I didn't expect Lakeland's £99 cordless vacuum to impress me – but it’s the best budget-friendly model I’ve tested so far

I've tested many a vacuum cleaner now, and while the high-end, big-name models have rightfully earned their spot in our guide to the best cordless vacuums on the market, I'm also personally invested in budget-friendly alternatives. So, when I saw that Lakeland had released a 2-in-1 cordless vacuum for just £99.99, my interest was piqued.

Naturally, I was curious to see whether it could hold its own against pricier favourites from Dyson, Shark and Gtech. After using it around my flat for the past couple of weeks, I can confidently say that this little vacuum has impressed me far more than I expected.

In a nutshell

The Lakeland Lightweight 2-in-1 is proof that you don’t have to spend a fortune for a decent cordless vacuum. At just £99.99, it’s one of (if not the) cheapest cordless models on the market. And while it can’t quite compete with premium models for power, it still does a great job for everyday cleaning.

True to its name, it’s incredibly lightweight and easy to manoeuvre. Switching between stick and handheld modes is effortless, and you can even use it in handheld mode without using an attachment.

Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve used it throughout my flat – from vacuuming carpets and hard floors to freshening up furniture and curtains – and it’s handled it all with ease.

The main caveat is that you'll need to empty the dust bin fairly often, but it feels like a small trade-off when you consider the price. For anyone after a simple, affordable, and versatile cordless vacuum, the Lakeland Lightweight 2-in-1 shouldn't be overlooked.

Specifications

• Weight: 3.2kg
• Dimensions: 13(D) x 26.5(W) x 54(H)cm
• Max. run time: 40 minutes
• Bin volume: 0.15L
• Charge time: 4 hours
• Modes: Regular, High Power
• Noise level: 80-85dB (tested by us)
• In the box: Main unit, aluminium hose, floorhead, small brush attachment, crevice nozzle, wall mount and accessories holder, charger
• RRP: £99.99

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 Lakeland Lightweight 2-in-1 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 replace 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 Lakeland 2-in-1's pick-up capabilities.

Unboxing, set up, and first impressions

Despite the name of this vacuum, I was still surprised at just how light the box was when the Lakeland Lightweight 2-in-1 arrived. I could easily lift it in one hand without any trouble.

Inside the box, everything was neatly arranged: there was a soft foam-style protective wrap around the main components (the kind of material often marked with the recycling symbol “04”), and each piece felt secure.

The “04” refers to low-density polyethylene (LDPE) film plastic, the kind used in shrink-wrap and plastic bags. It's preferable to polystyrene and PVC plastic (recycling symbol "03"), but I still would have liked to have seen everything wrapped in cardboard, which, from previous testing experience, I know does a fine job of protecting appliances in transit.

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For a vacuum that comes in at the sub-£100 mark – very much budget-friendly for a cordless model – nothing felt cheap or flimsy when unpacking. The main unit, pole and floorhead all looked and felt solid. The crevice tool and soft brush attachment felt slightly more fragile, but overall, I was impressed.

Putting the Lakeland cordless model together was delightfully simple, too: just click the pole into the floorhead, attach the main vacuum unit to the pole, and slot the battery into place with a satisfying click. Before I started my first clean-up, I connected the charger and let it charge up.

Using the Lakeland Lightweight 2-in-1 Cordless Vacuum

Once I started using the Lakeland 2-in-1, the caveat to its ultra-lightweight build became clear. It’s wonderfully easy to lift and carry, but it definitely feels more delicate than other vacuums I’ve tested when in use. The floorhead doesn’t feel entirely secure on the pole – there’s a slight wobble when you move it back and forth – but after double-checking, it became clear that it was not actually loose. That’s just the way it feels.

That said, I was impressed with the overall performance of the vacuum from the get-go. For such a lightweight and affordable model, the suction is strong, and doing my flat from top to bottom didn’t feel like much effort. The vacuum glides smoothly across the floor, and manoeuvring it around furniture or into corners was straightforward. My carpets were left with those satisfying streak marks I always like to see after a good clean, and they simply looked – and felt – fresher.

The control buttons are super easy to grasp: a power button for switching the vacuum on and off, and a button to switch between the two power settings (regular and high-power).

I did need to switch to the higher setting when tackling the high-traffic areas in my living room, so this was a good test. The difference in suction was definitely noticeable, and the noise levels of the vacuum amped up to reflect this. I was glad to have the high-power mode, though, as it gives that extra bit of oomph needed for more stubborn bits of debris.

To get a clearer visual on the vacuum's pick-up power, I performed the flour test on both my hard-floored kitchen (vinyl, to be precise) and my carpeted living room. I threw a tablespoon's worth of flour onto the floor and ran the vacuum over the area to see how quickly it picked the flour up.

The Lakeland vacuum performed well on the hard floor. It collected almost everything in a single sweep, leaving only a few faint traces behind. I just needed to glide the vacuum over the same area once more to pick up the rest. For such an affordable model, that was an impressive result.

Unsurprisingly, the vacuum struggled a little bit more when it came to the carpet. This has been true of all the cordless vacuums I've tested, so it's not something I'd consider a downfall.

When I first ran the floorhead over the flour, I was worried it might push the flour deeper into the carpet fibres rather than lift it, but switching to the higher-power mode quickly solved the problem. It managed to pull up every last bit of flour in just a few sweeps, leaving the carpet looking clean and refreshed again.

I was a fan of the floorhead's LED light panel, too. It makes it super easy to see what the vacuum is picking up from the floor, even on gloomy days where natural light is sparse.

I will say that I've tested vacuums that sit more comfortably in my hand than this one. The Lakeland model lacks the ergonomic handle design of more expensive models, but I'd say it's nice to have rather than essential, and not enough to put me off recommending it by any means.

Another super handy feature of this vacuum is that it can be used in handheld mode without the need to use any attachments. This is one of my favourite things about my current vacuum, the Hoover HFX Cordless, which continues to vacuum after being detached from the floorhead. Basically, it means I can clean the edges of a room without needing to fetch an attachment, which is ideal for a lazy vacuumer like me.

I was also pretty pleased when I realised that the Lakeland model has a handy flip-down brush head that sits snugly behind the main unit, ready to click into place when the main pole has been detached. This means that I could swap from regular vacuuming to handheld jobs with ease, which was handy given that the vacuum felt a little bit clunky to use around the edges of a room and furniture.

Finally, I always take into account a vacuum's noise levels when testing. No one wants a vacuum that creates a din, so I like to consider how an appliance sounds as well as how loud it is.

Happily, I had no qualms with the Lakeland 2-in-1 Vacuum in this area. Using a sound measuring app, I recorded 80-81 dB when the vacuum was in standard mode, and 85 dB when it was on the higher power. So, not a massive difference in volume between the two settings, and the noise itself isn't unpleasant by any means.

Using the attachments

While the Lakeland 2-in-1 can be used in handheld mode without using any attachments, it does still come with a crevice tool and a soft brush head as standard. Handily, the soft brush head doubles up as a wide-nozzle tool, so when you include the brush head that's already attached to the vacuum, you're basically getting four attachment heads in total. For a vacuum that costs less than £100, this is seriously impressive.

Cleaning with the attachments isn't exactly groundbreaking, and they do feel a little flimsy if I'm honest. But they get the job done, and I was satisfied with how my skirting boards and upholstery looked after I'd cleaned them.

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Plus, the device feels just as lightweight in handheld mode as it does in upright, making it really easy to clean behind the sofa or under other bits of furniture.

I wouldn't call it the equivalent of one of the best handheld vacuums on the market, but the fact that it does a satisfactory job on handheld vacuuming chores is impressive. It's 2-in-1, as the name indicates, but it's seriously affordable compared to other models offering similar capabilities.

Battery and charging

It took just under four hours for the battery to go from flat to fully charged when I timed it, which is pretty standard for cordless vacuums.

The battery's maximum runtime is 40 minutes in standard mode, which, again, is fairly typical, if a little on the short side. The battery life drops to 10 minutes when used in high-power mode, which isn't ideal if you'll be using it in this mode for long periods. But I found that standard mode was perfectly adequate for general vacuuming.

The fact that the Lakeland 2-in-1 matches the battery life of some of our other favourite cordless vacuums shouldn't be overlooked, given how much more affordable it is. I also like that the remaining battery life is displayed on the vacuum's display panel, so you can see how long you've got left at a glance.

The battery can be removed and charged separately from the vacuum, but you won't be able to see the battery life creep upwards to 100. I chose to plug mine in in handheld most of the time; it was less messy than lying the full appliance on its side, but still meant I could see what charge the battery was on.

Cleaning and maintenance

The vacuum's bin capacity is where this model falls short, in my opinion. This is never usually a dealbreaker for me – how a vacuum performs always comes before how often it needs to be emptied – but the Lakeland's bin volume is enough of a nuisance to impact the overall experience.

After the first turn around my three-bedroom flat, the bin's contents had already surpassed the "max" line, and there was heaps of dust clinging to the HEPA filter. The user manual recommends emptying the bin after each use (which I don't have to do with my usual vacuum), but I actually had to empty it twice when vacuuming the flat in full. Letting the contents exceed the max limit took a while to sort out; I had to use a small brush to remove all the debris that had found its way to the filter, and remove both the filter and its container basket to do so.

It would have been nice if a small cleaning brush had been included, given that the vacuum's dust bin is so small. I already have one from a previous vacuum I've tested, but without it, I would have struggled.

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Needless to say, having to empty the bin twice makes vacuuming the flat feel more laborious than usual. It's definitely something to weigh up before buying the Lakeland 2-in-1, especially if you'll be using it to vacuum large spaces.

Beyond that, the dust bin is thankfully easy to empty. It springs open at the click of a button and reattaches to the vacuum with ease.

The vacuum is missing the anti-hair wrap technology of more expensive models, which does mean that hair gets wrapped around the brush bar quite easily. I'd recommend keeping on top of this and cleaning the brush bar weekly to avoid it building up.

How does the Lakeland 2-in-1 Cordless Vacuum compare to similar models?

There are so many brilliant cordless vacuums available now, but none are as cheap as the Lakeland Lightweight 2-in-1 Cordless Vacuum Cleaner. As such, when comparing this model to its peers, I keep circling back to the price point; its budget status changes how we evaluate any compromises.

Firstly, take the Dyson V8 Cyclone (RRP £349.99). It currently holds the spot for the best value cordless model in our buying guide, thanks to its strong suction, solid build quality and premium features. Compared to this, the Lakeland doesn’t match the same level of performance – the floorhead felt less secure and more delicate, for example – but as I keep mentioning, the Lakeland costs significantly less. If your budget is tight and you just need a capable everyday handheld/stick for light-to-medium duty, the Lakeland offers amazing value.

Then there’s the Gtech AirFOX Platinum (RRP £429.99). Our reviewer was impressed with Gtech's long runtime (80 minutes in eco mode), its powerful pickup capabilities, and the wide range of tools and accessories included. Again, the Lakeland probably falls behind the Gtech in all of these areas, but it also undercuts it by a large margin in price.

Should you buy the Lakeland 2-in-1 Cordless Vacuum?

If you’re looking for a solid cordless vacuum that doesn’t break the bank, the Lakeland Lightweight 2-in-1 should be it. I've mentioned the price a lot in this review, but that's because it really is unusual to find a cordless vacuum of this calibre for £100. We usually recommend budgeting around £250 for a good-quality cordless vacuum, which the Lakeland model significantly undercuts.

With this vacuum, you get decent suction power and the convenience of a two-in-one design, so no need to purchase a separate handheld vacuum as well. It’s easy to lift, easy to manoeuvre, and surprisingly satisfying to use – proof that a budget-friendly vacuum doesn’t have to feel cheap.

Of course, there are compromises. The floorhead feels a little flimsy, and you’ll need to empty the dust bin more frequently than with pricier models, which will likely become a nuisance in larger homes. But for smaller spaces or anyone who wants a simple, lightweight vac for everyday cleaning, the Lakeland is a great fit.

It won’t rival a Dyson or Shark for power, but considering the price, it performs admirably. It's a wallet-friendly choice well worth considering.