I tested Dyson’s new budget-friendly cordless vacuum cleaner – it’s powerful, practical and ideal for homes with pets

As Ideal Home’s Vacuums Expert, I’ve tested more vacuum cleaners than I can count, and I’ve reviewed almost all of the best Dyson vacuums on the market today. So, when I learned that one of my favourite old-school Dysons had been given a makeover, I knew I needed to take it for a spin.

Yes, the Dyson V8 Cyclone Cordless Vacuum Cleaner is a new and improved version of the Dyson V8, originally released almost ten years ago. But I wanted to test the claims that this new model offers 50% more dust removal and 30% more suction power than its predecessor, to see if it could become one of the best vacuums for pet hair, too. This is what I found out.

In a nutshell

As someone who previously tested (and loved) the old Dyson V8 Detect Absolute (in fact, it was my main vacuum cleaner for a good year before I upgraded to a newer model), I’m pretty confident when I say that Dyson has taken the best features of the golden oldie and made it better - and still kept the price tag extremely affordable. Well, for a Dyson, anyway.

The 150 Air Watts of suction power doesn’t sound like a lot compared to the brand-new Dyson V16 Piston Animal, which has 315 Air Watts, but I found that the new cyclone technology within the V8 Cyclone made it feel incredibly powerful, and it was able to tackle everyday dust and debris, as well as embedded pet hair in my carpets and rugs. So, it’s ideal for everyday use.

The 60-minute runtime is also a selling point, as you can vacuum your whole home on one charge. But with a swappable battery, there’s now the opportunity to bump that up to 120 minutes if you’re willing to pay a bit extra. The new single-button operation will also be a welcome addition to those who are familiar with the older model, and I found the whole appliance to be lightweight, easy to use, and refreshingly uncomplicated.

However, I wouldn’t be doing my job properly if I didn’t note that this is still a very basic Dyson vacuum cleaner - and a very basic vacuum cleaner, full stop. And if you’re looking for a high-tech model with lasers, LCD screens, swappable floorheads, and a wide range of tools, this won’t be the model for you. But if you’re looking for a budget Dyson that cleans your house well without any extra fuss, I do really think you’ll like it.

Specifications

• Weight: 2.7 kg
• Max run time: 60 minutes
• Bin volume: 0.5L
• Charge time: 4hrs
• Modes: Eco, Medium, MAX
• Noise level (tested by us): 77-93dB
• In the box: Dyson V8 Cyclone, Motorbar Cleaning Head, Crevice Tool, Mini Motorised Tool, Charger
• RRP: £349.99

Unboxing, setting up and first impressions

The Dyson V8 Cyclone arrived in a very small, lightweight box. In fact, the gross weight with all of the packaging was less than 5kg, which meant that it was easy enough to carry in through my house. Everything within the main box was also encased in cardboard scaffolding, and there wasn’t a piece of plastic in sight. So, it scored extremely highly on the eco-friendly side of things.

Inside the box was the main vacuum unit itself, the extension wand, Motorbar cleaning head, a crevice tool, mini motorised tool and charger. And while the build quality is definitely not on the same level as the more expensive Dyson vacuum cleaners, the main unit and the tools still felt sturdy - especially for something so lightweight (the Dyson V8 Cyclone comes in at just 2.7kg).

I was a little disappointed to see that the fixings weren’t included with the wall dock, however. The majority of other vacuum brands include this as standard, and even Dyson itself offers it with the more advanced, pricier models. This does seem like an oversight on Dyson’s part, as some people may not have these fixings readily available in their homes.

Nevertheless, assembling the Dyson V8 Cyclone was a doddle, and all I had to do was attach the main unit to the extension wand and then attach that to the floorhead.

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You can also link the Dyson V8 Cyclone to the MyDyson app if you want to. This took me all of two seconds to do (you just need to scan the serial number either on the box or the battery pack through the app), and on here you can see information on getting the most out of your machine and how-to guides on using it, cleaning and maintenance.

It’s not as impressive as the app functionalities within the new Dyson V16 Piston Animal, which also displays information about your cleaning session, but it’s still a nice touch to have when you buy a new vacuum and want to ensure you’re getting your money’s worth.

But before I could try it out for the first time, I plugged it in to charge and took a step back to assess the design… and this is where I might divide opinions. After all, there’s no ignoring the fact that Dyson has gone down a very different route with the design of the Dyson V8 Cyclone. Gone are the teal and gold accents the brand is known for, and they have been replaced by a khaki and black colourway with red accents.

Personally? I’m not a fan and think the new design looks very masculine and polarising. However, I do understand that this is a matter of opinion, and even my husband disagreed with me. He loves the new colourway and thinks it’s a great way to open up the brand to new customers. On the other hand, I think it might scare some customers away.

Using the Dyson V8 Cyclone Cordless Vacuum Cleaner

When I started using the Dyson V8 Cyclone, it was clear to see that it's on the more basic side of things, but I don’t necessarily see that as a bad thing.

For starters, there’s no LCD screen to showcase remaining battery life, and the on/off and mode buttons are on the front of the vacuum rather than the top. However, I’d be lying if I said that these features were a selling point of a more expensive Dyson vacuum. Ultimately, I want a vacuum cleaner that will clean my floors - and the Dyson V8 Cyclone did just that, just without the bells and whistles.

In fact, the Motorbar floorhead allows you to switch from hard flooring to carpets and rugs with ease (although be warned that this does mean you don’t have a laser to pinpoint those invisible specks of dust and dirt), and I found that the power was more than enough to pick up everyday debris and embedded pet and human hair.

This particular model also has three modes - Eco, Medium, and MAX - and you can toggle between these by pressing the silver button on the front of the vacuum. And while I tried them all out for the sake of testing, I found that Medium was more than enough for everyday cleaning. Every once in a while, I turned it up to MAX for areas my dog likes to frequent, but I only needed to do this very sparingly.

However, we also take how we test vacuum cleaners at Ideal Home very seriously, which is why I knew that simply vacuuming my home wouldn’t cut it. That’s why I sprinkled various debris on my hard flooring, including coffee grounds, rice, and crushed cereal.

As the Dyson V8 Cyclone is also marketed as a vacuum suitable for homes with pets, I also took the extra step we use when testing pet vacuums by sprinkling some of my dog’s hair onto the floor to see how well it would pick up this different-sized debris.

On hard flooring, the Dyson V8 Cyclone had no issue with the coffee, rice or crushed cereal. However, as you can see from the video, it struggled a bit with the pet hair and pushed it around before it was eventually sucked up by the Motorbar cleaning head. I was slightly disappointed with this result, but I do think that was because of the lack of the Fluffy floorhead, which you can buy separately for better hard flooring results.

Nevertheless, I then repeated the process on the carpet, and my mood instantly perked up. The V8 Cyclone thrived on carpet, and picked up every single type of debris - including the pet hair that I’d squashed in between the fibres - in a single pass.

As I continued to use it for two weeks as my regular vacuum, I also felt like it gave my carpets and rugs a deep and effective clean. So, I would say that it might not be the best option if you have a heavy shedding animal (like a husky, for example) and have a lot of hard floors in your home. But if you have an animal that sheds a normal amount, I don’t think you’ll have a problem on either floor type.

For reference, I have a Cocker Spaniel who leaves smaller, fine hairs everywhere. While I found that the vacuum struggled when I popped larger clumps during my testing process, it didn’t have any problems during my everyday cleaning sessions. Of course, the slight elephant in the room is the capacity of the dust bin.

At 0.5L, it’s definitely not the smallest dust bin I’ve ever seen, but it’s not the biggest either. I found that for a very quick whip-around, I could just about clean my entire (but admittedly very small) 3-bedroom home in one fell swoop without having to empty it. For a deeper clean that included all of my rugs, and an extended cleaning session of my carpets and my dogs’ beds, it was only able to tackle the downstairs before I had to empty it.

However, it’s worth noting that Dyson has come up with a solution to this smaller dust bin that could squash all of your worries if you have a big house or have a particularly messy family (I’ll talk about that a bit later on, so sit tight).

Using the attachments

The Dyson V8 Cyclone comes with two attachments - the crevice tool and the mini motorised tool. Initially, I was a little disappointed in this, as Dyson normally includes at least three attachments, such as a dusting brush and a combination tool. However, the Dyson website does confirm that the V8 Cyclone is compatible with all existing Dyson V8 accessories - so you can buy more if you need them.

During my own testing, though, I didn’t find that I was missing anything. The crevice tool was ideal for cleaning down my sofa, getting crumbs out of the nooks and crannies of my dining room chairs, and even removing cobwebs from the corners of my rooms. It could also be used in the handheld mode or at the end of the extension wand.

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It’s the mini motorised tool that’s a real selling point for me, though - especially as a pet owner and someone who has very steep, narrow carpeted stairs. I was able to use this tool to remove deep-rooted dust and hair from my stairs and all of my carpets and rugs, and it was incredibly easy to use.

It was also very effective, and you can see from the picture above that it tackled my green velvet sofa bed (which my dog has claimed as his own bed, so it gets very dusty and dirty) with ease. So, while I would say that the lack of accessories is a little disappointing, the V8 Cyclone comes with enough for the average household to make the most of.

Cleaning and maintenance

Emptying the dust bin of the Dyson V8 Cyclone is extremely easy. It has the ‘Point and Shoot’ bin emptying mechanism that those familiar with Dyson will already know, which means you simply have to hold the handheld over a bin and pull up the red lever. I actually find this mechanism to be a lot cleaner than some of the more advanced models, so I didn’t have any issues with it at all.

However, Dyson has confirmed that a new auto-empty base is coming soon - and it’ll be compatible with both the Dyson V16 Piston Animal and the Dyson V8 Cyclone. This means that you’ll be able to ditch the charging wall dock in favour of this freestanding base that’ll automatically empty itself after every use.

This should cut down the number of times you need to manually empty the onboard dust bin, and it will be available sometime in 2026. There’s no word on how much this’ll cost yet, but I can’t imagine it’ll be cheap.

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The Dyson V8 Cyclone also takes just 4 hours to charge from empty, but there is the option to buy an additional battery to double the run time and keep cleaning even when the first battery has run out. The only other consideration is the conical filter and the post-motor filter, which are located at the top of the machine.

Both of these filters require cleaning once a month, but that’s a simple process. All you have to do is remove them, wash them under cold water, and then leave them to air dry for at least 24 hours before reinserting them. Of course, you should also remove any tangles from the floorhead if they arise. But during my two weeks of testing, I didn’t find this to be a problem at all - and I live in a home with pets.

How does it rate online?

The Dyson V8 Cyclone has only just been released in the UK, so there are very few reviews on the website. In fact, the only reviews available are in French, Italian, and Spanish. So far, there’s an overall rating of 4.5 stars out of 5, based on a collection of 57 reviews (at the time of writing).

However, it’s clear from the Dyson website that many of these reviews were from individuals who received the product as a gift to test. Because of this, I’ll update this section in a few weeks when paying customers in the UK have bought and used the new model.

How does it compare to similar models?

As the Dyson V8 Cyclone is an updated version of the original Dyson V8 Absolute, it makes sense to compare them directly. And, ultimately, I do think that the Cyclone is a step-up from the original and that Dyson has made definite improvements on the issues that many people had with the older model.

For starters, the new V8 Cyclone has an extra 20 minutes of run time, an extra 35 air watts of suction power, an extra cleaning mode, a swappable battery, a quicker charge time, and a triggerless on/off button. The latter will be a huge plus for customers who have famously hated Dyson’s trigger button, despite the fact that there’s a trigger lock you can buy to fix it.

It’s worth noting that the Dyson V8 Cyclone is 0.16kg heavier and has a slightly smaller dust bin (all of 0.04L, but this does make a difference). It also only comes with one Motorbar floorhead, while the Dyson V8 Absolute also comes with a Fluffy cleaner head, which excels on hardwood floors. If that’s something you want, you can buy the Fluffy head roller separately.

With seven attachments, the older Dyson V8 Absolute will set you back £399.99 at full price. With three attachments, it’s £329.99. So, the fact that you can buy the new and improved Dyson V8 Cyclone for £349.99 is a major win in my book, as I was definitely expecting it to be more.

As the V8 Absolute is a much older model, however, I imagine Dyson will be doing everything possible to get rid of this older stock. Plus, the older V8 is almost always included in Amazon Prime Day deals and Black Friday deals, so if you really want a proper bargain and you’re not fussed about the new technology or longer run time, it could be worth sticking with the older model if you spot it on sale.

However, I will say that I much prefer the look and the design of the original model, as I just can’t quite get on board with the khaki colourway. And if you have a lot of hard flooring, I do think you might miss the Fluffy floor cleaner head, so the V8 Absolute still might suit you better. If I had to pick for my own house, though, I’d definitely still opt for the newer model.

Verdict: Should you buy the Dyson V8 Cyclone?

If you want a budget Dyson vacuum that’ll get the job done without all of the bells and whistles, I do think the Dyson V8 Cyclone will tick all of your boxes. It doesn’t have any fancy LCD screens or lasers, and the tools and functionalities are a bit basic, but I found it to be a great everyday vacuum that also tackled pet hair with ease.

It’s clear to see that Dyson has put a lot of thought into improving its much-loved, but also much older, V8 models, and as someone who has tested both, I can wholeheartedly say that the Dyson V8 Cyclone is a step up from its predecessor. And more than anything, it’s an impressive all-rounder that is lightweight, easy to manoeuvre, and even easier to use.

Of course, the £349.99 is still pretty steep in the grand scheme of things (especially as cheaper brands offer vacuums around the £250 mark), but I do actually think it’s a fairly competitive price for a well-made and engineering-forward Dyson vacuum.