Dyson Cyclone V10 review: The upright vacuum killer

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The Dyson Cyclone V10 marked a watershed moment for the eponymous vacuum cleaner company. It was the first of a new breed a cordless vacuum you could use in place of an upright and the first vacuum of Dysons all-cordless lineup.

Since our initial review of the V10 was published, its been a big hit but Dyson has now released its successor the Dyson Cyclone V11 and its even better than the V10.

Does this mean you should disregard the Cyclone V10? Absolutely not. The V11, brilliant though it is, is £100 more expensive than the V10 and, since Dyson is still selling the V10, its still worth considering if funds cant stretch to the shiny new V11.

Dyson Cyclone V10 review: What you need to know

Thats because the Dyson Cyclone V10 is still a very effective vacuum cleaner. In fact, its considerably more effective than the companys V8 cordless with a more powerful motor, and its only slightly less powerful than the new V11.

It comes with a variety of attachments, depending on whether you choose the Animal, Absolute or Total Clean models (see below for more details) and is effective and very easy to use as its cordless once youve charged it you can take it anywhere in the house that needs a clean without having to worry about plugging into a wall socket.

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Dyson Cyclone V10 review: Price and competition

It says a lot about the dominance of Dyson in the cordless vacuum space that the V10 main competition comes from its own stable, in the shape of the Dyson V8 range of cordless vacuum cleaners and, of course, the new Cyclone V11.

The V8 is less powerful than the V10 but it is a little lighter and easier to manipulate. The V11 is a touch more powerful, comes with a more effective cleaning head, better battery life in boost mode and an automatic, floor-type sensing cleaning head but its heavier and a lot more expensive.

None of these vacuum cleaners is cheap. The V8 is the cheapest of the lot, with prices starting at £350. The Dyson Cyclone V10 is pricier than the V8 at a starting price of £400. Thats for the Animal version, which has the fewest number of tools and accessories, including the handy motorised soft-roller cleaner head.

The Dyson Cyclone V11 starts from £500. If you want the very best cordless vacuum cleaner money can buy, youll need to invest in the V11s but the Cyclone V10s still represents the best compromise between performance and value for money.

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Dyson Cyclone V10 Animal vs V10 Absolute vs V10 Total Clean: Whats the difference?

In fact, before I go any further into this review, its worth laying out the differences between the models and what you get and dont get, because its not abundantly clear from the names. So heres a table detailing just that:

* Motorised attachments highlighted in bold

The takeaway, though, is that there is no difference between the motor unit you get across the different models, just the type and number of attachments. For me, the best value model is the Absolute, because this gets you all three motorised heads.

The Animal might be for you if you only have carpets the soft roller head is designed specifically for hard floor dusting and cleaning but only buy the Total Clean if youre a completionist. Asking an extra £50 for what is, effectively a hose and an extra brush is a little bit rich.

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Dyson Cyclone V10 review: Design and key features

With that out of the way, its on to the Cyclones improvements and there are plenty of those. For starters, youre getting improved battery life of up to 60 minutes in default mode, which is a 15-minute improvement over the V8. In boost mode, the battery lasts 30 minutes, and theres now an extra Max Boost mode, accessible via the three-way switch on top of the V10s housing, which gives you the best performance but only five minutes of battery.

As ever, the battery gives what Dyson calls fade free performance. All this means, in effect, is that the power doesnt drop off as battery capacity runs low and, also as before, theres an LED indicator below the grip handle to tell you roughly how much capacity is remaining. The on/off trigger ensures that youre not using power when you dont need to.

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Theres a new layout to the components, too, which keeps the cleaning head, wand, dustbin and motor unit all in a straight line, enabling a straight-through air path, which Dyson says is more efficient. The new design also allows Dyson to squeeze in a 40% bigger dust container (its now 0.76l, up from 0.54l) and washable post motor and dust filters are now combined in one unit at the rear, which makes cleaning simpler than before.

Other improvements include a new rubber heel, which allows you to lean the V10 against the wall without worrying about it slipping sideways. Theres a larger dust ejector handle that feels much less fragile than on the V8 and requires less grunt to open. The bin itself is simpler and easier to release for cleaning, the wand provided with the Dyson Cyclone V10 is 50g lighter than before and Dyson has also improved the design of the standard motor-driven cleaner head so that it picks up more dust.

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The key development with the Dyson Cyclone V10, though, is the new V10 digital motor, which has been significantly redesigned to provide more power in a smaller package than the V8. The new motor delivers a higher rpm up to 125,000rpm courtesy of a newly designed impeller, with a lightweight ceramic shaft and overlapping vanes. The result is, says Dyson, 20% extra airflow.

Dyson Cyclone V10 review: Performance and usability

All of these are welcome improvements and, mostly, they translate to better, more flexible cleaning performance than with the V8. To test out the suction and cleaning power, I cleaned a small section of carpet first with the V8 and then the V10 to see how much the second pass would pick up. I then reversed this on another section of nearby carpet, cleaning with the V10, then the V8 to see how the results differed.

In the first instance, the V10 picked up as much as the V8 did on the first pass. In the second, the V8 picked up noticeably less a good indication of the increased power of the new model. With two more suction modes to explore theres plenty of scope for deeper cleaning if you need it, too, although having used the Cyclone V10 for over a week, Ive not yet felt the need to up the power.

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Thats great, but flexibility and usability are at least as important as performance and on this count the Dyson Cyclone V10 also scores very highly. For example, the new straight-through design means the V10 is easier to squeeze into narrow gaps and under large items or low furniture.

The newly designed direct-drive head, as well as being more powerful than before, also judders less when you pull it back against the nap of the carpet. It rolls more smoothly across the carpet as a result and makes it far easier to manoeuvre. Its also quieter and slightly less annoying than before, although it does emit a weird ooom sound every time you take your finger off the trigger.

Generally, the Dyson Cyclone V10 is a big improvement over the V8 but there is one negative: its heavier. Not by much, but its noticeable if youre cleaning more than one room in one go. The V10s improved head design does mitigate this somewhat, though.

Dyson Cyclone V10 review: Verdict

The Dyson Cyclone V10, like the V8 before it, is an excellent product. It is effective and practical, comes with a decent selection of accessories, and is a better cordless vacuum cleaner than the V8. In fact, the V10 Absolute launches at a price thats £70 less than the V8 Absolute was originally available for.

Its still a big investment, and other manufacturers products are generally much cheaper, but theres no denying that this is a well-designed, powerful cordless vacuum cleaner. Just make sure you dont buy the Total Clean package the Dyson V10 Absolute offers the best value for money in the range.

Written by

Jonathan Bray

Head of reviews at Expert Reviews, Jon has been testing and writing about products since before most of you were born (well, only if you were born after 1996). In that time he’s tested and reviewed hundreds of laptops, PCs, smartphones, vacuum cleaners, coffee machines, doorbells, cameras and more. He’s worked on websites since the early days of tech, writing game reviews for AOL and hardware reviews for PC Pro, Computer Buyer and other print publications. He’s also had work published in Trusted Reviews, Computing Which? and The Observer. And yet, even after so many years in the industry, there’s still nothing more he loves than getting to grips with a new product and putting it through its paces.

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