Cordless Vacuums
Find the right cordless vacuum, without the spec-sheet noise
Every stick in our catalog is scored on real suction, honest runtime and how it feels to use — from $120 budget picks to the 280 AW flagships. Answer a few questions and our deterministic engine matches you to the right one.
The US cordless vacuum shelf runs from $120 hard-floor sticks to $1,000 laser-guided flagships, and the spec sheets are engineered to confuse: air watts vs kilopascals, eco-mode runtimes measured without a brush spinning, "600W" motors that clean worse than a 115 AW Dyson. We track the models that are actually worth buying on Amazon and score each one on the three things that decide daily satisfaction: suction, battery and handling.
Top picks right now
Air watts vs kilopascals: what suction numbers actually mean
Dyson and Tineco publish air watts (AW) — a measure of useful airflow power that predicts real cleaning. Budget brands advertise kilopascals (kPa), which measures sealed static lift, not what happens on your floor: a 30 kPa stick can clean worse than a 115 AW one. Where a brand publishes neither, we score from independent cleaning tests instead of marketing watts.
Runtime claims are measured in the weakest mode
That "60 minutes" on the box is eco mode with a non-motorized tool. Engage the brush head on carpet and most sticks lose a third to half of it; max mode often runs under 12 minutes. Our runtime scores use the standard-mode figures, and the wizard sizes runtime to your home so you can finish in one charge.
Weight decides whether you actually use it
A 9 lb stick deep-cleans beautifully and then lives in the closet. Under 6 lb, a vacuum becomes something you grab daily without thinking. If your cleaning style is little-and-often, weight matters more than peak suction — and our engine weighs it accordingly.