Note: This review was first published on 17 May 2024.
The Objet Collection LG CordZero A9 Kompressor Cordless Handstick with All-in-One Tower is a rather long name for a vacuum cleaner, so long in fact, that LG’s own website is truncated. There are also three models to choose from, the A9T-Auto, A9T-Ultra, and A9T-Steam. I won’t go through the feature differences here as it would take up too much space to explain, but we've got a handy comparison in our news story to help you in a jiffy. This review covers the A9T-Steam variant, though the general vacuum specs and features should be the same for all A9 models.
The TL;DR version:
Unique attachments for whole house cleaning with one of the best docking stations to keep unsightly accessories hidden. However, some features look better on paper than in practice.
Note: You can find it on the LG store, Lazada, Shopee, and Amazon.
Design and Features
The most noticeable feature upon unboxing is the fact that the All-in-One Tower truly lives up to its name. LG has created this clever puzzle box-like docking station with compartments on every side that houses every single attachment leaving just a clean, green square exterior. This makes the A9T-Steam the most compact and aesthetically pleasing vacuum I’ve used. Extra points for the fact that its Calming Green colourway matches my wall.
Besides auto-emptying of the vacuum dustbin, the docking station also an UVC sterilisation function.
Almost all sides have compartments that hide all accessories and attachments.
Now, let’s breakdown some of its namesake features. The A9T-Steam is of course a cordless stick vacuum powered by LG’s Smart Inverter Motor with Axial Turbo Cyclone technology. While LG doesn’t specifically mention if these technologies have been improved for this generation's A9 model over its predecessors, the A9T-Steam generates 220W of power. It features a 0.44L bin with Kompressor Technology that expands bin space up to 2.4x. Despite the fancy name, it’s basically a physical lever at the side of the bin you pull down to manually compact collected dirt. This has a two-fold benefit: It prolongs the time before you need to empty the bin; and helps keep dust blowback to a minimum when you do. Anyone who’s used any kind of stick vacuum will know what I’m referring to.
The Kompressor "technology" is a physical lever on the side of the bin that compacts collected dust to give you more space in the bin.
However, bear in mind the A9T-Steam comes with the All-in-One Tower, which has an auto bin emptying function every time you dock the unit, so the Kompressor feature was practically left unused since I never had any dirt that required compressing. However, as a standard feature on LG vacuums, especially standalone units without the docking station, I can see its usefulness.
Ergonomically, I’m not a fan of LG’s vertical arrangement of its motor, bin, and battery pack, which all sit as a perpendicular block at the handle. This means it’s incredibly bottom-heavy. During use, I find that supporting the entire weight of the vacuum on my wrist tires me out faster than the Samsung Bespoke Jet (as well as the newer Bespoke Jet AI), which has its motor positioned diagonally along the length of the vacuum. The A9T-Steam also has a basic control cluster with a power button, and +/- buttons to switch between two levels of suction power: Normal and Power. A third Turbo mode, requires you to hold down the "+" button for 3 seconds. According to LG’s own estimations, the vacuum should last about 40/20/10 minutes in Normal/Power/Turbo modes, respectively.
Because of the vertically aligned motor, bin and battery pack, not only is the the A9T-Steam bottom-heavy, it's also harder to get the vacuum under furniture as it's so tall.
Pretty basic controls and battery level display.
In my experience, I have no complaints vacuuming in Normal mode. Suction seems strong enough that the vacuum actually ‘sticks’ to my floor when in operation. Battery life is sufficient to cover my entire 100sqm apartment with plenty of juice to spare…when you’re just vacuuming. If you use the powered mop head however, it’s a different story, but more on that later.
Slim and Wide LED Brush Head
The A9T-Steam comes with a new Wide and Slim LED nozzle as its standard brush head, which I’m conflicted about because I absolutely love how slim it is. It’s only 4.65cm in height. I’ve tested quite a few vacuums in my time, and this is the only brush head that has been able to fit under all my cabinetry without needing to break out the crevice tool to clean those spots.
The A9T-Steam's Slim brush head is the first and only one I've tested to be able to get under this cabinet.
However, LG also made it wider, which initially seems like a good thing because it covers more floor area. Unfortunately, because the brush head is now 30cm wide, it's become more difficult to get between things; I’ve had to move furniture around to vacuum spots where a smaller brush, like that of the Samsung Bespoke Jet, could fit nicely. The nozzle also comes with some LED strips, but it’s not as effective as the laser used in Dyson vacuums. Unless you’re vacuuming exclusively in the dark, the light doesn’t really do anything.
A quick comparison of the brush head width between the LG A9T-Steam and Samsung's Bespoke Jet.
Unless you're always vacuuming in the dark, the LED lights on the brush isn't that effective at highlighting dirt.
Another side effect of the wide brush head is that it cannot swivel flat on its side, as one end will start to lift up off the floor.
Power Drive Steam Mop
The second unique brush head that comes with the A9T-Steam is its Power Drive Steam Mop. This is a combination brush head that can wet mop, steam mop, and vacuum at the same time. LG has also put LED lights for this brush head, but my thoughts on the matter are the same as the previous nozzle. The hole for the vacuum is quite small and located in the middle of the brush head between the two mopping pads. So, it’s more of a spot cleaning function to help with larger pieces of dirt when you’re mopping, rather than being able to use it to vacuum and mop your whole house at the same time.
By default, it’s a powered wet mop with two rotating mopping pads. This mode draws power from the main battery, and while it is still sufficient to cover my apartment, I have other issues to pick at. For one, it is incredibly slow moving. It’s almost impossible to push it against its intended rotational path. For example, I can't swing it side to side for a wider mopping sweep with ease. You’ll just have to follow it as it chugs along. The other reason its slow is because water is injected automatically at set intervals to the mopping pads. There’s one setting to adjust the frequency, but you cannot manually override it. On average, it takes me 30+ minutes to mop my apartment with this brush head, and it gets really tiring holding the vacuum after 15 minutes. I could have completed the task easier with a conventional mop.
You can use the steam mop function—which heats up the mopping pads—to help clean stubborn stains more effectively. However, it’s such a power-intensive mode that it requires its own separate battery pack to operate. This battery is attached right onto the brush head itself, greatly increasing its bulkiness and limiting the spaces you can get into. The good news is that the A9T-Steam is bundled with two batteries. The bad is that the steam mop function will drain a fully charged battery within 10 minutes, so this feature is again, only useful for spot cleaning than for regular whole house mopping.
If you choose to use the steam mop function, you'll have to attach a second battery pack directly onto the mop head to power it.
Fortunately, unlike the wide brush head, the mop head allows the vacuum to be swiveled flat on the side to reach under furniture.
Out of all the attachments that come with the A9T-Steam, the Bedding Power Punch is my favourite. It makes cleaning mattresses and sofas more effective with a vibrating head that ‘punches’ downward to draw up and suck away more dust than achievable with surface vacuuming.
This interesting "punch head" vibrates to create an impact on your bed or sofa to surface up more dust to be sucked up.
For S$1,665 (discounted to S$1,549 at the time of writing), the LG A9T-Steam is a comprehensive vacuum package for whole-house cleaning. However, I find that many of the unique features you’re paying for in this model are situational rather than necessities. The steam mop, dustbin compressor, and bedding puncher are examples. My main disappointment is the Power Drive Steam Mop head. It’s too slow, too niche, and my least favourite nozzle. You may be better served with the other A9 models instead (and save some money), so choose the features you need wisely.
You can purchase the LG A9T-Steam CordZero A9 Kompressor Cordless Handstick with All-in-One Tower from the LG store, Lazada, Shopee, and Amazon.
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