Upright Vacuum 2026 Test: Which Brand Wins?

brush width just under 10 in, head width 11 in, just under 90% efficiency, the best of all 8 vacuums; weighs 17.59 lb; power draw 1,415 W, the highest of any unit; noise 87 dB

brush width just under 10 in, head width 12 in, 80% efficiency; weighs 17.37 lb; power draw 1,405 W; noise 83.7 dB, second quietest of all 8 vacuums

roller width 11.5 in, head width 13.25 in, just under 87% efficiency; weighs 12.15 lb; power draw 1,020 W, the most powerful of the budget-tier units; noise 88 dB

roller width 9 in, head width 11.25 in, 80% efficiency; weighs 14.8 lb (heaviest at that point in the video, before the Hoover/Dyson/Shark Power Detect were tested); power draw close to 1,200 W; noise 83.1 dB, the quietest of all 8 vacuums

roller width just under 10 in, head width 12.5 in, 82% efficiency; weighs 17.02 lb; power draw close to 1,360 W; noise 84.6 dB, second quietest at that point in the video

roller width close to 8 in, head width just over 10.5 in, about 75% efficiency, the lowest of all 8 vacuums; weighs 9.03 lb; power draw around 775 W; noise 89.9 dB

roller width 8 in, head width 11.25 in; weighs 8.43 lb, the lightest of all 8 vacuums; power draw close to 800 W; noise 92.4 dB, the loudest of all 8 vacuums

roller width 8.75 in, head width 11 in, about 80% efficiency; weighs 9.27 lb; power draw around 910 W (versus a 700 W claim); noise 89.3 dB

41.5 CFM, second place behind the Shark Power Detect

45 CFM, the best of all 8 vacuums

26 CFM, third place overall, best among the sub-$100 vacuums

20.8 CFM, trailing the Bissell, the weakest unsealed reading among the mid/upper tier

just over 25 CFM, second place at that point, before the Dyson and Shark Power Detect were tested

just over 21 CFM

around 20 CFM, weaker than the Dirt Devil

just over 23 CFM, a good result for a budget vacuum

just over 57 CFM, the best of all 8 vacuums

53.5 CFM, second place behind the Dyson

just over 45 CFM, best among the sub-$100 vacuums at that point in the video

just over 50 CFM, third place overall

around 45.3 CFM, second place at that point behind the Shark Navigator

just over 38 CFM, third place at that point behind the Dirt Devil

just over 34 CFM, continuing to trail the Dirt Devil

just over 39 CFM

of water column

of water column, the best of all 8 vacuums

of water column, slightly more than the Eureka Airspeed

of water column

of water column, by far the most lift of the units tested up to that point, essentially tied with the Dyson

of water column, trailing the Eureka PowerSpeed and Dirt Devil

of water column, trailing the Dirt Devil

of water column, described as pretty good for a budget vacuum

the best of all 8 vacuums

second place behind the Dyson

moved into the lead over the Dirt Devil at that point in the video

third place overall behind the Dyson and Shark Power Detect

better than the Eureka PowerSpeed's 62 g

second place behind the Dirt Devil in this specific test

the best result in this specific test at the time it was run (before the more expensive units were tested)

left behind only 4 balls, third place

collected all of the balls, none left behind, the best of all 8 vacuums

left behind only 2 balls, second place overall behind the Shark Power Detect

left behind 92 balls, described as pushing rather than lifting them on the forward pass, the worst result of the video for this test

missed 22 balls, third place, described as collecting rather than picking up the balls

left behind 16 balls, second place at that point in the video, before the Hoover/Dyson/Shark Power Detect were tested

tied with the Dirt Devil, 25 balls left behind

tied with the Eureka Airspeed, 25 balls left behind

no hair wrapped around the roller and all hair collected in the canister; tied with the Shark Power Detect for the best possible rating (1)

no hair wrapped around the roller; tied with the Dyson for the best possible rating (1)

little hair reached the canister, most wrapped around the roller, a typical result for this video

less hair reached the canister than the Hoover but a lot of hair collected on the brush, a middling result

missed quite a bit of hair on the forward pass but cleaned it up on the return pass, most hair wrapped around the brush with only a small amount reaching the canister

little hair reached the canister, most collected on the roller, a typical result

performed about the same as the Dirt Devil, most hair wrapped around the roller

picked up hair well on the forward pass but, like most vacuums, most hair wrapped around the brush rather than reaching the canister

left behind only 3 grains; rated 1.5, tied with the Shark Navigator

earned a perfect score, the best of all 8 vacuums

picked up most of the rice on the forward pass, a good result

left behind a couple of grains; rated 1.5, tied with the Dyson

left behind 7 grains, the weakest result among the units besides the Dirt Devil

missed quite a bit of rice on the forward pass, left behind more rice than the Eureka PowerSpeed on the return pass

performed much better than the Dirt Devil, collected most of the rice on the return pass

the worst performer of the video on this test, tossing rice all over the place including in front of the neighboring Eureka