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Dyson’s in the process of taking its super-suction power and shrinking its vacuums down to fit in with modern, compact life. First out of the gate was the handheld DC44, which we loved. Now we’ve got the evolution of the first ever bagless Dyson, packing two tiers of dirt-destroying cyclones, and shrunk into a knee-high package, but is it any good now it’s gotten tiny?
The latest evolution of Dyson’s once-revolutionary upright vacuum cleaner, now with two tiers of dirt-sucking cyclones and shrunk to fit our ever-decreasing living space.
Anyone who wants the power of a full-sized upright vacuum cleaner without it taking up half your house.
This thing is essentially the evolution of the original, revolutionary, bagless Dyson, just miniaturised. The two rows of cyclones look pretty awesome stacked up there on the top, and the usual Dyson look and feel is there. It’s also got pretty much everything shoved into the ball at the bottom, which means it’s basically a ball with a clear cylinder on top. That makes this thing pretty damn small, about the height of your knee, with a handle that extends to full height when you’re actually using it.
The ball makes manoeuvring this thing around incredibly easy, and at just 5.4kg it’s surprisingly light too. The cleaning brush head is quite low profile too, which means it’ll fit under most furniture, and once it goes over a spot there’s absolutely no dirt left. You can stop the brush rotor with a button up by the handle, while the brush itself has two types of bristles — nylon for deep-diving into your carpets, and carbon fibre for nuking the static on hard floors making picking up dust a suction-powered breeze.
The tools it comes with are also plentiful, including that new hair-destroying head, and an extendable brush-thing for cleaning out vents, plus the usual corner/edge sucker, and an upholstery tool. When it comes to emptying the bin after the job’s done, it’s simply button press to unlock, then just open the end in the bin and shake. Simple.
Frankly, this is about as easy as vacuuming gets without a robot maid to do it for you.
So much suction from something so small. It’s scary how much dirt this thing sucks out of your carpets. Really. This picture is of a full bin from just one vacuuming session on supposedly clean rugs. Yuk.
There’s no two ways about it, the DC50 is pricy, like most things Dyson.
It doesn’t have a lever, or need your foot on the cleaning head to lower it into action, just a bit of pressure down and it clicks into the correct position. That works great, until you want to wheel it somewhere when not in use. It is possible to wheel about it without lowering the cleaning head, but it takes a bit of practice and a light touch.
– Its diminutive size makes it really easy to pack away into almost any cupboard.
– Suction, suction, suction — small but incredibly powerful.
– It’s quite quiet for a vacuum cleaner, which should prove popular with your neighbours, and the cat.
– With the handle fully extended, you’ve got quite a reach with the DC50, meaning you don’t have to move a lot when you’re cleaning. Combined with the ball, it’s really easy to get the whole job done nice and fast (because does anyone actually enjoy hoovering?)
– The extendable tube has both a section of rigid tubing, and the extending handle in it. If you’re trying to clean something up close, it’s quite hard unless you collapse the extendable handle into the tube before you start.
– All the attachments hook in with latches that need a button press to release. It means they won’t come off, but I found some of them a bit stiff to start with, but soon got used to it.
– Not all the tools will fit on the on-board rack, meaning you’ve got to have somewhere else to keep at least two of them.
The Dyson DC50 is pretty damn pricy at £360, but it’s got more suction than, well, I’ll leave that to your imagination. It was scary how much dirt this thing vacuumed out of the rugs in my flat though, considering the other hoover we had, which shall remain nameless, went over them just a week before hand. It also genuinely cleaned the hard floors better too, which that static-busting head is meant to do, but I was still surprised.
Essentially, the DC50 is about as good as a full vacuum cleaner can get. Is it worth the price tag? Well, it depends if you’ve got 360-smackers to play with and you’re bothered by dust. It’s bagless, so there’s no expenditure once you’ve got the thing, but it’s not exactly going to be cheap and there are a myriad of more cost effective options. Whichever way you look at it, though, if you’re a proper clean freak, this is the vacuum for you.
Dyson DC50 Animal
• Price: £360
• Weight: 5.4kg
• Bin capacity: 0.8L
• Suction: 140 AW
• Dimensions: 1064 x 280 x 354 (HxWxD) (H x W x D)
• Gizrank: 4
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That’s what she said? :S
I was going to go with “my first girlfriends middle name”
Sally “So Much Suction In Such a Tiny Package” Smith
you know her as well? It’s a small world.
My ex had a lot of suction for a tiny package.
There we go…
Are you sure you want everyone to know you’ve got a tiny package?
“It’s bagless, so there’s no expenditure once you’ve got the thing”
So, no expensive filters to buy then?
Lifetime washables. So, in theory, no.
edit:
Okay, just checked. The filters are washable, “lifetime” lasting.
Our DC01 which we’ve had for years (still works well) might have a replacement if/when if finally bites the dust
I don’t see how the price is a “tragic flaw” so long as you look after it, considering it’ll probably outlive several £50 cheapos.
We’ve got a DC39 Animal, it’s about 5 years old, and touch wood, still going strong.
I couldn’t really fault anything else with it, honestly. But £360 is a heck of a lot of money for a non-robot vacuum.
I think my £70 (bought in asda for £35!) 1800w VAX with 2 years warranty will do for now.
£360! I don’t think it’s expensive, it’s just the right price for Apple fans. I mean, something that looks great before you buy it and is expensive must have a very long life expectancy, right?
They last for a decade, at least, so with your one lasting 2 years, makes it £200 odd, without factoring in price of bags. But they are a long term investment.
Not an Apple fan (Android user), we have 2 Dyson, a big one and the small cordless digital one and whilst I agree they are pricey they do deliver as promised and have been very impressed.
Once you go Dyson, you don’t go back!
very powerful, easy to handle, look cool, all the kit for cleaning the car it on it. I’ve had 3 Dyson’s – 1 small one pull along one, best for car!, DC 01 I think, and the very best Dyson Ball!
True, I bought a Vax before my current Dyson Ball. It was a POS, and not that much cheaper. The Dyson is fantastic.
Sam, you own the ugliest rugs I have ever seen.
Cheeky bastard. I’ll have you know they’re very attractive in real life
Are you inviting me round for a “coffee”
I don’t care how good it is, for £360 I’d expect Mr Dyson to come around my house and vacuum for me. And polish first. With the good stuff.
It’s more than most of our grand parents paid for their houses!!!!
When I started reading that I thought you were gonna say you expected Mr Dyson to come round and provide his own brand of “suction”
I’m a broad minded person. Hell, I’ve even used an iPad once. In 2010. Felt dirty, had to shower afterwards.
But I can safely say having Mr Dyson anywhere near my ‘appliance’ would be a line I am happy not to cross.
Sans bag or cord…
My mother has one of these and loves it. Most vacuum cleaners are too heavy for her and take up a lot of space in the cupboards. This one, however, is the right size and weight.
She uses it in conjunction with a smaller handheld version of the Dyson. ^_^
I’ll stick with my Miele.
I have a Dyson Animal, and a handheld dyson Animal.
Both awesome things indeed! Clean the filters once a month to keep things sucking, and you’ll be well away….
Damn, I really need to update my hoover, had it 15 years and was ‘bought’ from a catalogue that you collected points for out of Embassy cigs. Still going strong but no doubt the suction is about as much use as a fart in a wind tunnel. But £360 for one of these? Is it really worth that much?
Miele are better.
Rhyme cheaped out and bought a Vax. Mother fucker leaves more shit on the floor than a curry house with a broken toilet.
If Rhyme could afford a Dyson that Vax would get a cap popped in it’s suctionless ass.
I thought theyre too expensive…. well I was wrong, Had £70 Vax that died after 4 months. (ringing company they asking me over the phone to plug it in and turn it on… Cant do it, I say… We cant help you, they say…WTF?)
Got Dyson DC25 Refurb full spec one from dyson ebay (£200), Came brand new apart from warranty that was 2 years instead of 5 (lol. Hoovered 1m x 2m, and OMG!!!
Now only Hoovers im recommending are dyson