We use three types of soil. To simulate small particle size, we use a mix of play sand and landscaping sand. To emulate larger dirt particles, we use uncooked black rice. To see how vacuums deal with pet hair, we use a mixture of clippings sourced to us through our local pet groomer.
We run tests in a straight line across all three floor types.
We perform three runs (at minimum) on each floor type. We also test suction power with sand and rice separately. That comes to at least 18 tests per vacuum. To measure the results, we weigh the vacuum’s dust bin both before and after each run.
From there we can calculate the percentage of dirt and debris pickup for every run and the average amount of soil a vacuum manages to remove. Additionally, we run anecdotal (visual) pet hair tests for each vacuum, on all three floor types, to help us select the best cordless vacuum.
Which cordless vacuums cleaned up in CNET tests?
Let’s get right to the numbers, starting with our sand tests. The table below tells you the average percentage of sand each vacuum was able to remove from each of our three test surfaces. The vacuums are listed in order of overall sand removed in total, from the most to the least, so feel free to think of this as something of a sand test leaderboard. As you can see, the Dyson V15 Detect is our top overall cleaner in these sand tests, but note that the Samsung Jet 90 outperformed it by a considerable margin on thick, plushy midpile carpet. Sucking sand out of carpets like those is a real challenge. Most of the vacuums we test can’t even remove 80% of the stuff when all is said and done. The Jet 90 managed almost 98%, which is pretty outstanding. If you have thick carpets like those in your home, it’s worth a look.
Meanwhile, the Tineco Pure One S11 is the only cordless vacuum in the top 5 of our sand tests that retails for less than $500. At a price of $400 (or less, if you catch a sale), it offers a high level of performance at a strong value relative to the competition, which is a large part of the reason why it’s our top recommended cordless vacuum.
That does it for sand. Let’s take a look at how the cordless vacuums we tested handled uncooked black rice, our stand-in for crumbs and other larger-sized bits of debris.
As you can see, the black rice test is less of a challenge than the sand test, and a number of the vacuums we tested, including the top-rated Tineco Pure One S11, finished with a perfect rating across all three surfaces. Interestingly, that shortlist of perfect-rated cleaners includes two of our value picks, the Shark Rocket Pet Pro and the Moosoo XL-618. Neither one was a standout with sand (the Moosoo model was actually among the worst in those tests), but with larger crumbs at least, both are perfectly capable.
The Bissell IconPet features headlights and a nice-looking black and green build, but it wasn’t a top performer in our tests.
