Gtech Multi review – the AirRam’s companion handheld vacuum

Gtech describes its Multi as the ‘perfect partner’ for its AirRam, which goes some way to indicate how the Multi is designed to be used. It’s not going to be your main vacuum cleaner, but rather an additional device for when the high-specialised AirRam carpet cleaner isn’t suitable. That said it’s potentially a good companion to any big, hefty upright or corded cylinder device, I personally couldn’t get by without a decent handheld vacuum anymore.

And that’s just what the Multi is, weighing 1.6kg it’s not too laborious to carry around and there’s a nice soft-touch grip for you to hold on to. A little more padding wouldn’t have gone amiss, but it’s more comfortable to hold than most of the handheld devices out there. Otherwise, the Multi takes a lot of design cues from its bigger, upright brother, the Gtech AirRam and AirRam K9. The same green and grey colour scheme is evident again and there’s a clear bin so you can see the dust accumulate.

Accessories

There is a good array of accessories included for cleaning tasks such as skirting boards and cobwebbed corners. In the box you get a crevice tool, dusting brush, power brush head, extension tube, and an extendable hose. The power brush head is designed for cleaning areas like upholstery and stairs, making it easier to pick up things like pet hair. Due to its shape, it sometimes felt a little awkward to use as it wasn’t always obvious if the internal rollers were correctly pressed against the surface to be cleaned.

If you buy the Multi direct from Gtech, you also have the option of buying it with the Car Accessory Kit for £174 at the same time. If you buy the kit separately it will cost £50. The kit adds a small upholstery brush, soft dusting brush, flexible crevice tool, and a padded case. Unfortunately, we weren’t sent the optional kit to test but it seems like it would be a useful addition, especially the flexible crevice tool. It’s similar to the included extendable hose but has a flat profile, which will enable it to get into more hard to reach areas.

At first, I wasn’t really sure how useful the extendable hose would be as it bends and contorts so you still need to have your other hand support the cleaning head. But in testing, I appreciated how it made cleaning hard-to-reach areas like skirting boards easier. The crevice tool is cleverly hidden away in the base of the Multi when not in use, but you’ll need to find somewhere to store the other accessories separately. The reasonable weight of the Multi meant that holding the vacuum up one-handed to clean ceiling corners didn’t become too tiring.

I was slightly disappointed that you turn the Gtech Multi on with a power button on its top. It would have been preferable to have a trigger power button as that would have meant toggling the Multi on would be easier. There’s a trigger shape to the grip already, so it could easily have been used as a power trigger instead, as is the case with Dyson’s V6 series. Instead, I found having to press the power button with my thumb a little inconvenient and I did it far less frequently or naturally compared to using my index finger on a trigger. The Multi has also integrated lights that help illuminate the area you’re trying to clean. I found these particularly useful for cleaning in dark corners.

A bank of four LEDs on the top of the vacuum tells you how much charge is left. A single charge will last 20 minutes of operation, and this seemed accurate in testing. To fully recharge the Multi will take four hours, which is a little long, but a 1-hour charge will give you a quick burst of additional run time. The battery detaches from the base of the vacuum, so you can charge that independently if you want. Those figures are roughly in line with say Dyson’s most basic handheld cleaner, the DC58, which costs £180 at present.

Performance

As the Multi is really only designed for light cleaning of areas where most traditional vacuums can’t reach, the suction power isn’t particularly strong. With an empty bin, it only generated 2kPa of suction, dropping to 1.5kPa when the bin became more full. For cleaning dust and dirt from a hard surface using the more concentrated heads, such as a surface top or skirting, it’s adequate, but cleaning carpet or upholstery often took more than one pass. The Gtech Multi really should only be used as a more nimble companion vacuum to a more capable cylinder or upright.

The Power Head has a roller inside to pull up dirt making it better suited for upholstery and small areas of carpet such as the stairs. As you can see from a single sweep across a hard surface, the suction power is still reasonable.

Emptying the bin is a little awkward as there’s no proper release mechanism. Instead, the bin just pulls out after you exert a little wiggling motion, which doesn’t always feel the most consistent. It sometimes takes a little more effort than usual to remove. Occasionally, this resulted in some dirt spilling out, too, so you’ll want to do this over a bin. You can then open a flap on the bottom to empty out the contents of the bin. The filter can then also be taken out and washed easily.

Conclusion

In the end, used as intended, the Multi is a good performer. It will never clean up major spills or dirt but used alongside your conventional vacuum it helps give the finishing touches to a room clean or helps take care of the smaller dirt accumulation that occurs day-to-day.

It costs £150 alone, however, if you buy it the same time as the Gtech AirRam it’s only £300 for both, saving you £50, or with the Gtech AirRam K9 for £329, saving you £69. We weren’t massively enamoured by the £250 Gtech AirRam K9, finding its handling, in particular, a little lacking but if you’re in the market for one anyway it wouldn’t be a bad idea to buy the Multi at the same time. Priced alone, the Multi is otherwise rather expensive for a handheld vacuum cleaner even if it does perform its intended tasks decently well and we’d pick up the Dyson DC58 instead at current prices.