Our Favorite Cordless Vacuums

This Tineco option is expensive, but it fixes two of the primary issues you'll run into with a stick vacuum: the dustbin capacity and the battery. The Tineco Pure One Station 5 comes with a large base station that you place the vacuum into, and that base station will both empty the dustbin into its own much larger dustbin and charge the vacuum. It sounds similar to a robot vacuum when you plug it in as it suctions everything out of the stick vacuum's smaller dustbin.

The stick vac itself has three modes and a green light to show you dust and dirt that needs vacuuming. It's supposed to have a smart sensor inside, named the iLoop Smart Sensor, that will adjust the vacuum's power level based on the mess it senses, but I didn't see that kick in even when I intentionally spilled flour and Cheerios ahead of the vacuum to try and trigger it. Still, I was happy with how well it vacuumed up that mess, and every other area in my house I used it in. The convenience of the base station really makes this stick vacuum feel so easy to use—I never have to worry about the battery, where I left it, or having to empty the tiny little canister.

Before Dyson was famous for its hair dryers, it was (and still is!) famous for its vacuums. We're got an entire guide to the Best Dyson Vacuums, and our favorite is the Dyson V15 Detect. It's a pricey upgrade compared to others, but not only does that come with Dyson-level air power, but there's a sensor that counts the number of dust particles, displaying it on the LCD screen while automatically adjusting the power level for proper suction.

You probably don't need laser beams and micron calculators, but they can be helpful if you have severe allergies. It's also just an all-around reliable vacuum that comes with an array of handy accessories, even a wall mount for a more elegant charging system. It's easy to convert to a hand vac for cleaning up the couch. Consider the V12 Detect (8/10, WIRED Recommends) if you want something even slightly cheaper and lighter (though it's not as powerful and has a smaller bin).

This versatile cordless vac is one of my favorite products I’ve ever tested—it has multiple heads for different jobs, can be handheld- or stick-style, and is lightweight and portable while still being powerful enough to suck up dander and pet hair on all types of surfaces. It’s incredible on pet hair—Dyson claims it has the most powerful HEPA filtration of any cordless vac on the market, trapping particles as small as 0.1 microns. It even has a digital screen that tracks particle size, and during cleaning, the indicator bars rise and fall, depending on the amount of debris detected, and afterward the screen displays the summary of collected particles.

There’s a Digital Motorbar cleaner head for carpets that has 56 detangling vanes so that pet hair never gets stuck in the bar for a mess-free clean. There’s also a Fluffy Optic cleaner head for hard floors: it has a super-soft rotating material and an angled green blade of light to illuminate invisible pet hair and dust naked to the human eye. Plus, there’s a crevice tool and smaller hair screw tool attachments that can be used as a handheld vac to get pet hair in hard-to-reach places. —Molly Higgins

This cordless vac has powerful suction, cyclonic filtration, a brushless motor, an easily removable roller bar, and lights on the vacuum head to better see pet hair and dander. The vac has dual plush rolls for hard floors and brush rolls for carpet to work effectively at sucking up hair and debris on multiple types of floors.

It has a simple, easily removable roller bar that makes dealing with any hair or fur tangles so much easier. The dust cup is also super convenient to empty, so you don't have to touch any of the fur or dander, and when it’s time to clean it, the filter is easy to access and clean. It also doubles as a handheld vac, with crevice tools and a dust brush that I loved using to clear fur and dust from vents around my house and on the often-forgotten stairs. My only gripe with this model is that it’s a bit heavier with its battery positioned right behind the handle, but the vacuum stands upright unsupported, which is an added bonus. —Molly Higgins

Wet/dry vacuums pick up dry messes like dirt and hair as well as spills like juice and soup. They're convenient, but from the few I've tried, I've typically found them to be just OK. However, I was impressed by Narwal's S10 Pro. It did a great job of cleaning a variety of messes, and even cleaned cat puke that was dried up and gross by the time I got home in the evening. Once you're done, put it on its base to charge and self-clean the roller.

The S10 Pro felt like it was pulling me through the room in a good way. It was powerful enough that it was actually cleaning the floor and not just wetting it. It won't replace a regular mop entirely—eventually your floor will need an actual deep clean—but we can appreciate anything that makes chores a little bit quicker and easier. —Medea Giordano