There’s no question that you’re going to get more power from an upright or canister vacuum than you will from a robotic vacuum when you want to clean your home. However, if you’re like most people, life is busy enough, and it doesn’t take much to keep you from cleaning. Sometimes simply having to fish a vacuum out of a closet, unwind the power cord, and plug it in (not to mention doing all of that in reverse) can be enough to keep you from tidying up, especially when you’re in a hurry due to work or family responsibilities. Sometimes convenience makes more of a difference than pure power. But let’s face it–ideally, we’d like both.
Dyson gets this; they get it so well they dominate the market for mid-to high-range vacuums in the United States (sorry Miele). Want a full sized upright? There’s nothing better than the Ball Animal 2. Want a handheld vacuum? You’re looking for the V7 Car+Boat. And if you want the best of what the market has to offer in cordless or stick vacuums, you’re going to want the new Dyson Cyclone V10 Absolute Cord Free Vacuum, which we’ll review today. We’ll also compare it to the second best Dyson cordless on the market, the recently released V10 Animal. To summarize our thoughts in ten seconds, buy the Absolute if you want the additional st roller cleaner head and buy the Animal if you can live without it and want to save money. Our full review is below, and you can buy the Cyclone V10 Absolute here. If you’re in Canada, you can buy the V10 Absolute here.
Where does the Dyson Cyclone V10 Absolute Cordless Vacuum fit in relative to other Dysons?
The Dyson Cyclone V10 Absolute is the latest flagship in an ever-growing line of high-end cordless vacuums by the British company. As part of their branding, Dyson refers to their premium portables “cordless” and “cord free” and call their budget line “handheld.” The truth is that both can be used as handheld vacuums; the difference is that the cordless vacuums include extension hoses allowing them to also be used as full-sized ultralight upright vacuums, or sticks. The cordless line also includes motor-driven heads that you can use to clean carpets with extra oomph. They also generally feature larger batteries and more powerful motors than their handheld counterparts, resulting in higher price tags. The handhelds, in contrast, are generally lighter and cheaper, at the expense of suction and battery life.
The current handheld flagship is the V7 Car+Boat. However, we generally recommend choosing a cordless model due to the additional power, battery life, and dual (handheld and stick) cleaning modes. The top of the line cordless Dyson is the model we’re reviewing today, the V10 Absolute, with the V10 Animal and V10 Motorhead rounding out the three most powerful (and longest lasting) Dyson sticks. If the cost of the latest models is too much to bear, you can save money with previous generations, starting with the V8 Absolute and V8 Animal. Farther back, you’ll find the V7 Motorhead in the V7 generation and the V6 Absolute, V6 Animal, V6 Fluffy Pro, V6 Fluffy, V6 Motorhead, and V6 Cord-Free in the V6 generation.
Pros, Cons, and Key Features of the Dyson Cyclone V10 Absolute Cordless Vacuum
Key features of the Cyclone V10 Absolute include an upgraded 60 minutes of maximum runtime (up to 35 minutes when using the motorized cleaning head and up to 11 minutes on max power mode); the previous generation V8 Absolute topped out at 40, 25, and 7 minutes respectively. Suction has also increased by 25%, bringing maximum airwatts up to an estimated 144 vs the 115 in the previous generation. You also get a number of accessories with quick release connectors, a docking station and charger, and whole machine, fully-sealed, .3 micron-level filtration. As is typical with Dyson’s non-full sized uprights, the V10 Absolute comes with a 2 year parts and labor warranty. It weighs 5.9 pounds on our scale, a shade more than the V8 Absolute at 5.8 pounds, but holds a significantly larger .2 gallon dirt bin compared to the .14 bin of its predecessor. As before, you’ll need 3.5 hours to completely charge its fade-free Lithium-ion battery. When used in stick mode, it’s 9.5 inches tall, 49.2 inches long, and has a cleaning path 10.1 inches wide.
Unboxing the V10 Absolute, you’ll find the vacuum and several accessories–a torque drive cleaner head that’s described as 25% stronger than the equivalent direct drive head in the V8 Absolute, a soft roller cleaner head, and the same four quick release tools found in the previous Absolute: a mini motorized tool, a mini soft dusting brush, a crevice tool, and a combination tool. As mentioned earlier, you’ll also find a charger and a docking station that allows you to store the V10 on a wall so it’s ready to go whenever you need it. Frankly, it makes a big difference in how often you’re likely to use it compared to a traditional vacuum that lives in a closet with its wind up cord.
What’s the difference between the Dyson V10 Absolute and the V10 Animal?
As with the V8 Absolute and Animal, the only meaningful differences between the V10 Absolute and the 2nd-best Animal are in the accessory count. Specifically, the Absolute includes a soft roller cleaner head that you won’t get in the Animal. The difference, however, can be quite significant if you want to maximize your battery life or if you have a lot of bare floors.
The roller cleaner is optimized for hard floors; this means floors like hardwood, engineered wood, vinyl, laminate, ceramic tiles, marble, bamboo, concrete, brick, and similar surfaces. To put it simply, it’s Dyson’s version of the Parquet twister you’ll find on the Miele C1 Cat & Dog or Miele Compact C2 Electro+. It’s meant to pick up dust, dirt, and debris more efficiently than the power head, which sometimes pushes dirt around instead of vacuuming it due to air currents created by the rotating brushes. More practically, you’ll also want the option to use the roller cleaner head on bare floors because it drains far less battery life due to being air-powered instead of electric-powered than the torque head. When you use the roller head, you get to enjoy up to 60 minutes of battery life. When using the torque drive head, that drops to 37 minutes, which is still a best case scenario; if you use it on thicker carpeting, it’ll drop even further.
How well does the Dyson V10 Absolute clean car, minivan, and SUV interiors, as well as around the house?
When you buy a top of the line cordless vacuum, you’re going to have high expectations–but they still need to be realistic. Not even the V10 Absolute will give you as much power as a full-sized corded upright, and it still won’t handle medium- and high-pile carpets the way you would with a Miele C1 Cat & Dog or Miele Compact C2 Electro+. You’re buying a Dyson, not a magic wand. That said, it’s hard to complain about the V10 Absolute if you can look beyond its surprisingly high price tag. It cleans dust, food, pet hair, grime, and just about anything else with relative ease, and does so from a range of bare, carpeted, and upholstered surfaces, including car seats, beds, sofas, stairs, and car interiors. The battery life is stupendous, even if you’re unlikely to see 60 minutes unless you stay religiously in low power mode.
Is the Dyson V10 Absolute stick vacuum worth the price?
To close our thoughts, the V10 Absolute, while not perfect, is the closest thing to a full-time cordless vacuum money can buy today. It won’t replace a full-sized vacuum for everyone, but it certainly will for many families, and it will allow almost every family to leave the main vacuum in the closet aside from the days where you really want a deep cleaning. For the remaining 95% of the time, you’re going to prefer the Absolute. It’s lightweight, easy to use, and uncluttered by cords. We’d just like to see a faster charging time; at 3.5 hours, you’ll need to plan your cleaning sessions if you want to clean an entire home at once. Aside from that, which remains unchanged from the V8 Absolute, we’re very impressed with the V10. Dyson listened to feedback and boosted power and battery life; it’s by far the best cordless option on the market today.
You can buy the Dyson Cyclone V10 Absolute vacuum here on Amazon. If you don’t need the soft roller head, you can buy the V10 Animal here instead.
Canadians can buy the Dyson Cyclone V10 Absolute vacuum here on Amazon or save some money with the V10 Animal here instead.
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.