Why the Dyson Gen5Detect Is the Best Vacuum Cleaner

For a long time I had a biased attitude towards expensive technology. Can an expensive vacuum cleaner be $500 better than a regular one? I confess that this is why I never succumbed to buying a Dyson product, no matter how tempted I was by the gentle British accent in the advertising. Oops, I was wrong. I’ve been using the Dyson Gen5 Detect for a month now and am constantly angry at myself for wasting money on smaller models and the disappointment they brought when I could have been living in this suction-induced bliss.

At a staggering price of $849 (even if the price is reduced from $949, ​​it will leave your mouth dry), so be it. After all, we are talking about a vacuum cleaner. And if you don’t have coins, I don’t suggest you extort them for the sake of it. But if you’re looking for a vacuum cleaner that won’t break the bank, I assure you of Dyson’s value. After testing a ridiculous number of vacuum cleaners in my life, including stand, stick, and robot vacuums, I’m not a casual shopper either.

Stick vacuums aren’t usually the most powerful, but Dyson

Last year I finally bought a vacuum cleaner, a model recommended by Wirecutter and Consumer Reports that turned out not to be a Dyson. Battery life was terrible, I couldn’t go more than 10 minutes without clearing a clog and kept draining it. I chalked these problems up to the cost of a handheld vacuum cleaner, but the first time I turned on the Dyson, all of these problems went away.

Its strength is obvious the moment you start riding it. It arrived loaded, so as soon as I unboxed it I was immediately excited about its first trip. It was so powerful that I felt like I was walking an excited 150 pound Great Dane bouncing away from me. It was quite powerful and I had to turn it down on my low profile rugs because I couldn’t move it without taking the rug and everything on it with me. Along the way, it had no problem picking up any debris on the floor, from dirt and dust to the remnants of some cooking supplies that fell on the floor, and the real test – my dog’s stuffy fluff. Clouds of polyfill from dog toys are known vacuum killers, but Dyson didn’t seem to care at all. The suction was so effective that when I used it for my favorite purpose—sucking spiders into oblivion—the spider was dead by the time it reached the vacuum chamber.

My 1,400 square foot home with carpet, rugs, tile and hardwood was easily built in one battery cycle. Dyson claims you can run for 70 minutes in one cycle, but I don’t have the house or patience to test that limit. The device can switch between three power levels, which affects the suction power and battery life of the device.

Attachments and capacity really matter here.

One of my main complaints about vacuum cleaners these days is how easy it is for the rollers to get stuck and require cleaning themselves. This was true for my Shark upright vacuum, previous Hoover vacuums, as well as every robot vacuum I’ve tested and a previous Tineco stick vacuum. Dyson came with a surprisingly large number of attachments, and no matter which one I chose, from the Motorbar to the “Fluffy Optic” (a name I don’t dare say with pleasure), they all cleaned my hair and did every other task – so you never have to clean the cleaning item. While Dyson actually comes with a tool called the Hair Screw, designed to remove hair from areas where hair tends to gather, like pet beds and car seats, I found that all of the attachments did a pretty good job of removing hair. task. There’s also a combo tool, but to be honest, I found that all heads work equally well everywhere, with the Fluffy Optic having a slight edge on hard surfaces like wood and tile. There are many accessories available to suit any space or task, from flexible hoses to mattress cleaners.

If you’re going to vacuum for 70 minutes, the problem isn’t even stamina, it’s how often you have to empty the vacuum. Sticks usually don’t have a lot of capacity because capacity equals weight. The Gen5 did need to be emptied every 20 minutes or so, but it definitely outperformed previous brands I’ve tried. In terms of functionally emptying the canister, I’d say Dyson was neither easier nor more difficult than other brands: once you find the right button, as long as you’re over the bin, you’ll be fine. Like most brands, it requires you to remove all wands or attachments at the same time. It’s annoying, but universal.

While assembling the vacuum, I thought I might have missed one of the tools, the crevice and dust tool, but support helped me realize that it is actually part of the main body and is exposed when you detach the long wand. Once converted to a hand tool, you can slide the neck outward for a hard crevice tool or back for a soft dusting tool. It took me a while to get the hang of the dusting tool – it had the perfect softness and profile to glide effectively over my keyboard, all my book dust jackets, and soft blinds. This is where I had my biggest regret, wondering how much less dirty my blinds might have been if I had bought a better vacuum cleaner sooner. He walked easily and without risk over sculptures with protruding parts and elegant dishes, glass lampshades, expensive speakers and air conditioning grilles.

My only complaint about the attachments was that the included dock doesn’t really give you a place to store them, but if that really bothers you, you can buy a dock like this.

How smart is this vacuum cleaner?

One of the premise of this Dyson model is that it will also make the air a little cleaner, thanks to a built-in Hepa filter that captures particles as small as 0.01 microns. If you’ve spent any time on air purifiers in the last four years, you know that’s high. Most purifiers themselves only filter down to 0.03 microns. To help you feel satisfied with your purchase, this model reads how many large, medium, small, and darn tiny particles it has removed as it goes along.

Dyson does this in part by shining a light onto debris as it vacuums—“detection” in Gen5 Detect. Personally, I didn’t notice anything special in the air in my home after using the Gen5, but I did notice that the dust and dirt that usually lingers after using other vacuum cleaners was gone, which is all I was asking for.

You can connect your vacuum to the My Dyson app, which doesn’t pass data back to the app or diagnose the machine, but does serve as a visual guide to setup, maintenance and diagnostics, and quickly connects you to parts and accessories.

Very limited disadvantages

It’s worth noting that the vacuum weighs almost eight pounds. It doesn’t seem like much until you hold it for 20-30 minutes. It’s a trade-off in terms of the power you get; This vacuum cleaner is a beast and it takes up a lot of wall space because of it. It looks good, but doesn’t fade into the background. I also didn’t like that the power button is on the front of the device rather than a trigger that you can use with your finger. The machine was either on or off, unlike the trigger on most sticks which allows you to decide exactly when to use it. The same edge determines the power mode.

As I mentioned earlier, the extra tools/heads cannot be hidden with the included mount, so you will have to store them elsewhere.

Honestly, I wish I could be more critical – it’s hard to accept that a more expensive tool is actually… worth it? But I can honestly say that this is the most powerful vacuum cleaner I’ve ever used, and if I can’t do my taxes with it, you’ll snatch it from my cold, dead hands.