The 4 best handheld vacuums of 2023

Pros: Did well cleaning on all surfaces, lightweight, easy to use, large dustbin, quieter than most, affordable

Cons: Short run time, no indicator light to show when the battery is charged

Whether on carpeting or hardwood or in the car, the Black+Decker Dustbuster Cordless Handheld Vacuum (model HHVI315JO42) was among the top performers. It especially stood out on hardwood, where it was the best at picking up Cheerios and flour, a substance all of the vacuums struggled with on every surface.

This Dustbuster weighs a smidge over 2 pounds and is well-balanced to keep you from straining during longer cleaning jobs. Yet, long cleaning jobs won't be an issue with this vac since the battery run time is only about 12 minutes, among the shortest we tested. There's also no indicator light to tell you when the battery is charged.

Using the Dustbuster is simple. One button turns it on and off. The other button releases the dustbin. Once released, remove the filter to empty the dustbin. The cloth filter is easy to clean with water, but let it dry before reinstalling it. The Dustbuster is loud, about as loud as a noisy restaurant, but it was quieter than most vacuums we tested. 

Lastly, we were impressed with the size of the Dustbuster's dustbin: It was 50% larger than any other handheld vac we tested. We found the extra space was nice when cleaning up Cheerio accidents.

Pros: Picked up all of the pet hair in our tests, did well on all surfaces, easy to use, large dustbin, lightweight, easy-to-access brush, convenient charging base

Cons: Noisy, lengthy battery recharge, hard to snap unit back together after emptying bin

The Black+Decker Dustbuster AdvancedClean Cordless Handheld Vacuum (model CHV1410L) was the only vacuum to pick up all of the pet hair we laid out on every surface: carpeting, hardwood, and in the car. When it came to picking up other materials, this Dustbuster didn't perform as well as our top pick, but it still did better than most models we tested. While it's great for couches, you'll still want a full-size pet hair vacuum for floors.

The Dustbuster AdvancedClean is easy to use. It weighs a little more than 2.5 pounds and has great balance. We didn't experience fatigue while cleaning with it. The brush is attached to the vacuum head, so you can easily flip it in place and don't have to worry about keeping track of an attachment. The charging dock is simple to operate. You just set the vacuum on it. Once the vac is fully charged, the indicator light turns off, and the vac runs for about 14 minutes.

The CHV1410L is noisy, about as loud as a hairdryer, which may not be ideal in an apartment with thin walls. The dustbin is spacious, and it's easy to empty without getting your hands dirty. You have two options. You can remove the entire dustbin and empty the dustbin by pulling out the filter. Or you can remove the forward section and shake out the debris without touching the filter. Whichever you choose, you need a little finesse to get the vac to snap back together.

Pros: Cleans well on carpeting, hardwood, and in cars; lightweight; easy to use; operates quieter than most handhelds 

Cons: You need to touch the filter to empty the dustbin, could be better at picking up flour on carpeting

The Shark Cyclone Pet (CH701) is easy to use. It only weighs a pound and a half and has just two buttons, the on/off and dustbin release buttons.  It comes with two attachments: a PetExtract Hair Tool and an 8" Crevice Tool. I particularly liked using it in the car because the crevice tool made it easy to get into hard-to-reach spots, and the light weight made it comfortable to hold in awkward positions. 

On carpeting, hardwood, and in the car, the Shark Cyclone Pet came close to picking up all of the debris I laid out, including Cheerios, flour, coffee, cat litter, and pet hair, offering some of the best cleaning performance. The only area where it struggled was picking up flour on carpeting, where it only sucked up about half. My arm never got tired of holding it during testing.

Though Shark doesn't list its battery life, the battery runtime is about average (12 minutes on a charge) and recharges faster than most (2 hours.) It uses a USB to charge, making it convenient to also take in the car. It also doesn't list the dustbin size, but is advertised as XL. By my measure it was about 450ml, and enough to carry through my cleaning tests. My biggest gripe is that you must remove — and thus, touch — the filter to empty the dustbin. 

Pros: 4-foot hose, attachments store on charging base, cleaned well on all surfaces, powerful suction, relatively quiet, good run time

Cons: One of the heaviest vacs we tested, disposal can get messy, the exhaust may blow around debris, slow charging

While our top overall hand vac picked up more debris, we think Black+Decker 20V Max Flex Handheld Vacuum (model BDH2020FL) is the best option for those who like versatility — it also has the most powerful suction of the vacuums we tested.

The Max Flex vacuum was the second-best overall performer in our cleaning tests. It did especially well on carpeting, picking up at least 79% of each material. It struggled with flour, which was difficult for all of the vacs. Despite its impressive performance and power, it was one of the quietest vacuums.

We like that the Max Flex comes with a charging base that stores the attachments you aren't using. The vac runs for 16 minutes on a charge — the best among our picks — but takes four hours to recharge fully, two to three hours longer than the other picks.

The Black+Decker BDH2020FL was one of the heavier vacs we tested. However, the narrow, flexible  hose lets you clean a relatively large area without picking up the entire unit and made it easier to clean under seats in a car and other inaccessible areas.  We also didn't like how messy it could get when you empty it out. You need to rotate the unit so the door is on top, open the dustbin door, and tip the bin to empty the contents. 

The vacuum's exhaust comes out of the side, causing debris we hadn't had a chance to clean to go flying across the room. This was less of a problem when cleaning in a car because we used the hose more, and the exhaust was further away.

What to look for in a handheld vacuum

Battery: After fully charging the vacuums, we ran them until the battery died, timing how long it took. Then we timed how long it took to recharge them.

Noise: Using a sound meter, we measured how loud in decibels each vacuum was from 2 feet away. They were all louder than 70 decibels, similar to city traffic.

Ease of use: While using each vacuum, we rated how hard or easy it was to use. For example, the Worx vacuum was a pain because the hose wasn't long enough to clean the 5-square-foot patch of carpet without moving the whole unit. Thus it required two hands. Others were heavy, causing our arms and shoulders to get tired.

Disposal: We emptied the dustbins of the vacuums at least 12 times each. We paid attention to how messy this task was and if we came in contact with the debris. A vacuum earned extra points if it was easy to direct the debris into the trash.

We use many objective tests to assess the vacuums in this guide. When shopping for a handheld vacuum, the most important features are how well it cleans various surfaces and how light and easy to use it is.

Here are the main attributes we look for and how we test them:

Carpet cleaning: One at a time, we poured 100 grams of all-purpose flour, coffee grounds, and kitty litter; 50 grams of Cheerios; and 1 gram of a mixture of cat and dog hair on a 5-square-foot patch of carpeting. Next, we vacuumed up as much as possible in 30 seconds. We determined how much the vacuums picked up by weighing the dustbins before and after they tackled each substance.

Hardwood cleaning: On a 5-square-foot piece of hardwood flooring, we conducted the same testing as we did in the carpet cleaning portion. 

Car cleaning: We poured 50 grams of Cheerios and flour plus the 1-gram pet hair mix on the cloth passenger seat and floor of a Prius. Next, we vacuumed as much of each material as we could in 30 seconds. Then we compared the weight of the dustbin before and after cleaning each substance.

Here's a breakdown of how much of each material (in grams) the top picks cleaned up on each surface in our tests (the top performance is denoted in bold):

Is it worth it to buy a cordless vacuum?

Handheld vacuum cleaners are small and light enough to hold in your hand. They're typically cordless and have smaller dustbins and less power than uprights. Cordless stick vacuums can be used as handheld vacuums, but they tend to be heavier. You can find stick vacuums in our other vacuum guides.

Are handheld vacuums worth it?

At around $40, handheld vacuum cleaners are an affordable way to clean small messes that your traditional vacuum can't reach. However, if you have a stick vacuum that converts to a handheld, you may want to skip buying a separate handheld.

How long does a handheld vacuum last?

John Schrumpf, owner of John's Rugs Crub, noted that vacuums last an average of seven years. "You'll break the vacuum before it sputters to a stop," he said. Most have warranties for one to two years.

Is a handheld vacuum as good as an upright vacuum?

"A handheld vacuum is better for portability and convenience," said Leslie Tam, co-founder of Urban Mop, a professional house cleaning service. But if you want to clean the entire house, an upright vacuum is far superior, he said. The so-so upright vacuums we tested were far superior to the best handheld models.

What is considered strong suction?

Suction power alone didn't determine our top pick. The Black+Decker Dustbuster has 16 air watts of suction power, but it still performed better than the Black+Decker Max Flex, which has 24.