This Cordless Stick Vacuum Is Designed to Get More Powerful Over Time

This Cordless Stick Vacuum Is Designed to Get More Powerful Over Time

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The Fraction debuted at CES and features a unique design that, in theory, allows the vacuum to gain, not lose, suction power over time.

Headshot of Ajay Kumar
Headshot of Ajay Kumar

Ajay has worked in tech journalism for over a decade as a reporter, analyst, product reviewer, and editor. He got his start in consumer tech, breaking Android news at Newsweek before going to PCMag, where he reviewed hundreds of smartphones, battery packs, and chargers as a Mobile Analyst. He also worked at Lifewire, a Dotdash Meredith brand, as a Tech Commerce Editor, putting together tested best-of lists and assigning product reviews across categories including smart home, uninterruptible power supplies, generators, and automotive tech. Most recently, he was Section Editor, Mobile at Digital Trends, spearheading his team's coverage of breaking news, features, reviews, roundups, deals, and more across a variety of mobile products, including phones, wearables, VR headsets, batteries, and chargers. If you want Ajay's advice about anything tech, especially solar panels, UPS, batteries, EVs, and charging technology, you can reach him at ajkumar@cnet.com.

Expertise 13+ years of experience in consumer product reviews, buying guides, best lists, and tech news across a variety of tech categories. As a homeowner, Ajay is also familiar with the unique electrical issues that can crop up in a prewar apartment building.

Most cordless vacuums follow the same basic blueprint -- after all, there are only so many ways to configure a stick vacuum. And when something breaks, particularly the motor, you're typically stuck buying a new one. 

French company Deglace is trying to change that with the Fraction, a cordless vacuum engineered for complete repairability. Every component can be swapped out, including the motor and battery for new and more powerful iterations as time goes on. I checked it out at CES 2026.

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The Fraction is the world's most modular cordless vacuum.

Ajay Kumar/Zooey Liao/CNET

At first blush, the Fraction vac looks like a modern, minimalist stick vacuum. The body is black (there's also a white version) with a single display on top that provides control over modes and a view of battery life, along with a shiny silver trigger. The vacuum is made of aluminum, rather than plastic, as most contemporary models are. 

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The dustbin is seamless and looks like it's part of the body, but like everything else, it can be replaced and the filter inside is washable. 

Ajay Kumar/Zooey Liao/CNET

The vacuum version of a Framework laptop 

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The main vacuum body isn't much to look at, but there's AI under the hood to tell you when things need maintenance. 

Ajay Kumar/Zooey Liao/CNET

But looks isn't really what the Fraction is about. The functional, almost industrial design hides the fact that a lot of engineering went into the vacuum, as Geoffory Hulot, CEO of Deglace, told me. Every single part of the vacuum is user-replaceable by hand, no tools required. 

The parts that can be replaced include the battery, motor, dustbin, filters, main section and even the display. The idea behind this is similar to that behind products such as the Framework laptop and the Fairphone. Hulot told me that his goal with the Fraction was to reduce waste, both environmentally and for consumers. The HEPA 14 filter is also washable and comes with a fabric prefilter. 

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The battery and motor can both be replaced, along with everything else.

Ajay Kumar/Zooey Liao/CNET

He demonstrated for me how the replacements work. Most of the components can be removed by pulling and twisting in the right spot. When you need to replace it, the new one should simply snap into place. In theory, over the course of years of usage, you could replace every single part of a cordless vacuum without ever having to buy a whole new unit. Is it still the same vacuum after all that? I'll let the philosophers decide that one. 

Performance and capabilities 

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The vacuum has 250 air watts of suction and according to Hoult, tested quite well in pickup, though we'll run our own tests when we get our hands on it.

Ajay Kumar/Zooey Liao/CNET

While the model I examined was a prototype, it was functional, and I observed Hulot using it to vacuum the dirty floor at the CES Unveiled showroom. It seemed to pick up debris fairly well. It has 250 air watts of suction, and according to Hulot's own testing with a reference device, it outperformed the reference by 107% in pickup performance on hard flooring. I always take these kinds of self-tested numbers with a grain of salt until we've gotten a chance to try it at CNET's vacuum testing lab in Louisville, Kentucky

The vacuum has LED headlights and, interestingly, 10 UVC LEDs designed for sanitizing your floor as you clean. Hulot told me that each LED costs $10, but the entire strip ran him $50. That seems almost too much to pay for a single part, but Hulot considered it an important feature, and the vacuum is designed for it. If you vacuum your floor too quickly, without allowing the UVC lights sufficient dwell time to sanitize, the front headlights will start flickering, warning you to slow down. 

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The LED lights on the vacuum will flicker if you're going too fast to ensure there's enough time for the UVC lights to do their work. 

Ajay Kumar/Zooey Liao/CNET

That's not the only smart chops you'll find under the hood. Despite its simple design, the Fraction features AI built in to provide smart battery management and monitor the vacuum's general wear and tear. Hulot showed me the app, which features an interesting panel that indicates how long you have before you might need to replace a battery or clean out a filter. 

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Replacing the battery and motor are a simple matter.

Ajay Kumar/Zooey Liao/CNET

Price and availability  

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The Fraction only comes in black and white, but has a lot going on underneath. 

Ajay Kumar/Zooey Liao/CNET

Hulot told me that he has secured a distributor for the Fraction in France, and the vacuum is available for preorder in the US via Indiegogo. The price is just $500, which sounds almost too good to be true for a vacuum that's 100% repairable. The vacuums are expected to begin shipping in 2026, presumably to Kickstarter backers first, with others to follow. 

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