Best cordless vacuum cleaners 2023
A cordless vacuum cleaner can help you keep your car spick and span, but which ones hoover up the competition, and which ones just suck?...
Rechargeable, cordless vacuums are a convenient way to clean your car, but prices and performance vary widely. Fortunately however, we've done the hard work for you and put 10 of the best to the test.
How we test them
With a suitably fur and crumb-filled car to hand, we tested our vacuums and their available attachments to see how easily they accessed and cleaned awkward areas around the seats, as well as the larger area of a carpeted boot.
All take less than four hours to fully charge, so we rated them on how well they vacuumed, how long the battery lasts and how easy they are to use, as well as factoring in affordability and perceived quality.
The products or services referenced in this story have been reviewed independently by our experts. When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network. However, this will never influence our opinion or ratings.
Top 10: Cordless vacuum cleaners
1. BEST BUY – VacLife
Max run time 20min
The VacLife feels solidly built, and the attachments – including a crevice nozzle and a brush head – fit securely and make it easy to get under your seats, or to hoover large areas of carpet or suede. There’s also an LED light to help you see into awkward corners, plus a slim ‘detail’ brush that’s great for cleaning out your air vents. On top of that, the VacLife is one of the quietest of our budget vacuums, despite also being one of the more powerful. A great all-round compact vacuum, at a really great price.
What Car? says 5 stars
2. RECOMMENDED – Gtech Multi Mk2
Max run time 20min
This is our most expensive option, so it’s no surprise that it is also the most powerful and would do a fine job of your house, as well as the car – particularly because it comes with a compact, rotary vacuum head that did the best job of removing dog fur from a carpet. It is heavier than our other contenders, but the variety of attachments still makes this very versatile, and it’s easy to manoeuvre one-handed. It’s the best cordless hoover here by some margin and only misses out on the top spot because of its high price.
What Car? says 5 stars
3. BEST BUDGET BUY – Maguja LT-101C
Max run time 20min
The Maguya comes with the small, slim nozzle and the wider brush head attachment that you’d expect, and they fix securely to the small, lightweight vacuum. It looks (and sounds) like a hairdrier, but this is an effective little vacuum. Very light, easy to grip and good at getting into difficult under-seat areas, it has decent suction and is one of our favourite choices if you just want a cheap, occasional-use mini vacuum.
What Car? says 4 stars
4. Baseus A3 Car Vacuum
Max run time 45min
The Baseus is a really neat, classy-feeling bit of kit that benefits from a metal finish, two vacuum strengths and a long-lasting battery. It’s more powerful than the cheaper alternatives here, too, but we found the chunky size and smooth finish of the vacuum’s body a little difficult to grip, especially when you’re trying to reach into difficult spots around the car. The run time is the best here, though.
What Car? says 4 stars
5. Shark WandVac 1.0
Max run time 8min
Really powerful, lightweight and easy to wield, this is the most powerful vacuum here short of the chunkier Gtech, and the attachments are ideal for car cleaning. It’s virtually as powerful as your average full-size domestic cordless hoover, despite being much lighter, and because it has its own charging dock, it’s easy to grab and go. However, the run time is a disappointment, especially given the price, and can make cleaning a whole car in one go a bit tricky.
What Car? says 3 stars
6. Bagotte Handheld Vacuum BHV10
Max run time 35min
The Bagotte has two power settings, and will run for around 15 minutes on high power, or 35 minutes on lower power. It feels durable, plus it’s light and easy to wield around your car, but it’s also quite noisy, and even on its highest setting it doesn’t have as much suction as the Gtech and Shark vacuums. It does have a huge array of attachments, though, and a nifty easy-open function to empty the bin. It’s okay overall, just a bit pricey in this company, and not as good as the more expensive options.
What Car? says 3 stars
7. Hoover H-Handy 700 Pets
Max run time 12min
The Hoover is a really lightweight vacuum that’s easy to hold, has great suction and comes with a wide array of attachments, including a pet hair tool, which is ideal for boot floors, or even your stairs. We also like the neat charging dock, which doubles as a place to store the attachments, and the washable filter is a nice touch. However, we’d want a longer run time for this price.
What Car? says 3 stars
8. Ozoy MZ-5233
Max run time 30min
The Ozoy is good value and has a decent run time, not to mention being able to suck up liquids as well as your usual car crumbs. It also comes with a storage bag, a spare filter and an additional 12V charging cable. However, it feels very cheap, and the attachments – which include a bendy, long-reach extension, as well as the usual crevice tool and brush – don’t attach very securely, so they’re prone to falling off.
What Car? says 3 stars
9. Vacoor Handheld Vacuum MZ-5233
Buy from Amazon | Max run time 30min
This is virtually identical to the Ozoy below, but for the brand name, so is a perfectly neat little cordless vacuum. However, the attachments don’t connect very securely and others here have much more suction. It’s good value, and really useful that it can pick up a small spill or vacuum a damp carpet, but it doesn’t come with the storage bag or 12V charger that the Ozoy elsewhere in this test has.
What Car? says 3 stars
10. Minthouz Cordless Vacuum MT-L005
Max run time 20min
The Minthouz is really easy to hold thanks to its slim handle, and it’s got decent suction, but it’s the noisiest of our vacuum cleaners and is also short of attachments. It only has one very slim nozzle with a removable brush head – ideal for crevices and even vents – but it would be useful to have a chunkier brush tool for seats or the boot floor. It’s not the cheapest, either.
The products or services referenced in this story have been reviewed independently by our experts. When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network. However, this will never influence our opinion or ratings.
For all the latest reviews, advice and new car deals, sign up to the What Car? newsletter here
