Miele - Duoflex HX1

Miele Duoflex HX1 gets generallly positive reviews; in what sh!t country do people hate on Miele? I'm a satisfied owner of three Triflex HX1 but I'd prefer the higher suction of the Triflex HX2

Bought the duoflex HX1. Can confirm the building quality is like never seen before. Can't complain about the battery either. It's doing what it must do: fast cleaning with enough suction.

Top contenders: Henry Quick, Miele Duoflex or Triflex, Samsung Jet Bespoke AI, 85 or 75. LG A9 Cord Zero, Shark PowerDetect, Shark Vertex Pro. The Henry, Samsung Bespoke AI and Cord Zero A9 all feature a bagged mechanism of some kind which make them hygienically a step above the rest. The Henry is the only cordless that actually has a bag which is unique to this category.

First a not on self empty systems. They are sort of a gimmick. Firstly, they usually can do a basic empty of the container but they are not effective at cleaning the internal filters of the stick vac, that still has to be done really regularly yourself. And many self empty systems are themselves bagless, which means you have an additional 2 or 3 filters to clean. Bringing the total maintainence burden up to 2 dust containers, 2 mesh screens, and up to 5 or 6 filters you have to clean every couple weeks yourself! In other words, they're often more trouble than they are worth. Secondly, no cordless vac is going to match the suction and durability of a corded vac. With that in mind, and if you're good with it lasting about 5ish years, here's what I'd look at. Models from LG, including their own self empty model which at least uses bags, so there's nothing to clean on the station. Dyson have a pretty poor reputation for reliability now, but if you can tolerate very poor customer support, models like the v11 are still decent. V8 is a good more budget end choice. Miele duoflex or triflex models are great choices too, better quality than the others I think with good performance, but pricy and with fairly small bin capacity. Avoid no-name or bizzarely named models on Amazon, avoid bissell, hoover, dirt devil, shark, tineco, etc.

Totally fair, I only suggest dyson as their cordlesses do genuinely preform well. Miele and sebo are fantastic choices corded vac wise.

Pretty much, or compromise a lot of other aspects. Dysons higher end models clean carpets well, but the reliability and customer service leave a lot to be desired. Newer entrants to the cordless market like the miele duoflex are really good on carpet too, but expensive and a bit heavy. The top end shark, the powerdetect cordless, I've heard also vacuums carpets well...for about 5 minutes before the filter totally blocks up. I'd never recommend it on that basis. Not only does it block fast, but it has 2 filters in the vac plus 3 more in the dock you have to clean. Airram mk3 might be good too, but it has no tools. Budget cordlesses largely aren't there yet imo

Performance wise the dyson probably has a slight edge over the shark on carpets. Reliability wise, both are going to be questionable. Shark customer service is slightly better I've found but as with all cordlesses 3-5 year total lifespan is pretty typical. That's not just because of the battery, these things have more complex and fragile wiring and circuit boards than most corded vacs, more points of failure which may not be repairable. The shark will need a lot more maintainence. The filters in the stick vac itself will need to be cleaned more often, if you get the self empty dock that's 3 more filters which need cleaning at least monthly (makes 6 total things to wash regularly). And the front soft roller collects hair behind it which you have to remove (yes, despite the anti-tangle claims). They both have a bunch of sensor gimmicks which don't actually get your floor any cleaner etc. Depends what you value more I guess. LG and miele also make good options. Something like the miele duoflex would probably clean better than either the shark or dyson and have better quality, but has other downsides like price and also requires regular filter cleaning.

You're absolutely right, the best vacuum in the world does absolutely nothing if it just sits in a closet. A terrible vacuum used daily will keep yout home cleaner than a fantastic one used monthly etc. Definitely a point a lot of people miss. Most cordlesses in that price range will struggle to really lift embedded dirt from carpets. Usually I advocate for having a corded vac as the once-in-a-while deep cleaner, or as a standby if the cordless has issues. But having two vacs can be difficult space and price wise, I get it. You've done a good job summarizing the drawbacks of having only a cordless, and since you've made peace with that, here's what I'll say about your options. I'd still avoid the shark. Cordlesses in general aren't that reliable but sharks seem uniquely prone to really silly problems over time, from circuit board failures to joints and catches wearing out very quickly. And they require very regular filter cleaning to keep the suction strong, 3 filters in total on the stratos. These are issues Vacuumwars method of testing do not capture, and their performance figures are based on a brand new vac, not one which has been used for months/years. I'd recommend looking at the miele duoflex. It's about 499 CAD, a little over budget, but it's far better constructed than the sharks. It has one filter only, with a filter cleaning mechanism built in which helps knock dust off the filter. Generally fewer filters and parts which need cleaning. Plus the miele has a very substantial brush roller, it cleans carpets really deeply. Better than shark with it's rubber fin things. And you can attach the motorhead to the handheld for stairs. Main downsides are it's not the lightest cordless in the world (on par with the shark though) and the bin capacity is a little on the small side. The duoflex is one of the few cordlesses I think cleans carpets about as well as many corded models, if you're looking for the "lesser of two evils", it's a good choice.

Well ultimately if your wife has final sign off and she wants a dyson...well you know the rest. V15 is probably the model I'd suggest in that case, they seem to have fewer failures than other dyson models based on my anecdotal experience. That being said, cordlesses as a category don't appear to be awfully high quality. But there are options which at least inspire more confidence build-wise. The bosch unlimited 10 might be worth looking at. It's made in Europe and includes a 10 year motor warranty. Includes a lot of nice-to-have features including a flexible tube for cleaning under furniture without bending over (the unlimited 9 lacks this, if you'd prefer to avoid the added complexity), a battery time readout on the display, long runtime with rapid recharge time, dust sensor, quick release floorhead without needing to bend down, a dust compressor slider in the bin which helps it hold more fluffy debris like hair between emptying plus helps wipe off the mesh screen inside. It resists hair tangles and vacuums debris when pushed into or pulled backwards over the debris. Plus various small tools. It has a lot going for it, and probably the most fully featured European stick vac contender. The only downside I'd say is the lack of multicyclonic filtration, meaning dust will accumulate on the filter more quickly. Though it has a twist flick mechanism to dislodge dust from the filter, which then falls out of the bin when emptied. So, manual through cleaning of the filter shouldn't be required frequently. Just a few twists of the filter cleaning knob. Other notable options include the miele triflex or duoflex ranges. The triflex is made in Germany, it benefits from a unique design which allows you to configure it as a sort of mini-upright vacuum. It's really nice for floor cleaning in this configuration, it stands up on It's own and the weight isn't resting entirely in your hand like many stick vacs. Downside is, it takes more time to then switch it around for handheld use in that configuration. The triflex also lacks the runtime screen and other niceties from the bosch. The miele duoflex is another good choice. It's a solid feeling machine, though made in china. Good performance all around, just a bit less fancy than the bosch. It's advantage is good carpet performance, I'd consider it the best of the 3 on medium to thicker carpets though the triflex and bosch are solid as well. Honorable mentions would be the LG cord zero models and samsung bespoke jet (the only one on this list with a self empty station). I wouldn't say these are quite as well built as the bosch and miele options but they are still credible competitors and would be more budget concious choices.

If you're willing to do the staircases in batches, I'd consider a dyson car+boat as a handheld-only option. I don't often recommend dysons but for stairs, this would be a decent choice. Should perform well and filter better than most of the other cordless dustbusters out there. When used on normal setting you should be able to get through a staircase at a time or maybe one and a half. A more expensive but better choice would be the miele duoflex. It's more solidly built and has the bonus of being a stick vac. If used with It's main brush head, you can cover the stairs more quickly and it'll do a really good job. The brush roller is really substantial. You could also get the total care model if you would prefer to have a smaller brush head accessory. I had another look and there really aren't any corded options I can emphatically recommend. Not for carpeted stairs anyway. There are some decent mini canister style machines which can be carried with a shoulder strap, but I find them cumbersome as well.

The mieles have small capacity, you'll be emptying them absolutely constantly. Plus it'll need regular filter cleaning. Otherwise the duoflex is pretty good ive heard, of those issue aren't deal breakers. Any long hair in the house? The Henry quick brushbar wraps hair readily and will need regular cleaning. It's bagged which is good, no filters to clean. You should look at the pet model though if you want extra tools. More budget cordless models are not sufficient as someone's only cleaner, especially not with carpets and pets.

The airstorm, while good, is no better than a miele or sebo. I wouldn't pay the premium. Mieles and sebos are also sealed to trap dust. They are also more modern in design and easier to use (they have cord rewind while the air storm does not). There's nothing really bespoke about the airstorm. Underneath the top shell, the power nozzle is the same as ones avaliable for Miele models. The hose and other tools are generic off-the-shelf supplies etc. While it would probably last you a long time and do a good job, you might resent using it. I'd strongly suggest you try one in person before choosing, and frankly I'd save money and go with a nicer to use miele/sebo.

Just want to say that I recently picked up the Miele Duoflex HX1 ("extra" variant) at Costco for $449 CAD. First impressions are that this is a pretty serious machine, although it does have a fairly small dust bin. Like OP I wanted something I would actually use, because sometimes having to plug something in would totally make the difference between doing a quick vacuum, and not. I should also mention we have a bagged Canister vac for when we need some serious cleaning done. It's just a pain to lug around and is not stair friendly.

My Miele Duoflex is great. Henry Quick is a great budget pick, and Sebo Balance is built really well

The higher spec of Duoflex comes with one

The Miele Duoflex HX1 is one of the most solid stick vacs I have tested in terms of build quality. I also liked the Triflex HX2's as it's more versatile, but the Duoflex performed better in testing and was marginally better in terms of build quality feel. As for battery life, some of the Triflex HX2 variants come with two batteries and an external charger, so you can have another handy and double the battery life (I tested the cat & dog). In my testing, the battery life at max suction was around 15 minutes for the Duoflex and 14 minutes for the Triflex. The battery life at their lowest suction was 63 minutes for both the Duoflex and Triflex. For comparison, the V8 was 8 minutes at max suction and 41 minutes at low suction.

Thank you so much for this, just got the Miele Duoflex and it's a sexy little simple thing and so so bloody good!!

Miele DuoFlex - the cheapest version - works like a charm and seems robust and reliable. Downsides are small-ish collection chamber, short run time (but can do half the house on one charge) and a bit messy to empty the chamber. Would buy again.

We run a small cleaning company & so far zero issues. Do not know of its longevity (durability speaking not battery) but it’s excellent on hard wood floors.