REASONS TO BUY
Very affordable
Lightweight
Integrated crevice tool
REASONS TO AVOID
Trigger activated
Inconvenient to clean
Dustbin sometimes leaks
Black+Decker dustbuster 8V Review
This vacuum's super low price is reflected in its performance, but it can still be a useful tool for certain types of cleanup
Credit: Matt Lighthart
By Rachael Lamore ⋅ Senior Review Analyst ⋅ April 8, 2025
Contributions From: Zora Thomas
RELATED: The Best Handheld Vacuum of 2025
Our Verdict
There's only so much you can expect from a $30 vacuum, and with the Black & Decker Dustbuster 8V, you get what you pay for. This is a dirt cheap option that can absolutely help you keep your house clean, but it's far from high-performing. Considering its price, we were pleasantly surprised by this vacuum's performance in certain areas of our testing. For instance, dusting flat surfaces went relatively well, as did the cleanup of larger debris on couch cushions. It actually performed better than any of our other budget options on pet hair, despite being the most affordable of the bunch. But if you're deterred by low suction power, an awkward body shape, or a weak battery that takes most of a day to recharge, you may want to think twice. Ultimately, this model can perform decently in a few specific situations, but it is neither convenient nor reliable across the board.
Our Analysis and Test Results
While it's lightweight and comes with a built-in crevice tool, a host of other design flaws compromises the overall user experience. Let's dive into our test results to find out why.
It's low suction power and remedial design prevented this product from performing adequately against the competition.
Credit: Matt Lighthart
Tough Messes
The dustbuster 8V performed surprisingly well in my tough mess testing. On car upholstery, I was able to clean about 95% of the oats I set out, although I did find that despite multiple passes, the vacuum was stubbornly unable to pick up the final bits of oat and dust. At a quick glance, the area appeared clean, but a closer inspection revealed it wasn't quite there. I had similar results with oats on couch cushions, with the V8 picking up most of the largest pieces but leaving behind a frustrating quantity of dust.
Mini-Wheats were almost too big for this little vacuum… but not quite. As long as they went in the nozzle in the right orientation, this vacuum sucked the cereal right up.
Credit: Matt Lighthart
Like many handheld vacuums, the dustbuster's nozzle was only just wide enough to admit a Mini-Wheat. Some of the cereal pieces got wedged in the intake, blocking it until I pulled them loose. But, considering that some handhelds cannot suck up the ceareal at all, I considered this one functional for larger debris. It wasn't optimal performance, but it got the job done.
Hard-to-Reach Areas
The V8 comes with a built-in crevice tool, but it's quite short. I found that between this and the stout vacuum body, I could really only clean about 3 inches under the low ceiling I'd created. I think it would perform similarly in any confined space, making it not the best choice if you're interested in a detailed clean, such as in a car, under furniture, or inside cabinets. It felt similarly limited on the window slide, which I spent several minutes on, even tackling it from both the inside and outside.
The dustbuster's integrated crevice tool is nice, but in practice, it doesn't give all that much extra reach.
Credit: Matt Lighthart
Ultimately, the nozzle failed to form a good seal on the narrow, uneven surface, and its suction power was too weak to pull in the debris, so it wasn't positioned directly over it. I also found the trigger activation frustrating in tight spaces because, if you want the vacuum to be running, you can only hold it in one way. Overall, I wouldn't choose this vacuum if I knew I would be cleaning a lot of tight spaces.
Dusting
On my flat surface, it did a decent job with the initial cleanup, but struggled to eliminate the film of flour that remained after the first pass. This wasn't a problem unique to this vacuum, but it did feel more persistent here. I vacuumed for almost a minute and was still left with flour dust. Though other vacuums struggled with the same problem, they were far faster at eliminating most of the flour.
The V8 did fairly well dusting flat surfaces, but left being a film of flour.
In corners, the V8 actually performed pretty well. The semi-circle of short, stiff bristles on the nozzle helped to achieve a good seal against the wall and floor, and the coffee grounds I laid out were taken care of in one quick pass. On baseboards, though, a seal was harder to achieve, and its low suction power didn't help matters. I was left with most of my coffee grounds still sprinkled along the baseboard and the sad impression that a broom would have worked better.
On flat surfaces, the V8 did a decent job with dusting, but on a baseboard, it failed to achieve a good seal.
Credit: Matt Lighthart
Battery Life
The dustbuster V8 has a pretty short battery life. When I tested it, it died at the 11-minute mark, but I noticed a significant downturn in power around 10 minutes, so I'd say that the total run time is closer to 10. This is not a lot of time for most cleaning tasks. You could certainly take care of a small mess in the kitchen or the upholstery of a single chair, but it's not enough to clean a car or any other large area.
To run down the battery on this handheld, I had to get a little creative and use a clamp to hold the trigger.
Credit: Matt Lighthart
The 9.5 recharge time is long enough that you can really only use the vacuum for ten minutes a day. If you're tackling anything but the lightest, fastest methods, I'd choose something with a longer battery life and a shorter recharge time, like the Black+Decker Furbuster AdvanceClean+.
Convenience
The dustbuster V8 is extremely light. At just 1.4 pounds, I'd definitely trust that my arms would outlast the battery life, even vacuuming overhead. And while its integrated crevice tool doesn't give a huge amount of reach, it's definitely a nice feature, as is the brush tool that comes with the vacuum.
To empty the dustbin on the V8, I had to remove the filter by hand, which is unpleasant, particularly if I'd been tackling nastier messes.
Credit: Matt Lighthart
Unfortunately, this was where the conveniences ended. The dustbin is very small at just 0.385 Liters, and even if it isn't completely full, it can sometimes spill debris back out the nozzle. To clean the dustbin, you have to pull out the filter, which is unpleasant, particularly if you've cleaned a stubborn mess like pet hair.
While I liked that this vacuum was featherweight and easily maneuverable, I didn't feel that it made up for its poor performance in tight spaces, or the hassle of emptying the dustbin. The trigger activation was another low point in terms of convenience: though this vacuum's battery life wasn't long enough for my finger to really get tired, the need to hold the trigger down to run the vacuum felt like another factor limiting the V8's performance, particularly in tight spaces.
Pet Hair
The V8 did ok on pet hair, particularly for such a cheap model (though it wasn't in the same league as the BISSELL Pet Hair Eraser, our top performer on pet hair). It was able to remove the majority of the hair and left behind not clumps, but more evenly distributed strands, which contributed to a cleaner feel.
The V8 got the floor of my car pretty clean… but there were a few pet hairs it just refused to remove.
Credit: Matt Lighthart
It was relatively slow and plateaued at the end of about a minute of cleaning, refusing to remove the stragglers that were left. My biggest qualm with this vacuum's performance on pet hair was that a huge amount of the hair was wrapped in the bristles of the brush head. I had to pull a lot of it out manually, and that didn't really feel like a completely successful clean to me. Overall, I think this would be a decent choice if I had a pet and was on a budget.
Removing the hair snagged in the bristles felt like a bit of an extra chore.
Credit: Matt Lighthart
Should You Buy the Black+Decker dusbuster V8?
The vacuum is a truly affordable option, and if you're on a tight budget, it can absolutely help you keep your space clean. It performed surprisingly well on some tests, including tough messes and pet hair. However, for most buyers, we think that spending a little more would be worth it. While it put up an admirable fight for a $30 vacuum, you can't get around the sacrifices in performance that are necessary to deliver such a low price. Between low suction power, poor battery life, and some vexing design flaws, we'd recommend this vacuum only to those whose top priority is price. If you're pinching pennies, it can still be a useful tool, particularly if you're a pet owner: of the handheld vacuums we tested that cost less than $50, the V8 performed the best on pet hair.
What Other Handheld Vacuums Should You Consider?
If you're budget conscious but willing to spend a little more for a stronger handheld, there's good news: the Bissell AeroSlim is only eleven dollars more, but delivers considerably better performance in a sleek, super-compact package. If you know you'll tackle tough messes and larger debris, consider the BLACK+DECKER HHVI320JR02, which isn't much more expensive at $45.
Side-by-Side Comparison
Compare Black+Decker dustbuster 8V versus top competing products:
—Rachael Lamore and Zora Thomas
You Might Also Like
