When looking into products – really any product, the question that is often asked is “What’s the best?” or “What’s the best value?”. In many cases there’s a reasonable answer to these questions – however, in many others, there is no “best in all circumstances.” This is definitely true when it comes to Vacuum Cleaners. What’s the best will depend a lot on how you use it, personal preference (upright or canister is 50% preference I would say), how long you want it to last, and budget. However, within those constraints, there’s still the possibility to go for a glorified sweeper (best on bare floors, useless on carpet), a carpet cleaning machine (best on carpets, not good to useless on bare floors), or good on both (convertible in some way or adjustable).

What is my Budget

In this case, the budget will dictate new or if we even want to consider used, as well as if we want to look for maintenance free (disposable) or can plan on maintenance either yearly or every few years. How our budgets work would also help inform if we want to get replaceable bags, filters, washable or none. As far as I’m able to work out, there are the following rough budget categories.

Under $200

This basically means no budget. I’d suggest thrift stores if you can go used – look for one of the good repairable vacuums from below. Otherwise, if you have to go new, plan to replace the vacuum every couple of years due to loss of performance or just breaking in general. Sharks may be a good bet – the main problem with them is they don’t filter well, and no parts are available. They mostly must be replaced if anything goes wrong – get a good warranty if possible.

$200 – $800

This is the range where there are a lot of good options, mostly in the mid-range from good brands. You end up considering other factors below.

$800-$1600

These are probably the apex of quality for the money. You can spend more, but it’s not at all clear you’ll actually get more for your money at this point. You can get the top of the line or close to it in the top contender brands.

Over $1600

More money than sense or you really want to collect a brand new “odd ball” sort of vacuum. These would be water filtration or the like. Generally, not worth it in my investigations, certainly not worth it for the money.

Bagged or Bagless

This is one place where if you can afford the ongoing cost of bags, the answer is pretty clear. Get a bagged vacuum. Bagged vacuums usually have easier maintenance – every time you change the bag you change the primary filter. There’s less chance for “permanent” filters to get dirty, and no need to wash, clean and dry a foam or other filter. The bag is usually cleaner to remove and then throw out vs. dumping out a bagless chamber. You just vacuumed up all this dust and dirt, and now you’re going to shake it out into the trash, “poofing” out dust, etc. You also often can vacuum many times on one bag, vs. filling up bagless each time you use the vacuum.

What am I using this on?

Full Carpet

In this case, you’ll probably be looking at uprights and canisters. Uprights are great for full carpeting – you’ll need a powerhead, and pretty much all uprights have that electrically powered brush roller/beater bar.

Bare Floors

You probably will look at various canisters or “sweepers.” I’d generally go with a canister vacuum. Many cheaper ones don’t have a brush you have to worry about scratching the floors, or they have a different attachment that is a “parquet brush” that is designed for bare floors. Some of the higher end ones have a power head, but you can turn off the beater brush for your bare floors.

Combination

Of course, most people will have both types of floors, and some of them will want to use the vacuum on both. In this case, there’s a lot to be said for canister vacuums. They are designed for attachments, so you can easily switch out the tool for the type of floor. Many mid to high-end ones have onboard tool storage, so you carry around the tools you need with you for easy and quick switching. The best have a power head that’s easy to adjust the height and turn off the roller, so you don’t even need to switch tools for the floor. I now lean towards canisters because I think wider use is better – get a canister with a powered brush roller so you can do all your floors with one tool.

Other Concerns

Weight / Size

How much is too heavy? Will the vacuum fit where you need it to? Do you need to go up and down stairs, i.e., carry it? Can it get under your bed? Can it get around your clutter?

Filtration / Dust collection

This is similar to the Bagged vs. Bagless – but do you really need to contain all the dust? If so, you probably need a sealed vacuum with good filtration in addition to a good bag. If not, or low on the list, a cheap bagless or a light unsealed vacuum may be a good choice.

Cord Length / Attachments / Hose length

Do you need attachments at all? If so, should they be “onboard” or stored separately. How much reach do you need from a single plug?

How to choose?

Once you’ve determined your budget, you need to determine other limitations. Can you buy used or refurbished? If so, there may be good deals on premium vacuums that are just old but otherwise should work well.

For the cheapest range, you’re probably looking at either a refurbished/used vacuum or just whatever is cheap online or in store. For short periods of time, Sharks can work well, but they tend to lose suction or operation pretty quickly – the warranty is great though. I still generally suggest better vacuums, just used. If you are on carpets mostly, you can get many old Kirby’s that are the same except for outside design as the latest – often for free or for under $150 refurbished at a local store. On carpets, the Kirby’s are well regarded. They’re also tanks – so unlikely to be able to be killed, and there’s legendary parts availability for decades from the company. But it’s also very heavy, and the attachments are not on-board, and they are complicated to use.

For the $200-$800 range, look for sales on the low end, but you can get very capable Sebo or Miele canisters or uprights in there. I would expect the Sebo X4 or E3 work quite well. Miele isn’t quite as serviceable at home as the Sebo, so you’ll need to expect to take it to the vacuum store more often for work or perhaps for help unclogging it. However, it’s an excellent choice and has even better filtration. For lightweight uprights, the TOL Oreck XL21 is good if you don’t need filtration and want to use on carpeting. You can likely get one refurbished at the low end of this range. The latest versions of the XL21 – the Elevate, are basically the same machine (like Kirby) with different outside trim. The lowest end version is not worth it, but the top of the line Elevate Conquer one is good and lightweight for carpets. It’s also easy to maintain or unclog, easy to change the belt or bag, and easy and simple to use.

At the $800-$1600 range, you’re likely topping out the range in Sebo or Miele. You are also getting into new Kirby range. I think these are about as much as is worth spending, and towards the lower end. The Sebo D4 Premium is around the middle of this online, and there are deals available locally sometimes at a Sebo dealer. I think it’s probably the best choice at this point for the following reasons. It’s not too heavy at around 16lbs; it’s maneuverable – the ET-1 powerhead is amazing on carpet and bare floors and can be used as a couch vacuum if you have the fortitude. It has excellent filtration, and the consumables like bags aren’t that expensive. The build quality is amazing, and it’s designed for easy servicing. There are access doors for unclogging; the brush roll comes out without tools for removing hair, it senses if it’s starting to suck up a sock and stops for easy removal. The hose is tapered, so it gets bigger as you get closer to the vacuum, making it difficult to clog. It’s also amazingly quiet. You can actually hold a conversation while using it at maximum suction. The hose lets you get it tight places while leaving the canister part where you have more room.

Miele is very competitive here, but it is much harder to get at the powerhead to unclog or remove the brush roll for cleaning. On the plus side, they look nicer, and the powerhead has a light. They also should last but are more expensive than Sebo for similar specs in a lot of cases.

The most expensive range isn’t really worth it. You could get a Rainbow (this uses water to filter) or the top end Kirby if you can’t get a better deal. Water filtration is overhyped and messy to clean up – it’s literally taking a bagless chamber that you filled with water. You have to dump out this dirty water, clean out the (often glass) container and check filters, etc. for stuff that was out of the Water. On the plus side, there aren’t bags to deal with, and they tend to work a long time. It just is very expensive new – like the other TOL vacuums you can get one that is a couple of generations old that works very similarly for way less money. The water tank is heavy and large, and the vacuum is loud – kind of like a shop vac on full suction. It seems like a gimmick to me.

Conclusion

TL;DR – for generic all around use, if you can afford it, get a Sebo D4. For just carpeting consider TOL Oreck for a bit less money, and used or refurbished for a lot less. Otherwise, assume most vacuums are disposable.