Not quite so well known for its vacuum cleaners as its kitchen appliances, Morphy Richards threw Pocket-lint a bit of a curve ball when the company sent over its top of the line Vorticity Plus Bagless Cylinder Vacuum Cleaner to test out. Fortunately, we’re always curious to see exactly what bits and bobs they’re putting in top kit of all sorts these days and, more importantly, Chez Lint also happens to be a very dusty place right now and in need of some serious Spring cleaning.

Out of the box the £169.99 Vorticity Plus is nice and simple to set up. With snap together pieces reminiscent of those close up shots in action movies where ex-marines assemble their weaponry for the big fight, it’s almost quite fun were it not over all too quickly. Cylinder onto machine, hose into cylinder, handle into hose, telescopic arm onto handle and head into telescopic arm. Job done. Well, nearly. Naturally, a vacuum cleaner wouldn’t be a vacuum cleaner if it didn’t come with all those alternative attachments for the head that you’ll never use and Morphy Richards are kind enough to include a Mini-Floorhead (just like the big one but smaller), Brush (for upholstery) and a Crevice Tool (not for that crevice).

morphy richards vorticity plus bagless vacuum cleaner hands on image 3



Now, the clever thing that MR has done here is recognise that most of these accessories get left in the box and stuffed up in the attic, so there’s a rather nice bit of design along the handle and tubing with little brackets where you can fit the alternative heads so that they stay on-device for when you need them. It’s an excellent idea but, sadly, the fact that we’ve still managed to lose them speaks volumes. Fire the thing up though and you’ll have very few complaints.

It’s wildly simple to use in - sorry Morphy Richards but we have to say it - Dyson-like style. Any buttons of relevance are colour coded orange and you’ll have down what each one does within a minute without so much as having to pick up the manual. A swift kick of the power pad on the cylinder and the 22 mini-cyclone system comes to life. The deal there is that instead of relying on just the one main hole on the underside of the head to do the work, the Vorticity Plus adds a system of mini-holes along the width. What that means in practice is that it does actually suck up the dirt and fluff of the whole area you’ve just passed over without having to go back and do it again. Given that vacuuming isn’t at the top of most people’s favourite activities list, that’s a very good thing.

morphy richards vorticity plus bagless vacuum cleaner hands on image 10



The suction works well throughout use and the machine never seemed to drop bits back through the head and onto our clean floors. It hasn’t deteriorated from the day it arrived and nor does the fullness of the cylinder seem to affect performance either. Once it is jammed full of dust and fluff though, it’s nice and obvious to see with very clear fill levels to indicate when it’s time to unclip. Then comes the most satisfying moment of all when you hit the second button on the case - and make sure you’re over a bin bag when you do so - and the bottom opens up dropping all of the detritus where it needs to go without dumping any back on the floor. A quick shake and a bump seemed to remove just about all of it with too much of a problem.

Once you’re done with the work, tug on the flex and the plug whips back into the housing on the case with much the same action as you might expect on a window blind. Aside, running the filter under a tap once a month or so, that’s pretty much all there is to it and we were generally very pleased with the functionality and design of the unit from top to bottom.

morphy richards vorticity plus bagless vacuum cleaner hands on image 9



The only really question for us was over the heaviness of the head. It’s not heavy at all. That might sound like a good thing, and it’s certainly not all bad, but what that tends to mean is that you have to lean into it a bit more to ensure that it stays on the ground all the time. Invariably, that results in bending over and pressing on the tube a bit more which doesn’t quite make for the seamless, open-windowed, glass of wine experience that most commercials would have us believe that vacuuming is. It’s not a major flaw and it’s not like it’s going to cause you spinal problems or to hate the machine any, but don’t be fooled into thinking that the Vorticity Plus means that doing your floors isn’t a chore. It’ll still require some elbow grease.

The final thing to mention is the price. It’s not cheap. You can pick up a lot of cylinder vacuums offering the same kind of size and pack away convenience for a lot less. In fact, Morphy Richards makes some itself. At the end of the day, spending £169.99 on something like this is going to be around £100 more than a lot people want to. Who wouldn’t rather spend the difference on a better TV? But after pushing round some old heaps that double your work time and break down more often, it would be hard to feel that the Vorticity Plus isn't money well spent.