Dyson’s brand has considerable weight: there’s no shortage of Dyson-envy if you hear someone you know has one of their bagless vacuums.
And while brands can wane over time (hi Bose!), Dyson continue to plough money into R&D, creating not only things you might want, but things that are much better than the stuff you have.
Dyson changed the whole vacuum industry just a decade and a half ago by inventing the bagless vacuum, as well as the transparent dirt bin (which seemed like madness at the time), the cordless handstick vacuum, and much more.
We’re talking about Dyson’s fanless fans, hand-dryers that just dry faster, and today, battery-powered, rechargeable handheld vacuum cleaners.
The Dyson V6 Absolute is one of these.
The vaccum itself
The entire body you hold in one hand, carrying the motor, filter and dustbin. It lasts around 20 minutes while turned on, and there’s no cords – you squeeze a trigger and away it goes.
Dyson V6 Absolute body
Dyson V6 Absolute trigger
To get from your hands to the dirt in the carpet, you snap on an attractive red tube, to which you can attach a variety of heads. More on that later.
HEPA filters: why they matter
Dyson’s put in dual-HEPA filters for air that travels through the vacuum, with the brochure explaining that the filters mean the air is cleaner after it passes through the vacuum. The filters are easily cleaned or changed out.
Dyson V6 Absolute filter
So what are HEPA filters?
HEPA (high-efficiency particulate arrestance) filters are air filters that cut out 99.97 per cent of stuff in the air smaller than 0.3 micrometers. How big is that? Well, you’d need to stitch together around 100 of these to get close to the thickness of a human hair.
And where did HEPA filters come from? Ahem, well, the Manhattan Project, actually. To cut out radioactive particles. That’s how you know they work well.
Put to work: How it was to vacuum with
Well, vacuuming was about as fun as a chore can get. Pieces snap together intuitively. Being lightweight and manoeuvrable, it’s easy to use. It’s perfect for quickly moving from a full set of stairs, to cobwebs you haven’t considered getting for months, and back to the floor as usual.
You don’t have to move furniture. You don’t have to change powerpoints. You’re not pulling around a cumbersome wheeled vacuum.
The V6 easily delivers enough suction to rip through anything from heavier debris to fine dirt. The dirt-bin was simple (and just about hands-free) to empty.
Comparing to a Miele vacuum that was corded and bagged, it performed at a high level while it lasted and it’s far more easy to do odd jobs. You can pull it out just to vacuum a dirty corner – it’s not a chore to quickly use and put back.
That’s not to say it’s the perfect vacuum though.
You have around about a 20 minute cleaning time. And that’s it. The V6 Absolute doesn’t fade out – it just comes to a complete stop. There is a low-battery light, but you can’t see it while using the vacuum. Chances are you won’t charge it every time you use it, so there’s no real way of knowing how much longer it has.
Dyson V6 Absolute battery charging
It takes around three-and-a-half hours to charge fully before it’s ready to go again. Of course, that’s what you get with a battery-powered cord-free device. That’s what makes it portable.
One other mild complaint: the fact you have to squeeze the trigger to make it work makes sense, and the trigger offers little resistance, but when gripping the trigger and the body while vacuuming, the odd hold hurts your finger after a bit. Yes, it hurts the finger of a grown man at peak fitness who, just quietly, has the grip-strength of an orangutan.
For others not as lucky – think an arthritic 60-year-old lawn bowler – it might not be possible to use for too long.
A few people asked if this was just a high-powered dust buster. Well, it is, if you ignore that it’s about 1000 times the suction, isn’t just blowing out allergy-laden dusty air, and is truly fun to use.
One other thing – Dyson include a wall mount to help you click the vacuum in and store it out of the way. Perfect for small houses, right? Well, if you are in a small townhouse or apartment, there’s a very good chance you’re renting. And in that case, you can’t do your own home improvements and drill the mount into a spare surface. That means it’s wasted on a fair percentage of renters, who would probably love to use it but can’t!
Dyson V6 Absolute attachment
Where Dyson gets complicated
Dyson have a range of V6 handstick vacuums. And for people trying to figure out which one is for them, there are too many.
There’s the Fluffy (for hard floors), the Animal (for houses with pets) and the Motorhead (for carpets). There’s even just a straight V6.
Dyson V6 Absolute soft head
The only real difference between all of these is the cleaner heads. And the price tag.
The Absolute includes two heads – the Fluffy and the Motorhead, to target all debris. It’s the all-in-one, and it’s the most expensive, at RRP $899. (Shopping around, we can find it for $854 online.) The others are $100 or $200 cheaper.
Dyson V6 Absolute swivelhead
If you want to save money, it’s hard to know which one you should get, particularly if you have different floors, and a pet that sheds some hair but not a lot.
That $899 asking price for the Absolute makes it a significant investment. And while the knock-offs are unlikely to match Dyson across the board, it’s easy to justify saving a couple of hundred dollars for a tradeoff.
Dyson are firmly in the space that Apple play in. There are cheap knock-offs, but they aren’t Dysons.
Overall
So, what did we think, and should you get one?
The V6 Absolute is for a small house only. That’s partly down to the battery life you get, as well as the dirt-bin size. It is light enough that carrying it around isn’t a problem, and there’s a stack of different attachments for all your needs.
It has incredible suction and power for the tiny motor it packs. There’s a deeply satisfying feel when you first turn it on as the motor whistles into operating at 110,000 RPM.
We see three real problems with the vacuum, and none of them are related to performance.
1. You have to squeeze the trigger to keep it on, which for longer jobs will eventually hurt your finger.
2. It doesn’t run out of battery gracefully – just stops working all of a sudden. You get a low-battery warning light, but it’s not noticeable when in use.
3. There are so many attachments you have to have somewhere to keep them. And if you have a small house, you probably don’t have much storage room.
There’s also price. A Dyson is not a bargain; they’re premium, and come at a premium price. It’s up to you to decide if that’s worth it. Miele are the other real competitor at the high-end of the market.
However a Dyson does come with a five-year warranty, with a lifetime warranty on the filters. That makes it something you’ll own for as long as you need it.
The new Dyson V6 Absolute is available via Dyson.com.au for RRP $899.00 and cheaper if you shop around.
We give it 4/5. Longer battery life, and $150 cheaper across the Dyson range would make it almost perfect.
★★★★☆
Dyson V6 Absolute: Australian Review
No comments:
Post a Comment