Dyson V8 Review

The Dyson V8 includes well-designed accessories like Dyson's hair screw tool, combination tool, and crevice tool attachments. Our testers also appreciated the lighter weight and found it more maneuverable. For relatively simple vacuuming needs, particularly on lower-pile carpets, this model is easier to use than other Dyson stick vacuums, and it includes handy features like a removable brush head, which makes removing long hair, threads, or string much easier.

Performance Comparison

Carpet Performance

Our most important carpet cleaning test starts with 9' x 3' sections of low and high pile carpet. We then spread 1.5 cups of sand, rice, and Cheerios over the carpet, challenging our vacuums with a 24-second time limit.

We purposely made this test difficult, using three distinct types of debris to help us tease out performance characteristics to better help people choose the right vacuum for their households.

Low Pile

The V8 performed nearly as well as its more powerful Dyson siblings but left a slight bit of sand that the others did not. “This vacuum does a nice job on low pile carpet,” noted Rachael, our lead tester. “It feels sufficiently powerful, and it's easy enough to push.”

This vacuum's 92% pickup is very good, nearly matching the 96% collected by the much more expensive winner, Dyson Gen5detect. Visually, it's hard to distinguish between 92 and 96 percent when you're looking at the carpet, so those might not be torn with these minimal percentage differences. “After weighing the collection, there's a hint of sand left in the carpet, telling us this lower priced option isn't quite as good at small heavy material as the bigger Dyson vacuums.”

However, for those willing to make an extra pass or two in their own homes, we believe they'll likely be able to clean their floors to satisfaction and suck up most of the errant sand.

High Pile

On high pile carpet, performance was only slightly above average. More importantly, even though this model costs less and has less suction, its multipurpose head was good enough to keep it within two percentage points of the more expensive Dyson V15 Detect.

The Motorbar head tended to push and spray the lightweight Cheerios — as did the Digital Motorbar head on other Dyson vacuums. It simply needs a few more passes to suck up the heavier sand. Again, a solid performance here, but you'll need to go over the same spots more times to finish the job, making it not the most efficient model.

Hardwood Performance

In our difficult hardwood floor test, we again spread 1.5 cups of sand, rice, and Cheerios over a 27-square-foot area, then tried to suck up as much as possible in 24 seconds. Often, some vacuums that do well on carpets struggle with hardwood or vice versa.

Cleaning Performance

While this model technically performed slightly above average, the multipurpose Motorbar head made us work for it. It tends to backplow Cheerios when we shift directions, forcing us to turn quickly to hit leftover piles head-on. Even so, they sometimes snowplowed.

For small debris on hardwood, the performance was better. If people or pets track in larger pieces of dirt or leaves from their yards — or they spill cereal on their kitchen floors — they might want to consider the V8 Absolute model option because it includes a second brush roll head that's designed specifically for hard floors.

Crevice

To do this test, we drop sand in between the slats of a bamboo mat, then give each vac four passes to suck it up. The cracks are deep so that the brush roll can't sweep all the sand out, forcing the vac to use its suction power to get it all.

This machine picked up the sand in waves, leaving little piles in between some of the crevices. It's powerful enough to do the job, but the characteristics of the Motorbar head mean we had to hit crevices from multiple angles and stopping points for best results.

Edges

To test next-to-wall performance, we sprinkle two sections of coffee grounds next to a wall, then try to suck them up with head-on attacks and parallel runs.

The V8 was able to suck up most of the coffee grounds in the head-on pass and nearly all in the parallel pass. Those with long sections of hardwood floors can do a decent job fully completing routines close to walls with this vacuum.

Pet Hair

For those with furry friends at home, our very tough pet hair test simulates shed hair that's mashed into the carpet. We spread 4 grams of pet hair over our test carpets, then toss an extra gram of hair extensions on top to simulate longer human hair. Of course, dog owners who experience shedding pet hair often know that it tends to get walked into the carpet with typical foot traffic. So we took a heavy roller and smashed the pet hair into our 4.5' x 3' test sections of carpet. Yes, it was a bit gross teasing in pet hair, but we're simulating what will be found in pet homes across the country. We gave ourselves just 12 seconds to vacuum up as much as possible.

The V8 sucked up more pet hair than average compared to more than a dozen other cordless vacuums we tested. On high pile carpet, it had more of a tendency to roll over embedded hair, which might be a red flag for pet owners with shag carpets.

Filtration & Suction

Most good vacuums filter out tiny particles and ensure that they don't move from the floors into the air. Once in the air, it has the potential to enter the lungs when you breathe. We want to avoid this, so we've designed a new test to measure the particle count in the air.

Sometimes, increased filtration can reduce suction power. We test both to help you find an acceptable balance between quality filtration and cleaning performance.

Filtration

To test filtration, we start by filtering air in a closed, clean room environment. We use two Dylos air quality monitors to actively count particles floating in the room air. We spread 1/3 cup of common household flour on the floor and then vacuumed it up, using our Dylos monitors to record any lost flour particles — and therefore released small particles into the air.

After sucking up flour, our air quality detectors barely registered a change to air quality, making this vacuum a very good option for people who are sensitive to biological contaminants like mold spores, pet dander, or pollen. Increased particle counts from 0-75 rank as excellent.

Interestingly, even though this model doesn't have a HEPA filter, it still performed nearly identically to the Gen5detect, which does have a HEPA filter, giving us some evidence that you don't necessarily need a HEPA-certified filter to contain tiny particles effectively.

Suction

Instead of measuring suction power at an intake tube, we measure suction at the cleaner head, which means we make a more realistic measurement that includes how the head affects air inflow — because most people use the cleaning heads when they vacuum their homes, so this is the suction measurement that's more likely to matter most.

We measured 547 pascals of suction power at the cleaner head, which is remarkably lower than our Gen5detect leader, which generated a mind-blowing 2,388 pascals in our test. However, compared to similarly priced cordless vacuums like the Shark Stratos Cordless that measured 647 pascals, the suction power is competitive.

Ease of Use

This model is significantly easier to maneuver on carpet than more expensive Dyson vacuums because it has a less powerful motor and a single multi-purpose cleaner head that reduces suction, helping boost its ease of use rating.

Better yet, the measured handheld weight is just 3.5 lbs, which is much lighter than other Dyson vacuums in our test fleet, making the V8 much friendlier to aging adults who may have less arm and shoulder strength.

Maneuverability

One of the ways we test maneuverability is through an obstacle course at the Gear Lab test site. We navigate through cones, reach under and around furniture, and assess how easily cleaner heads transition from hard floors to and from different rugs, mats, and carpet.

To get better maneuverability scores, the V8 sacrifices power — but for some people it might be easier to make a few extra easy pushes and pulls than fewer hard ones when suction is too powerful on carpet. On hardwood, the V8 is a breeze to slide along and reach under tables.

Maintenance

The filter on the Dyson V8 proved very simple to clean, and Dyson provides ample guidance on maintaining their vacuums, which is helpful. All we had to do was soak the filters in warm tap water, seal the ends with our hands, and shake vigorously to dislodge the dirt. People can repeat this process until the water runs clear, then shake firmly to remove any excess water. Allow the filters to air dry. However, the dustbin was tougher to clean. The track to slide the dustbin proved a little difficult to use, and we had difficulty removing it consistently. Once it's off, all that is needed is to wipe it down with a damp cloth. As for the brush roll, there isn't a button to release it, so we used a common coin, which worked well.

Uphostery & Attachments

To address various cleaning needs, the vacuum includes three additional tools: a crevice, hair screw, and combination tool, alongside the primary cleaning roller head. However, we could conveniently attach these cleaning tools directly to the base for added versatility.

We also tested this model on upholstery. During this part of the test, we spread coffee grounds on a pillow and an ironing board. Opting for the motorized head attachment (hair screw tool), we deemed it the most appropriate for the job due to its effective agitation on upholstery. It performed pretty well, picking up about 95% of the coffee on both surfaces.

All in all, it will provide great cleaning across the board on different soft surfaces thanks to the tools that come in the package deal.

Battery

The battery life isn't very impressive, lasting just under 33 minutes on the lowest setting and just 7 minutes on high.

For short jobs and small households, this vacuum may provide enough time, but for full-house cleaning sessions, some might need to stop and recharge between sections of their homes.

Should You Buy the Dyson V8?

If you're set on a Dyson product, the V8 model is worth considering as it's one of the more affordable options in the brand's lineup and offers some good features. However, considering its overall performance in many of our testing metrics, we can't fully recommend it because there are other vacuums that deliver similar — and sometimes better results — for about the same price or less.

What Other Stick Vacuums Should You Consider?