Pros: light weight, reusable HEPPA filter, consistent suction after 1 year
Cons: price, performance, the Dyson Ball, flimsy overcomplicated construction, lack of rotating brush action
The Bottom Line: There are far better compact vacuum cleaners for much cheaper and much better for the same price. You do not get what you pay for with this vacuum.
cliffhokie's Full Review: Dyson Ball DC24 Bagless Upright Vacuum
This vacuum was not purchased, but given as a registry gift to my wife and me. I had never been willing to previously shell out the money for the much more expensive Dyson vacuums. However, having a gift registry where you don’t actually have to pay for it, we decided why not. My wife had always heard great reviews from her friends about Dyson vacuums. Based on the fact that when going to a Bed Bath and Beyond or Best Buy, Dyson will always be the most expensive brand of vacuum cleaner (often $100+ more than the next cheapest vacuum brand), one would have to assume that these should, if anything, be a great vacuum…
Before proceeding, I want to give a few facts as a frame of reference. First, I do all of the vacuuming in our house, as it is one of my designated chores. I have owned three other upright vacuums that I can personally compare this vacuum with, the Eureka Pet Lover Bagless Upright (model 439AZ, purchase price of $60), the Eureka Boss with HEPA (model 4870MZ, price unknown), and a larger Hoover upright with HEPA (model unknown, price unknown). Out of those three, I still own and use the Eureka Pet Lover vacuum and it was purchased because of its small size and its claimed “powerful suction” on the box. It actually is very similar in size to the Dyson DC24. Also, as this was on our registry at Bed Bath and Beyond, while we didn’t purchase the product, I am fairly certain it was purchased at a price of around $399, the then list price of this vacuum.
Pros of DC24
First of all, my wife now finally gets to tell her friends that she too has now ascended to the ranks of a Dyson owner. Never in my life would I have thought that a vacuum cleaner could in anyway be a status symbol. Apparently, it can, so I will put this as a pro in owning the vacuum cleaner for her sake.
The vacuum is very lightweight (claimed 12lb weight) and the handle is collapsible so that the overall size when fully lowered is right around two feet. This makes it very easy to store as well as carry around from one location to the next.
I really like the design of the hose. In regular use, it collapses and hides away on the back similar to a slinky as opposed to being taken off completely similar to an attachment or being wrapped around something. The hose itself has what seems to be something very similar to a coil/slinky built in that allows it to completely retract and perfectly twist back to its normal resting state when not in use with little effort. I say slinky instead of spring because when released, it doesn’t lash back with force, and it doesn’t fight you when trying to pull it out and use it. When in need, you pull out the handle of the vacuum with the press of a button and pull up the hose with ease and attach the telescoping handle in reverse to make it a vacuum wand. The hose unwinds to a much longer than expected length. That being said, it is an “ultracompact” vacuum and it shouldn’t be expected that this hose is capable of reaching high up and out of reach locations such as ceiling fans, etc. It is capable of doing daily routine tasks that need a hose such as reaching in corners and vacuuming out your car.
The hose brings up another pro of owning this vacuum, the single attachment. It has been mentioned by others that this vacuum doesn’t have enough attachments. In all honesty, if you want a lot of exciting attachments, you probably won’t be interested in most compact design vacuums. There is only so many ways that Dyson can make a vacuum that is this small yet still hold an attachment. I think it is ingenious how they were able to dual purpose the handle into a vacuuming wand. The single bristle attachment also has a dual purpose to save space. With a gentle click, you can push the bristle portion down to make a bristle free crevice attachment. So in half the space, Dyson, with some clever ingenuity, was able to give you a wand, bristle brush, and crevice tool.
The idea of a reusable HEPA filter is probably one of the best ideas on this vacuum and one that I wish more vacuum brands would implement into their designs.
The vacuum gives you the option of turning off the brush but still giving suction with a large and simple to identify button on the top of the canister area in the front. It also has a similar button next to it that is also easily identifiable to remove the canister.
One of the most important functions and testaments to a good vacuum cleaner is and will always be its suctioning force. How much power does said vacuum cleaner produce? In this case, I will be commenting on this in both the pro and con section. One pro is that this vacuum gives you decent suction power, especially for a vacuum this small, comparable to some (but not all) larger uprights. More importantly, however, is the fact that this vacuum in one year of use has not lost any of its suctioning power and remains very consistent. In comparison, many vacuum cleaners are VERY powerful at first, but lose their power and efficiency as the vacuum cleaner becomes dirty and clogged with use.
Cons of DC24
Regarding cons, we will start where we left off in the pros. The suctioning power is “decent” for its size. It is not, however, best in class, no matter what the claimed power levels from Dyson may be. Side by side comparisons to my near exactly the same weight and size Eureka 439AZ shows that the Eureka actually edges out Dyson in terms of pure suction power. Removing the hose and holding it to your hand on both models, you will see a noticeable difference in power as well. While the Eureka does have to have the filter changed to repeat the results and get this performance, it isn’t that often that it has to be changed. The reason this becomes a HUGE con towards this model Dyson is that I compared it to a vacuum cleaner with similar size and features that is on average 1/5th of the price of the Dyson. I could replace the $4 filter once every three months (absolutely not necessary) for ten years and still not bridge the gap in price. Replacing it more realistically once every 6 months (depending on amount of use, we have a lot of carpet), that price gap becomes more and more ridiculous.
Next up is lack of brush action. There is no adjustment for brush level that I’m aware of and it severely impacts an important part of vacuuming effectiveness. Large debris and in our case, pet hairs, require more than suction, it requires adequate brushing action as well. You will quickly notice that this vacuum barely scuffs the carpet after vacuuming it. My wife actually likes the idea that it doesn’t leave a typical vacuumed look after vacuuming. Myself, I prefer to know where I’ve vacuumed and the vacuum lines have always been almost a symbol of pride, similar to mowing the lawns and perfecting the perfect lines on my lawn. While it certainly lifts up most stuff out of our carpet as is evidenced by emptying our canister, it does a poor job of picking up larger items and pet hair. If you have pets as we do, certainly reconsider the purchase of this vacuum.
It is almost ironic that one of the key features of this vacuum that make it “different” from its rivals as well as one of its main advertising points, the Ball, is actually one of my reasons to ding this model with a few cons. The ball in theory is a great idea. Obviously, the perfect turning radius can be achieved not by parallel wheels, but by a single ball that has 360 degrees of equal turning ability. However, this doesn’t work as flawlessly as it does in theory. The turning is too abrupt and coupled with the light weight and the fact that vacuum cleaners are pushed from the side, not dead center, the vacuum cleaner is prone to not follow a straight back and forth motion but go off in zig zaggy tangents. While it is good at making sharp turns (once you get the hang of controlling it), it is horrible at attempting to do larger open areas of carpet that require repeated back and forth motions.
This same Ball design produces another flaw in that it is quite tall. Because of this, it cannot go under things that a similarly sized to larger vacuum cleaner without a ball design could. Getting underneath certain pieces of furniture, cabinets, and vanities is a no-go. It also prevents it from being able to utilize a full flat position that some uprights can do. In comparison, my much much larger Eureka Boss of old was actually more capable of reaching under spaces like these.
It is worth mentioning that this vacuum cleaner is near 100% plastic construction in terms of exterior pieces. This isn’t surprising as most things have a heavy hand in plastic parts these days. However, it is surprising that a machine this expensive and with such an extensive warranty would put its faith in so much plastic. I disagree with a previously mentioned review in which the plastic was stated as being durable and above average. On the contrary, I would not put this plastic as any thicker or stronger than other much cheaper vacuums I’ve owned. And then there is the old adage, “Keep it simple, Stupid!” There are certain things that didn’t need to be done on this vacuum such as a foot pedal in the back that causes an almost robotic action to occur to release the “training wheels” when ready to use. This mechanism seems very flimsy and I can’t imagine it standing the test of time. When picking the whole thing up, one should give it a gentle shake. Unlike other vacuum cleaners that you would transport from one location to another, when doing the same with this, you realize that the whole thing wobbles, shakes, and creaks from various locations on it. In fact, the plastic is so weak that while using the appropriate handle and carrying it from one location to the next, I have on several occasions had the front brush portion comes loose and fall down, or the robotic foot pedal engage not with my foot, but just out of the movement it receives from walking. In an effort to achieve “space age” ingenuity in a vacuum cleaner, too much plastic was used and too many moving parts that weren’t necessary were used. As this is a relatively new model in the Dyson lineup, I can honestly say that I highly doubt this vacuum will go problem free with owners complaining of breaking parts in the future.
Final Thoughts At the end of the day, the biggest problem with this vacuum cleaner isn’t the vacuum cleaner itself, but what you get relative to its price. At 200-500% more expensive then some of its rivals, I find it hard to believe that anyone can legitimize the purchase of this vacuum. While I can’t comment on any other model in the Dyson lineup, I can honestly say that the DC24 does not warrant the cost. The cheapest this vacuum can currently be found new at a major retail store is $330. Were that to even be half of that price putting it much closer in price to others, I still don’t see this vacuum as being a standout among its rivals, just a decent competitor. It doesn’t have a best in class suction power even among other compact vacuums, it falls shamefully flat in regards to its brush action, has some faulty and weak construction, and the main thing it is advertised for, its Ball, is an utter disappointment. It does have some good designs such as the reusable HEPA filter (maybe that is what the key marketing should have been on) and is very light weight, yet it fails at things a vacuum cleaner MUST do right. I do believe that in some instances, you pay for what you get, but in this instance, this vacuum cleaner is simply far overpriced for what you get. Were Dyson to release this vacuum cleaner at a new price of $100-150, I could possibly recommend the product. As it stands, this product gets a resounding fail.
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