Long before there was a Dyson V8 Absolute vacuum, a bias existed about the pricing and overall effectiveness of Dyson products. While I am not trying to prove or disprove that, I am going to share my impressions of their latest (expensive) household appliance: the V8 Absolute vacuum.
After all, you need to know if it sucks or not. Spoiler: it does a bit of both.
Price as Reviewed: $599 at Dyson
Basics
- Suction power maxes at 115AW
- Weighs 5.75 pounds
- Bin volume 0.14 gallons
- Washable lifetime filter
- Soft roller and direct-drive cleaner heads
- 40 minutes of usage / charges in 5 hours
- Two year manufacturer warranty
Experience
So does it work? It does, but the battery lasts forty minutes.
In honesty as a reviewer, I haven’t interacted with many of Dyson’s products, so I haven’t had the chance to test the popular notion that none of their products work, despite being priced as “high-end” technology. But no matter, because I gleaned quite a bit from cleaning with the V8 Absolute vacuum around the house in Brooklyn.
It comes with a variety of attachments, including one for carpets and another for hardwood floors. There are four auxiliary attachments (two with brushes), designed for getting into the small spaces that need vacuuming around your living space. Yes, that includes a soft dusting brush attachment for cleaning keyboards, which I personally welcome.
Dyson also gets points for being intuitive: any placement of red on the vacuum or the attachments indicates something that can be switched out. To further convenience, there’s also a wall-mount included that lets you hang and charge the vacuum (with extended attachment) — though I must admit, I’ve made use of that accessory.
So does it work? It does, but the battery lasts forty minutes. On max power while cleaning, say, a rug or some carpet, it’s not going to take you very far.
Thus, the V8 Absolute’s main shortcoming is that by being so light and small (but with a “V8 motor”) it depletes its small battery supply in less than hour. This time period sounds alright for some, but let’s think of it this way: it would take me three recharges to clean a three-story, five bedroom home.
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How long is each full charge then? Five hours. Right.
It’d take me 15 hours to vacuum the whole house, Dyson! That’s a very expensive commitment to being near an electrical outlet, minus the cost of electricity, of course.
Bottom Line
This one is very much up in the air, but I’d pass on the V8 Absolute — only because its battery life is not justified against its cost.
In the pursuit of producing another ambitious vacuum, Dyson delivers an appliance with excellent suction, that won’t last too long at all.
Keep in mind, battery life times vary depending on the power requested via the V8 Absolute slider. But then again, if you’re not collecting all the dust and debris with maximum power, what are you doing cleaning the house with a $600 vacuum?
This one is very much up in the air, but I’d pass on the V8 Absolute — only because its battery life is not justified against its cost.
In short, the Dyson V8 Absolute is a vacuum that kinda sucks, because it doesn’t suck enough for long enough.