The Best Handheld Vacuums

This lightweight, 3-pound hand vacuum is specially designed to target pet hair and does exactly that. It comes with three attachments. A powerful motorized brush lifts pet hair from a myriad of surfaces, including fur embedded in fabric and carpet; a super-skinny crevice tool sucks debris from in between cushions; and a flat, wide attachment works well for surface upholstery vacuuming.

Like most other handheld vacs, you press a button on the top to disconnect the bin, and the filter sits on top. You can easily lift out the filter and separate the layers to help maintain cleanliness. The rotating bristles work to suck up and move pet hair quickly and efficiently to the back bin, like a large vac does. In the first go, which lasted about 15 minutes before running out of juice, I was able to pick up over three canisters filled with just dust and hair. The only issue I have with this is that the crevice tool would often get stuck in the vacuum attachment connector, and it took a lot of muscle to pull out to change attachments.

The Worx 20V Cordless Cube Vac is my favorite vacuum I’ve tried for cleaning the car. The handle and hose design make it easy to hold the body of the vacuum in one hand, with your thumb over the power button to control it, while using the hose in your other hand to reach all the tiny crevices in the car. For me, that’s every crevice around my son’s car seat and the ground of the seat in front of it. You could also easily place it inside the car and vacuum around with the hose, too, which can extend up to three feet. The base of the vacuum also has two spots for its two attachments, a crevice nozzle and brush attachment, so you can easily add on an attachment and then store it away without having to walk away from your car cleaning session.

While it has a fun square base, it doesn’t have a massive dustbin, though I found it plenty to vacuum a sedan car full of sand. It’s got a similar side dustbin to the Dyson Humdinger we recommend above. The battery life also promises only 10-25 minutes of range, depending on whether you’re using the high or low-speed setting, but again, I found this more than enough for two car vacuuming sessions in a sedan. You might need to charge it each time if you’re using it for something like a three-row minivan, but the design also makes it easy to switch it on and off, so you aren’t running the vacuum when you don’t need to. —Nena Farrell

WIRED reviewer Brenda Stolyar liked this newest addition to the Dyson lineup (7/10, WIRED recommends), a handheld vacuum designed specifically for sucking up dirt and debris from your car and boat, plus bedding, furniture, and other awkward spaces. it's small, but has a powerful suction, with a spin speed of 110,000 RPM (comparable to other bigger, more expensive Dyson models) and a crevice tool that made it easy to suck up crumbs in hard-to-reach places like in between seats and in upholstery crevices.

However, unlike Dyson's standard vacuums, it only comes with two cleaning modes, and it doesn't have a digital display or power button. Instead, flip the switch between the two modes—standard and max—and press the trigger. This handheld also has a long battery life to get you through multiple cleans without having to remove it from your car or wherever you mostly use it.

This vacuum means business. It’s very similar to our other Ryobi pick, but has a mini motorized beater bar that’s excellent for hair, a crevice tool, a dust brush, and LEDs for increased visibility while cleaning. (See? Powerhorse.) Like the other Ryobi model, it sits on a rechargeable 18-volt battery with a charging indicator light and easily attaches and detaches to the end for less bulky charging. As an added bonus, the battery is compatible with other Ryobi tools.

The crevice tool worked great for hard-to-reach places and the brush was gentle enough to brush and vac debris (it worked excellently on my air vents). The mini motorized beater bar packs a lot of power and the head pivots to keep extra close to various surfaces and angles. The cover of the beater bar can be opened with a small slotted tool (I used a coin), and the brush slips out for even easier cleaning. I used the vacuum on concrete to suck up cat litter, fabrics with pet hair, carpet with pine needles, and even tough items like wood chips were sucked up without issue.

It’s probably the most powerful on the list, but I don’t think it’s the one best for most people, simply because it’s such a workhorse. It’s a bit heavier and bulkier than others on the list, and is pretty loud—and bright with an LED light that ensures you can clean in any condition.

This hand vacuum from Shark is made for pets, but it’s great to use for all kinds of things in a household of a cat and a toddler: spilled Cheerios or kibble, scattered litter, various dirt in the car, drywall dust after installing a new curtain rod, the list goes on. It’s powerful and works well for everything I’ve tried it for. The only downside is how short the battery life is, but I’ve still managed to vacuum small messes several times throughout the week before needing to charge it again. —Nena Farrell

This sleek, super-light (1.37-pound) handheld vac may not be the most powerful on this list, but it’s definitely the easiest to maneuver. It sits in its changing port and takes 2.5 to 3.5 hours to fully charge for up to 12 minutes of use time. It comes with a multi-accessory tool that combines a long, slim crevice tool with a moveable brush (the brush moves up and down on the tool depending on need), but you can also just use the vac without the slim attachment for more general surface cleaning.

The tiny 0.1 L front of the vac twists off to empty, and a small dual filter can also be removed for cleaning/replacement. The filter has a mesh covering and a twist lock to protect the washable HEPA filter on the inside. I wasn’t able to successfully pick up bigger items like wood shards or litter, and only picked up a fraction of pet hair as some of the more powerful models with a roll brush, but I wasn’t expecting it to—that’s not this cutie’s job. It’s portable, light, simple, and easy to use. I started keeping it in my car for small messes here and there, like crumbs or debris from my shoes. It’s a great portable option for specific needs, but if you’re looking for a more powerful model I’d check out Ryobi or a good everyday vac like Dyson.