The best cordless vacuums you can buy

Why you'll love it: The Shark DuoClean Cordless IONFlex Vacuum is great at picking up crumbs and pet hair, plus it costs less than a Dyson vacuum.

The Shark DuoClean Cordless IONFlex Vacuum may not be as powerful or as long lasting as a Dyson vacuum, but it is quite a bit cheaper and still a very effective cleaner.

It has a few key features that make it stand out, but this biggest one is the removeable, rechargeable lithium-ion battery. Most other cordless vacuums have the battery built in, so when it fails, you have to buy a whole new vacuum. With this Shark model, you can just replace the removable battery pack.

The vacuum has a cool feature that makes it flexible for reaching under furniture without making you straining your back or get down on the floor. It's also great at picking up pet hair and crumbs — especially from hard floors.

Shark's vacuum uses a bristle brush and a soft brushroll to pick up dust, hair, crumbs, and debris from carpets and other flooring. In its tests, The Wirecutter found that this vacuum was best at cleaning hard floors, but good enough on carpet. That's why it won the second place position in the guide.

The vacuum weighs 8.7 pounds, so it is a bit heavier than the Dyson. It also comes with a five-year warranty should anything go wrong. You will need to clean the filter and dust cup regularly so it performs well.

In the package, you get several accessories and tools, including the battery, charger, duster crevice tool, dusting brush, wide upholstery tool, and anti-allergen dust brush. You can buy extra batteries to replace yours when it completely stops working. If you'd like to have an extra on hand for when your battery loses juice and you need to recharge it, you can do that, too. — Malarie Gokey

Pros: Effective, good suction, decent battery, light weight, multiple attachments

Cons: Pricey

Buy the Shark DuoClean Cordless IONFlex Vacuum on Amazon for $289.99 (originally $369)

Why you'll love it: The Shark Navigator Freestyle is great for both standard cleanups and for sucking up pet fur.

Perhaps the only thing worse for your floors than crumb-dropping kids is hair-shedding pets. But not to worry, the Shark Bagless Navigator Freestyle will restore your floors to furball-free status in minutes.

Pet owners face a special kind of necessary cleanup, and a good vacuum can mean a world of difference in making that cleanup a quick and easy process. The Shark Navigator Freestyle has been highly rated for all kinds of uses, but it’s especially good at cleaning up rogue pet fur.

The Shark Navigator Freestyle stands out among other cordless vacuums with its ability to easily swivel around furniture and other household items. The vacuum is also relatively lightweight, and instead of a bag, the vacuum has a large dust cup, which is easy to take off and empty.

The Shark Navigator Freestyle is also pretty well-built. It features rubberized wheels to help minimize any scratching on hard floors, and the battery, which will run for around 17 minutes, is replaceable — so if it eventually wears out you won’t have to get rid of the vacuum altogether. It also has a one-year warranty.

What makes this vacuum stand out from others in its category is the longer run time it gets (nearly an hour), and that it only take four hours to recharge.

There are a few negative things to consider about the vacuum before you buy. For example, the vacuum is somewhat bulky despite being light, and it doesn’t come with any attachments to clean up areas above the ground — this is a ground-only vacuum.

Pros: Easy swivel, well-built, replaceable battery, relatively inexpensive

Cons: Relatively short battery life, no above-ground attachments

Buy the Shark Bagless Navigator Freestyle Cordless Stick Vacuum on Amazon for $89.99 (originally $129.99)

Why you’ll love it: The Bissell Lift-Off vacuum doesn’t just fold up for easy storage — it’s also usable on hard floors and carpets for an excellent price.

Looking for a cordless vacuum on a pretty tight budget? The Bissell Lift-Off cordless vacuum may not be the most powerful one out there, but for those with small apartments, it might be the perfect option.

The vacuum features a brushroll that you can turn on or off, so it’s capable of vacuuming both carpets and hardwood floors. On top of that, the vacuum features a 2-in-1 design, so you can detach part of it to use as a standalone hand vacuum, which you can then use for sucking up crumbs on the couch, spider webs, and more. That design also helps the vacuum fold up easily, which is perfect for small storage places.

You do get what you pay for, and as mentioned, this vacuum is cheap. While the company doesn’t officially list the battery life, don’t expect it to be all that long, and don’t expect it to be all that powerful, either.

Still, if you’re looking to clean up a small apartment and don’t want to spend much, then you can get this one on Amazon for less than $70. Bissell offers a two-year warranty, too.

Pros: Cheap, folds up, detachable hand vacuum, usable on both carpet and hard floors

Cons: Not very powerful, likely short battery life

Buy the Bissell Lift-Off vacuum on Amazon for $67.56 (originally $64.52)

Why you’ll love it: The Hoover Air Lift Cordless vacuum looks like a full-size vacuum, and it comes with plenty of accessories and features — like two batteries.

Looking to go cordless, but don’t like the smaller design of all the others on this list? You’ll forget you’re using a cordless vacuum (apart from the convenience of no cord) with the Hoover Air cordless vacuum.

From the front, the Air looks just like any other full-size vacuum, and it has the accessories to match. The vacuum even comes with a second battery. Each of those batteries lasts around 25 minutes, and while you will have to switch it out mid-cleaning if you go over 25 minutes, in total, you’ll get a hefty 50 minutes of use out of it.

While full-size, the vacuum is lightweight enough to satisfy most people. As you would expect from a vacuum of this size, the Hoover Air has a brushroll on the bottom, meaning it can be used for both the carpet and the hard floors.

It’s gotten good reviews, too. PCMag gave the vacuum a nice 4/5 stars, while CNET awarded it 7.6/10. Part of the attractiveness of this vacuum also comes in the form of its warranty, which lasts five years.

Pros: Two batteries, full-size, lots of accessories, 2 filters

Cons: Expensive, have to switch batteries for full 50 minutes

Buy the Hoover Air Lift Cordless Vacuum on Walmart for $189.99 (originally $299) Buy the Hover Air Cordless Vacuum + Extra Battery at Amazon for $208.80

The best vacuum cleaners under $300

We combed through top consumer product review websites, Amazon bestsellers, and feedback from vacuum owners to whittle down the many inexpensive vacuum cleaners out there to the five we feel are the best.

These are the best vacuums you can buy for less than $300:

• Bets overall: Shark Navigator Lift-Away
• Best for pets: Hoover T-Series WindTunnel Pet Vacuum
• Best canister vacuum: Eureka Mighty Mite Canister Vacuum
• Best cordless stick vacuum: Hoover Platinum Linx Cordless Stick Vacuum
• Best hand vacuum: Black & Decker Cordless Lithium Hand Vac
• Best robot vacuum: Eufy RoboVac 11S

The best robot vacuums you can buy

Vacuuming is a real pain, but robot vacuum cleaners can suck up the dust for you. You can get robot vacuums for as little as $220, but the high-end models run up to $1,000 or more. We tested out a number of highly reviewed robot vacuums that run the gamut from $220 to $900. We also included a $170 robot mop and duster in our guide because it's a great vacuum alternative for basic cleaning.

Here are the best robot vacuums you can buy:

• Best robot vacuum overall: iRobot Roomba 690
• Best robot vacuum under $250: Eufy RoboVac 11S
• Best robot vacuum for $350: Ecovacs Deebot 711
• Best robot vacuum under $600: iRobot Roomba 960
• Best self-cleaning robot vacuum: iRobot Roomba i7+
• Best self-navigating vacuum: Neato Botvac D7 Connected