Compare Our Options
Some Are Tested
Photo: Molly Higgins
Tineco Go Pet Cordless Vacuum for $176: Just like when I was testing the Tineco Go Mini ($130) for my portable enclosure guide, I was intrigued by this pet-specific vacuum. It has a slot to easily remove the brush if hair gets stuck around the blades, which is handy to have when dealing with pet (and human) hair. The lever and the angle of the emptying lid don’t match, and the first few times I emptied, the waste went everywhere. It’s difficult to distinguish between eco mode and power, and the vac blinked red and the brush stopped rotating when switching between settings. (It was especially hard on my thin runner gear.) It felt heavier and thicker than others too. But, it does have handy lights to illuminate the trash and comes with attachments to make handheld cleaning a breeze.
Photo: Molly Higgins
Mova P50 Pro Ultra Robot Vacuum for $589: This robot vacuum-mop combo has an extendable side brush and mop pads to reach tight corners, a self-detachable docking station that empties dust and debris, and self-cleaning and drying mop pads. It also uses an RGB camera and an “intelligent dirt detection system” whose sensors detect dirt to deep clean and avoid dirt. robovac generates 3D maps of your home, and identifies things like furniture and pets. With the app, you can customize cleaning, and there’s video and voice syncing so you can talk to your pets, schedule cleaning, and more, and it’s compatible with Alexa and Google Home smart home devices. When I started mapping my small apartment, the vac didn’t want to go through certain rooms, and it took a few days to get it to create a complete cleaning map. It’s hard to get through narrow passages, I’ve finally avoided cleaning rooms altogether, and it’s thrown itself on my stairs twice, causing the mop pads to come out. Despite the detection of the smart object, it still tries to suck or roll small objects on the ground, such as shoes and toys of pets. I like that this combo vac-mop cleans and vacuums everything, but for almost $1,000, I wish the smart features were smarter and the mapping more accurate.
Dyson Car + Boat Handheld Vacuum for $250: Former WIRED reviewer Brenda Stolyar liked this handheld vacuum, which is specially designed to suck up dirt and debris from your car and boat, as well as bedding, furniture, and other messy places. (Read our full review here).
Hoover HL4 Pet Upright Vacuum Cleaner for £130: Although only available in the UK, the Hoover HL4 has successfully removed cat hair lice from my home. I live with three cats, two of which are long haired, so a powerful vacuum is essential. The HL4 has a sad cord (7.6 meters), but at about 240 watts of air it was powerful enough to lift the dust and hair my lightweight cordless vacuum cleaner and robotic vacuum cleaner had missed. The smart design easily converts into a portable vacuum, and comes with a pet tool and a crevice tool. The pet tool proved to be adept at lifting hair from couches, stairs, and cat beds, though it lacked the grip to remove every strand. There is a useful ventilation area to reduce the absorption of carpets and blankets. The 1.2-liter barrel is easy to remove and empty, although without releasing a cloud of dust, and the Anti-Twist floor head seems to collect more tangled hair than other spaces. — Simon Hill
Not recommended
Photo: Molly Higgins
Eufy RoboVac 11S Max for $150: Our respected competitors at places like The Strategist and Wirecutter liked this cheap robovac, so I bought it for myself before moving into my new house with two cats. And I have to say, I don’t agree with them. Yes, this robovac is a lot cheaper than many others and has generally good ratings, but I have nothing good to say about it other than it being able to get under furniture and pick up pet hair I wouldn’t be able to. Its navigation system is clunky, lacks an app (but comes with a remote control to guide it to a specific location or schedule cleaning), is noisy, and tends to attract wires. It is very difficult to tear through a small height difference, such as a small wooden panel between the hallway and the bathroom door. But above all, it is unnecessarily difficult to empty the barrel, and it is almost impossible to remove all the hair and fur from the bar or the spinning brush underneath. There are long hairs that may still be wrapped around the machine until the day I am put in the ground. This cursed thing will pass us all, I’m afraid.
I’ve been testing these pet hair vacuums for a week if not more (I’ve been using the Dyson cordless and handheld for months), and I’ve used them almost everywhere in my house — including the cat trees and behind my two cats’ litter boxes. When the experiment started, I lived in a big house with three cats and a dog (a lot of hair in a big area), and in the last part of the experiment, I lived with two cats in a small apartment (little hair in a small area with little places to hide hair).
I also checked all attachments in problem areas such as carpeted stairs, vent cracks, pile carpet, and hardwood floors. Not all pet hair vacuums are created equal, and they differ slightly in their performance for different areas and different attachments. I set these up, charged them, and washed them to death, noting the runtime, power, efficiency, and ease of removing the barrel and cleaning the filter.
It seems that many brands will slap the words “pet hair” on a product and market it as such without explaining why or how it works well on pet hair. Yes, I tested them to see if they put their mouths where their money is. On the flip side, I also tested some that were rated well for efficiency though not it’s marketed to pets—like the Roborock Saros 10R, an expensive robovac that uses AI mapping and can identify nearby pets and silence its engine.
Generally speaking, vacuums and pets are by nature opposites. Vacuums are a necessary evil to combat pet hair, but pets will probably be afraid of them. If my cat Basil had opposable thumbs, I know he would be leaving hateful comments on this thread. Aside from the robovac option (which for some reason my cats don’t care for), my cat Basil had a mild heart attack every time I checked the other spaces on this list. So along with efficiency and absorbency, I also considered the sound quality, and how easy it is to handle.
In general, though, when shopping for a pet hair vacuum cleaner, look at suction power, drum capacity, attachments, and the type of bristle or Motorbar—find out what will really pick up dust, fur, and pet hair. I’ve found that conical bars like the ones on some Dyson models work well to keep them from clumping, and two brushes like the Ryobi’s work together to pick them up effectively. Also read reviews from real people with real, furry pets, but know that no two pets are the same. Consider what kind of shed you live in, and what kind of space needs cleaning; a robovac may not be the best in a house with many flights of carpeted stairs.
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