The Best Cordless Vacuum Is the Only Floor Cleaning Device You Need (2025)#

The best vacuum cleaners provide powerful suction and are easy enough to maneuver that you’ll actually use them. For most people, that vacuum will be a cordless stick. And the best cordless stick vacuum of 2025 has enough suction power to pick up pet hair from a high pile rug, is sensitive enough to detect kosher salt on a textured kitchen floor, and—wait for it—when it’s done doing all of that, it will even mop your hard flooring with a continuous stream of clean water.

Our top picks

The best cordless vacuum for the kitchen: Dyson V15s Detect Submarine
Another great cordless vacuum: Dyson V12 Detect Slim
Budget pick: Tineco Pure One S11
Best for small spaces: Shark Stratos Cordless

I’ve been testing vacuum cleaners since 2022, and year after year, I’ve found that Dyson makes the best, most powerful cordless vacuums on the market (not a huge surprise given its reputation). But Tineco and Shark are also making great cordless vacuum cleaners with more accessible price tags. Below, read more about my top picks, how I tested, and the other cordless vacuum cleaners that didn’t make the shortlist.

In this story

• A note on filter maintenance
• More on our top picks
• How we tested
• What we looked for
• Other vacuum cleaners we tested
• Why we don’t recommend corded vacuum cleaners

But first, let’s talk about filters!#

Before I get into which cordless vacuums I recommend and why, I need to make a big fuss about filter maintenance. Because how does the old saying go? “The best cordless vacuum cleaner is only as good as the maintenance you perform on it?” Okay, I just made it up, and it’s not particularly catchy, but the sentiment is very true and very important.

As you might imagine, as a person who reviews floor cleaning devices for a living, I often get asked about vacuum cleaners when I’m out in the real world. After I share a few of my favorites, a common reply goes something like: “Well, I had one of those and it died within a year.” Then I ask them how often they cleaned the filters and I bet you can guess how the rest of this story goes.

No matter how much you spend on a cordless vacuum cleaner, it will lose suction power much sooner than you expect if you don’t properly maintain it. Newer models will generally alert you when there’s a clog and when the filters (there are usually at least two on a stick vac) need to be cleaned—which may be more often than the manual suggests if you have pets or live in one of those old homes that magically manufactures dust. Do not ignore those alerts! A good stick vacuum cleaner isn’t cheap, and continuing to use even the best vacuum cleaner with dirty filters will diminish suction power and shorten the lifespan of the motor.

Okay, with that out of the way, we can get onto my recommendations for the best cordless vacuum cleaners for the kitchen.

New in this update: I have been long-term testing and still enthusiastically recommend my top pick, the Dyson V15s Detect Submarine, as a do-it-all vacuum for all kinds of floor types because it’s a powerful stick vac that also has an optional motorized wet-mopping floorhead. I also tested a new stick vacuum from Tineco that I wanted to like but really didn’t.

The best cordless vacuum for the kitchen: Dyson V15s Detect Submarine#

Dyson V15s Detect Submarine

Pros and cons

Pros

• Powerful suction
• Versatile wet-mop option
• Can be your only floor-cleaning device
• Up to 60 minutes run time

Cons

• Expensive
• Lots of attachments to store and keep track of

Specs

Battery runtime: Up to 60 minutes
Weight: Dependent on configuration
Canister capacity: 0.76 liters / 0.8 quarts
HEPA filter: Yes (on Absolute model only)
Warranty: 2-year limited

What we love: Since I started testing vacuum cleaners in 2022, I’ve recommended Dyson vacuums—specifically, the brand’s cordless stick vacuums—for their suction power, ease of use, durability, and versatility. The Dyson V15s Detect Submarine, released in 2024, is the most versatile model yet because it’s a powerful Dyson stick vac with the addition of a wet mopping floorhead. The Submarine was Dyson’s first foray into wet floor cleaning (there’s a vacmop now too) and this space-saving multitasker can vacuum all types of flooring including hardwood floors and high- and low-pile rugs and carpets—and it can mop your hard flooring with a continuous stream of clean water.

This isn’t considered a true mop vac because it doesn’t vacuum up larger debris and mop simultaneously. But not even the best cordless vacmop has enough suction power to truly vacuum rugs and carpeting, especially if you have pets—and this still does both really well. You just have to swap floorheads between jobs since everything to do with wet mopping is contained in the separate Submarine floorhead. Even in the wet-mopping mode it will collect small debris and filter it into a debris trap for easy cleaning.

This vacuum also comes with all of the standard Dyson stick vac accessories, including a crevice tool and dust brush. The standard and Absolute models are usually the same price, and the main difference is that the Absolute has two features the other model does not: HEPA filtration and a crevice/dusting tool built into the stick.

What we’d leave: It can be a little annoying to change out the floorheads, and I don’t always use all three. But when I want to get my floors really clean, I do my first pass over rugs and to get larger debris off of hard floors with the standard Digital Motorbar head, which is great at getting pet hair off of rugs and carpets. Next I hit my hardwood floors with the Fluffyoptic head. This is a slightly smaller head with a microfiber roller and little LED headlights to illuminate fine dust particles you otherwise wouldn’t see. Finally, I switch to the Submarine wet roller head to mop the floors with a continuous stream of clean water.

Read my full review of the Dyson V15 Detect Submarine.

Another great cordless vacuum: Dyson V12 Detect Slim#

Dyson V12 Detect Slim

Pros and cons

Pros

• Lightweight
• Compact
• Powerful
• Don’t have to hold down trigger while cleaning

Cons

• Small dust bin
• Pricey

Specs

Battery Runtime: Up to 60 minutes
Weight: 5 lb. (in stick vac mode)
Canister capacity: 0.34 liters/0.36 quarts
HEPA filter: Yes
Warranty: 2-year limited

What we love: The Dyson V12 Detect Slim is a great lightweight stick vacuum cleaner—especially for small spaces and quick cleaning jobs. In fact, when it came out in June of 2022, this 5-lb. stick vac was my all-time favorite Dyson model thanks to some innovative features that make it easier to use than earlier models, despite its smaller-than-standard dust bin (.09-gallon capacity compared to the V8’s .14-gallon capacity). Unlike both earlier and later models that require you to hold down a trigger while vacuuming, this stick vac has a button you can push to turn the suction on and have it stay on (push it again to turn the suction off). An LCD display alerts you to remaining battery life and when it’s time to clean the filters. You can easily switch between power modes (Auto, Eco, and Boost) at the push of a button, and in Auto this vacuum detects dirt and debris and automatically adjusts the suction power as needed to prolong battery life. The battery charges more quickly than earlier Dyson models too (3.5 hours versus 5). You can also buy an additional battery and change it without any tools—yet another improvement upon earlier Dyson models.

What we’d leave: This vacuum is compact and lightweight but the trade-off is a small canister. However, if you’re short on space, don’t have pets, or do have pets and don’t mind emptying the canister multiple times while cleaning, it’s still a great option. It’s also pricey, but Dyson vacuum cleaners don’t come cheap—and, like many consumer goods, some are getting more expensive. At the time of publishing, the suggested retail price for this model is $730—that’s $80 more than the $650 SRP it had maintained since it was released in 2022. That said, you can often find it for less on Amazon.

Two good cordless stick vacuums for under $500#

Budget pick: Tineco Pure One S11

Tineco Pure One S11

Pros and cons

Pros

• Quiet
• Powerful
• Lever to keep power button down while cleaning
• Easy-to-clean filters

Cons

• Somewhat short battery life

Specs

Battery runtime: Up to 40 minutes
Weight: 3.5 lb. in stick mode
Canister capacity: 0.6 liters/0.63 quarts
HEPA filter: Yes
Warranty: 2-year limited

What we love: I first became acquainted with Tineco as a brand through its life-changing (literally) vacuum-mop hybrids, and I was pleasantly surprised by the brand’s cordless stick vacuum cleaners too. The most surprising thing about the Tineco Pure One S11 is that it’s incredibly quiet. The second most surprising thing is that it actually has powerful suction—and not just for something so quiet. In my testing, this Tineco stick vacuum cleaned as well as (and more quietly than) the comparable Dyson V8 Absolute model I tested alongside it. And it was even better than the V8 in its hand vac mode when I used it to clean my car. Like the Dyson V12, this is a smart vacuum with a dust sensor built into the floorhead to automatically detect suction power as needed in auto mode. The main body has an LED display with alerts for battery life, clogs, and other malfunctions, and there’s a lever you can flip to keep the trigger button down if you don’t want to hold it down for the duration of your vacuuming session. A pre-filter cleaning tool allows you to use the vacuum to kind of clean itself by vacuuming the dust out of the tube-shaped mesh filtered (cleaning similar filters on a Dyson stick vac is a messier job) and all of the filters, including the HEPA filter, are washable, but they do need to be replaced occasionally. This vacuum comes with a wall-mounted charging dock, like Dyson stick vacuums do.

What we’d leave: Shorter battery life is the big drawback here, and while the runtime is dependent on power mode and configuration, you can expect to get anywhere from 20 to 40 minutes on a single charge. If you want to double your runtime, you can pick up an additional battery.

Best for small spaces: Shark Stratos Cordless — an easy-to-store solution

Shark Stratos Cordless

Pros and cons

Pros

• Powerful
• Stores very compactly
• Long warranty

Cons

• Loud
• Pricey

Specs

Battery runtime: Up to 60 minutes
Weight: 8.9 lb. in stick mode
Canister capacity: .72 quarts
HEPA filter: Yes
Warranty: 5-year limited

What we love: If you want a powerful stick vacuum but you’re seriously short on storage space—like you need to keep it under the kitchen sink or tuck into an awkward RV nook—the Shark Stratos is the cordless vacuum for you. That’s because the shaft, or the stick part of the vacuum, folds in half, making it about half the height of most stick vacuums so it’s truly easy to store this thing in really small spaces. The charging cord plugs right into the vacuum, too, so there’s no dock to bother with. The hinge in the shaft can also be used when cleaning if you need to get into awkward spaces.

When I tested this in 2023, Shark claimed this was its most powerful cordless vacuum, and it did not disappoint. In fact, it was almost as powerful as the Shark Vertex Ultralight, a corded (and since discontinued) Shark stick vacuum I used to recommend. Though not as smart or techy as a Tineco, the Stratos does have dirt-detection technology (the brand calls it Clean Sense IQ) and adjusts the suction power as needed to preserve the battery life, even in hand vac mode with the crevice tool attached. The two brushrolls on the motorhead have what Shark calls Powerfins, which are little rubber “fins” that help to pick up pet hair and also prevent any hair from wrapping around the brushrolls. There’s also an optional odor-neutralizing cartridge, which really just masks bad smells but not in an unpleasant way (the scent reminds me of Downy’s laundry scent booster).

What we’d leave: This vacuum is on the loud side, and unless you find it on sale, it’s pricey compared to other Shark stick vacuums. That said, there’s a 5-year limited warranty on it (2 years on the battery), so you can feel your purchase is somewhat protected.

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How we selected and tested cordless vacuum cleaners#

Since 2022, I’ve tested 16 vacuum cleaners, including 10 cordless vacuum cleaners in a home I share with small children and a big, hairy rescue dog. Out of the box, I used each vacuum on my hardwood floors, on my flat-weave kilim rugs, and on my shaggier high-pile rugs. I then performed some more standardized tests, first observing how each sucked up glitter from a jute rug. Next I looked at how each picked up cornstarch and glitter from my black, textured kitchen floor. I also made sure to vacuum under and around my appliances, kitchen trash can, and other obstacles using the vacuums’ various attachments and configurations. The final test was the worst: my kids’ car seats. I used each vacuum in its handheld configuration to remove crumbs, petrified fries, other unidentified detritus, and probably a few small Legos.

What makes a good vacuum cleaner?#

Suction power

Though most can be configured for different uses, a cordless vacuum cleaner really has one job: pick up dirt, debris, and pet hair from different types of flooring. So I looked for vacuums with powerful suction that could suck up a variety of messes from hard floors, rugs, and carpeting.

Battery run time

I looked at whether or not the vacuum ran as long as the product description promised, and what that meant in terms of power. For example: If a vacuum runs “up to” 60 minutes, that usually means on the lowest setting.

Maneuverability

A stick vacuum cleaner should be lightweight and easy to maneuver, so I paid attention to how easy or hard it was to use the vacuum around the whole house, including how well it transitioned between flooring types, turned around corners, and fit under furniture and into tight spaces.

Attachments

I looked for vacuum cleaners with at least one or two attachments like a crevice or upholstery tool for non-floor vacuuming jobs. I also noted how easy or difficult it was to attach and detach the accessories.

Filtration

I looked for vacuum cleaners with HEPA filters to help combat allergens like pet dander and dust. A vacuum cleaner will lose suction quickly if you don’t maintain all of the filters, so I also looked at whether filters were washable, easy to access, and how expensive they would be to replace.

Cleaning

I considered how easy it was to empty the dust bin on each vacuum and looked for pet hair clogs in the airways. I also noted whether human hair or threads from rugs caught on the roller brush.

Storage

Cordless stick vacuums need to charge between cleaning sessions and don’t stand up on their own, so they need to have some sort of freestanding or wall-mounted base for charging and storage. I considered the convenience and footprint of each and also if the base had any sort of storage for the vacuum cleaner’s included accessories.

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Other cordless vacuum cleaners I liked#

Dyson Outsize

Dyson Gen5Outsize

When I first unboxed the Dyson Outsize cordless stick vacuum in 2022, I felt like I’d dreamed it into existence. For years, I’d had to empty what felt like endless dog hair from my Dyson canisters multiple times each cleaning session. The Outsize solved that problem with a much larger dust bin—though, because it could run on a single charge for up to an hour, I would still have to empty it at least once or twice if I were to vacuum that long during a deep-cleaning session. The powerful suction rivaled some of the corded vacuum cleaners I was testing then too. Unfortunately, it just felt too big and top heavy for a stick vac, and when I converted it to handheld vacuum cleaner, I felt like The Terminator. Those are mostly subjective criticisms, though, so if you’re not bothered by a big, bulky stick vac, you’ll likely be very happy with this powerful cordless vacuum cleaner.

Dyson V8 Absolute

Dyson V8 Absolute

The Dyson V8 Absolute is now a pretty old model, but it’s still a reliable Dyson stick vacuum cleaner with powerful suction, up to 40 minutes of battery runtime, and a handy mechanism for emptying the canister when it’s full (I had to use a chop stick to release clumps of dog hair that always built up between filter and the wall of the dust bin my older Dyson V6 Animal). It’s not as powerful as newer Dyson sticks, and it lacks many of the features that make newer models so appealing, but it’s often on sale. So if you want a cordless Dyson but don’t want to spend a lot, it’s still a reliable option.

Tineco Pure One S15 Pro (Currently sold out)

Tineco Pure One S15 Pro

The Tineco Pure One S15 Pro is newer than the S11 Tineco I recommend above, and it’s a quiet, powerful vacuum with some nice features the earlier model lacks. This one comes with a convenient freestanding charging dock (the S11 has a wall-mounted dock) and a five-stage filtration system. But my biggest problem with this cordless vacuum is really a problem with the brand—and it’s that Tineco releases so many variations on its models that selecting one is confusing, even for someone who writes about these things for a living. With Tineco’s cordless vacmops, the differences usually have more to do with accessories than power or features. However, when I tested the Pure One S15 Pro in 2023, the price for different S15 model variations ranged from about $400 to $700, and it was hard to make sense of what was what. At the time, there were three different S15 models on Amazon, but none were the Pro, and there were even more variations at Best Buy and at other retailers. Because each store presents product specs differently, there was no easy way to tell whether the differences had to do with voltage, suction power, accessories, or built-in features. Tineco’s website isn’t much help either. All of that said, the particular model I tested—the Tineco Pure One S15 Pro—is a very good vacuum cleaner, and if you can find it in stock (which the links here should let you do), you’ll likely be very happy with it. In the meantime, the Pure One S15 Essentials is about half the price.

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Cordless vacuum cleaners we don’t recommend#

Given how much I love all of the other Tineco floor cleaners I’ve tried (I regularly recommend both Tineco vacmops and stick vacs, including the budget pick above), I was surprised at how much I hated using the Tineco Go Pet Pro Cordless Vacuum. On paper, it has a lot going for it. The setup is uncomplicated and there are only a few extra accessories to keep track of, it has a large dustbin, the suction is powerful, and the brush roller is designed to eliminate or reduce hair wrap/tangling. It also features Tineco’s proprietary iLoop sensor, which detects dirt and debris and then adjusts suction accordingly to prolong battery life/run time. But while it does a good enough job picking up pet hair off my hardwood floors, it has too much suction for rugs. Of my 10 rugs, only the thickest, heaviest one doesn’t get sucked up into the roller right along with the dog hair. Switching to a less-powerful suction mode doesn’t solve that problem either—and even that’s a whole thing because there’s only one button for switching between modes and no display to indicate which mode (Eco, Auto, or Max) it’s in. It’s okay if you want a basic stick vacuum to use on hard floors and installed carpeting, but it’s a terrible option if you have rugs.

Overall, Shark makes really good vacuums, and I really wanted to love this self-emptying Shark Wandvac stick. It’s lightweight, it converts to a hand vac, and it has a nice minimalist look—even when on the charging/emptying dock. In its primary stick vacuum configuration, this model is easy to maneuver around obstacles and under furniture, but if you have pets or high-pile carpeting, it isn’t a good option. When I tested this model, it did a pretty good job picking up almost everything on my flat-weave kilim rugs, but dog hair often caused clogs in the dust bin, and the self-empty feature just wouldn’t work. Shedding from my wool shag rug also clogged up the roller brush more than once. If you don’t have shaggy rugs, high-pile carpets, or pets, this might be a good option for quick cleanups. And because it’s so lightweight, it could be a good everyday vacuum for people with mobility issues. All of that said, a self-emptying vacuum might not be the best option for the kitchen if you use it to pick up lots of fallen food particles because the canister on the dock could start to smell.

UK-based Lupe had lofty goals: to build a cordless vacuum cleaner that would last. The idea was that parts could easily be replaced as needed—and the battery could be removed for charging and even replacement if needed—so you wouldn’t end up tossing an entire device when one thing went wrong. I wanted to love it when I tested it in 2022, but it was strangely configured, I found it very difficult to maneuver, and it kept catching on my rugs when I tried to transition between different floor types. As of 2025, the company no longer exists.

When I first tested vacuum cleaners in 2022, the Nequare Cordless Vacuum kept popping up on Amazon with customer reviews claiming it was an affordable alternative to a Dyson stick vacuum. It was not. It didn’t even come close in its max mode with a fully charged battery. Multiple passes didn’t help either.

Why we don’t recommend corded vacuum cleaners

I’ve tested nearly 40 floor cleaning devices for Epicurious and Bon Appétit, including robot vacuums from Euphy, Ecovacs, Samsung, iRobot and vacmops from Bissel, Tineco, Dyson, and Shark. When I started testing vacuum cleaners for our vacuum reviews in 2022, I assumed a traditional, corded upright vacuum cleaner would end up as the top pick. Generally, they’re more powerful (thanks to the cord) and affordable (also thanks to the cord). After I tested 16 corded and cordless vacuum cleaners that year, I found a corded, bagless canister vacuum from Miele (the Boost CX1) to be the most powerful and versatile. It also cost less than any of the Dyson stick vacuums I tested that year. But a canister vacuum takes some getting used to if you’ve never used one, and even still, there’s the whole issue of dragging around a canister and dealing with a cord I’ve also learned via customer reviews and forums like Reddit that many people have been disappointed with the Boost CX1 after extended use.

But the best vacuum is really the one you’ll actually use frequently. To me that seems like a cordless model that’s always at the ready for a quick cleanup. I also found plenty of powerful stick vacuum cleaners that cleaned my dog-hair-covered rugs and kosher-salt-covered kitchen floor well enough to eliminate the need for a corded vacuum. In the end, cordless stick vacuums are infinitely more convenient, and as stick vac suction power and battery life continue to improve, the demand for cordless vacuums grows. So that’s where we’re focusing our attention.