I tested Dyson’s newest (and most powerful) cordless vacuum cleaner — if I could give it 6 stars, I would

One of the perks of being Ideal Home’s Certified Expert in Vacuums is that I get a sneak peek at upcoming releases. And although I got my first look at the new Dyson V16 Piston Animal Cordless Vacuum Cleaner a few months ago during a trip to Dyson’s HQ in Malmesbury, there’s nothing quite like using a vacuum in a home environment.

That’s why I’ve spent the past three weeks using the Dyson V16 Piston Animal instead of my usual vacuum (which also happens to be a Dyson), to see if it has what it takes to take over the top spot as one of the best Dyson vacuum cleaners out there. And in my opinion, it’s actually one of the best vacuum cleaners ever.

In a nutshell

The Dyson V16 Piston Animal is one of the many newly announced products from Dyson, and is the brand’s most powerful anti-tangle cordless vacuum, thanks to its brand-spanking Hyperdymium 900W motor and an innovative new dual conical cleaner head that tackles hair with ease. And in true Dyson form, it’s extremely well-made, sleek, and chock-full of new technology that makes cleaning a breeze.

An upgrade from previous Dyson models, the V16 Piston Animal also features a multi-floor cleaning head, eliminating the need to switch between separate carpet and hard floor cleaning heads. The auto-detection technology also ensures that every floor is left spotless. And if you’re interested in the best vacuum mops, you can also buy the Dyson V16 Piston Animal Submarine Wet and Dry Vacuum for £899.99.

What I loved most about this new Dyson cordless vacuum, however, is the fact that it offers something that most other models don’t - a large dust capacity. Thanks to the genius CleanCompaktor technology, I was able to ‘squash’ the debris down in the dust canister, creating space for more. In fact, over the course of three weeks, I’ve only emptied it once. This is a game-changer for larger families and ideal for quick grab-and-go cleaning.

But while its cleaning power won me over, I do appreciate that the £749.99 price tag may be off-putting to those who know they can buy a different vacuum for half the price elsewhere. In my eyes, though, it’s worth the investment.

How I tested

Lauren Bradbury

I'm Lauren, Ideal Home's resident floorcare expert and Certified Expert in Vacuums. I tested the new Dyson V16 Piston Animal in my three-bedroom home, which I share with my husband and very fluffy cocker spaniel. I tested it for three weeks, using it as my everyday vacuum cleaner (instead of my usual vacuum, the Dyson Gen5Detect) while also putting it through our rigorous testing process.

Specifications

• Weight: 3.4 kg
• Max run time: up to 70 mins
• Bin volume: 1.3L
• Charge time: 3.5 hours
• Modes: Auto (mixed floor types), Low (hard floors), High (deep cleaning carpets)
• Noise level (tested by us): 80-87dB
• In the box: Cordless Vacuum Wand with Built-In Tool, All Floor Cones Sense Cleaner Head, Hair Screw Tool 2.0, Combination Tool, Crevice Tool, Wall Dock and Charging Cable (and Submarine Head if you opt for the Submarine model)
• RRP: £749.99 for V16 Piston Animal/£899.99 for V16 Piston Animal Submarine

Unboxing, setting up and first impressions

The Dyson V16 Piston Animal was delivered in a very sleek, very aesthetic white box that wasn’t too heavy. In fact, the box with all of the components inside weighed just 6.21kg, so it was easy enough to carry over the threshold and move into my home.

Inside, all of the smaller components - the cordless vacuum wand with built-in tool, the All Floor Cones Sense cleaner hand, the hair screw tool 2.0, combination tool, crevice tool, wall dock and charging cable - were then encased in either cardboard or a paper-like fabric material. So, all of it can be recycled, which means it gets some serious eco-friendly points from me.

There was also a nice little ‘Quick Start’ guide printed on the lid of the box, which meant that I didn’t have to go rooting around for the instructions to assemble it. All I had to do was click the floorhead, wand, and the dust canister section together, and this took all of 2 seconds to do.

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This was largely thanks to one of the big changes Dyson has made with the Dyson V16 Piston Animal, which means that you no longer have to bend down to attach the floorhead to the rest of the vacuum. All you have to do is line the wand up with the floorhead and click it into place, which is perfect for those with limited mobility. The same can be said for removing the floorhead and swapping the tools, too, as all you need to do is swipe down the red release button without needing to bend down.

This new model is also the first of Dyson’s vacuums, aside from the Dyson 360 Vis Nav robot vacuum, that can be connected to the MyDyson app. So, I then took a few seconds to connect it to the app by turning on my phone’s Bluetooth, pressing the red button on the vacuum itself, and scanning the QR code displayed on the LCD screen.

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But before I put the Dyson V16 Piston Animal on charge for the recommended 3.5 hours, I decided to take a step back and take a look at the new model. Visually, it’s very Dyson.

It’s sleek, slimline, and the black, gold, teal, red, and purple accents are synonymous with what we’ve come to expect from the brand as a whole. Everything also felt extremely well-made, and while it's not the lightest vacuum I've ever used, it's still not overly heavy.

However, what interested me the most was the conical shape of the floorhead, a new design from Dyson. I’d already seen this new shape tackle long strands of hair exceedingly well during my trip to the Dyson HQ a few months ago, but as a dog owner, I was eager to see how it would cope with shorter strands of hair - and a lot more of it. So, I couldn’t wait to get started.

Using the Dyson V16 Piston Animal

The Dyson V16 Piston Animal is Dyson’s most powerful anti-tangle cordless vacuum with a whopping 315 Air Watts of fade-free suction, and I could feel the power boost as soon as I turned it on. I wanted to specifically test out the ‘Auto’ mode, which is for mixed floor types in homes like mine. However, you can also switch to modes depending on your cleaning requirements.

And one thing I knew I would love about this new model is the universal floorhead, which means that you no longer have to switch between the old Motorbar and Fluffy Head cleaner bars that come with the older models. Instead, the All Floors Cones sense cleaner head adapts to all floors, whether you’re looking to vacuum carpet or hard flooring.

And when it detects you’re on hard flooring, it’ll also turn on Dyson’s powerful lasers, which allow you to see hair and debris that wouldn’t normally be visible to the eye. So, although you can change to these other modes, you don’t really have to - and I only used them once throughout the testing period, just to try them out.

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The ‘Auto’ mode was particularly impressive on the carpets and rugs in my home, and it even tackled a very thick rug I have in my living room with ease, which my older Dyson Gen5detect sometimes struggles with. The only thing I did find was that the shape of the conical head meant that I couldn’t get the front of it flush against skirting boards or baseboards. This was simply rectified by cleaning them sideways instead, though.

However, we take how we test vacuum cleaners at Ideal Home very seriously, which is why I don’t just vacuum my home while taking these new models for a spin. I also wanted to put the V16 Piston Animal through a set of carefully controlled tests to assess its pickup power.

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So, I started by throwing rice, crushed cereal, flour and my dog’s hair onto my hard flooring to see how both the suction power and the brush bar would cope with different-sized debris. As you can see from the video at the top of this review, it didn’t have any trouble picking everything up in a single pass. In fact, it tackled everything that came its way with ease.

I then repeated the process on a carpet sample and found the results to be similar. It instantly picked up the larger debris, and while it took two passes to remove the smaller debris (the flour and the rice) from the carpet, there was absolutely no residue or any grain of rice left by the end of that second pass.

I was particularly impressed with the fact that it sucked up my dog’s hair instantly, but I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised. After all, the two rotating conical brush bars can remove and de-tangle hair up to 25 inches straight into the bin, and I’d already seen this in action at Dyson HQ a few months ago (as shown in the video below). Nevertheless, it was nice to see that it could tackle both long hair and my dog's shorter hair.

This model can also be connected to the MyDyson app (which is handy if you have other Dyson appliances, as they can all be linked to the same one), where you can check out your vacuuming activity and change your settings. However, I must admit that I didn’t get much use out of it from the performance side of things - I did use it for another use, though, which I’ll speak more about later.

It’s worth noting that you can also buy the Dyson V16 Piston Animal Submarine model - similar to how you can buy the Dyson V15 Submarine - which comes with an extra interchangeable wet floor cleaning head to turn it into one of the best vacuum mops. This will set you back an extra £150, and while I haven’t tested it fully in my own home, I did test it out at Dyson’s HQ back in June.

On the backstroke, it worked a treat at picking up muddy dog prints, so I can see why busy family homes and pet owners would want to buy this upgraded model. However, I do think the £150 price jump is a bit steep.

Using the attachments

I always think that a vacuum cleaner on its own isn’t enough to clean a home. You also need tools and attachments, and the Dyson V16 Piston Animal offers this with the Hair Screw Tool 2.0, Combination Tool, and Crevice Tool.

In fact, it also has two new built-in attachments - one at the end of the long wand and an identical one when you remove the wand to use it in handheld mode. These are nice touches, and easy to access when you need to quickly tackle smaller areas of the home. The fact that you don’t have to bend down to switch them out is also a major plus point.

My favourite tool, however, was the Hair Screw Tool 2.0 - especially as I have textured wool carpets and share my home with a dog that sheds on a daily basis. I generally use the Hair Screw Tool every time I vacuum with my Gen5 as it tackles the embedded hair on my carpeted stairs and my dog’s bed extremely well, but this upgraded version is even better.

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I also made sure to test out the crevice tool and the upholstery tool, and found them to be effective for more targeted cleaning.

If I’m honest, the tools themselves aren’t revolutionary and nothing that we haven’t really seen before. However, it’s the auto-detect functionality when using these tools that sets Dyson apart from other brands. That’s because the vacuum will automatically detect which tool you’re using, and then adjust the suction power to give you more or less suction power depending on your needs.

All in all, they’re a welcome addition to the Dyson V16 Piston Animal.

Cleaning and maintenance

One of the major perks of the Dyson V16 Piston Animal is the new bin-emptying system, and I have to say that it’s one of my favourite things about this new model. That’s because this is the first Dyson vacuum to come equipped with a CleanCompaktor bin.

This means that, instead of having to empty the bin regularly or running the risk of accidentally overfilling your vacuum cleaner (and causing one of the biggest Dyson vacuum cleaner problems), you can simply slide down the red lever to compress the dust and debris, thereby increasing the capacity. Dyson estimates that this should hold 30 days of dust. In fact, the 1.3L dust capacity is the largest I've ever encountered in a cordless vacuum.

On my side, I’ve only tested the new vacuum for 21 days so far, but I have already had to empty it once. I have been putting it through the wringer and using it every day in a house with a dog, though, so it’s important to note that this claim will depend on your usage and the kind of mess you deal with in your home.

This new compressing lever also makes emptying it extremely easy and hygienic, as the bin wipes clean when you empty it, removing any lingering hair or dust. Because of this, I found the whole process extremely simple and mess-free. Naturally, there’s still a slight explosion when you open the lid over a bin, but I’ve yet to find any vacuum (other than a bagged vacuum) that doesn’t.

During testing, I’ve not once had to remove any hair from the new anti-tangle brush bar, and I’ve found the charge time of 3.5 hours to be accurate. And while I’ve already mentioned that I wasn’t overwhelmed with the app, there are some maintenance features that I did enjoy and I think will come in handy down the line.

For example, the app will tell you exactly how much charge the V16 Piston Animal has left, and will give you an indication of whether you need to clean the Dyson filter or not. When the time comes to do that, you simply need to twist and remove the filter from the top of the machine (within the teal encasement), tap off the excess dust, rinse the inside of the filter with cold water, and then allow it to dry completely before popping back into the vacuum.

The app will also notify you when software updates become available for your machine, and if you need to buy any replacement parts for the Dyson V16 Piston Animal at any point, you can also do this through the app. So, from a cleaning and maintenance point of view, the app is very handy.

How does it rate online?

As the Dyson V16 Piston Animal is brand new, there are very few reviews on the Dyson website. And while there are reviews from lucky individuals who received the new model as a complimentary gift to test, these were not paying customers. So, to ensure I provide you with a proper representation of the reviews, I’ll update this in a few weeks once paying customers have purchased and used it.

How does it compare to similar models?

When talking about the Dyson V16 Piston Animal, it’s probably best to compare it to its predecessor and the one that I’ve chosen to use in my home ever since I tested it months ago - the Dyson Gen5detect. Up until this new release, the Gen5 has been Dyson’s most powerful cordless vacuum, but it’s fair to say that the V16 trumps it in terms of power.

In fact, the Gen5 offers 280AW of power, while the new Dyson V16 with its new Dyson Hyperdymium 900W motor generates 315AW of power, and I found this to be very noticeable during testing. I feel that the pickup on the V16 is significantly more effective than my Dyson Gen5 (which has always been very good anyway), and not having to switch between floorheads when moving from hard flooring to carpet also saves a considerable amount of time.

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The dust bin plunger also means I can spend more time vacuuming before having to empty the V16, which is always a plus, and the wipe-clean bin means that emptying it is a much cleaner process than with the Gen5. Emptying a bagless vacuum will never be perfect, but it is a significant improvement.

The two models are also the same price (if you opt for the standalone vacuum rather than the Piston Animal Submarine), and if I were to choose between the two of them, I’d definitely opt for the newer model with its updated technology, powerful suction, and sleek design.

Verdict: Should you buy the Dyson V16 Piston Animal?

If you’re in the market for a new vacuum cleaner and have a little extra cash to spend, I really would recommend the Dyson V16 Piston Animal. It’s powerful, it’s easy to use, and it’s particularly handy for big families and those with pets.

It’s clear to see that Dyson has put a lot of thought and effort into creating a vacuum that suits all kinds of homes, and has made significant changes to make the cleaner head multi-purpose. During testing, it also performed extremely well during the pickup tests, so I have no doubts that it’ll be able to tackle any mess that comes its way.

Of course, the elephant in the room with any Dyson product is that it’s on the pricier side. I think those who know and love Dyson products will appreciate that this high price reflects a quality product, while those who are new to Dyson may take some more convincing to drop almost £750 on a new vacuum cleaner. If you do invest, though, I wholeheartedly believe that you'll be splashing your cash on the best Dyson yet.