Dyson PencilVac Fluffycones™ review: handy for hard floors, hair and ceilings, but not a replacement for your main vacuum cleaner

Price on writing: £430 | Buy now from Dyson

How I tested

I tested the Dyson PencilVac over two months in my own home. We have hard floors throughout, including floorboards, tile, lino, laminate and parquet, plus thin rugs, thick-pile rugs and carpeted areas. The household includes multiple pets and teenagers with long hair, so hair pickup and day-to-day usability were tested constantly.

I assessed the vacuum cleaner's user-friendliness, comfort and suction. I also put it through the cereal test - measuring how well it deals with a handful of crumbled Cheerios on a kitchen floor in one pass.

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My verdict

I tested the Dyson PencilVac alongside my usual vacuum, a Dyson V15 Detect, in a home with two dogs, two cats and two long-haired teenagers. That context matters, because this isn’t trying to be a do-it-all cordless. It’s designed for speed, convenience and daily maintenance.

Used little and often, it’s excellent. I reached for it constantly after meals, on our slightly gappy floorboards, and wherever pet hair gathers along skirting boards. It feels like the fanciest broom in the world rather than a normal cordless vacuum cleaner, but far more effective and much more satisfying than sweeping up manually.

However, its slim, lightweight design is undermined by the charging dock - it needs to be placed in the dock to recharge, there's no alternative method and it's not wall-mountable. The dock isn't huge - it requires a 26cm diameter circle of floor space - but if you're drawn to the PencilVac's slimline profile, it's worth bearing in mind you'll have to find a spot for the charging dock on the floor somewhere.

The PencilVac's cleaning head is designed to draw in dust and hair from all directions, so it performs amazingly well on edges and under furniture. It draws in hair with zero tangling and compresses everything into a satisfying dust and hair sausage, holding much more than you'd think for a tiny 0.08l bin. The emptying mechanism means you can unload it deep into your rubbish bin, so there's no horrible plume of dust you get with larger vacuum cleaners.

It handles everyday mess well, including small pieces of spilled dry pet food, which it picks up without fuss. Where it struggled was the classic cereal test. A small handful of Cheerios caused a blockage in the slim tube, which felt like a design limitation rather than user error. So I won't be able to retire my dustpan and brush just yet.

It's incredibly lightweight and the Fluffycones head is designed to be nimble and clean from all directions, so it felt natural to use the vacuum cleaner for cobwebs on my walls and ceilings.

The PencilVac shines as a second vacuum, not a replacement. The awkward charging dock and broom-style handle make long sessions less appealing, but for quick, regular cleans it earns its keep. If you buy it for what it is, not what it isn’t, it’s a genuinely useful addition.

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Who is the PencilVac best suited to?

The PencilVac is best for people who want to stay on top of mess rather than tackle it once it’s built up. If you’re already sweeping daily, chasing crumbs after meals or forever dealing with pet hair, this feels like a serious upgrade to a broom and dustpan.

I found it particularly useful in high-traffic areas like the kitchen and hallway. It’s also a good option for anyone who finds traditional cordless vacuums heavy or unwieldy, as it’s easy to lift, steer, use vertically and carry upstairs. In a smaller home with mostly hard floors, it could be your most-used cleaner, but I’d still want a more powerful vacuum in the cupboard.

The charging dock is a drawback for those looking to maximise space with a slimline vacuum. In contrast, larger cordless models like the Bosch Unlimited 10 come with a wall mount, enabling them to take up zero floor space.

Related: Best handheld vacuum cleaners

How does the PencilVac deal with hair?

Hair is where the PencilVac really impressed me. The dust bin sits inside the wand and compresses everything into a neat, compacted sausage of dust and hair. It’s oddly satisfying and, more importantly, easy to empty straight into the bin without clouds of fluff.

Long hair from teens, dog hair and cat hair were all picked up cleanly, with no wrapping around the roller at all. I never once had to cut hair free, which puts it ahead of many cordless vacuums I’ve tested. The filtration is excellent too, sealing in 99.99% of microscopic particles.

Hair tends to gravitate towards the edges in homes with hard floors like mine, and the PencilVac's ability to clean right to the edges and under low furniture really comes in handy.

On carpet, it doesn't have the suction power to pull up pet hair as well as a normal cordless. However, it can hoover thinner rugs and those with tassels without swallowing the rug or getting confused, which is a big plus for me as I have several rugs too thin for a normal vacuum cleaner to deal with.

Related: Best vacuum cleaners for pet hair

What’s the battery run time and charging like?

Battery life is fine for its intended role - it can run for up to 30 minutes of 'fade-free suction' on standard or eco mode, and a bit less on turbo. I could comfortably do a full sweep of the downstairs hard floors on one charge, but it’s not designed for whole-house deep cleans. That limitation feels intentional rather than disappointing.

Charging is the weakest part of the design. The PencilVac only charges on its floor-standing dock, which needs around a square foot of space and can’t be wall-mounted. In smaller homes, that’s a real drawback and slightly undermines the whole “slim” selling point.

The dock could, in theory, be stored and brought out when the vacuum needed charging, but it's a level of faff I wouldn't expect from an expensive vacuum cleaner.

Does the Dyson PencilVac offer good value for money?

At £430 RRP, the PencilVac sits in the same price bracket as full-featured cordless vacuums like the Dyson V12 Detect Slim. Compared to the V12, it’s far less versatile and powerful, and it wouldn’t make sense as your only vacuum at this price.

It stacks up more fairly against premium handhelds like the Dyson Car+Boat Handheld Vacuum Cleaner. You get much better floor coverage and a more natural cleaning motion with the PencilVac than a handheld, while keeping that grab-and-go convenience. You’re paying for ease, design and everyday usefulness rather than brute force.

It doesn’t replace my Dyson V15 Detect, but it complements it well. If you want a high-end solution for daily crumbs and pet hair, and you’re realistic about its limits, the PencilVac can feel worth the money. If you want one vacuum to do everything, this isn’t it.

About the author

Poppy O'Neill is a Content Editor at Mumsnet and a mother of two. She researches and reviews the products Mumsnetters swear by, with a particular focus on home essentials like steam irons, vacuum cleaners and heated throws.

From a highly recommended retractable washing line to the best quiet fans money can buy, and Mumsnet's favourite dehumidifier to the steam generator iron that'll cut your ironing time in half, she loves to deep-dive into research and find the very best products on the market.