Hoover HL5 Push&Lift Upright Vacuum Cleaner review

One-minute review

We attended the launch of the Hoover HL5 in London in October 2022, where our first impressions were good. It was one of two new vacuum cleaners launching that day, with the HL9 the cordless unit. 

Hoover, which is part of Haier Europe, is headquartered in Warrington, UK. The group sits at number one for home appliances worldwide, a position it has held for 13 years. Although the brand is generally better known for vacuum cleaners in the US, Hoover has been keen to raise greater awareness among UK consumers that it produces some of the best vacuum cleaners around. 

Designed in the UK to meet the needs of British consumers, the HL5 was developed following extensive research and in-home testing. As a result, it features specially developed Anti-Twist bristles and a velvet brush bar in order to easily transition across floor types without getting in a tangle. In addition, Push&Lift means that with just a press of the foot pedal, the HL5 transformed from an upright vacuum cleaner to a handheld unit. 

With LED nozzle lights in the floorhead, a long 8-metre cable and 1.4-litre bin (which Hoover claims is 20% bigger than the UK's number one best-selling upright vacuum cleaner), the HL5 further addresses the pain-points of vacuuming around the home.

We were expecting the HL5 to be a "lightweight" upright vacuum, but we were surprised to find this cleaner certainly has some weight to it. During the review we also found that when grabbing the bin handle to lift HL5 in its upright mode, rather than portable, to "quickly" vacuum the stairs, the bin often unclipped itself with the weight of the vac – so it would be best to not get into the habit of doing this.

Sharing many similarities with Shark vacuum cleaners, the Hoover HL5 undercuts those models on price, making the features we've come to appreciate available at a more affordable price. In fact, the Hoover brand is so confident in the quality of it's offering that it supplies the HL5 with a 5-year extended warranty.

Hoover HL5 price and availability

• List price: £279
• Only available in the UK

The Hoover HL5 arrives in two editions: a Home model for £279 and the Pets model coming in at £299. One of the main obvious differences between the two units is the colour; the Home edition comes in a grey/red hue, whereas the Pets edition is available in a yellow/blue. The colour difference doesn't impact the price, however; it's the addition of the motorized pet tool with the Pets edition that boosts its price by £20.

Regardless of which HL5 model you choose, you get a lot of features for the money –especially if you find the cleaner marked down in the sales. At the time of writing, the HL5 Home edition was available for £199 (saving £80) on the Hoover website. 

The cleaner is also available on reseller sites such as Argos, AO.com and Currys, and it's only available in the UK.

Value score: 5/5

Hoover HL5 design

• Push&Lift sees it transform from upright to portable
• Anti-Twist brush bar for hairy homes
• Generous 1.4L bin

The Hoover HL5 has plenty going for it, and we're super-pleased that it addresses many of our general vacuum cleaning woes.

All of the features that you'll regularly use for general cleaning are found on the main unit or on the handle. On the main unit, sitting next to where the wand slots in, is the power button, wand release and a separate button for carpets, which acts a power boost when vacuuming (not surprisingly) carpets. The buttons were all relatively easy to reach, with the tools easily unclipped with just one pump down on the button.

There are three levels of suction that you can choose between when vacuuming: Min, Medium and Max. These can be found on the handle and are changed on a sliding scale. We found the Min setting perfectly adequate most of the time, but for a deep clean we engaged the Max mode, which delivered great suction to get to work on debris on the carpet.

A feature here that we've seen included in other leading vacuum cleaners is Push&Lift, although the HL5 engages a foot pedal to release. By pressing the foot pedal and "wand release", the HL5 vacuum transforms from an upright cleaner to a portable vacuum, making it suitable for reaching cobwebs in the corners of the ceiling, cleaning the car in your drive. 

The Home edition comes with only a crevice tool, whereas the Pets edition of the HL5 is supplied with a crevice tool and mini-motorized tool. We struggled to clean the stairs with the HL5 Home edition since the wand doesn't connect to the floorhead (when using Push&Lift), and there's no suitable tool to vacuum the steps. Like other upright vacuum cleaners, the HL5 is fairly bulky, so climbing up a steep staircase with it in hand proved a challenge. Instead, we reached for our best cordless vacuum cleaner, the Dyson Outsize, to tackle the staircase instead. But, of course, if you opt for the HL5 Pets edition you'll have the mini motorized tool to make that task easier to handle.

For quick cleaning around the house – and when our cordless vac was charging – we did haul the vacuum up the stairs step-by-step using the handle on the bin. However, we'd advise against this; this detached the bin from the main vacuum far too easily, which we feel is a bit of a design flaw. The vacuum isn't easy to pick up in any other way, but the problem lies with much of the HL5's weight sitting towards the bottom of the vacuum cleaner.

Using the floorhead on carpets was a brilliant experience, though. Dirt pick-up was excellent, and thanks to Hoover's Anti-Twist tech, hair never once became tangled around the brush bar. Also proving super-helpful are six LED lights – three on each side – that make cleaning in lower light levels far easier by illuminating the area around the cleaner so you can see any dirt and debris. 

As you're vacuuming, you'll see the debris making its way into the 1.4-litre bin. Hoover claims that the bin capacity is 20% bigger than the UKs number one best-selling upright vacuum cleaner – and although we're not 100% sure which cleaner Hoover is referencing here, we were satisfied with the capacity on offer here. We certainly didn't have to empty the HL5's bin as frequently as some other vacuum cleaners we've tested.

Design: 4.5 / 5

Hoover HL5 performance

Cleaning around a three-bed home with carpeted, wood and tiled flooring, the HL5 took the task in its stride.

Every day during testing the HL5 was faced with cereal, dust and dried mud; the vacuum didn't flinch in any scenario, picking up all dirt and debris quickly.

Since the upright vacuum cleaner is mains-powered, it was able to keep going until the job was done, or to the point its 8m-long cable would reach. Even with the bin nearly full, there was no loss of suction – a common issue we've come across when reviewing vacuuming cleaners.

However, cleaning under furniture did prove more difficult with the HL5 because of its bulky form. This isn't unique to the Hoover HL5, though; it's an issue with the majority of upright vacuum cleaners. As mentioned, the stairs were also difficult to tackle, because of the cleaner's weight and bulk. You can use Push&Lift to transform the unit into a portable unit, but this didn't give us the same level of clean (or comfortable experience).

A washable HEPA H13 filter traps any allergens, which makes the HL5 suitable for households with allergy sufferers. This is a good thing because we noticed a lot of hot air billowing out of the vacuuming cleaner while it was in use, and a not-so-nice odour, so we'd advise cleaning the filter at regular intervals.

As mentioned, the Anti-Twist tech ensures human and pet hair doesn't become clogged around the brush bar; the integrated comb actively untangles hair during cleaning. Nevertheless, it would be wise to give it the once-over every now and then – just pop the lid off the floor head and press a button to release it.

The one downside of the HL5 we noticed during use is how loud it is. We measured noise levels between 78dB - 82dB, from using the wand in portable mode to using the motorized floor head on the floor. This is equivalent to loud singing, according to the decibel app on our phone.

Performance: 4.5 / 5

Hoover HL5 score card

Should I buy the Hoover HL5?

Buy it if...

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• First reviewed: November 2022