Hoover has launched its most powerful cordless vacuum yet, we tested it out to see how it performs in a busy family home
I have a real love-hate relationship with vacuum cleaners. I’ve gone through a few different ones over recent years, finding a few of them have some pretty glaring flaws – usually that they can’t handle dog hair.
Be it cordless or corded, cheap or pricier, I’ve had a few different models and grown frustrated with many of them for one reason or another. I was therefore intrigued to try out Hoover’s shiny new offering the brand says offers its strongest ever suction power in a cordless vacuum.
The Hoover Turbo Sense HF6 is the device in question. Its price tends to vary slightly depending on if there’s a sale event running, but at the time of writing the device costs £299.99 from Hoover direct, £279 from Amazon, or £279 for the pet version.
Testing it out
The first thing to note is that it’s pretty simple to set up, and I quickly had it figured out and put together without needing to use the instructions. Once it was all good to go I was keen to get stuck into trying it out.
I currently have a Henry which I feel like I love and hate all at the same time. On the one hand, the suction power is fantastic and it leaves my carpets so clean. But the bulky nature of it makes it such a pain to literally drag around the house, while it seems to have an infuriating habit of getting stuck on anything imaginable, especially when you try to go around a corner.
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The device is Hoover’s most powerful cordless vacuum
So it was very nice to have that initial freedom feeling as I cruised around with a cordless vacuum. My house has all hard flooring downstairs, while the upstairs is all carpet, so the way it automatically adjusts the operation when you switch flooring type sounded perfect in theory.
First up was the hard floor. The vacuum features three power modes ranging from a fairly mild eco mode, right up to the most powerful turbo setting that Hoover says is its “strongest suction power in a cordless vacuum cleaner”. And it’s fair to say the top setting does pack a punch, having little trouble scooping up all manner of debris.
The lights on the front are both fabulous and horrifying, for the simple fact that it’s scary how many crumbs and bits of dirt that show up under the lights, despite the floor looking pretty clean to the naked eye. However, the lights make a big difference in helping you to spot the areas that need going over again, or where troublesome crumbs still lurk.
The clever feature this model boasts is how it automatically senses the floor type, and adjusts its operation to match, so it tends to slow down a bit when hoovering on laminate flooring for example.
Handheld mode makes lightweight cleaning easy
The device is also really simple to put in handheld mode – at the click of a button the main part of the Hoover detaches, allowing for one of the other attachments to be added. It makes it ideal for tasks like cleaning the car or shifting pesky cobwebs from the ceiling in the corner of a room.
Despite being fairly small, the chamber that collects the dirt holds a solid amount and doesn’t feel like it needs emptying all the time. Generally speaking, I can get around the whole house without needing to empty it.
The battery is pretty decent, Hoover says it can last up to 100 minutes, though this is on the lowest setting, so expect to get a significant amount less if running it on full power. I’ve found it’s comfortably lasting for me to do the whole house in one go, while it also lasts a decent amount of time if it’s just being used now and again for quick clean-ups.
Probably the biggest compliment I can pay to the device is that I’m finding myself hoovering up more than ever, such is the lightweight nature and simplicity of the device. It’s just so easy to grab and go, give the floor a quick spruce up and then put away.
What’s not so great?
One issue I did find with this vacuum occurred when switching from hard floor to carpet. When the vac was on full power it kept stopping on the carpet and had a red light flashing indicating a jam.
I found the way round this was to keep it moving quickly while doing carpeted areas, or turn the power down, but it was a bit frustrating at first.
I’d also say the anti-hairwrap feature hasn’t blown me away, and I’m still having to rip hairballs off the roller and wheels. It’s a longstanding issue I’ve faced with just about every vacuum I’ve owned. While the Hoover is better than some I’ve had in the past it’s not been perfect on this front.
I also encountered an issue with the first model I had, whereby it stopped charging and wouldn’t work, though the issue hasn’t reoccurred with the replacement.
What else is out there?
Elsewhere, Shark has some post-Christmas deals on many of its popular vacuum cleaners. One of its most popular sellers is the Shark PowerPro Pet Cordless Stick Vacuum.
That’s currently on sale, taking the price down from £299.99 to £199.99. That vacuum also has a floor detect feature, plus Shark’s anti-hairwrap technology.
As I mentioned earlier, the vacuum I’ve used for a while is a Henry. Owing to the fact that it’s corded, what my Henry does boast is stronger suction power overall, though it is a bulky machine and not especially enjoyable to use.
Despite this, Henrys are a really safe bet, and cheaper – a standard Henry is £120 at Argos – while the corded nature of it means that it will never run out of battery mid clean.
What have buyers had to say?
The Hoover HF6 has had 28 reviews to date, averaging 4.8 stars out of 5 so far. Among the impressed buyers, one said: “Easy to use, love the light which changes from carpet to floor. Nice weight, great suction.”
Another continued: “The cordless hoover is brilliant in that it automatically detects carpet or hard floor. Love the fact that you also have 3 power settings. I do find it a bit heavy when using off the main stem as a handheld, also can be a bit bulky to get into tight spots.”
A third went on: “Great suction, easy to empty, moves over floors with no effort, great for different floor levels.” The lowest review left to date awarded three stars, with that buyer saying: “All in all it’s a good little hoover, that is easy to store when not in use and would suit a smaller property and because it’s fairly lightweight, someone with lifting issues.”
