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Kenmore Elite Pet Friendly Review

This vacuum takes many passes to get the work done at a high cost
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Kenmore Elite Pet Friendly Review
Credit: Kenmore
Price:  $400 List
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Manufacturer:   Kenmore
By Ruth Bruckbauer and Jessica Riconscente  ⋅  Jul 26, 2022
59
OVERALL
SCORE


RANKED
#5 of 7
  • Carpet Cleaning - 35% 4.7
  • Ease of Use - 25% 6.7
  • Handling - 20% 6.8
  • Hard Surface - 10% 3.5
  • Pet Hair - 10% 9.0

Our Verdict

If you are looking for a canister vacuum that is tough on pet hair, you should definitely check out the Kenmore Elite Pet Friendly. While it's not our all-time favorite canister model, this product ranked very highly in picking up pet hair. It is also easy to use and very maneuverable but had a disappointing cleaning performance on carpeted and hard floors. The price tag is also a bit difficult to swallow for its so-so performance. All told, we recommend looking at the best canister vacuums from our test with better cleaning performances.
REASONS TO BUY
Long reach
Great handling
Superb pet hair performance
REASONS TO AVOID
Expensive
Poor edging performance
Bulky head

Compare to Similar Products

 
Awards  Editors' Choice Award
Best Overall
 Top Pick Award
Best Carpet Cleaning Performance
 
Price $400 List
$349.99 at Amazon
$80 List
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$83 List
$72.99 at Amazon
$579 List
$579.00 at Amazon
$80 List
$79.99 at Amazon
Overall Score Sort Icon
59
66
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55
Star Rating
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Bottom Line Though it has great handling and multiple adjustable features, this expensive vacuum doesn't work as well as we'd hopedThe perfect solution for those who want a good vacuum for very little moneyWe think this canister vacuum is one of the best options if you are shopping on a slim budgetThis model is great at cleaning the carpeting but doesn't deliver as well with hard flooringThis inexpensive and lightweight vacuum can handle small messes but easily gets overwhelmed
Rating Categories Kenmore Elite Pet F... Eureka WhirlWind Eureka Mighty Mite Miele Compact C1 Turbo Bissell Zing Bagles...
Carpet Cleaning (35%)
4.7
6.7
6.8
7.4
5.1
Ease of Use (25%)
6.7
6.3
5.8
5.9
6.3
Handling (20%)
6.8
7.5
7.0
5.4
5.9
Hard Surface (10%)
3.5
7.3
7.3
6.0
5.5
Pet Hair (10%)
9.0
4.0
4.0
6.0
4.0
Specs Kenmore Elite Pet F... Eureka WhirlWind Eureka Mighty Mite Miele Compact C1 Turbo Bissell Zing Bagles...
Measured Weight 24.5 lbs 11.0 lbs 9.3 lbs 14.2 lbs 9.2 lbs
Measured Maximum Reach 37' 4" 26' 10" 31' 10" 30' 26' 6"
Manufacturer Capacity 2.1 L 3.0 L 2.8 L 4.1 L 2.0 L
Measured Noise Level 72 dBA 68 dBA 72 dBA 67 dBA 72 dBA
Measured Head Width 14.75'' 10.5'' 10.5'' 10.75'' 10.0"
Measured Hose Suction Power 74'' 60'' 90'' 72'' 64''
Measured Power Cord Length 26' 16' 6" 19' 6" 18' 16' 6"
Model Number 81714 NEN110B 3670G SCAE0 2156A
Dirt Collection Bag Bagless Bag Bag Bagless
HEPA Filter Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Measured Brush Width 14'' N/A N/A 10'' N/A
Variable Suction Control Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Brush On/Off Switch Yes N/A N/A Adjusts N/A
Automatic Cord Rewind Yes Yes No Yes Yes

Our Analysis and Test Results

The Kenmore Elite Pet Friendly Canister delivered impressive results for pet hair clean-up. It's a good choice for handling and is easy to use, but it doesn't deliver a solid cleaning performance. It's also pricey for a canister vacuum, and others generally outperformed it.

Performance Comparison


kenmore elite pet friendly
Credit: Laura Casner

Carpet Cleaning


We began our review by putting each vacuum through a gauntlet of carpet cleaning tests. We used difficult-to-vacuum items like flour, oatmeal, rice, and cereal on both medium and low-pile carpets in order to assess performance. The Kenmore Elite Pet Friendly vacuum got off to a rather bad start on the rice test, spraying it out every which way.

The Kenmore Elite Pet Friendly did do marginally better with the oatmeal and surprised us with the Cheerios — vacuuming up all of the cereal in five passes. But, it did not pass our flour tests, leaving a powdery haze in its wake.

kenmore elite pet friendly - this is after the first pass through the cheerios.
This is after the first pass through the Cheerios.
Credit: Jessica Riconscente

Ease of Use


Our next series of tests ranked and scored the overall user-friendliness of each vacuum and looked at how easy they were to use when cleaning different sections of a home. We tested each canister vacuum on edging, reach, furniture maneuverability, and surface transition. The Kenmore Elite Pet Friendly did quite well in this regard. It has a foot switch used to move between four different cleaning modes (XLO, LO, MED, HI), maximizing efficiency on different types of floors. It also has a switch on the handle to turn on or off the powered brush roll.

kenmore elite pet friendly - the foot switch to change the ground clearance.
The foot switch to change the ground clearance.
Credit: Laura Casner

The Kenmore Elite Pet Friendly vacuum earned high marks for its surface transition and reach performances, thanks to the 26-foot cord and 9-foot hose. But, it bombed again in the edging test.

Handling


We based scores for our handling metric by using them on stairs and also on how agile and maneuverable each product felt. This vacuum does an excellent job when it comes to maneuvering and pushing/pulling. But, again, it failed at cleaning the stairs.

It has enough hose to clean around seven steps before the base of the vacuum needs to be moved. The Kenmore Elite Pet Friendly is also on the lighter side and has a built-in stair grip that allows it to be easily carried up most staircases. This worked great on our test flight of stairs.

kenmore elite pet friendly - the base can easily be dragged up a flight of stairs.
The base can easily be dragged up a flight of stairs.
Credit: Laura Casner

It's easy to push and pull the Kenmore Elite across most types of floors, and we found it to be very nimble and maneuverable, even when cleaning a room cluttered with furniture. The vacuum is aided by its flexible neck, and the canister base usually does a good job of following.

kenmore elite pet friendly - the handle makes it very convenient to carry this vacuum around.
The handle makes it very convenient to carry this vacuum around.
Credit: Laura Casner

Hard Surface Cleaning


For this metric, we repeated our gauntlet of cleaning tests for each vacuum on a section of laminate floors. Regrettably, the performance of the Kenmore Elite Pet Friendly plummeted a bit. It was mediocre at sucking up rice and oatmeal, eventually collecting them when the brush roll was off, but it took a bit more coaxing than other vacuums.

kenmore elite pet friendly - we weren't too impressed with the hard floor cleaning performance of...
We weren't too impressed with the hard floor cleaning performance of this vacuum.
Credit: Laura Casner

The Kenmore Elite did about the same with Cheerios, though we did have to tweak the clearance settings a bit to keep it from pushing them around. However, we noticed that the cereal could get caught in the extractor's head rather than making it up to the collection bin. This vacuum was slightly better with fine messes, but not by too much, leaving behind a film of flour in our test.

Pet Hair


As the name would imply, the Kenmore Elite Pet Friendly Canister finished our tests with an excellent performance when it came to collecting pet hair. For these tests, we weighed 50 grams of pet hair, spread it on a carpet or hard floor, made four passes, then weighed what was collected and converted it to percentages. The Kenmore Elite vacuumed up 95.60% of pet hair.

kenmore elite pet friendly - the pet friendly has an extra handheld attachment so that pet owners...
The Pet Friendly has an extra handheld attachment so that pet owners can get hard-to-reach spots such as couch cushions.
Credit: Laura Casner

Should you buy the Kenmore Elite Pet Friendly?


Unfortunately, it is hard to say that the Kenmore Elite Pet Friendly is of great value. It pairs a good-but-not-great performance with a top-tier price tag, while more affordable vacuums outperform it.

What Other Canister Vacuum Should You Consider?


If you are attached to the idea of a canister vacuum and have a furry friend living with you, then the Kenmore Elite Pet Friendly Canister may be the one for you. It offers great pet hair cleaning performance and is very easy to handle and convenient to use. Although, if you want a canister that will do everything else at a solid price point, we recommend the Eureka WhirlWind or the Dyson Big Ball Multi Floor for an equally stellar pet hair performance.

Ruth Bruckbauer and Jessica Riconscente