It’s almost impossible to buy a cordless vacuum for under £200 – I tested one that’s just £160, and it’s a hard floor hero

Having tested a wide range of vacuum cleaners now, I’ve learned that the best cordless vacuums usually come with a high price tag. While premium brands like Shark and Dyson are still leading the way in designing convenient, powerful cordless models, I’m always interested to see how affordable alternatives perform. The Beldray Airfinity Cordless Vacuum Cleaner caught my attention for that exact reason.

After putting it through its paces around my flat over the past couple of weeks, I’ve seen where this budget-friendly vacuum performs well – and where its lower price point becomes more noticeable.

In a nutshell

If you want the convenience of cordless cleaning without spending a fortune, the Beldray Airfinity Cordless Vacuum Cleaner is a solid option. While it doesn’t have the power or refinement of premium models, it performs well enough for everyday use – particularly in relation to its price point.

It’s lightweight, easy to manoeuvre, and works especially well on hard floors, where it picks up dust and debris with minimal effort. The inclusion of both eco and turbo modes provides welcome versatility, allowing for quieter cleans or an extra boost of suction when needed. It also doubles up as a handheld vacuum, making it handy for cleaning furniture and stairs.

Having tested it for over two weeks, I've surmised that carpets aren't its strongest suit. It's also got a flimsy-feeling floorhead and a dust bin that can be a bit fiddly to empty.

That said, I still think it's a good option for smaller homes, flats, or households with mainly hard flooring. But the main advantage of the Beldray Airfinity (which you'll hear me banging on about a lot in this review) is the price point. There aren't many cordless models that undercut it, so if budget is a big factor for you, it could be well worth considering.

Specifications

• Weight: 3.18 kg
• Dimensions: 20.5 (D) x 25 (W) x 116 (H)cm
• Max. run time:  45 mins
• Bin volume: 0.7 Litres
• Charge time: 4.5 hours
• Modes: Eco, Normal, Turbo
• Noise level: 76.2-80.1 dB (tested by us)
• In the box: Main unit, aluminium hose, floorhead, crevice tool, charger, wall mount and screws
• RRP: £159.99

How I tested

Katie Sims

I'm Katie, a regular freelance contributor here at Ideal Home, and I've tested a variety of home appliances over the past three years, including dehumidifiers, air purifiers, coffee machines, and of course, vacuums.
I tested the Beldray Airfinity Cordless Vacuum for two weeks in my flat in Leeds. As part of how we review vacuum cleaners at Ideal Home, I used this model in place of my regular vacuum on both hard floors and carpets, and on furniture and skirting boards when testing the device in handheld mode. I also performed the flour test to get a clear visual of the Beldray Airfinity's pick-up capabilities.

Unboxing, set up, and first impressions

The Beldray Airfinity arrived in a super-lightweight box that I could carry around one-handed, which usually indicates the vacuum itself will be lightweight and easy to manoeuvre.

Inside the box, everything was neatly arranged, but I was disappointed to see that every single component was wrapped in single-use plastic. Even the charger and user manual came sheathed in their own wrappers, which felt a bit unnecessary. Plenty of brands have now moved to cardboard-only packaging, and I’d love to see Beldray follow suit in future models.

Once everything was unwrapped, assembling the vacuum couldn’t have been easier. It’s one of those appliances you can put together intuitively – and I didn’t even need to look at the manual. A few satisfying clicks later, and it was ready to go.

Everything is laid out in the user manual, though, should you need to refer to it, but honestly, the Airfinity's set-up process impressed me with its simplicity.

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Design-wise, the Airfinity looks smart for such an affordable model. The champagne gold stick gives it a premium feel, and I'd even go as far as to say it makes the vacuum look quite pretty.

It’s not an upright vacuum, so it does lean forward slightly when standing, but that’s par for the course for a stick model like this. A wall mount and screws are included in the box, so you can store the vacuum without leaning it against anything.

Before I started testing, I popped the battery on charge. There's a green LED indicator light which started flashing after plugging it in. When the battery's fully charged, the green light stabilises – which only took around an hour. The full charging time for this model is 4.5 hours, which admittedly is quite high, but it will only take this long if you run the battery to flat.

Using the Beldray Airfinity Cordless Vacuum

Once the battery is slotted into the vacuum (this slides into place with a satisfying click), all that's left is to press the lever underneath the handle, and the Beldray Airfinity kicks into gear.

For context, I live in a flat with my partner, where all the rooms sit on a single floor. Our bedroom, home office, and living area are covered in short-pile carpet, but the bathroom and kitchen have hard (vinyl) flooring. So when I test vacuum cleaners, I need them to be able to perform well on both hard and soft flooring.

There are three modes on the Airfinity model – eco, normal, and turbo – which you can swap between via the touch-screen interface on top of the main unit. This makes it smooth to operate and I like being able to see what mode I'm using at a glance. As a side note, the touch-screen definitely elevates the experience of using this vacuum, and it's not what I'd usually expect for an affordable model like this.

From my first turn around the flat, I got a pretty quick sense that this vacuum isn't the smoothest to run over carpet, sadly. This may be due to the specific type of rubber coating the wheels have, though I couldn't say for sure – the wheels do feel a bit clunky, particularly when you first start using the vacuum. I'd say it becomes smoother the longer you use it for, which could be because I've found the right level of effort to apply when pushing the vacuum – or simply because the brush bar and moving parts loosen up once they’ve been running for a minute or two.

What I could see from my first time using the vacuum was that it does a decent job of picking up visible debris. There's one area of my living room which sees a lot of footfall, and it's also where we carry our food from the kitchen to the dining table – the eco and normal modes didn't cut for this area, unsurprisingly. Thankfully, turbo mode was sufficient, and the area was left looking much cleaner afterwards.

To get a clearer picture of how the Beldray Airfinity performs in everyday use, I carried out our usual flour test on both the hard floor and carpet in my home, in all three modes. On hard flooring, I was pleasantly surprised by just how capable the vacuum was, even in eco mode. I did switch to normal mode to remove any lingering traces, but for a vacuum at this price point, I was impressed with how it performed.

The results were pretty similar when it came to the carpet, too. I expected eco mode to struggle a little more here, but it still managed to pick up most of the flour with a few passes, and switching up to normal or turbo mode made even quicker work. It never felt like the vacuum was smearing the flour into the carpet fibres, which can sometimes be an issue with lower-powered models, and the overall pick-up left the carpet looking fresh rather than flattened.

Every time I used the Beldray Airfinity on my carpets, I was left with satisfying streaks. But the pick-up isn't quite as effective as other models I've tested. I often had to run the vacuum over certain areas a few times before I was satisfied, which is a little disappointing. I could put this down to the fact that the Beldray is an affordable cordless model, but I recently tested Lakeland's budget-friendly cordless vacuum and didn't feel like the suction power was compromised.

That said, the Beldray still does a satisfactory job on carpets overall, especially in turbo mode. The caveat is that the battery will run out quicker when using this mode, but I'd rather charge the vacuum more often and feel satisfied with how my flat looks after using it.

When it comes to manoeuvrability, this is where the Airfinity shows some of its compromises. The floorhead feels a little loose and flimsy, which means it doesn’t glide or pivot quite as smoothly as some of the more premium cordless vacuums I’ve tested.

Tight turns around furniture can also feel slightly clunky – particularly around my dining table, which has X-shaped legs. With my regular cordless vacuum (the Hoover HFX Cordless), I can easily weave around these, but the Beldray takes a bit more effort and repositioning to get right in between.

That said, it’s not heavy or difficult to push, and for open spaces or straightforward floor layouts, it works fine. You just need a little more patience when tackling awkward furniture or tight corners.

Noise-wise, the Airfinity sits within the pretty standard range for cordless vacuums. In eco mode, it reached 76.2dB, rising to 79.6dB in normal mode and 80.1dB in turbo. The eco mode is noticeably quieter than some higher-powered vacuums I've tested, which is handy if you're ever planning on vacuuming while others in the house are sleeping or watching TV. Unsurprisingly, turbo does bring a sharper increase in volume, but it’s never unpleasant or overwhelming – and it feels like a fair trade-off for the extra boost in suction when you need it.

Because of the slight flimsiness of the floorhead, the wheels do make a bit of a rattling noise when the vacuum is being used, but I'd consider this a minor caveat at best.

Using it in handheld mode

The best cordless vacs double up as the best handheld vacuums, if you're lucky. Most of the cordless models I've tested transition seamlessly into handheld mode, which is one of their big perks compared to traditional (corded) models.

In this area, the Beldray Airfinity did not disappoint. The main unit detaches from the aluminium pole in a single click, after which you can either pull the soft brush head down and use the unit in handheld mode as it is, or attach the crevice tool, which gives you more reach and a smaller nozzle head (this one's better for cleaning skirting boards and the edges of a room).

I'll admit that I didn't realise the soft brush head was already attached to the vacuum – usually this comes as a separate attachment or as part of a 2-in-1 crevice tool. So, it was a pleasant surprise when I realised I'd still be able to clean soft furnishings with the Beldray Airfinity, and the fact that the soft brush head was so subtle is a testament to the vacuum's compact design.

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I was able to clean the edges of each room in my flat, including skirting boards, using the vacuum in handheld mode. Eco mode wasn't quite powerful enough here, and I felt I did need to apply a little more effort when cleaning certain areas – but that's often part and parcel of using any cordless model in handheld mode.

The size of this vacuum means it's not quite slimline enough to get behind certain pieces of furniture, but again, I wouldn't consider this to be a critique.

The fact that I was still able to clean most of the awkward spaces in my home – such as under my low-lying armchair and down the back of the sofa – was a considerable plus. It means that if you do decide to buy the Beldray Airfinity, you shouldn't need to purchase a separate handheld model as well (unless you want one that can pack a seriously powerful punch, like the Dyson Car+Boat).

Cleaning and maintenance

When it comes to cleaning and maintaining the Beldray Airfinity, there are three components: the dust container, the HEPA filter, and the floor brush.

Most cordless models offer the benefit of hands-free emptying, and while the Beldray does have a clickable button which springs open the dust container's lid, it wasn't powerful enough to empty the contents on its own. I did have to (glamorously) pull a lot of the contents out by hand, and this was tricky – some dust had made it right to the top of the container, which was really hard to reach.

After a lot of shaking and fiddling with a cleaning brush, I did manage to get most of it out, but the process definitely could have been smoother.

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It's really easy to access the HEPA and foam filter. The main unit lifts away via a clickable button, and the filters can then be twisted out. There was a fair bit of dust clinging to the HEPA filter after only two weeks of using the vacuum, so I rinsed it in warm water and left it to dry before reinserting it back into the vacuum. It's also recommended to clean the foam filter and filter cone every couple of weeks, to keep the vacuum working optimally.

What did impress me was the Beldray's brush bar. We all know how annoying it is to clean tangled hair out of a brush bar, which is why I love it when a cordless model comes with anti-hair wrap technology. The Beldray also boasts this feature, and it didn't disappoint: even after two weeks of use, there wasn't any hair tangled around the bar when I went to clean it. This isn't even the case with my regular vacuum, which also has the anti-hair wrap feature. Needless to say, I was impressed.

How does the Beldray Airfinity Cordless Vacuum compare to similar models?

There are so many great cordless vacuums to choose from now, and the Beldray Airfinity sits firmly in the budget-friendly bracket. As with any affordable model, it’s important to weigh up performance and usability in the context of the price.

Firstly, take the Lakeland Lightweight 2-in-1 Cordless Vacuum, which is around £50 cheaper. The Lakeland has the edge when it comes to pick-up power, but its tiny dust bin fills up very quickly, meaning frequent emptying. The Beldray feels easier to live with day to day, thanks to its more generous capacity, but if you want to save £50 and don't mind emptying the dust bin after each use, then Lakeland's model could be the better choice.

The Dyson V8 Cyclone (RRP £349.99) currently holds the title of the best value cordless vacuum in our buying guide. Unsurprisingly, the Dyson offers stronger, more consistent suction and a more refined cleaning experience than the Beldray Airfinity, but it also comes at a much higher cost. If budget allows, the Dyson is the better all-rounder, but the Beldray still holds its own for lighter, everyday cleaning.

Lastly, taking a quick look at the best Shark vacuum cleaners, it's worth comparing the Beldray model to the Shark PowerPro Cordless Stick Vacuum, which is the brand's best budget option. Our review found that the Shark PowerPro offers suction that’s strong enough for daily messes but not always powerful enough for deeply embedded debris – a similar story to the Beldray. The key difference is price: the Shark costs around £100 more, which makes the Beldray a more appealing option for many.

Should you buy the Beldray Airfinity Cordless Vacuum?

If you’re looking for an affordable cordless vacuum for everyday use, the Beldray Airfinity is well worth considering. It sits comfortably in the budget bracket for cordless models, and while it doesn’t offer the power or polish of premium alternatives, it performs reliably for basic cleaning tasks.

The Airfinity really shines on hard floors, where its pick-up is impressive even in eco mode, and the turbo setting provides a helpful boost when you need extra suction. I was also pleased with how well it doubles up as a handheld vacuum, making it useful for furniture, stairs and spot cleans. The anti-hair wrap brush bar is another standout feature, especially if you’re used to cutting hair out of a brush roll after every clean.

That said, there are compromises. The floorhead feels a little flimsy, and manoeuvring it on carpet isn’t always the smoothest experience. It also lacks the power needed to tackle deeply embedded debris, and emptying the dust bin could definitely be smoother. These are things you’re more likely to notice in larger homes or carpet-heavy spaces.

Overall, I'd recommend the Beldray Airfinity for smaller homes, flats, or households with mostly hard flooring. You'll get the low-fuss experience of using a cordless vacuum over a plug-in, without a hefty price tag.