REASONS TO BUY
Articulating nozzle
Great with dust
Powerful suction
REASONS TO AVOID
Poor in tight areas
So-so battery life
Few accessories
BLACK+DECKER 20V Max Pivot BDH2000PL Review
Powerful suction and an adjustable nozzle angle make this vacuum great for tough messes, though it doesn't do well in narrow spaces
Credit: BLACK+DECKER
By Nick Miley ⋅ Senior Review Editor ⋅ February 26, 2025
Contributions From: Jessica Riconscente
RELATED: The Best Handheld Vacuum of 2025
Our Verdict
We like the Max Pivot for its integrated tools and articulating nozzle. The unit is particularly good at picking up coarse debris, including animal hair. However, we were disappointed with the vacuum's difficulty with narrow spaces. The unit is quite powerful, though, and may be worth it for those cleaning chunky debris. If you're looking for the best of the best, check out the top handheld vacuums in our lineup.
Our Analysis and Test Results
The Max Pivot has plenty of power and the pivoting nozzle helps add some reach, but the broad nozzle struggles to get into tight areas.
Credit: Abriah Wofford
Dust and Dirt
The Max Pivot has a powerful motor, although its pivoting nozzle and stiff brush bristles helped give this unit an advantage, too. While the Max Pivot tackles dust and dirt efficiently, achieving high performance requires adjusting the nozzle angle to pick up rather than push debris around.
The nozzle needs to be angled just right on the Max Pivot for the best performance.
Credit: Abriah Wofford
This vacuum has stiff bristles. Despite wide spacing, these bristles effectively agitate flour and dried mud. The pivoting nozzle benefited the tester's posture and increased reach regardless of what we cleaned.
When reaching up to clean shelves, the articulating nozzle comes in handy.
Credit: Abriah Wofford
Tough Messes
The Max Pivot did quite well, entirely removing the crushed oats from the mats. The vacuum did leave a bit of oat dust on the couch cushion; given a few more seconds, it would have had it all.
The oatmeal on couch cushion test did not go as well as the car mat test, but it was a respectable showing compared to the models in the class.
Credit: Jessica Riconscente
The Max Pivot did reasonably well with the flour, though a residue remained. On the other hand, the vacuum did surprisingly well, gobbling up the smaller of the two Mini-Wheats. Finally, the vacuum's airflow measures 1614 feet per minute which explains why it did well with large and small debris types.
Hard-to-Reach Areas
Unfortunately, the Max Pivot's wide nozzle makes it a poor fit in tight spots. We tested the vacuums on window slides, in the car, and under a nightstand. While the Max Pivot did reasonably well under car seats with big gaps, it could not penetrate more than a few inches between the seats and console. The unit also struggled with cleaning under the nightstand. A bright spot was the window slides. However, we got the best results with the nozzle extender, which covers the brush and limits contact in corners.
The Max Pivot struggles with tight squeezes because of its broad nozzle and lack of attachments. Here we see the built-in extension, which is not a substitute for a crevice tool.
Credit: Jessica Riconscente
Battery Life
Battery life is fairly short with the handheld vacuums in the class. A long runtime is around 20 minutes. The Max Pivot clocked in at 12 minutes, 12 seconds, which is below average of the models we tested. We also found that correctly placing the vacuum in the charging stand can be challenging.
The runtime on the Max Pivot is just so-so. We also found that the unit needs to be in the pictured configuration to seat correctly on the charge.
Credit: Abriah Wofford
Convenience
At just under three pounds, the Max Pivot is one of the heaviest handheld vacuums we tested. It's also one of the noisier models — though the noise isn't unpleasant. More to our liking is the Max Pivot's integrated tools. And while the bin size is not the biggest, it is good for several uses before needing to be emptied.
While not the biggest dust bin, it is nonetheless good for prolonged or multiple uses before needing to be emptied.
Credit: Jessica Riconscente
Pet Hair
Testers found that the Max Pivot worked best with the brush folded down as it collected a great deal of hair that was easy to remove while the suction picked up most of the remaining fibers.
One of the secrets to this unit's success with pet hair is its brush which collects the fibers ahead of the suction.
Credit: Abriah Wofford
Should You Buy the Black+Decker Max Pivot?
The Max Pivot performed well in all metrics except hard-to-reach areas. Hard-to-reach areas are a leading reason that someone would buy a handheld vacuum in addition to an upright. For the price, there are better-performing vacuums. We recommend taking a look at our comprehensive vacuum review before settling on the Max Pivot.
What Other Handheld Vacuums Should You Consider?
The Black+Decker Flex Vac BDH2020FL is the leading vacuum in our tests. It is a little more expensive than the Max Pivot, but its utility makes it worth the extra money. If the Flex Vac is too expensive, consider the BISSELL Pet Hair Eraser.
Side-by-Side Comparison
Compare BLACK+DECKER 20V Max Pivot BDH2000PL versus top competing products:
—Nick Miley and Jessica Riconscente
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