One of the odd things we’ve noticed after using and reviewing hundreds of vacuum cleaners over the last decade is how often manufacturers will price seemingly different machines at nearly the same price point. Usually when this occurs, it’s because one vacuum is stronger in most areas with a glaring weakness in a key spot while the other vacuum is less effective in most areas but lacks any particularly bad points.

A $700 example of this phenomenon involves the Miele Alize and Calima, where the Alize is the better machine but is saddled with poorer accessories while the Calima is a simpler machine propped up with pro-level brush heads. At the $300 price point, we have the Prolux 9000 and Prolux 7000, both of which have next to no information about them online (we honestly picked them up out of sheer curiosity). Which of the two is the better fit for the typical user, and is either worth $300? We reviewed and compared both to find out. If you’re in a hurry and simply want to know which to buy, we recommend the Prolux 9000 (because it’s basically the 7000 with newer parts), and you can buy it here.

Pros, Cons, and Key Features of the Prolux 9000 Upright Sealed HEPA vacuum with 12 Amp Motor on board tools and 7 year warranty!

The Prolux 9000 has far too long of a name on Amazon, but despite the poor copywriting, it’s actually a decent vacuum in the sub-$300 price range. As you’ve probably guessed from the title, it comes with a standard 12 amp motor and 7 year motor warranty, which we appreciated in comparison to the hordes of brand-name vacuums with measly 1-year warranties. We had to read the fine print to learn that the rest of the vacuum only carried a 3 year warranty, but that’s still more than most manufacturers are willing to bet on the livelihood of their machines.

It’s a standard upright, and includes LED lights to help you see what you’re vacuuming, a washable HEPA filter tool, a range of accessory tools (a crevice tool, a hard floor tool, an upholstery tool, a duster brush, an onboard hose, and an extendable wand) and five extra bags aside from the main bag installed in the machine. When empty, it weighs 19 pounds, which, while nowhere near as light as vacuums get, wasn’t too heavy to push around on a given floor.We were also happy to see a 30-foot cord and an indicator light to notify us when the bag was full. But stats are cheap; how good of a job does the Prolux 9000 actually do when cleaning?

To be honest, it did a good job–a very good job for its price range. We tested it on low-pile, medium-pile, and high-pile carpets and it reliably pulled out dirt and grime without much trouble. We noticed while using it that some kind of automatic height adjustment system was in place, as the vacuum didn’t skip a beat when moving from one surface to the other and we didn’t need to adjust anything manually. The 9000 also performed admirably on hardwood floors without scratching them, which both we and our clients appreciated. Our primary cleaning-related complaint was that we weren’t able to lay the body down flat enough to clean beneath beds and sofas; we’d estimate that we were able to get a 20 degree angle before the hinge would no longer give, and we didn’t feel like pushing it beyond this level.

Beyond this, our other significant complaint was the fact that this is essentially a brand with no presence, which makes sense since it had all the markings of a basic made-in-China vacuum. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it does mean it can be harder to find parts if you need them without going directly through the seller. We contacted the seller to learn about how we’d be able to cash in on a warranty claim and were told that to have it serviced, we’d need to ship it to the company repair center (which costs around $50 each trip), since there weren’t service centers in the United States. Since we tend to do our own repairs, this wouldn’t affect us, but it could mean a long wait for someone who had no options besides sending it in. That said, we did like the Prolux 9000. It’s a simple, no-frills vacuum that does what it’s supposed to–clean.

Pros, Cons, and Key Features of the Prolux 7000 (LED Upright Sealed H-Grade HEPA Allergen Pet Vacuum)

The Prolux 7000 is the allegedly-younger sibling of the 9000 that inexplicably costs just as much to bring home. We looked at the spec sheets for both vacuums in effort to tell them apart, and we’ll be honest: apart from the name, the color, and the date of manufacture, we couldn’t tell a difference. In other words, the Prolux 7000 is simply an older version of the 9000. The warranty is the same; the motor is the same; the list of accessories is the same; virtually everything is the same.

Well, that’s not quite true. We contacted our network of cleaners and found that those who had used the Prolux 7000 over the last few years had liked it, but had judged it too unreliable to consider for long term commercial use due to the high number of plastic parts that were prone to coming loose. We contacted Prolux and asked about these issues and the extent to which they had been resolved in the 9000, and were assured that the 9000 had been redesigned to address the problems in the 7000. Time will tell if this is true.

Which is the better deal between the Prolux 9000 and Prolux 7000?

Between the Prolux 9000 and Prolux 7000, most of our staff felt the Prolux 9000 was the better vacuum for $300. While the construction was nearly identical to the 7000, an examination of how the parts were connected suggested the 9000 would have significantly longer longevity before needing to play the warranty game with the manufacturer. We’d only recommend the 7000 if you really liked blue or if you were able to get it at a steep, steep discount compared to the 9000; otherwise, it’s best to look at the 7000 as a beta-release and the 9000 as what the 7000 should have been: a basic, functional upright with a long warranty.

You can buy the Prolux 9000 here on Amazon or buy the Prolux 7000 here.

Canadians, unfortunately neither Prolux is available. However, you can buy two excellent canister alternatives, the Titan here and the Capri here.

If you find our research on PMC helpful, you can follow our efforts to keep maniacally reviewing home cleaning tools by shopping through our links above. We promise to keep fighting the good fight against every horror children, animals, and grown, yet messy humans can inflict upon a clean home.