It was time...time to replace that dead, old B&D bustduster that has sat fallow for years in our utility closet. I remember when it was new. The excitement of cleaning hair and dirt filled the air as it happily went along and clea.....oh but the battery died. I hated that thing, mainly because it lasted maybe 1-2 minutes at best. Brand new! It always did that and the NmHD battery was small and lost its charge capability over time until the day it died and never came back. So with that in mind, great hesitation was upon me: I wanted to get a new hand vacuum because my wife has grown old (not me though) and she sheds silver hair which you can see *everywhere*. My god she sheds more than a polar bear in springtime heat. Sit on the couch? Silver hair everywhere. Vacuum the floor with the big vacuum? Fills with hair in about 4 days use. I once emptied the vacuum in the trash only to witness the local crows pick out this giant ball of silver hair and fly off with it, presumably for a nest or for making a human replica...those crows are crafty. So anyhow. Clearly, it’s time for a handheld vacuum. With so many on the market, which is the best? Or for me: which one will stay on past 5 minutes?! I did so much research. Even this one seemed risky because of the other reviews here and on big store websites. Hmmmm. I took a chance and wow. It totally sucked! Which for this review, means a good thing. PRO’s: * Made of sturdy materials. Will last longer than my midlife crisis * Great design. Access to the waste gate is easy. Cleaning the housing is simple and care free * not too heavy. Notice I didn’t say it was lightweight. That’s because it isn’t. But it’s not heavy enough to fatigue your hand/arm when using over an extended period of time. * Battery life does NOT suck! That’s also a good thing. I ran it for about 8 minutes before I heard the tone of the motor change tune. That’s how I know the count is on. Still, it ran and ran and ran and after 22 minutes of hard power-sucking with the motorized brush attachment, it stopped and the button turned red. Slow clap....nice. * fairly quiet! I think my old age is starting to show because these days, I get instantly upset when there are loud noises near me. Especially droning noises like vacuums. Instant irritation! Not with this handheld. It’s not silent but it’s also not a bother to use it for 10 minutes at a time. * the quality of the cleaning power is impressive. I didn’t measure it’s CfM intake but I’m guessing it’s moving a massive amount of air which means: effective cleaning. The other impressive part of this that is subtle: the exhaust. With smart design, the exhaust vents out without disrupting the mess you are about to clean. Nothing is worse than making an approach to clean a pile of WifeHair(tm) when your inferior vacuum exhausts in front of the device, blowing WifeHair(tm) all over the place. So...hats off to the engineers because I still don’t know where it exhausts to. MEH’s — * my biggest ‘meh’ here is: No attachment support. Gee thanks. I guess I’ll just store them attachments neatly on this she.....crash....nope. They are oddly shaped so they don’t stack or lay flat. So this means put them in a little bag that did NOT come with the device or use up 523 square inches to store them on a shelf. Yes, I measured. OCD is terrifying. Seriously though: the hardware is great but they ship it to you with no thought as to how it will be stored in the home. No base, no hanging hooks, no plastic tube housings to insert the accessories. You get the vacuum, the charge cable and the accessories. Loose. It’s utter chaos and I took away one star because of this. They went so far on the design and cleaning elements that they completely dropped the ball on how it is stored. Nobody is going to casually leave this out with all these awkward shaped accessories. People HIDE vacuums. So...how do you hide a wedged shape thing that needs to stay plugged in partnered with 5 loose plastic accessories that you just know you are going to lose because YOU HAVE NO WAY TO STORE THEM. This is not a cheap model so expectations for features is high. Performance is definitely there for the money but this is unforgivable. I ended up making my own storage system for it using parts from the garage. Thanks, like I had nothing else on my plate these days. Actually that’s kind of true but... * Another “meh” is the power cord and interface. I’m going to say this once: If you make electronic devices and you think it’s a good idea to develop a proprietary connector because it somehow has future profit for your business model: stop it! Had I known it had a weird power connector that’s proprietary, I would not have purchased this. That seems petty of me but let me share this; when companies purposely build an interface that is unique with the express purpose of sending customers who lost their power supply to them to make an additional profit, It is a sign of greed. It’s not good enough to make a decent product with a decent profit margin. Someone figured “We can make MORE money than the entire line of products we sell just off of this proprietary connector”. I’m out. That’s morally wrong and reprehensible as it is a predatory move against your own customers that pay you, your salaries and your entire business. SHAME! I’m taking another star off now as just writing this frustrates me. Someone has to put a stop to this. Not to mention: perfectly good units will make their way to landfills because customers will lose their chargers and l, like me, smell a rat and refuse to pay the “proprietary tax”. Meanwhile, they toss the product into the garbage and get another that does NOT have a proprietary connector. Just stop it already. * the power button feels loose/cheap * it doesn’t have an LED light. I think adding tiny lights that illuminate the nose would have been nice but since you make your own proprietary power cable, why be nice, right? * Attachments can be a little stiff and difficult to remove. Extra wiggle is needed to get them off but that’s actually okay because they won’t fall off when using the product. If you have arthritis or other difficulties with hand/wrist pains, just know that it’s a bit difficult. Maybe lightly lubricate the accessory for easier removal. I live in a three story house. Just imagine that hair everywhere. I would buy another one except that the lack of storage and that proprietary power cable (shakes fist) prevents me from buying another one. Yet it’s a fantastic unit that hits all the marks which seems conflicting but understandable. I would predict that there is turmoil between the engineers and the executives with regards to the proprietary power interface. I don’t know many greedy engineers but I sure do know a lot of greedy executives. Would have been a solid 5 star with thought to storage and use of COMMON DC 3.5mm barrel charge interface. Yes, you can use 3.5mm with lithium charging amperes. Knock it off.
