A revamped champ
Everything you need to know about the Dyson Cyclone V10 cordless vacuum is in its price. If you can fathom paying nearly a thousand dollars for a vacuum cleaner, then it’s likely you’ll have no regrets doing so. The V10 is a meticulously designed performance machine, built to vacuum, dust, and even filter. It performs like a champ, and I can’t find anything crummy to say about it.
It’s a hygienic ray gun
The V10 succeeds the V8 cordless vacuum and is a different machine, both inside and outside. The V10 has a new V10 digital motor that is smaller but more powerful. It has a longer battery life, and different acoustics. The V10 also has a fresh design, which aligns the motor, bin, and cyclone in a straight line. This apparently creates 20% more suction power than the V8 and also makes it look like a ray gun.
13/10 looks like a ray gun.
One of the best things about the new chassis is that it’s now easier — and more hygienic — to empty the bin. On previous designs, you had to pull a release handle upwards to eject the bin. It got fiddly; my one-year-old V8 now insists on opening only if you pull up at angles it likes. On the V10, you point it downwards and push the ejection lever to release the bin. There aren’t any angles to fidget with, and you’re less likely to get caught in the dust bloom from the discharge. You can briefly see how it works at the 0:46 mark in this video:
I used the V10 Absolute+ for my review. That’s the version with the bigger bin, 0.76-liter versus the Absolute and Fluffy’s 0.54-liter. I didn’t use the smaller V10s, but I don’t think you need the bigger bin; just empty it more often. The bigger bin adds weight; the Absolute+ weighs 2.68kg. That makes the V10 Absolute+ heavier than the 2.6kg V8 Carbon Fibre. The V10 Absolute and Fluffy are the lightest at 2.5kg. The Absolute+ isn’t that much heavier, and it never felt difficult to control. But lighter is always welcome for something you carry at a stretch.
Likely the most fun you’ll have vacuuming
The soft roller cleaner head rotates and contorts smoothly to get into the corners.
Before you empty the bin, you have to use the V10, and it’s a pleasure to do so. The soft roller cleaner head glides and rotates smoothly. The accessories attach easily and give you a variety of cleaning options. The new digital motor V10 spins up to 125,000 revolutions per minute (RPM); faster than the digital V8 motor that spun at 110,000 RPM. I can’t tell you how much of a difference 15,000 RPM makes. But I can tell you that at its maximum setting, I can’t use the V10 to vacuum my carpets — because it literally sucks the carpets off the floor. My V8 doesn’t do that.
The V10 has three power modes, compared to the V8. I’ve used the middle setting for around 20 minutes and still had two bars of battery life left (the V10 comes with a new battery indicator). I’ve also used the V10 at maximum and squeezed around 20 minutes out of it. For comparison’s sake, my V8 gets around seven minutes of use at maximum power.
If you’re coming off an existing Dyson with a wall mount, you’ll have to re-install the V10’s mount as the charging port has moved.
The V10 has a longer battery life of up to 60 minutes, while the V8 could run up to 40 minutes. How long you’ll actually get, however, depends on which attachment you use, the power mode you use, and how trigger happy you are. The mini motorized tool, for example, uses the battery, while the combination tool doesn’t. And because you hold the trigger to vacuum, you might get ‘more’ cleaning time than someone else, because you pressed less. It takes 3.5 hours to fully recharge the V10.
The V10 introduces a battery meter, in addition to filter and clogged indicators. Unlike devices which get weaker as battery life gets lower, the V10 goes full steam ahead and abruptly dies when battery reaches zero.
I try not to go maximum power except for short bursts. Ask the V10 to give maximum effort for too long and it gets toasty. The maximum power mode is also the loudest. The V10 is as quiet as a vacuum cleaner can get, but it seems the V10 pushes its sounds into higher frequencies. I don’t notice this, but my wife has hearing as sharp as a dog’s, and the V10’s whine annoys her. You might want to audition this for yourself if you, too, hear like a German Shepard.
You can remove the bin and give the V10 a good wipe.
There are things you’ll need to do
I’m usually a grumpy reviewer, but I can’t find anything to fault the V10 for. That doesn’t mean there aren’t peculiarities. One of them is that you’ll have to clean the V10. The V10 sucks air and debris in from one end and expels it out the other. A filter sits there and Dyson says it traps 99.7% of particles as small as 0.3 microns (does this mean it’s healthier if you breathe in air from the butt of your vacuum than air from the room?).
This filter needs to be washed once a month, and the V10 comes with a helpful indicator to remind you to do so. With only one filter, the V10 is easier to clean than the V8, which had two filters to wash. The bin also gets funky from time to time; you can release the canister and do a quick wipe. Maintaining gear gives me a sense of satisfaction, and I love that Dyson lets you do it. Even the rollers in the soft cleaner head can be released and cleaned.
You’ll need to clean the air filter at least once a month. It’s just one this time, the V8 had two filters that needed cleaning.
The Dyson vacuums also clean slightly differently from other vacuums. The soft roller cleaner head doesn’t pick up debris lying near it on the floor, it has to go directly over anything to pick it up. A Dyson engineer explained that their vacuums weigh suction power over suction area. You can pick up more dirt if you clamp down the suction area, instead of making it more porous. It’s not a big deal, but it does mean you have to be more disciplined with your cleaning path.
Good tools enable good work
Pew! Pew! Pew!
The Dyson V10 takes everything good about the V8 and makes it better. Those advancements, like the longer battery life, powerful suction, and a user-friendlier bin, make the V10 easy to recommend. The machine comes in three variants; the V10 Fluffy edition will set you back S$899. The Fluffy comes with five cleaning tools and is the only one with red highlights. The V10 Absolute costs S$999 and comes with six cleaning tools. The V10 Absolute+ costs S$1,199, comes with a 40% larger bin, eight cleaning tools, and a tool bag.
It sounds excessive to drop nearly a thousand dollars on a vacuum cleaner, but there are people who drop big money for other kinds of work tools, like chef’s knives and power drills. You’ll sweat while using these tools — but they provide a level of precision and joy you won’t find with lesser instruments.
Note: This review was first published on Jul 11, 2018.
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