Dyson
Dyson V8 Absolute: The V8 Absolute is one of the more affordable Dyson vacuums you can buy. Normally $520 at full price, it’s currently on sale for $350. That still makes it more expensive than most of the vacuums on this list. In testing, it did great on hardwood, removing nearly 98% of sand, but it didn’t do as hot on carpet. The Absolute was able to remove 68.3% of sand from low-pile and 52% from midpile, falling short of many competitors, including the Levoit LVAC-200 and Shark Stratos.
Shark
Shark Rocket Pet Pro: Typically retailing for less than $350, the Shark Rocket Pet Pro remains a solid budget option, provided you can find it in stock. It offers excellent cleaning performance with crumbs and other small bits of debris on hardwood floors and satisfactory pickup power on carpets and with dust. It features HEPA filtration and a self-cleaning, anti-tangle brush head (helpful for preventing pet hair clogs) and converts to a convenient handheld cleaner when needed.
Tineco
Tineco A11 Hero (Update: Out of stock): The Tineco A11 Hero is no longer available, but it was a solid and reasonably affordable cordless vacuum when we tested it, earning a spot as best overall on our list. It scores 98.5% removing sand from hardwood, 82.5% from low-pile and 72.5% from midpile. It’s traded shots with the Tineco Pure One S11 and S15 Pet in terms of performance and value. When cleaning up pet hair, barely a trace of the material remained after the machine vacuumed mid-pile carpeting and hardwood floors. Some strands were left visible when traveling across our low-pile test carpet. Mid-pile carpeting usually causes more problems for vacuums, but the Tineco A11’s solid battery life delivers up to 35 minutes of uninterrupted run time.The A11 series design looks nice and is functional, with a dustbin that’s easy to completely empty. There’s also a handy trigger lock lever to keep the vacuum running without constant finger pressure. The Tineco A11 ships with some helpful accessories, including a power brush, a mini power brush, a two-in-one dusting brush and a crevice tool for versatile cleaning.
Other brands
Moosoo XL-618: It wasn’t a strong performer in our toughest tests, but the Mooso XL-618 proved perfectly capable of basic cleaning, particularly with crumbs and on hardwood floors. It also converts to a handheld vacuum that you can use to clean your car or furniture. Frequently on sale for under $80, the XL-618 is about as inexpensive as cordless vacuums get. If you’re willing to sacrifice some cleaning power to save some cash, it’s worth a look.
Bissell IconPet Turbo: Designed for tackling pet hair, the Bissel IconPet Turbo offers solid overall performance for a reasonable $199. It did reasonably well in testing, scoring 89.7% in sand removal from hardwoood, 66% from low-pile carpet and 54% from midpile. However, despite the reasonable price and decent performance, it was outperformed by our value picks, the Levoit LVAC-200 and Dirt Devil BD5700V.
Eureka RapidClean Pro: The RapidClean Pro from Eureka is another affordable cordless stick vacuum that you can get for under $200. It offers generally solid performance, removing 94% sand from hardwood, 64.8% from low-pile and 60% from midpile. However, like many vacuums in this price range, it’s edged out in performance by other picks that earn a spot on our best list.
Aposen Cordless 4-in-1 H22SL:(Update: Out of Stock) This is another affordable cordless vacuum that’s no longer in stock. It’s also not one we recommended due to its subpar performance in most categories. It only scored 67% sand removal from hardwood and did even worse on carpet, with 28% from low-pile and 37.6% from midpile. You can do much better for the price.
Lubluelu 009 (Update: Currently Out of Stock): At a very budget-friendly $85, the Lubluelu 009 is an easy recommendation for those looking to save some cash and still get some cleaning done without dragging around a cord. The stick vac did a commendable job by picking up 96% (on average) of our test sand from hardwood. On low-pile carpets, that figure dropped to a very respectable 66.7%. The Lubluelu 009 even fared well cleaning up the thicker mid-pile carpet, earning a higher sand pickup average of 59.2%. For pet owners or those who share a home with a long-haired human, the V-shaped brush design does a good job of avoiding tangles. But the Lubluelu 009 did have some issues getting all the pet dander from the carpets.
Prosenic P11 Lite: The Prosenic P11 Lite was a cordless vacuum that would have earned a spot on our list if its performance for carpeted floors was as good as hardwood. In testing, it successfully removed 92.75% of sand from hardwood, but fell significantly short on carpeting, managing just 46% on low-pile carpet and 48% on mid-pile carpet. For reference, anything below 50% we don’t consider very good. Despite being an affordable $160 at full price, we can’t recommend the Prosenic when you can get better performance from the Levoit LVAC-200 and Dirt Devil BD5700V.
