We've all been there: you've decided to vacuum your house, so you start in one room, then quickly find yourself in another, only to realise that the cord just won't let you get the vacuum cleaner to the far reaches of the house. You stop, follow the cable back to where you started, unplug it, and look for the nearest plug near you so you can carry on.
Our quick take
We've now spent a considerably time with the V10 in our home using it as both a spot cleaner and a complete corded vacuum cleaner replacement. The device is certainly powerful enough to remove any concerns you many have that a cordless vacuum cleaner just isn't as good as the corded alternatives.
The Max setting, although incredibly power hungry delivers, as does the other settings to be fair, while the battery will last you long enough if you aren't using that Max setting to clean a reasonably large house. Although the bin is smaller, it's so easy to empty, easier in fact that the corded Dyson's we've used in the past, that it's not an issue.
From what we've seen in our house so far, it looks like Sir James is right. The days of needing to use a corded vacuum cleaner are officially over.
Dyson V10 cordless vacuum cleaner - 5.0 / 5
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Dyson V10 cordless vacuum cleaner
The idea of a cordless vacuum cleaner isn't new. Dyson has been making them for years with the Dyson V6, and V8 Cordless models, but until now, they've just never had enough suction to truly compete with what you can produce from a "corded" offering.
That stops today, according to Dyson, following the launch of the Dyson V10 cordless vacuum cleaner that promises to be as powerful as any of the corded cleaners the company currently makes.
It's so powerful, founder and CEO James Dyson tells Pocket-lint, that the company isn't going to invest any more money developing corded vacuum cleaners going forward. But is it any good? We've been cleaning our house to find out.
Design
Sporting a completely new design compared to the company's V8 model, the new V10 now features an in-line design that sees the motor and accompanying bin run in parallel to the long non-flexible suction nozzle that protrudes out the end.
That new design, means airflow is uninterrupted, something that wasn't the case before and allows the new motor, which sits at the centre of the design, to work its magic.
The cleaner, which could be mistaken for a ray-gun from some sci-fi movie, still comes with a trigger-style design for quick on-and-off action and a much-improved bin emptying system that saves you having to reach in to the bin with a chopstick to get all the dirt out. The bin is bigger, too.
Now, you pull a lever that cleans the cylinder inside and then drags the dirt out the bottom when the door opens. It works really well, and the more you use it the easier it becomes (it was a bit stiff the first couple of days).
At the rear is a replaceable filter, which, when off, disables the on/off controls, and at the bottom, is the built-in battery with a small lit meter reading so you can check your power levels.
Nice design touches include a rubber strip on the base so as to not scuff your walls, and a design-centric, colour-coded system that means red is parts you can interact with or purple are parts you can change.
Suction performance
The main reason for a vacuum cleaner is for sucking up dirt off the floor, and here the Dyson V10 works really well.
The new V10 motor is the company's most powerful yet, and it's clearly the star of the show.
Running at a crazy 125,000rpm - as an aside, jet engines run at 50,000rpm - it's one powerful motor that can send dirt into the bin at around 120mph. It's this new motor and newly designed brush bars that allow Dyson to deliver the claim that it's as powerful as it's corded devices, albeit for a brief moment.
In our quick play at the launch, we cleaned up a number of different types of dirt from porridge oats to cheerio cereal to ground coffee on a number of different surfaces. At home we've been busy cleaning our house of 2 adults, three kids, and two dogs. The good news is, is that it copes very well, very well indeed, although there is a catch.
The top-of-the-range model comes with both carpet floor and hard floor brush bars, with the latter, dubbed internally as fluffy, working beautifully on tiles and floorboards.
The V10 was able to pick up the dirt 90 per cent of the time on the first pass, and certainly all the dirt we were cleaning within two passes. The suction seal with the floor is noticeable - in a good way - and interesting the V10 knows what floor surface you are cleaning on and audibly changes the power needed to drive the motor. For those moments when you do want manual control, there are three power settings, and further settings on the brush bar. You aren't spoilt for options.
The Dyson V10 is also doing a number of things behind the scenes to ensure improved performance. In a move some might find extreme, it also has a barometer to measure altitude, barometric pressure, and temperature. It then uses this data to make minute adjustments to how the motor runs.
Battery life
Dyson claims that you'll be able to get a full 60 minutes of cleaning from a single charge and that the battery management of the cleaner is good enough to last you, according to Sir James himself, a good 15 years. If the battery ever did go, it's easily replaceable.
That's where the catch comes into play. Dyson is right, you will get 60 minutes, but only on the lowest settings. Opt for the Max setting and you get just 7 minutes. That's fine for spot cleaning, but certainly not enough to do your whole house.
Thankfully the middle setting, where you get a good 20 minutes or so is still good enough to do the job, but it's still far from the 60 minutes of cleaning. Once you've run out of battery, it's a 3.5 hour wait before you are fully charged and ready to go again.
In use we've found ourselves jumping between the two faster settings, with the Max setting reserved for spot cleaning rather than being used to give the house a full top to bottom clean. Regardless even in the lowest setting the new cordless vacuum cleaner is far more powerful than the company's robotic vacuum cleaner, the 360 Eye.
Three different models
The Dyson V10 will come in three different models to suit different needs and different budgets. In reality, the core cleaner remains the same in all three. It's just the accessories that come in the box that change, with the top-of-the-range model coming with the two different brush bars and a range of other accessories that help you clean hard-to-reach parts of your house.
The entry-level model, the V10 Animal, will cost £399.99 with everything you need to get started. The V10 Absolute (which is the model we've reviewed) will add a soft roller cleaner head for £449.99, while the Total Clean model will come with a Mattress tool, an Up top tool, and an extension hose for £499.99.
Dyson V10 cordless vacuum cleaner
To recap
From what we've seen so far, it looks like Sir James is right. The days of needing to use a corded vacuum cleaner are officially over.