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.

Performance Comparison

Carpet Performance

This stick vacuum didn't reach our high standards for cleaning carpet, ranking well below average in our test vacuums. Of course, we have to put this performance in perspective by considering the price. One of the best-performing stick vacuums we've ever tested, the Dyson Gen5detect, costs $950, while this Black+Decker costs just $150. That's a massive 6x price difference. Let's keep this 6x price difference in mind for a minute while we look closer at its scores in our carpet tests.

Of course, our tests are difficult, and they're designed to tease out differences between models that might seem similar but are very different. We test for collection capabilities on low and high pile carpets by spreading a mixed 1.5-cup load of sand, rice, and Cheerios, which we then try to suck up in 24 seconds.

Low Pile

Because this model has relatively low head gates that don't easily let debris move underneath the head, where the brush roll and suction can do their work, tends to plow larger debris like Cheerios and sometimes even rice, resulting in less material getting picked up. However, it seemed to do best with smaller debris — like sand — on low pile carpet. So, for simple, smaller particle messes, we expect many will have a reasonably good experience in their homes.

This lightweight unit was able to suck up 73% of debris on low pile carpet in our admittedly very difficult stress test. The Gen5detect was able to suck up 96%. The price mentioned above difference is 6x, but the percentage difference is just 1.3x better in favor of 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 — and that's also why we're reviewing it.

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 the sand, rice, and Cheerios, which was far below our pickup rate average of 43% in our high pile carpet test.

Meanwhile, our testing editors 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 Levoit VortexIQ 40.

Hardwood Performance

Performance on hardwood floors is mediocre for this model. Our rigorous multi-debris, 24-second timed test with 1.5 cups of sand, rice, and Cheerios consistently overwhelmed it.

The seal on hardwood floors seemed poor, leading to inconsistent results that left debris in little island patches.

Cleaning Performance

Overall, this product was able to suck up just 62% of the material. “This amount of debris in our timed test proved to be too much to handle for this little vacuum,” noted Rachael, our lead tester. “The airflow from the brushroll and a lack of suction in the head design on hardwood seemed to create a disappointing spray action that sometimes blew the rice away, making it harder to collect debris within our time limit.”

For those who have 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 from between the slats of our bamboo crevice test mat. It massively underperformed in this test, so for those who have tile floors with deep grout lines, we can't recommend this vac.

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

Edges

In our edge-of-wall coffee grounds test, the 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.

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 make sure the pet hair is sticking to the carpet. This product did better than average with pet hair on low pile carpet but less than average on high pile carpet. Still, considering its low price point, we were impressed at how well it managed to suck up pet hair on low pile carpet, which is far more common in the United States than high pile carpet 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 brushroll.

Filtration & Suction

Filtration and suction capabilities are often connected when it comes to vacuum performance. 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 a large small particle spike in our clean room test. When we test filtration, 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 B+D vacuum disturbed or 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 vac.

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 vac, 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 it had no problem with either. It can easily glide across surfaces, making multiple passes a non-issue.

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 we 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 on its own without a wall mount, but it does come with a mount that can be placed on any wall you want—a nice added feature.

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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