Dyson V15 Detect Cordless Vacuum Cleaner Review – Should You Upgrade for the Green Laser?

It is not fortunate that Dyson has been the top choice for a cordless vacuum cleaner for years. When they release the Dyson V15 Detect (jumped from V11 released 2 years ago), the gap between Dyson and their competitors becomes wider than ever. I’ve tested some other cordless vacuums but they never can match the same quality and features as found on Dyson products. In this review, we are checking out their latest V15 vacuum and why I love it so much.

Unboxing Video

Features & Performance

Out of the box, the Dyson V15 comes with the vacuum body, a wall dock, a wand clip, a charger, an extension wand, and a variety of cleaner heads. Specifically, we have 2 floor cleaning heads, a combination tool, a crevice tool, a hair screw tool, a soft dusting brush, and a stubborn dirt brush.

The Dyson V15’s vacuum body is almost the same as the Dyson V11. I can’t spot any difference apart from the color in the cyclone area. The unchanged design is really great because they use the same filter, click-in battery, charger, and dustbin. That means those replacement accessories are readily available.

Apart from the high-torque cleaner head, the Dyson V15 is also equipped with a Laser Slim Fluffy cleaner head which is probably the best feature of the flagship vacuum. This is the first time Dyson has integrated a light into a cleaner head. I’ve seen LED lights on many other vacuums but none of them has laser light like this. This is inspired by the fact that you see small particles in the air when they are exposed to sunlight. On the side of the cleaner head, there is a green laser diode positioned at a 1.5 degree angle and 7.3mm off the ground. I compared this laser with LED light on a Tineco vacuum and saw a huge difference. The laser light provides great contrast to reveal hidden dust on your floor. If you watch the video below, you can see that the laser light performs much better than LED light. This is class-1 laser product, it is safe under all conditions for pets and humans but you still shouldn’t look directly into the beam. You can also turn it off with the switch on the head if you don’t want to use it.

Notice that the soft roller brush only works on hard floor. Besides, the laser light reveals dust better on dark floors; If you turn on the laser in a bright room, you probably can’t see anything. Therefore, I am still using the high-torque cleaner head more often. Its performance on rugs and carpets is truly amazing and I don’t have to switch the head when cleaning hard floor. The head is also improved to prevent tangling. It is equipped with 56 polycarbonate teeth underneath which are called anti-tangling comb; The comb will automatically clear hair on the brush bar and bristles continuously during cleaning. That’s a great all-purpose cleaner head; It has just some disadvantages like the bulkier design, no light, and a little noisier operation.

Another new feature of the Dyson V15 is the acoustic piezo sensor which sizes and counts particles 15,000 times a second. The number of particles in different sizes will then be displayed on the LCD screen at the end of the main body. The particle sizes are divided into 4 groups which are 10μm, 60μm, 180μm, and 500μm. You can go to settings in the LCD screen to turn on/off the counter or adjust the motor sensitivity. I’d recommend you to leave this counter on because it will allow the machine to adjust suction automatically. The counter is automatically reset after each cleaning session when I place the vacuum on its charging dock.

Apart from showing the particle graph, you can also press the button underneath to switch among 3 power modes (Eco, Auto, and Boost). The Boost mode should only be used for intensive spot cleaning because the battery would drain out quickly in about 12-13 minutes. If you clean in Auto mode, the battery could last approximately 30 minutes and that’s more than enough for cleaning my house. The battery runtime countdown is displayed right under the particle graph. The display can also show alerts like “Filter not sealed”, “Filter needs cleaning”, or “Airways blocked”.

I use the two floor cleaner heads a lot but I also use the hair screw tool regularly to clean my mattress and sofa. This tool is redesigned to spiral hair off and into the dustbin instead of being stuck around the brush bar. This is a great idea because it requires less maintenance during usage. I’ve used this head for a few weeks and haven’t seen any hair on the conical brush bar yet. However, the tool makes very loud noise when the base plate is wide open. In this position, the brush bar hits the plastic head cover and creates this noise. When I use this tool, I always need to make sure the base plate is in the closed-down position, otherwise, the brush bar or the head cover could be damaged.

Another downside of the V15 is that it still doesn’t have a trigger lock. That means I still need to hold the trigger for 20-30 minutes when cleaning my house. Considering fact that the vacuum body weighs about 5 lbs, it is not so comfortable holding it and the trigger at the same time, especially when I clean the ceiling or furniture.

The suction power of the V15 is drastically improved and I can easily see the difference when cleaning carpets. On paper, the maximum suction power increases by more than 20% (from 185 air watts to 230 air watts). To give you a perspective, the Tineco Pure ONE S12 Plus has the same retail price as the Dyson V15 but its suction power maxed out at 145 watts. Dyson states that their Dyson Hyperdymium motor spins at up to 125,000rpm to generate the amazing suction power that other cordless vacuums can’t match. What I love the most about Dyson vacuums is that the suction power doesn’t fade when the dust level is raising in the bin. Therefore, the Dyson V15 is actually not expensive at all in the market of high-end cordless vacuums because we receive much more features and power.

Similar to previous products, the Dyson V15 pack a 5-stage filtration that can capture 99.99% of dust particles as small as 0.3 microns. Moreover, we don’t have to replace the filter. You will just need to wash the filter once every month and put it back to the machine when it is completely dry.

Conclusion

Pros

• Great battery life
• Redesigned high-torque cleaner head and hair screw tool to avoid tangling
• The best suction power on cordless vacuum
• Suction power is adjusted automatically
• Showing particle sizes and counts in real time

Cons

• The laser cleaner head is not as useful as expected
• Noisy hair screw tool

Overall, the Dyson V15 is undoubtedly the best cordless stick vacuum that we can buy this year. It has the same original retail price of $699 as the V11 but features and power are brought to the next level. If you already have the Dyson V11, the upgrade is probably not worthwhile because the V11 is still a very strong vacuum cleaner. You also shouldn’t upgrade just for the new laser light because it is not really useful as I imagined. Otherwise, if you have an older vacuum and need better performance on carpets, we highly recommend the new Dyson V15 Detect.

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