I tried VAX’s new sub-£200 cordless vacuum in my small flat – and it cleans better than you’d expect at this bargain price

I always love a stick vacuum I can grab and go without thinking too much, and one that can handle my cat's hair and whatever's been tracked in from the patio of my basement flat. That's why I've always leaned towards the best cordless vacuum cleaners. It's an extra bonus when they're affordable, too.

That's why I wanted to test the VAX Pace Plus Cordless Vacuum Cleaner. It's the entry model in VAX's ONEPWR cordless range, with an RRP of £189.99, well below most of the stick vacuums I've tested. You wouldn't expect Dyson-level performance at that price, of course, but I was curious as to whether it would clean well enough that I wouldn't end up eyeing a pricier model. This is how it fared.

In a nutshell

A big vacuum has never really made sense for me, since my one-bedroom basement flat is mostly hard floors with a couple of rugs, and most of the mess worth worrying about comes in on my cat's paws as Jet comes through his cat flap. So, on paper, the VAX Pace Plus fit the bill.

And from the first proper clean, it did more than I'd anticipated for the price. Spilt flour and rice disappeared from the kitchen floor in one go, and the rugs (where a cheap stick vacuum usually gives up) were no trouble at all. At 3.1kg, it's light enough to pick up for a quick tidy, and it steers easily around chair legs and under the sofa.

I timed battery life at around 43 minutes in standard mode, which was more than enough for a go-around my flat. Boost mode, as you'd expect, wipes it out in about 10 minutes. Crushed cereal also needed an extra pass, and the only real nuisance was the fur wrapping itself around the brush bar. If you have a small place with mostly hard floors, I'd keep it in mind.

For the most part, though, this is a budget-friendly cordless vacuum that ticks a lot of boxes - just be warned that it won't be able to compete at the same level as the best vacuums for pet hair if you share your home with any furry friends.

Specifications

• Weight (overall): 3.1kg
• Weight (handheld): 1.4kg
• Bin volume: 0.6L
• Run time: Up to 40 mins, 10 mins in Boost
• Charge time: 3 hours
• Modes: 2 (standard and Boost), plus brush bar on/off
• Filtration: 3-stage, washable filter
• Noise level (measured by us): 56dB (standard), 64.5dB (Boost)
• In the box: Wall mount, ONEPWR charger, crevice tool, stair tool
• Dimensions: H105 x W24 x D21cm
• Guarantee: 3 years with registration

Meet the tester

Caroline Preece

I'm Caroline, a Freelance Reviewer for Ideal Home. I tested the VAX Pace Plus for two weeks in my basement flat, which has a mix of wood-effect laminate, textured vinyl in the kitchen and bathroom, and a couple of low- to medium-pile rugs. Before I put it into regular use, I ran our standard debris test, timed the battery and measured the noise with a decibel meter. As ever, the cat provided the pet hair (in abundance).

Unboxing and setting up

The VAX Pace Plus comes in a tall, skinny box which I could quite easily carry in from the doorstep with one hand. All the components are in cardboard inserts, and the only thing that's in a plastic bag is the battery itself, so pretty much everything went straight into the recycling.

You get the main body, floorhead, extension wand, the removable ONEPWR battery with its charger, a crevice tool, a stair tool and a wall mount. It's a fairly basic kit by stick vacuum standards with no dusting brush or mini motorised tool - though at this price, I'd rather the money went into the floorhead than a drawer full of attachments destined to gather dust.

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It took about two minutes to set it up. The wand clicks into the main unit, the floorhead clicks onto the wand, and the picture-led instructions take care of the rest. There's no floor-standing dock, just a wall mount, so you'll need to find a spot and drill it in (screws and wall plugs are included).

It won't stand on its own, so between cleans it'll be either on the mount or leaning against the wall. The battery slides out and charges in its own little cradle, so you don't have to keep the vacuum by a socket.

It feels a bit more plasticky than a Dyson or a Shark at this price, as you'd expect, but nothing gives way or flexes, and the wand feels solid. The grip is comfortable, and the weight is well balanced, sitting close to your hand rather than the front end dragging down.

Using the VAX Pace Plus Cordless Vacuum Cleaner

The controls are as simple as you could possibly get. Three buttons sit along the top of the handle: one for power, one to switch the brush bar on and off, and a plus for Boost.

There are just two power settings (standard and Boost), and you can turn the brush bar off for hard floors. The 40-minute runtime VAX quote is for standard mode on hard floors with the brush bar off, so you'll get less if you're cleaning rugs or carpet.

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I started with a debris test on the textured vinyl in the kitchen, scattering flour, rice, and crushed cereal, then running the Pace Plus over it in standard mode with the brush bar on.

The flour and rice were both dealt with in one pass (a few grains did get caught in the vinyl's dimples), and the cereal took a second pass, with a few larger pieces being pushed ahead of the floorhead before it caught them.

Boost made very little difference, so I'd save that for carpet or rugs. I also did a pass with the brush bar off (as VAX recommends for hard floors), but I ultimately left it on for everything as the results weren't as effective.

The rug in the living room took a couple of passes to clean properly, largely because the muck had worked its way down into the pile. Boost definitely earned its keep here, pulling up the last of the fluff right along the edge.

VAX makes no anti-tangle claims for the brush bar, and it’s clear why. By the end of the test, a thick band of Jet's fur (and some of mine) was wound right around the brush bar, and a good-sized felted clump packed into the corner of the floorhead, which I had to pry the brush bar out of to clear.

Day to day, it's easy to carry between rooms and gets on well with furniture. The wand is low enough to reach under the sofa and bed, and my wrist was fine after a full clean, though I wouldn't want to use it as a handheld for long, as the 1.4kg weight can take its toll if you're constantly reaching up high to clean upper nooks and crannies.

The bin was the real story, as after the first couple of cleans, it was stuffed past the MAX line with hair, grit, and bits of leaf from the houseplants, plus stuff pulled out of the rugs, which I'd thought were fairly clean.

I got just over 44 minutes in standard mode, well above VAX's 40-minute claim. A full clean of my flat takes about 20 minutes, so one charge is more than enough, and I'd only be recharging every other clean.

Recharge time was just over 3 hours, which matches VAX's claim, but if you have a larger property, the removable battery could be worth a look. A spare ONEPWR battery (£79.99 from VAX at the time of writing) would double your cleaning time, and it's compatible with VAX's other ONEPWR machines, too

I recorded noise levels at 56dB in standard mode and 64.5dB in Boost (again, below average for a stick vac). You could still hear the TV over it in standard mode, though Boost is loud enough that I'd definitely avoid it if someone were on a call in the next room.

Using the attachments

There are just a crevice tool and a stair tool to swap between with the VAX Pace Plus, and it becomes a handheld when you unclip the wand with the button by the bin.

The corner by the cat flap is where Jet's litter and all the general outdoor mess accumulates, so that's where I put the crevice tool to work. It cleared that and the skirting boards pretty quickly, although the narrow nozzle does take a couple of passes to cover the width.

There are no stairs in my flat (another benefit of living in a basement), so I gave the stair tool a go on my sofa. It did a good job lifting cat hair out of the sofa cushions, though it required a few passes to get into the seams.

Cleaning and maintenance

The 0.6L bin is a bit bigger than some more expensive competitors, and in my flat I expected to empty it every two or three cleanings.

It's pretty easy to do, as there's a release that simply drops the base open, though it is a two-handed job, and hair has a habit of getting caught in the mesh filter in the middle, so I had to fish some of it out with my fingers.

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The filter is washable (which keeps future costs down), but it needs rinsing about once every two weeks and takes 24 hours to dry. I'd wash it the night before a day off cleaning.

If hair did get caught on the brush bar, it was easy to release and remove, and clearing, refitting, and reassembling it took less than a minute.

The wall mount holds the vacuum by its handle with the floorhead resting on the floor. The battery charger obviously needs its own space near a socket, which is a small inconvenience but means the vacuum can stay in one room while the battery charges in another.

How does it compare?

A natural competitor to the VAX Pace Plus is in the same brand, though the Vax HomePro Pet-Design Cordless Vacuum Cleaner is slightly pricier at £299. However, this model is a dedicated pet model, so it suits those who need to rely on anti-tangle technology.

Spend a bit more, and you get the Dreame V20 Pro (£349.99 RRP), with Auto mode that adjusts suction to the level of dirt, a sharper edge and a charging dock with tool storage.

The bin is a little smaller at 0.5L, and for a small flat like mine, I suspect the extra performance isn't worth the roughly threefold price premium, at least while the Pace Plus is on sale. If you want a vacuum that looks like it's straight out of a sci-fi film, it's certainly an option.

Verdict: Should you buy the VAX Pace Plus?

The VAX Pace Plus cleaned my floors better than the price suggests, lifting flour and rice in one pass while also handling rugs quite well. It's light, easy to live with, and the removable battery makes it more versatile than most budget stick vacs I've tried.

It would start to struggle in larger homes, though. Half an hour of battery won't go far, and if you have a long-haired pet, untangling the brush bar will be a regular job. For a small, mostly hard-floored property, though, it's an easy one to put on your shortlist.

It's what I reach for now when Jet comes in through the cat flap trailing half the patio, and I haven't once wished it were something pricier.