While the V7 has a similar performance to the Cinetic Big Ball on bare floors, its cordless design is more portable, and you can also use it as a handheld vacuum. If you’d like something cheaper, you’ll need to look at models from the likes of Electrolux, Bissell or Shark.

Unfortunately, the swivel on the main motorhead gets stuck in a straight position if it's lifted too much. Stiff nylon bristles remove ground-in dirt, while the carbon fibre filaments remove fine dust from hard floors. However, the Dyson V7 models are significantly cheaper, and there is enough suction power to tackle most jobs. There’s a lot of power to pull up entangled hair and fur, although if the job is an especially tough one, you will need to go over the area a few times. Despite having an older V7 motor, the Dyson V7 generates plenty of power, which in combination with the 15-cyclone array generates a good amount of centrifugal force – enough to do a really good clean, even of carpets.It's less portable than the incredibly lightweight Humdinger, but it has a significantly larger dirt compartment.

Worse still, it takes nearly three hours to charge, and it doesn't have any indicator lights to let you know when your battery starts running low. This vacuum has poor suction performance at its floorhead, so it may have some trouble pulling debris embedded deeply within shag carpeting. It does a great job sucking up fine debris like baking soda but struggles more with larger debris like sand.

The V15 features an onboard tool storage rack, has a slightly larger dirt compartment that doesn't need emptying as often, has a longer battery life, and delivers superior performance on bare floors and low and high-pile carpet thanks to a motor that provides almost twice as much power. She's also the Australian Managing Editor of Digital Camera World and, if that wasn't enough, she contributes to T3 and Tom's Guide, while also working on two of Future's photography print magazines Down Under. If, while looking for blockages you notice that your cleaning head, wand or bin has seen better days then a replacement will be required. more power Sucking up as much dust as a corded vacuum, the V7 Animal has 75% more brush bar power than the Dyson V6 Cord Free, and has been designed for homes with pets. Wash it with cold water until it runs clear, it is recommended to not use detergents to clean it as this could ultimately damage the filter.

That means you don’t need to stick your fingers inside the dustbin to clean it out (although we would recommend you wipe it out every once in a while). Admittedly Dyson has more powerful handsticks in the V10 and V11 series, but the Dyson V7 is far more affordable than the newer models.Despite the Motorhead being more suited to carpets, I found myself doing several passes to achieve a thorough clean and found myself resorting to ‘max’ mode, where it jumps to a much healthier 100 Airwatts of power, although remember that the battery doesn’t last long in this mode. The Dyson V7 is a versatile stick vacuum that performs very well on carpet but isn't as good as some other vacuums on bare floors, especially compared to newer, more expensive Dyson models like the Dyson V15 Detect.