VacTidy Blitz V8 overview: This stick vac busts mud, not your finances

Cordless stick vacuums just like the VacTidy V8 Blitz are lighter, slimmer, and nimbler than full-size vacuums, however they’re additionally sometimes dearer. It’s common for a cordless mannequin to value two and even thrice as a lot as one among its corded cousins. That makes the VacTidy Blitz V8 a little bit of an outlier. At the moment obtainable for $139 immediately from the VacTidy web site, its worth ought to entice even essentially the most cost-conscious people to take an opportunity on one among these family helpers.

Each kinds of stick vac are higher for fast cleanups than their robotic cousins. If you happen to’re not accustomed to the model, VacTidy is a division of Proscenic.

Like most stick vacuums, the Blitz V8 consists of two elements: A physique containing the vacuum’s motor, dustbin meeting, and energy provide, together with a group of cleansing attachments. The primary physique consists of black and inexperienced plastic and a transparent plastic 1.2-liter dustbin. The dustbin features a removable and washable four-stage HEPA filtration system. Energy is supplied by a detachable 2200mAh lithium battery that inserts underneath the deal with. A 130W brushless motor produces as much as 20,000Pa of suction.

The Blitz V8 comes with a number of equipment for various cleansing jobs. The ground attachment swivels 180 levels facet to facet and 90 levels up and down, enabling you to simply clear round corners, underneath furnishings, and different tight areas. It’s outfitted with a pair of LED headlights to light up darkish areas. A protracted crevice software and and an oval utility brush might be substituted for the ground attachment to scrub upholstery, wall edges, and ceiling cobwebs. Every accent might be hooked up to the physique by way of a telescopic extension tube or on to the Blitz V8’s physique, changing it right into a hand vacuum. The physique weighs about 3.5 kilos by itself and simply over 5 with the tube hooked up.

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VacTidy features a small plastic bracket that permits you safe the Blitz V8 towards a wall when it’s not in use. Ideally, you’ll mount the bracket close to {an electrical} outlet to maintain the vacuum charged when it’s stowed away; if that’s not attainable, you’ll be able to merely take away the battery and cost it wherever it’s handy. Alternately, you should buy a second battery for $35 to maintain as a backup to swap in when the opposite must recharge. Absolutely juiced, the Blitz V8 received about half-hour of steady runtime in my exams. It takes about 2.5 hours to totally cost the battery.

Like most stick vacuums, the Blitz V8 is set off activated: Squeeze as soon as to start out cleansing in customary mode, twice to scrub in max mode, and a 3rd time to close it off. I discovered customary mode, which delivers 12,000Pa of suction, to be sufficient to take away mud and particles from arduous flooring, however max is certainly wanted to take away the identical from carpet. The Blitz V8 glided simply over low pile carpeting and throw rugs and transitioned easily from one ground sort to a different.

Straightforward maneuverability, although, is the principle attraction of cordless stick vacs. Though they will’t match the cleansing energy of typical corded vacuums, they don’t have the latter’s weight and bulk. That makes them a lot better suited to getting deep underneath beds and couches and cleansing overhead areas. It additionally makes them extra handy for quick-cleaning a spill, carrying up a flight of stairs, or vacuuming out your automotive.

Michael Ansaldo/Foundry

The Blitz V8 lives as much as that promise. Because of its versatile ground attachment, which swivels with a mild twist of the deal with, I used to be capable of clear round furnishings legs and corners in a single fluid movement fairly than the clunky stop-and-start assault necessitated by my much less nimble stand-up vacuum and nearly each robotic vacuum I’ve ever used. And its gentle weight enabled me to scrub cobwebs from each room in my dwelling in a single manic burst fairly than over a number of days, as a result of the light-weight Blitz V8 didn’t fatigue my arm the way in which my canister vacuum’s hose attachment does whereas working overhead.

Whenever you’re executed cleansing, you’ll be able to empty the dustbin by detaching it from the principle physique, holding it over a trash can, and urgent a button to open its backside lid and launch its contents. Mud, filth, and meals crumbs fall simply out of the dustbin however I normally needed to attain in and manually take away pet hair and different fibers. Not like some dearer stick-vac producers, VacTidy doesn’t provide an optionally available accent that may suck the bin’s contents right into a separate bag that may maintain the results of many cleanings whereas additionally stopping mud and particles from re-entering you dwelling’s air. The Blitz V8’s dustbin might be worn out with a humid fabric, and the filter meeting might be washed with chilly water. VacTidy suggests putting in a brand new HEPA filter each couple of months and sells replacement packs of three for $9.99.

If you happen to like your cleansing home equipment to have some smarts, you is likely to be upset by the absence of a show and companion app. With out the suggestions these options present, you’ll be able to’t be certain of how a lot battery energy you could have left, and it’s straightforward to overlook which mode you’re vacuuming in. These are mere conveniences, certain, however ones most of us have change into accustomed to. And it ought to go with out saying that at this worth level you don’t get filth detection or different superior applied sciences supplied with extra premium stick vacuums.

There are alternatives, just like the Dyson V15 Detect, for many who have the will and means for one thing extra polished. If you are able to do with out the bells and whistles, although, the VacTidy Blitz V8 is a good way to make vacuuming extra bearable on a finances.