Cordless vacuums: Vax Blade 4 vs Miele vs others (not Dyson)?

[ParentOfOne]

After the second Dyson cordless vacuum just died in a little less than 5 years (they tend to die right after the warranty expires!) we're in the market for a replacement.

Any advice? We'd like one with a spare battery that can be swapped easily ( the Dyson battery always goes flat before we manage to finish cleaning all the rooms).

It would be good to have one where cleaning the filter is easy but I'm not sure there are huge differences from brand to brand?

We were thinking of the Vax Blade 4, which costs about £300 with two batteries. www.vax.co.uk/onepwr-blade-4-vacuum-cleaner?gclid=CjwKCAiA65iBBhB-EiwAW253W5x_BXdGiDb4vOVmi_55TwiUJ5BNmWeCnVYNpIl3nnes340rzKs7txoCvfkQAvD_BwE

The Miele Hx1 Pro seems good but the version with an extra battery costs £600! www.miele.co.uk/e/cordless-stick-vacuum-cleaners-triflex-hx1-power-smul5-11691000-p

It would need to last twice as long as the Vax for the difference to be worth it.

The Samsung Jet 90 has very good reviews but with an extra battery it costs even more (£650) and many reviews complain that finding parts is harder than for the other brands. www.samsung.com/uk/vacuum-cleaners/all-vacuum-cleaners/?samsung-jet

We wouldn't want to get another Dyson because of bad experiences and because you cannot swap the battery as easily.

(The Dyson v11, Samsung Jet 90 and the Miele are Which's best buys).

I have seen many good comments on Shark but Which reviews it as quite poor compared to the others.

The Tinecos have very good reviews but they are still quite pricey and, unlike Vax or Dyson, it doesn't seem like spares are easily available.

Thoughts?

We have a vax blade and when it dies I will be replacing it with a vax blade pet 4 (or whatever one they are on by then!). So effortless to use, I love it. DH has even taken to vacuuming every day now he’s at home while I’m still at work. Ridiculously small dust collection thing though but easy to empty and it’s easy to clean the filter. The extra battery of a later model would be brilliant as it can’t do upstairs and down on one charge but that is the only negative.

I had read mixed reviews about dyson and shark. Miele would be more than I would be prepared to pay.

Thanks! Which Blade do you have?

How easy or not is it to clean the filter?
With the Dyson it's a bit fiddly because we have to clean it at least once a week (it's a 5 bed house but the kitchen is the only room we do every day, the carpets once a week) and then the filter takes more than 24 hours to dry.

How long have you had your Vax? Have you ever sent it for repair or had to buy any spares?

Dyson, Samsung and Miele are all in a similar price range, but I am not sure I want to pay twice as much as the Vax Blade.

My mother had a Vorwerk corded vacuum which lasted some 20 years, but it seems that these new cordless thingies never last a fraction of that!

And repairability has gotten a lot worse.
With Samsung it's hard to find the parts.
Tineco etc don't stock them at all - you are expected to throw it away and buy a new one.
Dyson does stock spares but you need a PhD in mechanical engineer and professional tools to fit most of them (tiny screws placed in impossibly tiny cavities in which most screwdrivers do not fit, etc)

Ours is very basic -I assume it’s an early model-FIL gave it to us several months ago, he couldn’t manage it and his cleaner uses her own. No idea how long he’d had it or how much it was used tbh. I can’t believe how much I love it and how effective it is, despite not being a newer model. It hasn’t ‘touch wood’ had to have any spares or repairs done.

The filters I wash a couple of times a week but they just lift out, I give them a quick wash, then I just stick them on top of the boiler, or the radiator in the utility, and they are dry the next day. Nothing fiddly about it. I do keep meaning to buy spare filters then I always have a clean set but I’ve probably not got around to it because it’s no bother to wash one day then they are ready to use the next. 4 bedroom but downstairs (4 rms plus hall) is done every day, upstairs is now done a couple of times a week because it is so easy to do. It was as little as possible with our old one!

This is the one we have. Very basic but fantastic.
www.argos.co.uk/product/8554091

I have the John Lewis one. It’s great and much cheaper than competitors (£149) plus I feel safe in the knowledge that if anything goes wrong with it John Lewis will probably swap it for a new one (I’ve had this happen with other John Lewis branded appliances). My mother has the Dyson but prefers mine. It’s not possible to buy a spare battery though.

I’ve just got a shark cordless and it’s ok. Not as good as I’d hoped it would be and definitely not as good as the corded one my neighbour has. I borrowed his when my old one broke and my carpet looked brand new. If I hadn’t got arthritis in my wrists and hands I’d have got the same one but it was heavy. The shark cordless is light but I’m underwhelmed.

What do you mean your Dyson has "died"? What's the fault/problem with it?

I have a Dyson V6 that's almost 6 years old. It's needed cleaning out a few times (it does that weird pulsating suck (oo-er missus!) if the tube/head is blocked.

And the battery went in 2019 so got a replacement off Amazon for significantly less than Dyson were charging and it's been good to go since. Plus the new battery lasts much longer than the old one so it's actually better than it was before!

Sure your Dyson doesn't just need trouble shooting before you splash out on a new one?

If you have registered with MyDyson you can trouble shoot online.

I think when the battery died it just stopped charging so stopped working and I thought it had died. But it was just that the battery needed to be replaced.

The first Dyson just stopped working out of the blue. I honestly don't remember if it couldn't be repaired or if the repair would have cost too much.

The second Dyson stopped working out of the blue, too. This is after we had already spent about £200 replacing two heads (the thingy to clean carpets and the one to clean hard floors) + the battery, which, in retrospect, was a mistake, because with a similar amount of money we could have bought a brand new Vax Blade 4 with a new 2-year warranty.

I am not saying Dysons are all bad, maybe we were unlucky, after all I know lots of people who have had their Dysons for much longer without ever an issue, but let's just say that

1. I want to try a new brand and I think I no longer want to spend that kind of money - I'd rather spend £400 to buy 2xVax over 5 years than £600 (or however much they cost now) to buy a new Dyson which may or may not last that long

2. I definitely want one which lets me keep and swap a spare battery easily, because our Dyson battery, even when brand new, rarely lasted till we could finish the whole house

@mobear, do you know if John Lewis sells spare batteries for its vacuum cleaner, and if they can be swapped easily? I couldn't find them on their site

What spares/replacements are you meaning?

I got a Tineco A11 Master about 18 months ago, very pleased with it - but 1st cordless so nothing to compare to.

Then got a robovac about 6 months ago, and the cordless barely gets used now. I would replace the robovac that day without a seconds hesitation if it broke.

My Tineco came with 2 batteries, 1 lives in the vacuum and charges when you slot the vacuum into the charger unit. The other lives in a slot on top of the charger unit. So both can charge at the same time and you be swapped if you run out mid clean. For me this only happened on a full house (4 bed) clean, 1 battery was fine for all of upstairs or all of downstairs.

@Chasingsquirrels , what I mean is: is it possible to replace parts like the heads, the filter, the cylinder which collects the dust, etc?
Or, if for whatever reason they break, then you effectively have to buy a new vacuum?

Vax and Dyson do sell these things.

Samsung in theory does but in practice it's very hard to find them in the UK, and thanks to the genius of our Brexiteers importing those parts from the continent may be extremely expensive.

@ParentOfOne As far as I am aware they don’t, but you could contact their customer service and ask. I was thinking of buying another one given the relative inexpense to leave upstairs so we have one for each floor.

Tineco batteries, brush heads and filters are definitely sold (although I don't know if there is currently a stocking problem).
The filters are washable though and I can't see they'd need replacing.

The dust cylinder I don't know, you'd think so but a quick Google doesn't bring anything up.

I would have thought they were quite difficult to break though. In all the years I've owned vacuums it has been the motors which have given up the ghost, or consumables like the beater bar elastic band.

Over the years I have had to replace heads, batteries, a dustbin, and even the trigger of a Dyson (the red button).

I am NOT buying a vacuum for which spares are hard to find.

@ParentOfOne It’s also worth noting that warranty aside an item has to be ‘fit for use’ and of ‘satisfactory quality’ under the Consumer Rights Act 2015. We bought a £300+ coffee machine from John Lewis (Dualit though, not John Lewis) which died just outside the 2 year warranty. John Lewis attempted to fix it and when they couldn’t refunded us (it was no longer stocked). You should be able to get parts replaced under this rule as long as the vacuum hasn’t been subjected to exceptional use or they don’t try to classify it as normal wear and tear.

We ended up buying the Vax Blade V4. It cleans very well but is heavier and noisier than the Dyson v10.

On paper the difference is only 300 grams. If I put unit + battery + dustbin on a scale, the difference is more like 500, but it feels like so much more - maybe it's the distribution of the weight. I have to use the Vax with both hands and, after cleaning 3 rooms, my right wrist hurts - it never hurt with the Dyson. I am surprised no review mentioned that. For me it's fine but I'd never recommend the Vax to a senior person.

It is also a bit noisier than the Dyson v10, but beareable.

The dustbin is smaller - cleaning a 5 bedroom house I have to stop and empty it about 3 times.

The suction power is great - no complaints there. On maximum power it is so powerful that it seems to stick to the carpets and it becomes very heavy to manoeuvre around.

There is an on/off button, not a trigger like the Dyson. The Dyson is better because it stops when you release the trigger, so you save more battery.

The VAX has only one head for carpets and hardfloors, no need to switch. The head is a bit narrower (so better access) and has a light, which is not a gimmick but actually useful.

The head doesn't spin automatically - you need to press a button for that.

The battery comes on and off with a simple click, so it's easy to replace. This is a huge benefit compared to the Dyson.

Would I buy it again? I guess so, because it comes with a 3-year warranty (not 2), two easily replaceable batteries, cleans well and costs about half the Dyson v11. The main drawback is the weight: for someone like a senior person with maybe a smaller house (so who doesn't need 2 batteries) an older (so cheaper than the latest model), lighter Dyson might be better

I've got the Gtech Pro 2, it's great, light weight, great suction. It's £179 normally, but was £129 before Christmas so they are worth watching. I had an issue with a charger, but the customer services were incredible. Would highly recommend.

Having posted above about never having had to replace the actual parts of a vacuum I've come back to eat my words!

I leaned my Tineco cordless against the wall for a moment while vacuuming last week, it toppled over and part of the dustbin container sheared off.

I duct taped it back on, and it was okay, but I decided to email customer services via the website to see if I could purchase a replacement (as mentioned earlier in the thread they don't appear to be available online on their site, ebay or amazon).

I waited a couple of days for a reply and then had an email requesting various information on Monday evening, I replied and they responded to say a replacement had been ordered, then an email last night to say it had been dispatched and its just arrived.
Free of charge, although I hadn't requested that and I'd made it clear it was my fault.
Fantastic customer service.

I know the OP has posted that they have already brought a new vacuum but I just wanted to share this experience of Tineco customer service and spare parts given the concerns raised on this thread.

Hi, I have the John Lewis too, would like some spare filters but can’t find any. JL customer service say the manufacturer doesn’t do spare parts.
Thanks for any suggestions

On the Vax Blade v4: after a couple of months the head stopped spinning (we clean it at least twice a week). Vax sent us a replacement one.

After less than 6 months, the whole unit died. It was flashing in a way which tech support said means engine failure. We shipped the thingy back, they couldn't / wouldn't replace it, so sent us back a whole new one (free replacement under warranty). BTW, we now have 4 batteries, because they told us to send the unit without the batteries! The whole process took about 4 weeks.

What can I say... It cleans well, but I can only hope we were unlucky and this isn't representative of Vax's quality.