Most and Least Reliable Vacuum Cleaners

Upright vacuums make up about half of the U.S. vacuum market, according to manufacturers, and they’re the best at deep cleaning carpet, according to our tests.

Our survey ratings cover 18 brands of upright vacuums. Two of the upright brands in our survey, Sebo and Soniclean, earned an excellent rating for predicted reliability, and Kirby and Shark earned a very good rating. (We’ve tested Soniclean and Sebo uprights in the past, but there are no current models from these manufacturers in our latest upright tests.)

There are almost two dozen Shark uprights in our ratings, and you’ll see the best clustered near the top. Most make our recommended list.

Two upright brands—Sebo and Shark—earned an excellent rating for owner satisfaction. Miele, Riccar, and Simplicity earned a very good score on this measure. Our members gave poor owner satisfaction marks to four brands—Black & Decker, Dirt Devil, Royal, and Eureka. And because of their substandard reliability ratings, Consumer Reports cannot recommend either Royal or Eureka at this time. 

Here’s a top-performing Shark upright with ratings of very good for reliability and excellent for owner satisfaction. For more choices, see our full upright vacuum ratings.

Canister vacuums are a good choice if you live in a multilevel home because they’re easier to maneuver on stairs, with the powerhead in one hand and the canister on the floor or the stairs. They’re also better at cleaning hardwood floors, according to our lab tests. But with their long hose connecting the powerhead and the canister, they can be bulky and a bit awkward to store in a shallow closet.

Canisters have been losing market share in recent years and now account for just a small percentage of the vacuums consumers buy nationally, according to manufacturers. We continue to test them because brands like Miele and Kenmore are popular with our readers. But 10 percent of the members in our most recent survey who recently bought a vacuum reported buying a canister.

In our survey ratings, canisters generally fare well for reliability. All 15 brands included in our survey ratings are eligible for a recommendation. Our performance ratings currently include three brands of canisters: Miele, Kenmore, and Dyson.

Ratings from our member surveys represent more brands than we currently test. Of the 15, Miele stands out as the only brand to receive an excellent rating for both predicted reliability and owner satisfaction. Of the three other brands that earn an excellent for predicted reliability (Shark, Rainbow, and Filter Queen) only Rainbow earns a very good rating for satisfaction. Shark earned an adequate rating, but Filter Queen was below par. 

Of the brands in our tests, Kenmore earned very good scores for predicted reliability and midrange scores for owner satisfaction. Dyson did not fare quite as well, earning middling scores on both measures. And the three brands with unacceptable satisfaction ratings were Hoover, Royal, and Simplicity.

Here’s a top pick from Miele, a brand that earns excellent ratings for both reliability and owner satisfaction. For more choices, see our full canister vacuum ratings.

Unlike canisters, the market for stick vacuums is growing at a fast clip. They represent at least 20 percent of the market, according to manufacturers. They tend to perform well in our tests, and as their performance increases so does the toughness of our tests as we know that some folks buy them as their primary vacuum. (We still recommend full-sized vacuums for homes with a lot of carpeting.)

Consumers like them because they’re easy to maneuver and easy to pull out for random messes. Read on to see how corded and cordless stick vacuums did in our reliability surveys. (Some brands appear in both categories; for example, Shark makes both corded and cordless models.)

We were able to rate seven brands of robovacs, and all but one—Neato—were good enough to be recommended when they perform well in our lab tests. Shark rose to the top with an excellent rating in reliability and a midlevel score for satisfaction. Eufy received very good ratings on both measures, and iRobot earned a very good reliability rating but, like Shark, only a midrange score for owner satisfaction.

Although bObsweep and Samsung can be recommended because of their passing predicted reliability ratings, they fell short in owner satisfaction, with bottom-tier ratings.

Here’s a peek at our top-rated robotic vacuum. For more choices see our full vacuum ratings and recommendations.

Nonrobotic Vacuums
The most common problem was hair tangling in the rollers. Overall, 17 percent of vacuums have had this problem, with upright models (20 percent ) being especially prone to entanglements. It was also a major problem for corded stick vacuums (16 percent), cordless stick vacuums (14 percent), and canister vacuums (13 percent).

Other notable problems that could be found in any type of vacuum included clogged dirt receptacles (10 percent), weak or broken suction (8 percent), and the need to clean the filters too often (6 percent). Additionally, 7 percent of upright vacuums had broken belts.

While these problems also plague cordless vacuums, a trio of battery issues predominated: The battery life got worse over time (15 percent), batteries died completely (10 percent), and battery life was never good to begin with (7 percent). 

The battery-related problems tended to get progressively worse over time. We found that one 1 in 4 cordless vacuums—27 percent— experienced deteriorating battery life by the fifth year of ownership—nearly a sevenfold increase over the rate in the first year of ownership. There was a similar trend with batteries dying, and we saw a slight bump in complaints that batteries were never good to begin with, but it was not as dramatic as the other two battery issues. The high incidence of problems underscores our decision to remove the eligibility for a recommendation for cordless models, no matter how well they perform in the lab.

Robotic Vacuums
Like their nonrobotic kin, the biggest problem for robotic vacuums is hair getting tangled in the rollers. Nearly 1 out of 3 robovacs (31 percent) have had this problem. Three other problems each affected 11 percent of robovacs: excessively dirty filters, clogs in the hoses or receptacles, and deteriorating battery life.

This year, for the first time, we asked about two internet-related problems for robotic vacuums: WiFi connection problems and problems with the app or online functions. Each of these problems has occurred with 8 percent of robotic vacuums. We will continue to track this in future surveys.

We also measured brand loyalty, the importance members place on buying a new vacuum from the same brand as their current vacuum. It was considered very important to 23 percent of vacuum owners and somewhat important to 38 percent. 

The most brand-loyal were the owners of Miele vacuums, with 41 percent saying it was very important and 36 percent saying it was somewhat important. Brand loyalty was also important, although not quite as important, to Dyson and Sebo owners, with 66 percent saying it was either very important or somewhat important. And about two-thirds of the owners of Shark, iRobot, and Oreck models said it was either very or somewhat important to buy that brand again. 

Owners of Kenmore, Hoover, Samsung, LG, and Eureka were far less enthusiastic about sticking with the brand, but the least brand-loyal were owners of Black & Decker and Dirt Devil.

Our survey team reports that 91 percent of the vacuums purchased by our members since 2013 are still in use. Six percent were replaced because of reliability problems.