Dyson V7 Animal Cordless Handheld Vacuum Cleaner, Purple, Medium

Product Information

We can do a large flight of awkwardly shaped carpeted steps on Max power with ease in the allotted 6 minutes if we need more serious cleaning gumption too. This is an even better shape for dusting shelves and high-up surfaces than the main 2-in-1 tool, and features very soft bristles for delicate cleaning. The powerful motorised bar never slows under load – as air-powered brush bars often do – so it keeps driving away, even if the tool is sticking down to surfaces such as the dogs’ beds.

It works well, and not once did we have fluff and hair stuck in the V7 that we had to dig out manually. In addition, the clips are on the tools, rather than the tube or body, which makes removing and replacing tools with one hand easy. A great cordless vacuum cleaner can suck it all up in less than 20 seconds, the worst leave hair behind even after two minutes of continuous cleaning.

Given the great balance in the hand, the cordless convenience for getting to those pet-hair-coated areas in the back of the car, easy emptying and its sheer hair-cleaning gumption, there’s no better pet-hair vacuum cleaner on the market – cordless or mains powered! litre volume of the V8 models and emptying is achieved in the same way – namely pulling up the big red handle on top.

The Direct Drive floorhead’s stiffer rows of bristles drag hairs from carpet pile with ease and there are no areas on the head’s base for hairs to become stuck. This score shows how well each cordless vacuum cleaner picks up dust from in between the crevices that you find between traditional floorboards. On paper, at least, the new Dyson V7 cordless cleaners sit between the original V6 and the flagship V8 models. A simple hand over the nozzle test on both normal and Max power modes demonstrates everything we’ve come to expect from Dyson’s V models: great suction and high airflow.

hours with an LED indicator that’s orange when fully expended, blue while charging, and goes out when the unit is fully charged. First we comb real cat and dog hair into a section of carpet to simulate how trodden in and engrained it can get in a real home. Punch both models up to Max power and they’ll run for about 6 minutes, the V7 delivering 100AW while the V8 has 15% more at 115AW. The majority are sucked straight into the bin, with a few longer pet and human ones becoming wrapped around the brush as per usual. The V8 was already the best functionally designed cordless cleaner on the market – and, thanks to its hushed tones, lighter weight and great balance, we reckon the V7 is even better.

The design with the motor above your hand and the battery pack below gives the Dyson V-series cleaners the best in-hand balance of any handheld on the market. On the down side, we suspect that much of that saving comes from removing the rear post-motor filter of the V6 or V8. This can be a little tiresome, but it does have the benefit of making your battery last a little longer because you’re the vacuum is only on when you need it to be. Dyson’s V-series cleaners get a middle sibling in the form of the V7, tested here in its pet-hair-busting Animal guise. This score shows how well each cordless vacuum cleaner sucks up fine dust from hard flat floors such as laminate.

None of these three cordless vacuum cleaners can compete with larger, corded alternatives, though and you’ll have to empty them fairly regularly. Indeed, the V7 looks near-identical to the V8, although the latter is slightly chunkier and weighs 2. A five-star score here means that nearly all of the fine dust and allergens that the vacuum cleaner picks up are locked tightly within the container and are not released back into the home. We left this tool attached to the body in the dock, ready to pounce on pet hair tumbleweed at the pull of a trigger. A whole lot quieter than the V6 and slightly more svelte than the V8, it has most of the flagship’s main features.

Alas, you can’t clean while charging and I also found it disappointing that there’s no battery gauge; instead, a single blue LED indicates the charge status with the light turning off once the device is fully charged. Thanks to the lithium battery and Dyson’s control electronics, you get full power right up until it cuts out too.

Charge time from empty to full for the V7 sits at 3hrs 30mins while the V8’s battery takes five hours to charge.