Best Henry vacuum- our favourite 6 Henry vacuums, tried and tested

If there's one vacuum that has reached icon status in the UK it's Henry, with a face that you can find peeking out at you in offices, schools and homes up and down the country. These hardy cleaners are also genuine contenders for the title of best vacuum, with a sturdy build that means they can last for years upon purchase. 

If you've landed on this page, you might have already decided that Henry is the brand for you, but have questions about which model will suit you best, as well as which colourway.

To help, we've tested six of the bestselling Henrys out there, rigorously putting each through its paces at home. From suction to accessories and even battery life for the cordless vacuums, every detail of these Henry vacs has been scrutinised to help you shop for the character that will suit you. 

And if you're still undecided about Henry's credentials, you can read on to find specs and ratings of each type and click through to read our detailed reviews following our testing process of each model.

Quick list - Best Henry vacuum

Best Henry vacuum

Buy it if: you have multiple floor types 

What could be better than a Henry vacuum for your home? A bigger, better Henry vacuum, with a larger capacity and three interchangeable floorheads, we reckon. The Henry Xtra wowed our reviewer Helen when she used it at home, with a great range of extras for just £20 more than you'll pay for the standard Henry.

If you do have hard floor and carpet at home, then this Henry is fully equipped to help with the cleaning, with a range of floor tools. What's more, if your home is bigger then the large capacity dust bag will mean that you have to switch these over less regularly. Helen tested both the standard Henry and the Xtra for us, and thinks that the Xtra is superior, especially thanks to the fantastic Airobrush carpet tool. The only exception is if you don't have much storage space or just one floor type, in which case you might want to opt for the standard model instead.

Read our full Henry Xtra vacuum cleaner review for more information.

Best cordless Henry vacuum

Buy it if: you like the convenience of cordless vacuums

If you love Henry, but wish he was a little easier to use, then the Henry Quick is a fantastic cordless vacuum that still features Henry's friendly features. It's so easy to use, from charging to operation, and packs in a phenomenally good amount of suction. Budget-friendly (at under £300) and with a fantastic 70 minute run time, it's hard not to love this slimmed down Henry. 

I tried this vacuum at home for a number of weeks, and while I did find that there were some instances of hair getting trapped around the brush roll, on the whole it helped to achieve a fantastic clean. You can use the suction on the normal or turbo modes, and carpet cleaning was fantastic too. And if you'd rather pick up a Hetty than a Henry cordless, then you're in luck, as it comes in pink too.

Read our full Henry Quick cordless vacuum review for more information.

Best affordable Henry vacuum

Buy it if: you want the most affordable Henry 

Henry vacuums are many things: nostalgic, iconic and reliable. That's why you'll find them in homes up and down the country, as well as in the arsenal of many a professional cleaner. The Henry HV160 is the original Henry, and it's also the most affordable model you can buy from the brand.

After taking it for a test vacuum at home, our reviewer Helen can only agree that Henry is a dependable workhorse, with a low-maintenance design. It doesn't have the sophisticated features that brand-new cordless vacuums do, but it also doesn't need to be charged or regularly emptied, with its six litre capacity. 

If you need a no-frills, all functionality vacuum with a friendly face, then Henry won't let you down. As our reviewer Helen says 'In an age where most vacuums now seem to have screens, lasers, and tiny bagless dust canisters, Henry reminds us that you don’t need to spend a fortune on all this tech to get the job done'.

Read our full Henry HV160 vacuum cleaner review for more information.

Best looking Henry

Buy it if: you want a Henry in pink 

Hetty's appeal is simple - she's just like the Henry HV160, but she's pink and also features eyelashes. Just like Henry, instead of being packed full of fancy features, Hetty is simply a reliable, hardworking vacuum. She’s effortlessly simple to use, comes with a decent selection of tools, and most importantly, the price tag won’t break the bank.

There’s not too much that can go wrong and the sturdy build quality really does make Hetty feel like she’s built to last. However, our reviewer Helen also advises that if you have a very busy household or have pets, it might be worth upgrading to one of more beefed up models in the range. The same goes for houses with lots of thick carpets that need a vacuum with a floorhead that offers a deep clean.

Read our full Hetty HET Corded Bagged Cylinder Vacuum Cleaner review for more information.

Best Henry for allergy sufferers

Buy it if: you suffer with allergies.

The top line with this vacuum is that it's approved by Allergy UK, which means that you can trust this Henry to help you get rid of allergens at home. Made in the UK, this vacuum is great suction-wise, and has the tools to help with corner and edge cleaning. 

It's also a bargain, like the other Henrys on offer, with an RRP of £199.99. You can really feel the deep cleaning power with this vac, and pick up smaller debris as well as larger items.

Our reviewer did find this vacuum a little more difficult to push around than the other Henry vacuums she tested, something she put down to the intensity of the suction power. 

After two weeks of testing, the large collecting bag was no way full, which means that if you're worried about the environmental impact of bags, you may at least be soothed by the fact that you'll be reaching to replace them infrequently. And of course, the fact that you don’t have plumes of dust on emptying is essential for keeping allergies at bay. 

Read our full Henry Allergy vacuum review for more information. 

Best Henry for pet hair

Buy it if: you have pets at home.

The Henry Pet200 is a standout choice for anyone who needs a reliable vacuum, especially if you've got pets running around. It has a range of attachments to help combat pet hair and dirt, and in our review, we found it was really easy to switch between tools, especially as they are all stored on board. 

Priced at £139, this is such an affordable pick for a pet-specific vacuum too, with other choices from brands like Miele coming in at much higher prices. On the whole, it's a solid piece of kit which is easy to maintain. Buying the vacuum bags is a consideration, however, but with a capacity of 9L you will need to do a lot of vacuum cleaning to get through a pack of 10, as they are commonly sold for.

A thing to note is that this vacuum cleaner may not be suitable if you want an appliance to vacuum your home and car. It is a bulky vacuum cleaner and, again, it is corded so unless you have a driveway or a guaranteed parking space outside your home, the Henry Pet may not be the vacuum cleaner for you.

Read our Henry Pet 200 vacuum review for more information. 

How we test Henry vacuums

At Ideal Home, we want you to be able to trust our product recommendations as much as the British public trust Henry vacuums. That's why we put every single one of the Henrys featured in this list to the test for at least two weeks before coming to the conclusions in our reviews.

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As part of our testament to how we test, we also make sure each vacuum is tested on different floor types and with different debris - including cereals, flour (to replicate dust) and hair, to really scrutinise suction power.

Below you can read about each of our reviewers and their credentials when it comes to testing Henry vacuums.

Molly Cleary

Our Ecommerce Editor Molly oversees cleaning content at Ideal Home and is a certified Customer Advisor for vacuums after passing a five-stage process. She reviews vacuums at Future's dedicated testing facility, using a range of flooring types kindly provided by Flooring Superstore in order to evaluate performance on wood floor, lino and carpet.

She grew up with Henry vacuums at home and tested the Numatic Henry Quick at home to see how it compared to the classic corded model.

Testing dozens of vacuums has allowed her to see which model excels at which task, and to judge them on all of the crucial factors of suction, as well as ease of use and storage, which is important in her very compact space. She's also constantly looking out for the newest vacuum releases and technology so that she can keep you better informed on which appliance to buy. 

Is there a Henry we've missed that you'd like to see tested here? Get in touch at Molly's email address (molly.cleary@futurenet.com) to request a review.

Freelance Writer/Home Economist

Freelance Writer/Home Economist

Helen McCue

Helen is a freelance contributor who trained as a Home Economist. After starting her career in the food industry, she moved into home appliance reviews, utilising her cooking skills and experience to put all kinds of products to the test, and over the years has reviewed hundreds of home and kitchen appliances for a variety of publications.

Having completely renovated her current house, Helen reviews kitchen appliances and vacuums at home in a beautiful Berkshire village. When she’s not working, Helen can be found enjoying the local countryside or dreaming about her next house renovation project.

Helen tested the Henry Xtra, Henry HVR160 and the Hetty vacuums for us, comparing them in the same space to reach the conclusions in this guide.

Rhoda Parry

As the former Editorial Director of Ideal Home, and its sister titles, 25 Beautiful Homes and Style at Home, Rhoda knows how important it is to research and invest in good value appliances and products that will stand the test of time. Plus as a house-proud Interiors and Gardens journalist, she's spent her career tracking the trends, interviewing the experts and reviewing the best products for inside and outside living spaces, while also renovating her house from a dated bungalow to a contemporary family home.

She put the Henry Allergy to the test to see how it measured up against standard models.