Best Deals on Vacuums

We like the Shark Vertex Pro IZ662H’s many features. The wand can be bent to reach underneath furniture better, and the vacuum itself folds to allow for more compact storage. While it’s only decent at cleaning carpets, the vacuum shines in cleaning up pet hair and bare, uncarpeted floors. The price for this vacuum fluctuates—it was just $279 in the beginning of February, so you may want to wait and keep an eye on it.

This Black+Decker POWERSERIES Extreme BSV2020P vacuum performs well in CR’s tests overall but struggled at edge cleaning. A few plusses: It’s self-standing, has a brush on/off switch, and features a filter cleaning dial that empties the filter dust into the dustbin to prevent your hands from getting dirty. In CR tests, it runs for about 30 minutes per charge on low and 10 minutes on the high setting. The batteries can be used in other Black + Decker products. A few caveats: If you grab the dustbin while vacuuming, it may disengage. The vac is also a bit wobbly in self-standing mode.

If you dislike robovacs that are too noisy, the Eufy RoboVac 11S Max is the choice for you. It’s unobtrusively quiet, and it gets high scores for how well it can navigate through your home and avoid obstacles. While it’s only so-so at cleaning carpets, it’s impressive at picking up debris from bare floors. We like that its profile is slim, so that it can get underneath low furniture without getting stuck.

Its lowest price is $139, but Amazon’s price is the best you can get right now.

The iRobot Roomba Max 705 might be slightly more expensive than some other robots, but it’s the highest-performing one we’ve tested, which may be a reason to lay out the cash. This price just dropped $100 at Best Buy and iRobot, even lower than it was during the holidays, making it a great time to buy. It’s quiet and does well in every cleaning test we’ve thrown at it. It’s also outstanding at vacuuming up pet hair and is no slouch at cleaning carpets either, with a feature that increases suction power when it detects carpet. This vacuum is also better than many other robotic vacuums at navigating spaces and avoiding obstacles.

True to its name, the Kenmore Elite Pet Friendly 31150 is very good at vacuuming up pet hair. It nailed our bare-floor cleaning tests and is impressive at cleaning carpets as well. If you’re looking for a vacuum with strong suction, this model has the most powerful hose suction among the uprights we’ve tested. But it’s not exactly lightweight—it weighs 21 pounds—and some of our members have complained about the hose being too short. It’s worth noting, however, that we found this model’s hose length to be roughly average for its category.

This vac was $15 less in February, but you’re still saving a solid chunk.

The Shark Detect Lift-Away LA 492 is a feature-rich model that excels in both performance and innovation. It includes multiple smart detection features, such as direction detect, which senses whether you’re pushing or pulling and adjusts suction accordingly. It also detects floor type and automatically modifies the brush roll speed for optimal cleaning. It’s excellent at suctioning up pet hair and debris from bare floors and very good at cleaning carpet, though its hose suction isn’t top-notch. Like other Lift-Away models, this vacuum has a detachable pod that’s easy to release and can be used when you’re vacuuming your stairs or furniture.

The budget-friendly Kenmore Pet-Friendly Cross-Over DU3017 is a solid performer all-around, and this is $10 less than the usual sale price, making now a great time to buy. It’s stellar at cleaning up pet hair and bare floors and does a fine job of suctioning debris from carpets. The vacuum did well in our clean emissions tests, meaning it captures the dust it picks up, which is important if you have allergies or other respiratory problems. One drawback is that its shorter-than-normal cord might have you mapping your electrical outlets when you’re vacuuming.

Currently the highest-rated combo vacuum-mop in our ratings, the Hoover ONEPWR Streamline Cordless Hard Floor Wet Dry Vacuum is superb at cleaning up wet and dry messes. It does a satisfying job of cleaning up dried stains, though its run time isn’t super long. The vacuum-mop has a self-cleaning feature and an indicator that shows how much battery life is left.

In our tests, the Tineco Floor One S3 Smart Wet Dry Vacuum Cleaner Mop picked up dry debris, including rice, cereal, and sand, with ease. It’s also very good at cleaning wet spills and removing stains. Another plus: it boasts one of the longest run times among the models we tested, averaging 36 minutes. That and a decent discount add up to a good deal.

This Kenmore 200 Series 81214 performs quite well in CR cleaning tests, with a strong score for cleaning carpets and suction power, while its ability to clean bare floors and pet hair is stellar. Negatives? Handling is average, and it’s one of the noisier canisters. Differences from the 400 Series: the on/off switch is on the body, it has a different type of suction control, and there’s no telescopic wand.

The Bissell ProHeat 2x Revolution Pet Pro Plus is a great choice if you want to own your own carpet cleaner, especially at this price. It aced our drying tests and demonstrated strong cleaning performance—plus, our testers found it very convenient to use. Its hose length, just short of 7 feet, makes it good for stairs and larger homes, and per tank of solution, it covers about 39 square feet. It also features carrying handles and separate tanks for clean and dirty water.

The Dirt Devil Compact Portable Spot Cleaner is a light little carpet cleaner at just 9 pounds with a full tank of solution. While the portable cleaners in our tests don’t measure up to full-sized machines in terms of their cleaning abilities, this model did well, especially when it comes to drying. It’s also one of the quieter models we tested. The tank isn’t huge (partly why the cleaner is so light), but if you’re just using it for spills and spot-cleaning, this model will do the trick.