Dyson’s PencilVac Fluffycones review: A delightful and completely unnecessary vacuum cleaner

like EdgeResident Robot Vacuum ReferencesI don’t have a lot of time (or space) in my life to use vacuum cleaners, and frankly, the ones I have used have pretty much disappointed me. Very heavy, bulky, always clogged or running out of battery power – it’s very… Manual. But then I met PencilVac FluffyconesDyson’s new $599 cordless vacuum, and it was love at first lift.

The name PencilVac Fluffycones describes this cheerful geometric design vacuum perfectly. If there were more vacuum cleaners with such strange names, my life would be much fuller. It is very thin and light, like a pencil, and has delicate cone-shaped rollers that glide across floors as if they were flying.

Although I wouldn’t recommend purchasing this tool as a tool to clean your entire home (it doesn’t clean carpets!), thanks to its slim design and easy maneuverability, I’ve found it to be a great complement to my robot vacuum. The robot can do the heavy lifting of vacuuming and mopping floors, and this lightweight machine, which sits nicely in a magnetic charging dock, can come in handy for touch-ups and when it’s time to tackle stairs and baseboards.

Described by Dyson as “The thinnest vacuum cleaner in the worldHere, the PencilVac fits all of its components into its 1.5-inch diameter handle, which runs the length of the vacuum. Housed here are the electronics, battery, trash can, and a small 28mm motor that spins at 140,000 rpm to generate 55 air watts of suction.

This is the same engine as in Dyson Supersonic R hair dryerAnd the handle is the same width, so you’re basically using the reverse hair dryer to clean your floors.

Impressively, the PencilVac weighs less than four pounds, and combined with the maneuverability afforded by four wheel rollers that allow it to spin in multiple directions, it’s as easy to handle as a broom or Swiffer. Even my husband, who just had major shoulder surgery, was able to use it to clean the kitchen floor with no issues.

Another unique selling point of the PencilVac is its thin cones — four cone-shaped rotating rods in the vacuum head. The idea is that long hair should move down the four cones and out the edge of the vacuum, and then be sucked up with a quick swipe. In practice, this worked fairly well, unless the aforementioned bundle of hair became too dense – in which case, it couldn’t always absorb it.

While the PencilVac looks and moves like a broom, it also kind of vacuums like a broom. Its suction power is half that of the entry-level Dyson cordless vacuum V8. It works great on dust, small hair strands, and lightweight debris like Cheerios and dried oatmeal. But give it anything thicker to handle, and it will get frustrated.

That’s why it works well as an addition to a robot vacuum cleaner that mops and cleans floors regularly. Judging by Dyson press photosit’s also marketed as a stylish option for those who live in mostly magically clean apartments.

Unless you live in one of those apartments, I don’t see the PencilVac working as a primary vacuum for cleaning your home, especially if you have any carpets or rugs. But for quick touch-ups and removing dust from stairs – there are two areas that a robot vacuum cannot handle (one not easily, one not at all… yet) – It’s a great solution, albeit an expensive one.

Less cumbersome than any vacuum I’ve used, it’s extremely easy to use on stairs, and it was easy to find space for its small, slim base in the kitchen or bathroom, areas where you might need a high-powered vacuum on hand.

It’s more maneuverable than a vacuum, rotating smoothly to get around furniture legs and lying completely flat to get under sofas and beds.

For deeper cleaning, the PencilVac’s included crevice tool/dust attachment did a good job on baseboards and window sills, and could reach lights and cobweb corners. They also easily reach spaces that robot vacuums can’t reach — like the gap behind a TV console.

I’ve only been using it for a couple of days, but I quickly got used to the lack of a handle. It’s really like using a broom.

The biggest problem is suction. It’s not a powerful vacuum, especially compared to the Dyson stick. It struggles with larger clumps of dirt and anything larger than a fine dust bunny. As mentioned, it does not work flat on carpet.

It also only runs for about 30 minutes on low and about 20 minutes on medium, which is what I found myself using most often. (There’s a boost mode for some extra power.) All of which makes it great for a quick touch-up, but not for a full-house clean.

One more thing to note: This is the first Dyson vacuum to connect to the My Dyson app. This is not an additional feature, at least not yet. Functionally, it’s limited to software updates and filter cleaning alerts. It also uses Bluetooth, so you have to be near the vacuum to update it, and the app kept insisting that I give it permanent access to my location for no apparent reason.

Between the limited suction, short run time, and inability to handle carpets, the PencilVac Fluffycones don’t even pretend to be a whole-house cleaner. If you are looking for a suitable household cleaner in this price range, Dyson V8 Absolute It is a better option. It weighs less than six pounds and has twice the suction. Although it is a little less maneuverable, it will pick up all the dirt and clean your carpets, baseboards, and everything else.

But is it as fun as the PencilVac? Not even close. The PencilVac is Dyson at its best: an over-engineered device that’s fun to use, completely unnecessary, but something you probably really want anyway.

Photos by Jennifer Pattison Toohey/The Verge