Hoover Linx Cordless Stick Vacuum Cleaner Review

Hoover Linx Overview & Features:

Rated one of the top sellers amongst major retailers such as Best Buy, Amazon and Walmart, the Hoover Linx Cordless Stick Vacuum Cleaner is a powerful, lightweight vacuum that deserves a second look the next time you’re shopping around for a new vacuum. Weighing a little over seven pounds with an 11-inch nozzle, this vacuum is optimally designed for efficient cleaning. The best part? A bagless design and cordless feature. Those are just a couple examples of the features and technology that makes the Hoover Linx shine when it comes to ease of usage as well as suction ability.


Besides being cordless and lightweight, the Linx offers a unique filtration system, edge-cleaning bristles, and intuitive controls. The vacuum’s base and reclining handle allow it to fit easily into almost any nook and cranny that larger vacuums can’t reach.


 Its strong suction power is derived from three suction tubes that are topped off with powerful bristles that get a boost with Hoover’s cyclonic filtration. Cyclonic filtration actually purifies the air each time it’s used, increasing the time in-between filter changes. The filtration system is particularly helpful for allergy sufferers and pet owners. Additionally, the bristles come with the ability to handle different floor surfaces at the push of a switch. Start your cleaning on hardwood floors and switch to carpet without missing a beat.


Setup for the Hoover Linx Cordless Stick Vacuum Cleaner can be accomplished in three easy steps. All you need is a charged battery, attach the nozzle and handle, and you’re good to go. The need for a power cord is eliminated, because the vacuum is charged by an 18-volt lithium-ion battery that runs for approximately three hours on a single charge. Compared to other batteries, the lithium-ion battery recharges quickly, which is always a nice plus. Hoover’s “fade-free” technology also ensures the vacuum will continue to run until you’re down to the very last ounce of energy. The battery is covered under Hoover’s two-year warranty.

Performance:

Consumers will find that compared to traditional upright vacuums, cleanup is quick and convenient. Since there are no bags to use and the vacuum uses Hoover’s patented Wind Tunnel Technology, there is little maintenance required. When the vacuum does need to be cleaned, this is easily done with the transparent dirt cup. The dirt cup changes color when it needs to be emptied out. Because of its light weight and simple stick design, the Hoover Linx is easy to store and is ideal for apartment living and smaller spaces. Like the battery, the vacuum body is covered under Hoover’s two year warranty.

Additional Considerations:

While the reviews from customers have been overwhelmingly positive, there are a couple things that potential buyers need to be aware of. The Hoover Linx Cordless Stick Vacuum Cleaner does not have a stair-handle, therefore it can be awkward to support while cleaning individual steps. However, its light weight and small footprint makes the task forgiving. Our second critique is that the vacuum does not consistently deliver on its touted 3 hours of runtime per charge. While most living spaces can be cleaned on a single charge, we recommended you don’t skimp on recharging the batteries after each use.

Conclusion

If you’re in the market for a low maintenance, space saving vacuum cleaner that’s easy to use and packs a punch when it comes to performance, you’d be amiss not to give the Hoover Linx Cordless Stick Vacuum Cleaner a serious look. While the battery power can be finicky, especially when used for extended periods of time, the combination of power and simplicity makes the Linx a compelling favourite.


The Good: Easy to maintain; lightweight; powerful suction with fade-free technology.
The Bad: Inconsistent battery life; therefore square coverage ideal for apartments but not larger homes


VC Reviews Verdict: The Hoover Linx is a great little vacuum cleaner with excellent bang-for-your buck. Just be diligent with recharging after use.

Electrolux Ergorapido Ultra 2 In 1 Stick Vacuum Review

Electrolux Ergorapido Overview

You may have been living under a rock or coming out of cryonics if you haven’t heard of Electrolux before. Next to Whirlpool, this Swedish company is the largest household and professional appliance maker in the world. Electrolux sells under a wide variety of brands, with a roster that includes names like Frigidaire, Beam and Eureka.

With a history of making vacuum cleaners spanning almost a century, today Electrolux continues to design and develop vacuum cleaner products with what they call a ‘focus on performance and affordability’ – a combination we certainly don’t mind. Today, our focus will be on the Electrolux Ergorapido Ultra 2 in 1 Stick Vacuum cleaner (EL 1022A). It’s certainly got the affordability check-box ticked off, let’s see if it can match the performance claim as well.

At BVC, we take pride in educating our readers on the facts before they make any purchases; that’s why we wanted to start this review with a caveat: The Electrolux Ergorapido is not your Sunday-afternoon power cleaner that can tackle the whole house in one go. Anyone that buys the vacuum with this expectation will be sorely disappointed. That being said, the EL 1022A fills a specific void present in most households extremely well. When used the way it’s intended, we believe users can gain a proper level of respect and appreciation for the appliance. Read on after the drop to find out if you should consider adding this vacuum cleaner to your cleaning arsenal.

Features

Our first impression of the Ergorapido was a positive one. In terms of design, it’s clear that Electrolux has dipped into its storied history and experience as an appliance manufacturer to create the EL 1022A, and that attention to detail shows. The vacuum cleaner is capped by a sturdy handle made of a softer-touch material that’s easy to grip. The broad, rounded tip of the handle allows the vacuum unit to lean against walls easily without falling over.

A row of LED lights located just above the suction head does an excellent job of illuminating cleaning paths, and made the job of cleaning under beds and other dark areas a breeze. The Electrolux Ergorapido is also pleasantly lightweight, coming in at just 5.3 lbs. Coupled with a bag-less design that includes a no-touch dust cup and a cordless design, it doesn’t take long to realize that the EL 1022A’s key focus is portability and minimal maintenance.

 

Battery Life

Speaking of cordless, you’re only doing yourself a disservice if you don’t give cordless vacuuming a try at least once in your lifetime. The feeling is positively liberating (yes, we need more hobbies), and this cordless EL 1022A is no exception to going the distance sans power outlet. The 12V battery in this model is a must – Electrolux also sells a 9.6V model, but the battery life of those units is dismal.

 In our tests, a full charge of the Electrolux Ergorapido Ultra 2 in 1 is good for approximately 20 minutes of running at normal power; which is enough time to meet the cleaning needs of the average consumer. After a full discharge, the stick vacuum had to be docked for an average of 17 hours for the battery to regain a full charge. The charging time isn’t the most convenient, but we cut that a bit of slack as compromise between battery size and a vacuum cleaner’s overall weight has to be struck to maintain portability.

2-in-1?

At this point, you’re probably wondering what the ‘Ultra 2 in 1′ part of the vacuum’s name refers to. In what is possibly our favourite feature of this model, the Electrolux stick vac converts to a handheld unit when you release the attachment out of its stick frame.

The suction power on the hand unit holds it’s own, and along with being able to clean stairwells with ease, we found ourselves quickly getting into the habit of reaching for the handheld to get at crumbs, plant debris, pet hair and all the minor spills one would normally not bother taking out a full-sized unit to tackle. Needless to say, the convenience factor was definitely pushing all the right buttons for us.

 

Performance

In terms of the stick vacuum’s performance, it uses a 2 position switch (High and Normal) to give better control over cleaning needs. We found that in normal-mode the Electrolux Ultra 2 in 1 delivered sufficient suction power; however tackling jobs on area rugs definitely required a switch to high power in order to be effective. This brings us to the biggest limitation holding the Electrolux Ergorapido back from having universal appeal: if your home is dominated by carpeted surfaces that you’re hoping to clean, then this is not the appliance for you.

Similar to the Miele S2121, the Ultra 2 in 1 does an exceptional job of tackling bare floors, but you can forget about getting those high pile carpeted surfaces to a satisfactory level of clean. Switching to high power will allow you to handle low-pile carpets and rugs, but the Electrolux is clearly in its element in areas such as the kitchen, bathroom tiling and hardwood. The 180 degree swivelling suction head positively glides on these surfaces.

Conclusion

Unless you live in a small apartment predominated with bare flooring, the Electrolux Ergorapido Ultra 2 in 1 Stick Vacuum does not make a strong case for being your primary vacuum cleaner. On top of its high performance being restricted to non-carpeted surfaces, a limited battery life means you will likely run out of juice if you intend to vacuum a whole house in one go. Where the Electrolux Ergorapido truly excels is in playing the ‘go-between’ role – something that lets you stay on top of things daily, in between those deep-cleaning sessions.

Whether it’s a quick once-over to deal with pet tracks on your kitchen floor, or cleaning a flight of stairs, a light-weight, portable vac can make all the difference, and the Ultra 2 in 1 delivers in spades. With a relatively inexpensive price point, you would be hard-pressed not to consider adding this stick vacuum to your cleaning collection. You just might be pleasantly surprised at how much use it ends up seeing.

The Good: Light-weight unit; cordless; LED lighting; built-in hand vac provides greater cleaning flexibility.

The Bad: Poor performance on high-pile carpeting; long re-charge times; battery drains rapidly when using High power mode.

VC Reviews Verdict: The Electrolux Ergorapido Ultra 2 in 1 isn’t an all-star that tackles everything you throw at it, but it doesn’t try to be. An ideal secondary vacuum for daily touch-ups, the EL 1022A is a great maintenance-mode vacuum.

Hoover Platinum Bagged Vacuum with Canister Review

Hoover Platinum Overview & Features:

Like most other things in life, different kinds of vacuum cleaners come with different trade-offs. For instance, upright models are extremely efficient at cleaning large surface areas fast. However, their trade-off is a general tendency to be heavy and unwieldy, especially when it comes to tasks like stair cleaning. But there are always exceptions, and one shining example is the Hoover Platinum Lightweight Upright Bagged Vacuum.


Weighing roughly 11 lbs., this Hoover turns convention on its head with an upright vacuum cleaner that’s not only quite light in weight but also doesn’t sacrifice any of the cleaning power. The best part? Hoover Platinum Uprights purchased through Amazon come bundled with a Portable Canister vacuum – complete with a shoulder strap, stretch hose and a host of onboard attachments. For the sake of our Amazon readers, we’ll be covering both units in this review.


The Hoover Platinum Upright Vacuum is a sleek looking thing, with illuminated fingertip controls, a powerful LED headlight and glides along as if self-propelled. The heart of this machine is a 5.5-amp motor that also produces Hoover’s acclaimed WindTunnel suction.

Performance:

The WindTunnel technology’s claim to fame is being able to lift embedded dirt straight up from the carpet instead of scattering and blowing back dirt like typical vacuums. Our trials revealed that this isn’t just gimmicky advertising. The Hoover Platinum Lightweight Upright works exceptionally well in cleaning carpets with just one pass. The auto height adjuster and choice of 2 speeds meant low and high-pile carpets were tackled equally efficiently.


We especially appreciate the fact that the Hoover has true edge cleaning abilities, making short work of dirt around furniture and along baseboards of the house. And it does this with a pleasant hum, quite unlike the thunderous Hoover WindTunnels from ages past. When it comes time to replacing the filter, we found the process of swapping out bags to be relatively quick and painless, primarily because of a self-sealing HEPA bag that eliminates dirt puffs.


Up until this point, we had been using the Platinum Upright strictly on carpets and rugs, and the verdict had been overwhelmingly positive. However, some issues were noted when we took the vacuum to the hardwood. We really wish there was a Brush Roll On/Off switch for the user to control. Although the rotating brush works great on carpet fibers, it was noisy on bare floors and would sometimes scatter dirt before the WindTunnel suction had a chance to do its pass over.

Canister Attachment:

The canister left us with mixed feelings. It’s a stark contrast to the refinement of its upright counterpart. On the one hand, its got a lovely host of accessories and extensions, including a floor brush, dusting brush, crevice tool and a telescoping extension wand – not to mention a shoulder strap that just makes sense. In theory it makes off-the-floor cleaning a breeze. However, testing revealed the canister’s suction is average at best.


Additionally, the 7-amp motor is loud and high-pitched in operation. We also found a couple of the attachments would not securely fasten, although that may have been a problem specific to our test unit. To be fair, the Hoover Platinum Canister Vacuum is not a terrible product, but because it comes bundled with its vaunted upright cousin, a comparison highlighting its shortcomings is inevitable.

Conclusion

If you have area rugs or fully carpeted flooring, the Hoover Platinum Upright Vacuum offers impressive cleaning capabilities. It’s surprisingly lightweight and, thanks to its HEPA filtration, leaves air smelling great. By comparison, the Canister Vacuum is the red-headed step child of this bundle. The canister’s suction is average, and it operates on the loud side of things; but it still offers versatility with off-the-floor cleaning and a number of attachments and extensions. If hardwood or low-pile carpeting is what you have mostly, we recommend taking a serious look at the Miele S2121 Olympus Canister Vacuum Cleaner.

The Good: Upright has excellent suction power on carpeting; lightweight; HEPA filtration; easy to use fingertip controls; auto-carpet height adjustment; true edge cleaning channels.


The Bad: Average performance on hardwood/bare flooring; No brush roll on/off option; Canister vacuum has marginal suction and is loud to operate.


VC Reviews Verdict: While the portable canister is not without its faults, the upright vacuum more than makes up for its shortcomings. If you have mostly carpets in your home, this set could be all you’ll need to get the job done.

Bissell Total Floors Complete Bagless Upright Vacuum (52C2) Review

Bissell 52C2 Overview & Features:

If you think you’re content with the vacuum cleaner you’ve had for years, it could be time to think again. Sometimes the grass really is greener on the other side, and the BISSELL Total Floors Complete Bagless Upright Vacuum (52C2) makes a compelling case. This is a versatile appliance with a variety of features that make cleaning fun (well, as fun as cleaning can ever get) and certainly efficient.

The 52C2 is the brainchild of Bissell’s long and storied history. For the uninitiated, Bissell has been in the business of developing high-quality cleaning tools since 1876. Over the last sixty years, Bissell has shifted their focus towards the perfection of deep cleaning. Once the exclusive domain of commercial providers, today this technology is fully available to the consummate household clean-freak. When it comes to the BISSELL Total Floors Complete Bagless Upright Vacuum (52C2), they truly do stay true to the company slogan: “when we say clean…we mean clean.”

The BISSELL 52C2 upright vacuum cleaner boasts a Multi-Cyclonic vacuum mechanism, which easily moves from carpets to hard floors — offering satisfying flexibility when it comes to residential cleaning. In addition, the vacuum cleaner also has a multi-surface feature, coupled with a brush roll on and off switch, making it hardwood floor-friendly.

While the average vacuum cleaner requires rooms to be cleared of furniture in order to achieve a thorough cleaning, here you can save the elbow grease of moving those chairs and tables away, thanks to the Bissell’s Edge Cleaning Port. It diverts suction to the edge of the vacuum to effectively clean typical problem areas, such as along baseboards and under/around furniture.

If you are a fellow pet-owner, you know that fur shedding is just one part of the problem; there are plenty of instances where unpleasant smells linger in an otherwise clean and vacuumed space. The Bissell 52C2 is equipped with a Febreze Vacuum Filter, which eliminates unwanted odor and freshens the surrounding air while you vacuum. Another nice touch is the 40-foot power cord, which allows for a longer reach. and reduces the hassle of having to deal with unplugging and replugging constantly as you clean.

 

Performance:

In our testing of the Bissell bagless upright, the appliance certainly met our expectations. Being a Bissell product, we were already expecting strong suction performance. Sure enough, the vacuum did a great job cleaning, and worked well on a variety of tested surfaces such as hardwood, carpet, and rugs. Details such as the Febreze air filter and rubber covered rear wheels — which helped avoid marking up and scraping the floors — were also welcome surprises.

However, the Bissell 52C2 is not without its share of quirks. While the suction power and air filtration is impressive, accessory design (including the dust container) could be improved. Switching to the wand was not as seamless as it could be, and the vacuum’s shape can be cumbersome — especially when compared to something like the Hoover Platinum. We found the dust container tends to fill up rather quickly and is a bit awkward to empty.

Another thing worth keeping in mind is that none of the vacuum accessories are interchangeable with other Bissell models, which makes it uninspiring if you’re planning on building a cleaning system under this brand. Finally, although it could have just been specific to our test model, we observed that there was a lack of seal between the upper rim of the dust cup and the lower rim of the upper housing, which resulted in the dust that the vacuum cleaner picked up being redeposited onto the power cord when the unit is running.

Conclusion

If you prioritize function over form, then the Bissell Total Floors Complete Bagless Upright Vacuum 52C2 could be just what you’re looking for. Much like its name implies, the 52C2 is an excellent all-rounder that performs well on carpets, rugs and hardwood, and offers deep suction from the edge of the vacuum. The mobility afforded by the 40 foot cord makes you wonder why more vacuum cleaning companies don’t follow suit. While some of its design elements could definitely use an update, at the end of the day the Bissell 52C2 holds its own when it comes to making sure your home is a cleaner, healthier environment.

The Good: Excellent value for the money; powerful suction on variety of floor surfaces; edge cleaning ports on vacuum head; Febreze vacuum filter eliminates odors and freshens while vacuuming; 40 foot power cord.

The Bad: Accessories incompatible with other Bissell models; vacuum is bulky in design; dust container awkward to empty.

VC Reviews Verdict: If you want an effective vacuum cleaner that’s also versatile on a variety of floor surfaces, the Bissell Bagless Upright 52C2 offers a great bang for your buck. Give this a serious look if you’re a ‘substance over style’ sort of person.