently improves suction efficiency (it was introduced with the Dyson V11 – the V8 still has the older configuration). However, that does come at the expense of comfort. It makes the main motor unit rather long and unwieldy in handheld mode, and I found my thumb joint would rub uncomfortably against the Dyson motor unit above when used for long periods.

The Samsung vacuum is comfier to use in general. The brand has thoughtfully provided a textured, ergonomically shaped handle and index finger rest, which makes it more secure and comfortable to hold than the Dyson, which simply has a straight up-and-down handle.

If you're very tall or very short, you'll also appreciate Samsung's telescopic wand, which extends from 52.5cm to 73.5cm in length. Dyson's is fixed at 65.7cm.

As is the case with most stick vacuums these days, either can be turned into a handheld unit by removing the wand and attaching a detail tool directly to the motor unit.

Popping the main motor section on some scales (no wand or cleaner head attached) reveals the Gen5detect is a smidge heavier, at 2.2kg compared to 1.9kg with the bigger battery, or 1.7kg with the smaller for the Bespoke AI Jet Ultra. Worth noting that both are rather weighty for a cordless stick vacuum.

The Dyson has a larger dust cup (0.8 liters versus 0.5 liters for the Samsung), although the Samsung is supplemented by an extra 2-liter dustbag in the dock. Both come with HEPA filtration.

Both vacuums turn of and off with a single press of a button, rather than using a trigger (unusually in Dyson's case – this brand retained its trigger preference for a bafflingly long time, given how obviously superior button operation is). Both provide information via a small screen near the handle.

Dyson's display looks more fancy, with its multicolored graphs, although Samsung's is also capable of showing graphics, as I discovered quite late in the day when it tried to eat my bath mat and showed me how to fix the issue.

These screens will also inform you of any maintenance tasks, and guide you through what you need to do to fix them. For example, both vacuums will notify when their filters need replacing, or if there's a blockage that needs sorting (see above bath mat example).

Dock

Let's discuss the dock. The Samsung Bespoke AI Jet Ultra comes with a space-age-looking base that houses a large 2-liter dust bag. Dock the vacuum and all the dust will automatically shoot out of the onboard bin and into the big bag in the base. The dock also gives you somewhere to store and charge the vacuum.

Dyson doesn't come with anything similar. It supplies a simple wall dock if you want to hang up your vacuum as it charges. That means if you opt for for the Gen5detect, you'll need to commit to manually emptying the 0.7-liter bin every time it becomes full. It's not overly tricky, although the self-empty setup is obviously less effort (offset very slightly by the minor hassle of having to remember to buy bags for the dock).

Before today's side-by-side testing, I was pretty happy with manually emptying my own vacuum bin. However, I have now done a complete 180 and feel that I cannot get by in life without a self-empty model, despite having absolutely no space to store a dock. The dock should also appeal to those regularly dealing with large volumes of dust, as well as offering benefits for allergy sufferers, since it means less chance for allergens to escape back into the air.

App

The Samsung Bespoke AI Jet Ultra also comes with a companion app, but I'd argue that it's largely – perhaps, totally – unnecessary. You can use it to set a different auto-empty duration, and prompt it to empty itself remotely (it does this automatically when docked anyway), or use it to turn the dock's lights off. If you're away from home and have an urgent desire to know your vacuum's charge status and when it last had its dustbin emptied, it will enlighten you to that.

Dyson does have an app, but it's really just a home for its How To videos and product info; it isn't linked to the vacuum itself.

Samsung Bespoke AI Jet Ultra vs Dyson Gen5detect: accessories

• Accessory range very similar for both brands, including two floorheads
• Samsung's floorheads have LED lights; Dyson has superior laser illumination
• Samsung has an extra Hinge tool; Dyson has a built-in Crevice tool

The range of tools included with each vacuum is remarkably similar. Let's start with the two floorheads. The main one can be used on any floor type – Samsung's version is called the Active Dual Brush, and Dyson's is the Digital Motorbar floorhead.

The second floorhead – called the Samsung Slim LED Brush+ and Dyson Fluffy Optic floorhead – is soft, and specifically designed for getting right up close to hard flooring without scratching it up.

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Samsung has added white LED headlamps to both floorheads, and they're switched on as standard. On the Dyson version, the Fluffy floorhead has a built-in laser to illuminate hidden dirt.

While they sound like similar features, in reality they're pretty different. The Samsung lights are just for brightening your way in dingy corners, whereas Dyson's are more intense and will reveal dirt and debris that would otherwise be invisible to the naked eye. I think it's to do with the angle of light causing small particles to create a big shadow. The main Dyson floorhead has no lights on it at all, though.

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Both also come with an extra, mini motorized head for deep-cleaning sofas and the like. I found both of these very effective on test, although one big benefit of the Dyson tool is that the roller is conical so it directs long hair into the bin. In contrast, Samsung effort quickly became tangled with hair during my tests.

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Both have a Combination tool for various nook-and-cranny cleaning, and the Samsung Bespoke AI Jet Ultra also has an extendable Crevice tool, although it's a little wobbly if you actually try to extend it.

The Gen5detect's trump card is a second detail/crevice tool hidden within the wand, which I'm pretty sure most people don't even realize is there. It's helpful for emergency detail work when you can't be bothered to go back and hunt out the correct attachment, although the angle and size of the opening mean it isn't quite as effective as the separate tool.

My Samsung review model also came with a hinge attachment that clips to the bottom end of the wand and allows you to angle any of the detail tools. This seems to be for cleaning up high, although in practice I didn't find it that useful.

For storage, Dyson's wall dock has space to hang a couple of detail tools, but you'll need to find a home for the others (including the second floorhead). Samsung's solution is a kind of detail tool tree – separate from the main dock – which works well if you have space for it.

Samsung Bespoke AI Jet Ultra review vs Dyson Gen5detect: performance

• Samsung officially has more power, but both are excellent suckers
• Dyson has more reliable and useful automation features
• Samsung more comfortable; Dyson slightly more maneuverable

The Gen5detect has three power modes – Eco, Mid and Boost – and it will also auto-adjust suction based on dirt levels and floor type. The Bespoke AI Jet Ultra offers five modes: AI, Min, Mid, Max and Jet. This is ideal if you want fine-tuned control over your cleaning, although it does feel like overkill for me personally.

Working out how much suction a vacuum has is trickier than it should be, because different brands use different specs, and some don't publish any numbers at all. Here, we do have comparable specs, and based on those the Samsung model is significantly more powerful, with a maximum suction of 400AW, compared to 280AW for the Dyson.

However, on test, the two models' performance was similar. Both aced our suction tests, and either would make an excellent vacuum for most people's needs.

I think Dyson's automation features are superior. Sensors in the Gen5detect's floorheads monitor resistance (as an indicator of floor type) and also exactly what's being sucked up (as an indicator of dirt levels). I could hear the machine adjusting its power when I moved from hard floor to carpet, and when cleaning up spillages. I could also see, in real time on the LCD screen, what the vacuum was sucking up.

Samsung's automation is said to use AI. In AI mode, the vacuum can apparently sense hard floor, carpet, long-pile carpet, mats, corners, and when it has been lifted up, and optimize suction and brushroll speed in response. On test, this was a bit hit-and-miss. The vacuum would reliably ramp up when moving from hard floor to carpet, and drop to low-power mode when lifted; but I couldn't hear a change when moving onto a mat or encountering a corner.

In general, adjusting based on dirt levels seems like a more logical priority than getting so granular about floor type.

Maneuverability & comfort

I'd say that both vacuums are comparatively heavy, with the Dyson Gen5detect particularly so. The Samsung has a more ergonomically shaped handle, which makes it easier to grip and more comfortable to use, especially in handheld mode.

However, while the Samsung wins for comfort, the Dyson offers slightly better maneuverability. I found the Samsung Bespoke AI Jet Ultra was a little tricky to push and change direction with the Active Dual Brush floorhead attached on carpet – using it was a bit of a workout.

Samsung Bespoke AI Jet Ultra review vs Dyson Gen5detect: battery life

• Gen5detect has one battery, which lasts up to 70 minutes
• Bespoke AI Jet Ultra has two batteries, lasting 100 mins and 60 mins
• Runtimes will be much lower for both in higher power modes

The Gen5detect comes with one battery. It can manage a maximum of 70 minutes in Eco mode (on test, we actually managed 75 minutes). In Boost mode, it lasted 15 minutes on hard floor, or 8 minutes on carpet.

The Samsung Bespoke AI Jet Ultra arrives with two batteries bundled – a bigger one that can last up to 1 hour and 40 minutes, and a smaller one that can last up to an hour. The one attached to the vacuum will charge when the vacuum is docked, and Samsung has thoughtfully provided a second battery charge dock for the other, so you can keep them both juiced up.

Theoretically, then, you'd have up to 2 hours 40 mins of runtime, which is more than anyone might need – unless you're single-handedly cleaning a department store or something. It's worth flagging that Dyson's battery is also removable, so you could buy a spare for that model if you wanted to extend its runtimes.

Should you buy the Samsung Bespoke AI Jet Ultra review or Dyson Gen5detect?

Buy the Samsung Bespoke AI Jet Ultra if...

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