We must have had a dud as we got the Dyson animal hair one and it was terrible. Battery life was rubbish, the suction was crappy and the pick up just wasn't that good.
Ended up getting a gtech which was fine for 2 adults in a small 2 bed house with wooden floors, but now we have kids and a bigger place we got a Shark corded and it is amazing. Literally the best vacuum we've ever owned.
I'm not sure the cordless Dyson I have compares well to a good corded vacuum cleaner for cleaning power. But for me, I got one a couple of years ago (after thinking about getting a Roomba for the umpteenth time and concluding it wasn't for me) and it's been perfect for my use case. I normally have a housekeeper come by once a month. But the high traffic areas including the kitchen really need a quick vacuum now and then in between cleanings and the Dyson's been perfect for that. I hated having to haul my corded vacuum out to do this. (So I mostly didn't.) Now it's literally a couple minutes work to grab the Dyson and give a quick cleanup.
Same experience for us. The cordless Dyson is a lesser vacuum cleaner compared to our old corded hoover. But it's light, it's easy to grab from the charger and you don't have to deal with a cord, so it gets used more. It just removes all the friction from the chore.
Yeah, the gtech was a battery vacuum too, but placed the motor/impeller right next to the entrance of the device, no long pole. I wanted to love the Dyson because of what we paid for it, but I left me a bit meh. My folks have a corded Dyson now and it is a good machine, but I really feel the shark just wins. Man I am dull :p
My cordless Dyson (V10 Animal, I think) is strong enough to get stuck to the carpet on the highest power setting. I won't use it past medium because I'm afraid that it will tear up the carpet.
FWIW, we have six furry animals of our own (with four different hair types) and also foster and board dogs. We never buy the “animal” cleaning machine. I’ve never seen a product that in any way shows it’s somehow more capable of dealing with hair or messes than other products in the same line. I have had them be more expensive and flimsier relative to that same line though.
The "Animal" product line is identical to the regular product but comes with a few additional attachments (powered hand hair brush) and is a different color. We have a Husky dog that blows her coat twice a year, 2 longhaired cats and a shorthair. The machine is amazing.
We have both a Dyson cordless vac and a Shark corded one. We use them for different things - the Dyson is for spot-cleaning, toddler messes, cars, furniture, bedspreads while the Shark is for our floors. Both are very good at what they do.
I had a similar experience with the Dyson and then the battery died. After getting the battery replaced under warranty, the machine has worked great ever since.
Ended up getting a gtech which was fine for 2 adults in a small 2 bed house with wooden floors, but now we have kids and a bigger place we got a Shark corded and it is amazing. Literally the best vacuum we've ever owned.