Black+Decker Powerseries+ 20V Review

While the Powerseries+ 20V lacks high-tech features, it is lightweight, maneuverable, and handy for small messes and quick jobs. The key to success with this vacuum is patience — slower forward strokes and a willingness to go over areas a few extra times.

Carpet Performance

Even though most homes use more low pile than high pile carpet, some households enjoy thick shaggy rugs, which can be a challenge to keep clean. To mimic difficult messes, we measure, weigh, and spread 1.5 total cups of sand, rice, and Cheerios over a large swath of carpet.

We give each machine just 24 seconds to collect as much material as possible, then repeat the test to ensure accurate averages for our reports and rating system. Of course, our tests are difficult, and they're designed to tease out differences between models that might seem similar but function differently on various surfaces.

Low Pile

This model features relatively low head gates, making it difficult for debris to pass underneath where the brush roll and suction can effectively collect it. As a result, it often pushes larger debris, like Cheerios and occasionally even rice, instead of picking it up. However, it performed noticeably better with smaller debris, such as sand, particularly on low-pile carpets.

This lightweight unit was able to suck up 73% of debris on low pile carpet in our admittedly very difficult stress test. For comparison, the much more expensive Gen5detect was able to suck up 96%. These two machines have a 6x price difference, but the percentage performance difference is just 1.3x better than the much more expensive Dyson in this stress test. This data, and the price perspective it illustrates, reinforces our belief that this little Powerseries+ outperforms its price point.

High Pile

On high pile carpets, the snowplow theme is even more prevalent as the head sinks into the plush carpet, letting the Cheerios and rice float high above the bottom of the cleaner head. This model managed to suck up only 24% of al debris, which was far below our pickup rate average in our high pile carpet test.

Meanwhile, I observed another issue with this vacuum on shaggy carpet. The suction just wasn't powerful enough to suck up deeply embedded sand. For those with high pile carpet, disappointment seems likely. Those with a lot of carpets who are on a tight budget can get a big boost in carpet performance by stretching their budget toward the Tineco Pure ONE S11.

Overall Carpet Cleaning Performance

Our rating chart shows that this machine didn't get close to the average collection rates we recorded on carpet.

As our suction tests will reveal below, the big issue on the carpet seems to be this machine's remarkably low suction power.I would not pick up this vacuum if I had a big mess in my house. It really struggles with larger debris piles.

However, for simple, smaller particle messes, I expect many will have a reasonably good experience in their homes as long as they take it slow and keep their expectations in line with this option's budget-level price point.

Hardwood Performance

As more apartments and homes shift to vinyl or hardwood flooring over carpet, many people also want their vacuums to work well on hard floors. This allows them to clean multiple surfaces with one machine.

With a 24-second time limit, only the best of the best vacuums can achieve collection rates higher than 90% on flat floors. But that's not all; we also test performance in crevices and along the edges of walls and counters.

Cleaning Performance

Overall, this product was able to suck up just 62% of the material in our hardwood floor test. This amount of debris in our timed test proved too much to handle for this little vacuum. As I tackled the mess, I could see the cleaner head create a disappointing spray action that sometimes blew the rice away, making it harder to collect debris.

For those with relatively clean floors and patience, it might be possible to tolerate its bite-size abilities. For hard floor challenges, this isn't a model we would recommend.

Crevice

The relatively low suction power and poor hard floor seal by the cleaner head struggled to lift sand between the slats of our bamboo crevice test mat. It massively underperformed in this test, so for those with deep grouted tile floors, we suggest you look for a stronger suction.

Of course, for simple crevices, one workaround is to use the included crevice hand tool accessory to clean deeply in cracks.

Edges

This vacuum picked up most of the coffee we spilled near the wall head-on but left quite a bit behind when running parallel to the wall.

Overall Hardwood Cleaning Performance

As our rating chart shows, this budget model struggled to reach the average in our three hard floor performance categories.

There is no way around this: Performance on hardwood floors is mediocre for this model. We believe the cleaner head seal on hardwood floors is relatively weak, leading to inconsistent results that left debris in little island patches. While it can handle small messes, you'll need to use more passes over debris to collect it.

Pet Hair

Our pet hair testing protocol is very difficult. We spread 4 grams of pet hair on the carpet, add 1 gram of long hair extensions, and then roll the whole area to ensure the pet hair sticks to the carpet. Considering its low price point, we were impressed at how well it managed to suck up pet hair on low pile carpets, which is far more common in the United States than high pile carpets these days. Pet owners with moderately shedding animals and who are patient will likely have a decent experience with this vac.

Interestingly, pet hair seemed to slip under the cleaner head much better than larger debris, leading to an above-average pet hair rating on low pile carpet. Of course, like most vacuums we tested, long hair quickly became hopelessly wrapped on the brush roll.

Filtration & Suction

Great filtration can sometimes reduce suction capabilities, putting you in a position to choose filtration over suction power or vice versa. Unfortunately, our tests show that the Black+Decker Powerseries+ is not a good performer in either filtration or suction.

Filtration

The filtration is very poor, as evidenced by an increased particle spike in our clean room test. We start by using room air filters to clean a sealed room in our laboratory. We then spread 1/3 cup of flour on the floor and use each vacuum to suck it up. Before, during, and after suction, we monitor ambient particles in the air with two Dylos air quality monitors, looking for particle spikes that indicate spewed or lost flour particles.

To put this metric in perspective, vacuums that do well in this test have fine particulate measurement spikes that are less than 75. This vacuum released 1,542 small particles, which Dylos ranks as poor air quality. This high count implies that not only did the vacuum allow flour and dust to escape its dustbin, but it also tended to blow some fine particles into the air rather than sucking them up. Disturbing flour before sucking it up also matches our experience on hard floors where this vacuum seemed to spray rice.

If allergens and biological contaminants are a problem in your household, we don't recommend this vacuum.

Suction

There's no way around it: the Powerseries+ suction power is abysmal, ranking at the bottom of our measurements.

Ease of Use

One shining star for this vacuum is its overall ease of use scores, which were very good.

Maneuverability

Maneuverability is the shining star of this vacuum, thanks to its relatively low handheld weight of 3.7 pounds and lightweight cleaning head. During our tests, we navigated a typical living room with chair legs and uneven terrain with bamboo mats, and I had no problem with either. It can easily glide across surfaces, making multiple passes a non-issue.

It felt super lightweight in my hand and easy to control, likely due in part to the lack of strong suction.

Maintenance

The non-HEPA filter is easy to remove and rinse, but users must remove the dustbin to empty it, which tends to drop some fine debris. The biggest cleaning win here is the easily removed brush roll, which is handy for long-haired households that tend to see a lot of hair wrap on vacuum brush rolls.

Uphostery & Attachments

The vacuum comes with a crevice tool that can be mounted to the base, clicked into place, and ready to use in no time. While I would've loved to see an extra attachment or two, the included crevice tool is sufficient for tackling most messes.

Additionally, the vacuum can stand independently without a wall mount, but it does come with a mount that can be placed on any wall for a nice cleaning system.

Battery

Regarding battery life, the Black+Decker is sufficient for small, quick tasks. On its lowest setting, it ran for 26 minutes, which is below average, providing only enough time to tackle a few rooms at a time.

When cranking it up to its highest setting, it managed 18 minutes of runtime, which is above average. When we see a long high setting runtime that's well over half of the lowest setting, we correlate that to a relatively low-power boost relative to the lowest setting. Either way, in our experience, we believe most people with typically dirty floors will have a hard time completing all rooms in an average 3 bedroom, 2 bath American home on just one battery charge.

Should You Buy the Black+Decker Powerseries+ 20V?

You'll need to assess the level of mess that needs cleaning in your home. The Powerseries+ can manage basic tasks, and it's very easy to operate and maneuver, which is important for a household cleaning device. Plus, it's affordable. The convenience factor is somewhat overshadowed by its low suction power and filtrations, so we can't fully recommend this model unless you're on a tight budget and are willing to work with its compromises.

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