Best for:

The Eureka ReactiSense 440 is our new best overall cordless vacuum, beating out our previous winner, the Shark Stratos. At $180, it's affordable enough to also earn a spot on our list of the best cheap vacuums. Normally, this comes with compromises but not so with the ReactiSense 440. It scored the highest test scores on hard flooring and carpet of any cordless vacuum we've tested, with a 96% average. It also comes with premium features, including a HEPA filter, LED headlights, and sensors that can detect flooring type to adjust brush roller speed and suction accordingly.

Why we recommend it:

Price isn't just what the ReactiSense 440 has going for it. Among the more than 50 cordless vacuums we've tested, it earned the highest scores in our lab testing across flooring types. It was able to pick up 97.53% of sand on hardwood, putting it in the top tier in terms of performance. The carpet score was even more impressive, with 98.53% sand pickup from low-pile carpet and 92.16% from mid-pile. "Eureka was amazing across all testing," said Schylar Breitenstein, associate lab engineer. "I just wish the runtime was a little longer but the pickup was even better than the Shark Stratos, surprisingly."

As you'd expect, this also means it tackles pet hair well. There's an anti-tangle brush roll designed to prevent hair from wrapping around the brush. Like the Shark Stratos, the ReactiSense 440 has smart sensors that automatically adjust the speed of the roller brush as it detects different flooring types.

The vacuum comes with a HEPA filter, an LED display that shows battery life, mode and vacuum status, and LED headlights on the vacuum itself to help spot dust more easily. Accessories are somewhat limited with just a crevice tool, upholstery brush, charger and wall mount, but that tends to be standard with more affordable vacuums, lacking some of the numerous attachments you get with the Dreame Z30 and other more costly competitors.

Who shouldn't get it:

Battery life is average, verging on mediocre. The similarly priced Uninell UV5 lasts longer at 48.6 minutes, while our previous best overall, the Shark Stratos, clocked 80 minutes. But neither holds a candle to the 110-minute Dreame Z30, although most of these options will cost you two or three times the price of the ReactiSense 440. The dustbin is also on the smaller size at 0.5 liters, requiring more frequent emptying and you won't get a self-emptying base station unless you step up to the Shark Clean & Empty or Tineco GoStation Smart.

Best for:

Our former best overall, the Shark Stratos is still one of the best cordless vacuum's around, regardless of flooring type. It offers excellent performance on hardwood and carpet, falling just shy of the Eureka ReactiSense 440. Combined with its 80-minute runtime, 5-year warranty, replaceable batteries, anti-allergen HEPA filter and $500 price ($370 as of this writing), this is the highest-scoring cordless vacuum on our list and an easy pick for Editors' Choice.

Why we recommend it:

The Stratos generated the second-highest test scores we've seen on a cordless vacuum. It picked up 97.2% of sand from hardwood, 94% from less plush, low-pile carpet and 94.4% from mid-pile carpet. On average, it was able to pick up 95% of sand during our testing, beating out our previous best overall, the LG CordZero A949 (89.8%), but falling just a little shy of the Eurekea ReactiSense 440 (96%). "The Stratos is definitely the standout," said Schylar Breitenstein, associate lab technician. "I use it to clean the floors in between pick-up tests because it picks up the most debris by far."

The Stratos comes with a very capable DuoClean PowerFins HairPro brushhead, a two-brushroll system that's able to dig deeper into the carpet to remove dust and pet hair. Unsurprisingly, we didn't have many problems getting pet hair out of our test carpet, and the self-cleaning brushroll never tangled. It's worth noting that for more deeply embedded hair, you may require more than one pass. Interestingly, there's also some smart chops under the hood. Shark's Clean Sense IQ is able to detect dirt and automatically boost suction power for better cleaning, although you can also manually change the cleaning modes if you prefer. It has an 80-minute tested runtime, which is better than many cordless vacuums we've tested, losing out to just the 110-minute Dreame Z30.

There are also some useful quality-of-life features, like LED illumination lights for highlighting dust in dim areas, an LED display that shows you the runtime you have left, and a multi-flex wand attachment to help you get the vacuum under furniture and other tight spaces. It also folds up so you can put it away easily for storage, a blessing if you live in a cramped apartment like I do. The Stratos comes with a washable anti-allergen HEPA filter and odor-neutralizing cartridges, so gross things you suck up don't fester.

Who shouldn't buy it:

While the Shark Stratos used to offer the best performance for the price, it's been outperformed by the Eurekea ReactiSense 440, which costs just $180 at full price. That puts the Stratos at a distant second unless you can get it on a steep sale. If you want a self-emptying dock, the Shark Stratos doesn't come with one. It also doesn't support mopping. The odor-neutralizing feature requires cartridge replacements every 6 months, which will cost you an extra $25.

Best for:

If you need a capable cordless stick vacuum that can also double as a mop to wet clean your hard floors, the Dyson Detect Submarine V15S is the vacuum for you. At $1,000 it's one of the more expensive cordless vacuums you can buy but there's a good reason for it. During our testing, it showed strong performance on hardwood floors and was capable of tackling carpet too. It comes with a variety of cleaner heads to keep your space spick and span.

Why we recommend it:

The Dyson Detect Submarine did great in our test of removing sand from hardwood, tackling 91.4% of the sand. Carpet performance was also quite strong, removing 84.8% of the sand from low-pile carpet and 74% from mid-pile. It's also no slouch at pet hair, removing fur from hardwood and carpet with ease. The performance isn't as good as our best overall, the Eureka ReactiSense 440, but it's still better than many other cordless vacuums we've tested, and the Detect Submarine has other features to make it a strong contender.

For one, it comes with the Submarine Wet Roller Head, a brushed attachment that lets you wet mop hard flooring using water and floor cleaning solution. Think of it as a Swiffer with extra power. There's also your standard Digital Motorbar cleaner head for standard vacuuming and the same Fluffy Optic cleaner head that illuminates dust that comes with the Dyson V15 Detect.

Tested runtime is a solid 41 minutes, a bit shorter than the 60 minutes Dyson estimates, but the battery is user-replaceable, which is now usually the case with cordless vacuums.

Who shouldn't buy it

If you don't need a jack of all trades that can tackle wet messes and just need an excellent vacuum, we like the Shark Stratos for most people. If you're a Dyson loyalist and need to bust dust, the V15 Detect offers similar excellent performance without the mopping functionality.

Best for:
Say hello to the best Dyson cordless vacuum, the Dyson V15 Detect. Like its predecessor, the V11, the V15 ripped through our suite of vacuum cleaner tests with ruthless power and completeness. I was also impressed by the 60-minute battery runtime. The dust detection feature is also no gimmick. It actively highlights dust you can't easily see and helps ensure you don't miss any spots.

Why we recommend it:

The trick up this Dyson's sleeve is the impressive 230 air watts of suction power from the cleaning head. That suction translates into performance. The V15 Detect was able to remove 88% of sand from mid-pile carpet, as well as 95% from a low-pile carpet. We consider anything above 50% to be good but the best cordless vacuums can often do even better. The V15 is a great cordless vacuum for pet hair, too. Whether vacuuming across hardwood floors or low- or mid-pile carpeting, the V15 barely left a tuft in its wake. The 60-minute tested battery life is also quite good, putting it in the top tier of cordless vacuums.

Several features set the V15 Detect apart, including its Laser Slim Fluffy cleaner head. Designed for hard floors, it projects a green laser onto the surface as you clean, making it easy to spot dust and small debris that would otherwise be hard to see. It isn't much help under strong indoor lighting or sunlight but it's still a unique feature that we found helpful as we cleaned. The readout on the back of the vacuum, which lists the ratio of dirt collected by particle size, was also interesting.

Bundled with the vacuum are seven cleaning attachments. Along with the Laser Slim Fluffy, you'll get a high-torque cleaner head, a hair screw tool and a crevice tool, just to name a few. It also comes with a wall-mounted charging dock.

Who shouldn't buy it:

The V15 is still a fairly expensive vacuum, at $800 MSRP. It also lacks mopping functionality or a self-emptying dock. Unless you're a true Dyson loyalist, the Eureka ReactiSense 440 will give performance, minus the dust illumination head, for half the price. However, Dyson also has some newer models in its lineup, including the Dyson Detect Submarine V15s, which earned a spot on our list for its strong vacuum and mopping functionality. It also comes with the Fluffly Optic cleaner head.

Best for:

If you want the power and cleaning performance of the Shark Stratos with the benefits of a self-emptying dock, the Shark Clean & Empty is the cordless vacuum for you. It boasts powerful suction on all flooring types and the included dock will automatically charge and empty the dustbin after every use. At just $350 full price, it's affordable, while offering great performance. It also comes with Shark's generous five-year warranty.

Why we recommend it:

The Shark Clean & Empty performed exceptionally well on all our tests, putting it close to other top picks, including the Eureka ReactiSense 440 and Shark Stratos. It removed 96% of sand from a hardwood floor, 90% from low-pile carpet and 88% from mid-pile carpet, resulting in an average performance of 91% in suction testing. This is just a few percentage points shy of the ReactiSense 440, which hit a 96% average on sand removal across floor surfaces. The vacuum automatically adjusts the brush roll speed depending on flooring type, although it doesn't have the same intelligent dirt detection feature as the Shark Stratos.

As you might have guessed, pet hair was also no problem. The Clean & Empty was able to remove pet hair from hardwood and carpet without much difficulty, and the self-cleaning brush roll is designed to minimize the hair that wraps around it.

The big selling point for picking the Clean & Empty over the Stratos is the included charging dock with the auto-empty base. The base station lets you dock the freestanding cordless vacuum and it'll automatically charge and empty the dustbin. You can go up to 30 days without needing to empty the dock's bin. The vacuum and dock have a HEPA filter that Shark claims can lock away dust, dirt and allergens.

Like other vacuums in Shark's lineup, the Clean & Empty comes with the company's generous five-year warranty and accessories, including a dust crevice tool and pet multitool.

Who shouldn't buy it:

If battery life is important to you, the Clean & Empty doesn't last as long as the Stratos or even the ReactiSense 440 (33 minutes). We tested it to 26 minutes of cleaning on medium suction, rather than the 40 minutes claimed by Shark. The Stratos, by contrast, lasted for 80 minutes of cleaning. That said, this will depend on the suction, and the charging dock does help make up for this, as it'll keep your vacuum topped up every time you dock it.

Best for:

Levoit's LVAC-300 is the successor to the LVAC-200, which earns our pick as the best cordless vacuum under $200. The LVAC-300 will cost you more but it offers even better carpet performance while still maintaining strong scores for hard flooring. At $350 full price, it would be our best value pick if not for the existence of the even cheaper and better-performing Eureka ReactiSense 440.

Why we recommend it:
The LVAC-300 maintains its predecessor's performance in hard flooring 96.15% sand pickup (slightly lower than the 98.72% on the LVAC-200), but it significantly outstrips it in carpet performance with 89.06% pickup from low-pile and 84.38% from mid-pile. It is outperformed by our best overall, the ReactiSense 440, however, which scores above 90% in all categories, including mid-pile carpet. It also significantly improves on the older LVAC-200 for low-pile (80.21%) and mid-pile (73.96%). The capacious 1.6-liter dustbin should also store plenty of debris before needing to be emptied.

Several design improvements from the previous generation are also included. The new anti-tangle brushroll should better avoid clogs from pet hair and fibers. A five-stage HEPA filter is also built in, and the brush head comes with LED illumination lights and an LED display that shows battery life and mode. The dustbin is fairly sizable at 0.75 liters.
Last, but not least, it scored an impressive 75 minutes in our battery runtime test, putting it a distant second to the Dreame Z30, which lasted for 110 minutes, but matching or surpassing top picks, including the Shark Stratos (85 minutes) and Dyson V15 Detect (60 minutes).

Who shouldn't get it:
The LVAC-300 is less competitive than the Eureka ReactiSense 440, which offers better performance on hard flooring and carpets and extra features like adjustable smart suction, however it's a big step up in performance and battery life over its predecessor, the LVAC-200.

Best for:

Uninell may not be a well-known brand next to others on this list but we were pleasantly surprised by the performance of its UV5 cordless vacuum when we tested it. It offered equally capable performance on hardwood and both types of carpet we tested on. Its standout feature is also the massive 1.6-liter dustbin, one of the largest capacities we've seen on a cordless vacuum that doesn't come with a dock. At $200 MSRP, it's also quite affordable, costing just $20 more than our best overall.
Why we recommend it:

The UV5 is a surprisingly consistent performer. It scored 93.83% on sand pickup for hardwood floors. It also did quite good for low-pile and mid-pile carpet, scoring 77.45% and 79.9%, respectively, although this doesn't come close to matching the Eureka ReactiSense 440, which scored well above 90% in all categories. Pet hair wasn't much of a challenge for the UV5, fortunately. The UV5 has the V-shaped roller brush we've seen other brands adopt, which helps scrape up pet hair and direct it toward the nozzle without tangling or clogging.

Battery runtime is good, with 48.6 minutes tested, although it's less than the 65 minutes Uninell estimates. The company claims that a second optional battery can give you an additional 130 minutes of runtime. The battery is user-replaceable, which is another nice selling point.

Other small touches that we appreciate are that the vacuum is self-standing and includes a power level display so you can see the charge and suction setting at a glance. It also comes with a 7-stage HEPA filter and green LED headlights similar to the Dyson V15 Detect to help it spot dust. Warranty is about standard at two years.

Who shouldn't get it:
If you need the best carpet performance possible, you'll generally get better results with our best overall, the Eureka ReactiSense 440, which shouldn't cost you any more than the UV5. It also doesn't come with a self-emptying dock, but that's tough to find at this price point. Your best bet for that would be picking up the Shark Clean & Empty or Tineco GoStation on sale.

Best for:

Tineco is a brand that's earned a number of spots on our roundups over the year for offering high-quality cordless vacuums at a reasonable price. The feature-packed Tineco GoStation Smart is no exception to that rule. It offers great suction performance on hardwood and carpet alike, comes with a self-emptying, self-cleaning charging dock and has premium features like a dust-busting green LED light similar to the Dyson V15 Detect. It costs about $500 at full price but can often be found on sale for less.

Why we recommend it:
Let's start with the bread and butter. The GoStation Smart tests in the upper tier of cordless vacuums, suctioning 97.53% of sand from hardwood floors. It also does quite well on carpet, with 78.43% pickup from low-pile and 81.86% from mid-pile. This is more or less on par with the Shark Stratos for hardwood floor pickup (97.22%) and actually beats the Dyson Gen5 Detect in carpet performance (65.3% low-pile and 66.67% mid-pile). This is pretty remarkable for a vacuum that costs half of Dyson's flagship model.

On pet hair, the GoStation Smart benefits from the ZeroTangle Brush that's included with the brushed. As the name suggests, it avoids tangling and doesn't get clogged. We didn't have any problem getting pet hair off either hardwood or carpet.

Battery life is solid, lasting 42.5 minutes in our testing. This is less than the 70 minutes Tineco predicts, but that'll depend on your suction strength. For reference, we run this test three times on medium suction and take the average of the three results. On the plus side, the battery is removable and replaceable and the vacuum will charge every time it's docked.

Now, let's get to the bells and whistles. The GoStation Smart is feature-packed. It earns the smart name by incorporating a 3D sensor into its main brush head that can identify the soil level of your flooring, detect walls and corners, and optimize suction to maximize debris removal and battery life. Like the V15 Detect, the brush head has a green LED light that helps illuminate dust better.

As mentioned, it comes with a self-emptying charging dock that also self-cleans the entire vacuum system every time you dock it, including the brush, tubes and filters. The vacuum's dustbin is on the smaller side at 0.3 liters, but the docking station has a massive 3-liter capacity that should allow it to last for 45 days before needing to be emptied. It includes a 5-stage HEPA filter that Tineco claims can remove 99.99% of dust.
Who shouldn't get it:

For a lower price, the Eureka ReactiSense 440, our best overall pick, offers superior carpet performance and has smart chops that let it adjust suction, though it won't come with the self-emptying dock (the Shark Clean & Empty can fit that need). Included tools are also limited, with just a crevice tool and 2-in-1 dusting brush.

Best for:

If you have a big home that takes a long time to clean, the Dreame Z30 is for you. It has the single best battery life out of any cordless vacuum we've tested, clocking 110 minutes. It's no slouch in performance, offering excellent sand pickup on hard flooring and better-than-average pickup on carpet. Price is also reasonable, running you around $500 at full price but you can currently get it on sale for $120 off, bringing it down to $330, putting it closer to the Shark Stratos.

Why we recommend it:

Battery life is the obvious part. The 110-minute runtime is nearly double what you get with many of our top picks, including the Shark Stratos (80 minutes) and Dyson V15 Detect (60 minutes). That means long, uninterrupted cleaning sessions, which is great for those with larger homes, bigger households and many pets.

The hard flooring performance also puts it in the top-tier of cordless vacuums we've tested, with 98.77% sand pickup. Carpet performance is decent, though not spectacular, with 71.08% pickup from low-pile and 75.49% from mid-pile. There's a HEPA filter and plenty of attachments, including an illuminated multi-surface brush, illuminated soft-roller brush, motorized mini-brush, combination tool, two types of soft dusting brushes, pet deshedding tool, extension rod, flexible adapter, extension hose and a base unit to store everything.
Who shouldn't get it:

If you have a lot of carpeting, several cordless vacuums on our list, including our best overall, the Eureka ReactiSense 440, offer better carpet performance for a lower price. The dustbin could also be larger, at 0.6 liters, so you'll likely need to empty it a few times during longer cleaning sessions.