Dyson V15 Detect Extra sees what it cleans

It wouldn’t be wrong to say that Dyson’s handheld vacuum cleaners are really the company’s most useful product category. One of these in a home can change the entire cleaning culture of a household because it builds what you might call, cleaning motivation.

Dyson’s handheld cleaners, in all their expensiveness, have a combination of interesting technologies and design factors. Although not an internet connected product like other products including the round robotic cleaners that are supposed to do everything on auto-pilot, Dyson’s handheld vacuum cleaners are not automated, but they are packed with intelligent features.

Dyson has a big line-up of handheld vacuum cleaners. Although all are not available in India, many are, depending on whether the company’s testing identifies a specific product as suited for Indian living and weather conditions. We look at the V15 Detect Extra, a recently launched model that is also their most advanced. It costs ₹65,900. For the price, it had better offer something unique — and luckily it does.

Always at hand

First, a little about what the fuss is about and why pick out this category of very expensive vacuum cleaners from the crowd. These have been designed to be cordless. A hard plastic dock can be fixed on to the wall and the machine clicked into place on it allowing it to remain plugged into power. Whenever it’s needed, slip it out, clean, and pop it back. There’s no fiddling about cables. You do however have to choose the tool you need — and there’s a box full of attachments that come with these cleaners. The tools include a long wand to reach the floor as well as angle high to reach the ceiling. There are attachments for crevices and corners, for dusting, for delicate objects (such as a keyboard), for upholstery, for pet hair and dander, and even a special one to vacuum the pet itself. The fact of the cleaner being always at hand means you spot something and grab the machine and tackle the offending dirt in a matter of minutes. This gradually builds up cleanliness in a home with a reduced need to set aside a day to clean up the house.

Keeping you informed

It is mostly rather enjoyable to use the more recent vacuum cleaners such as the V15 Detect, particularly ones that include a tool fitted with a laser light. It’s placed just right to flood-light the floor which means the user can see every spec of dirt and even fine dust. The powerful suction of the machine sucks it up, actually motivating the user to clean because it’s that satisfying.

The smart tech involved includes the cleaner seeing the dust and dirt on the floor and dynamically adjusting its suction power. There are three power modes, but if you don’t want to be bothered with selecting, leave the machine to keep adjusting depending on what is needed.

An LCD panel on the stem of the machine is another piece of smart tech. It tells you the suction speed (Éco, Medium, Turbo) and besides that keeps you informed about the battery and whatever happens to go wrong. If a filter needs cleaning, the bin is not clear or something is causing an obstruction, the panel will tell you in an animation.  This is impressive considering it isn’t a ‘connected’ product.

What is not that impressive is that although pressing a lever to release its bucket spills the dirt, there is always something that wraps itself around the components in the bin. This necessitates your reaching in with something - gently - and dislodging the dirt and coaxing it out manually.

Beats a robot

The robotic vacuum cleaners have a few disadvantages by comparison. They are meant to be automated and even be set to clean when you’re not around, but in real life you find you have to move the furniture out of the way. Although designed to bump into an object without doing damage to itself, it isn’t about to reach into tight corners or under awkwardly placed items to clean. Indian homes don’t  typically have the luxury of vast open spaces that need robotic cleaning. These round pucks are also rather limited in that you can’t clean say, the ceiling, or the curtains with them as you would with a handheld. You can’t use them for dusting or cleaning your keyboard. You can’t carry them into the car for a proper clean up there. The handheld, with the appropriate attachment, will do all of these.

The attachments for the V15 Detect Extra have been expanded and remodelled to also be quite smart. There’s a hair tool that is shaped to wrap errant strands around it so that they’re easy to swipe off into your dustbin. There’s also a pet tool which actually vacuums the pet - without harm. Also, existing tools have been combined in interesting ways so that sliding out a portion turns into a tool that handles another function. These are definitely not typical of average vacuum cleaners.

Convenient - but weighty

Dyson’s vacuum cleaners have a whole host of advantages and they’re all to be found in the new V15 Detect. Extra Already mentioned are the tool with the laser light for hard floors and a big collection of tools. It is however, quite a heavy machine. Building feature after feature on the early cleaners has only made rather clunky to carry around and specially to lift, if you want to clean a high up spot. You can actually suck up the dust from walls and corners, but it takes physical effort. One reason for the weight may be its battery. You can get an extra Lithium-ion battery and click it into place, extending cleaning time which is about 60 mins, depending on the mode you use. The machine takes two or three hours to charge and discharges a lot faster. But if you plan to do a lot of cleaning at one go, a second battery will keep you going. Because of the build-up of cleanliness, it becomes less necessary to clean comprehensively. 

The V15 Detect is heavy now because it has a new HEPA filter - also user cleanable or replaceable. Not that it needs replacing. Dyson claims the blast of air that comes from the cleaner is actually cleaner than the air you would normally be breathing.