Short Version: I really struggled with this one. As someone who is notoriously cheap, I had serious reservations about reviewing a vacuum cleaner that has an MSRP of $549. I mean, seriously? What could make this particular vacuum so much better then the old standby bagless that I picked up for $100 at the local retail store. Well, I’m here to tell you: I was wrong. The Dyson DC25 Animal is a great vacuum cleaner, and if you can afford one – buy it.
Features:
- Never loses suction
- Ball technology makes it easy to maneuver
- Animal model picks up pet hair like nobody’s business
Pros:
- Seriously, it never loses suction
- Attachments actually work
- Dust catcher is really easy to remove
Cons:
- Price
- No where to attach the mini-turbine attachment
- Price
Full Review:
So what could make a vacuum so cool that it’s worth $549? Well, I’m here to tell you that the Dyson really sucks. Hard. In fact, the first time you use it, you’ll be seriously surprised at the amount of dust and dirt it’ll pull out of your carpet. A little backstory – I live in Nevada, and we have dust. It’s just part of life, we have dust storms, wind, and all kinds of nasty weather. As a result no matter how clean you keep your house, you still get dust. I’ve had various other brands of vacuums in the past, and they did a reasonable job, but I was quite honestly surprised at how well the DC25 cleans. When I moved into my current home, it had new carpet. So I’m very much aware of the age of the inexpensive carpet that we put down. The Dyson was able to actually restore some of the nap of the carpet, to the point that it actually felt like new.
The model I’m reviewing today is the DC25 Animal. This particular model is specifically designed for people with pets, and we have 3 cats in my household. As a result, we get cat hair everywhere, and it’s a pain to keep the furniture clean. One thing that has always annoyed me about other vacuum cleaners is the attachments. Why on earth do they bother to include that miniature “upholstery brush” that is supposed to spin using the force of the suction, but it never works? Well, I’m here to tell you that the Dyson version works. This means that I don’t have to set the couch cushions on the floor and vacuum them, I can just plug the extension hose into the mini-turbine, and it spins. Not only that, but when I actually touch the mini-turbine to the couch fabric, it keeps spinning. This was literally the feature that made me go, “yeah, this vacuum is worth the money”.
All is not perfect with the DC25 though, there were a couple of things that annoyed me. Specifically, the mini-turbine doesn’t attach to the vacuum anywhere. You have to put it somewhere safe, and hope you don’t forget where you put it. On cheaper vacuum cleaners it snaps onto the body of the cleaner, I’m not really sure why that’s not the case with the Dyson. The other issue is with the main beater. If you (or your significant other) has long hair, sooner or later you’re going to have to clean that beater. And the disassembly process to get at the beater is a pain. Of course, that’s not a problem particular to the Dyson, but I expected it to have some kind of magic blade that would make the hair not wrap around the beater brush. Maybe in the next version.
Conclusion: I really, really like the Dyson. I was prepared to dismiss it as an overpriced gimmick, but I’m actually happy to say that I was wrong. Despite the price, the Dyson DC25 Animal is easy to recommend to people. It’s a truly great product that does exactly what they show it doing on the commercials. My hat is off to you, James Dyson.