Welcome to our Dyson Gen5detect review. Let’s go!
Airflow and Suction
The Gen5detect’s airflow was measured at 55 CFM, and its suction was measured at 114 in of water lift. These are both well above average results for a cordless vacuum.
Dyson Gen5detect tests
Flour clog test
The Gen5detect is also able to maintain very high airflow and suction over time because it uses 14 concentric cyclones to filter out fine debris and drop it back down into its bin before it can get to and clog up its premotor filter.
In our flower clock test, the Gen5detect picks up the flower without issue, and after the test, we see almost none of the flower deposited on its filter. Compare this result to that of a vacuum that doesn’t have multiple cyclones to filter out fine debris; this Tino’s premotor filter is heavily clogged up with fine debris after the same test.
The results of this test indicate that vacuums with multiple cyclones like the Gen5detect are much better able to maintain suction and require much less filter maintenance than vacuums that lack multiple cyclones like the Tino.
Cleaner head design
Cleaner head design is a critical factor when it comes to picking up surface-level debris. The Gen5detect has exactly the same cleaner head as the V15 Detect. This head has a gated design, where the gates can be set to a fully closed, partially closed, or open position depending on the application. Set to a fully closed position, the cleaner head seals better to the surface, providing better deep cleaning performance. Set to a fully open position, the cleaner head lets through more large debris.
Carpet cleaning
The middle or partially closed position offers a combination of good sealing for good deep cleaning performance and lets through some large debris, which is the setting most users will use most of the time.
In our carpet stress test, the Gen5detect pushes forward quite a bit of larger debris with its cleaner head gate set to the middle position. It also pushes forward some large debris even with these gates set to a fully open position. Note that we’re testing here with a large quantity of large debris over a single pass. In the real world, you’re likely to have less large debris to pick up, and can therefore align the cleaner head gates better to pick up large debris better than what is demonstrated in these tests.
Hard floor cleaning
In our hard floor stress test, the vacuum again struggles a bit with large debris, even with its cleaner head gate set to a fully open position. Large debris can get stuck in the areas around the two gates, like it did on carpet. The vacuum picks up fine debris without issue, but does struggle a bit with large debris on hard floors with its standard multifloor cleaner head.
Fluffy optic head
The Gen5detect also comes with a soft roller cleaner head. This cleaner head doesn’t struggle at all with large debris, and it also illuminates what would otherwise be non-visible fine debris. Equipped with this soft roller cleaner head, the Gen5detect is one of the best cordless vacuums we’ve tested for cleaning hard floors.
Carpet deep cleaning
The Gen5detect is also one of the best cordless deep cleaning vacuums we’ve tested. In our carpet deep clean test, it picked up 80% of debris after being pushed back and forth three times over an area of carpet embedded with fine debris. This puts it in a tie for first place in this test with several other cordless vacuums we’ve tested.
Crevice test
Another component of our hard floor testing is our crevice test, and in this test, the Gen5detect was also a top performer. It gets a very good seal to the floor, even with its cleaner head gate set to the middle, only partially closed position.
Battery life
Moving on to battery life and performance, the Gen5detect was tested to run for 12 1/2 minutes on high and 26 1/2 minutes on medium. It’s also able to maintain excellent performance on medium. For example, it picked up 70% of debris in our carpet deep clean test on medium versus 80% of debris on high power. The Gen5detect also comes with a swappable battery, though it doesn’t come with an extra battery like the Gen 5 Outsize.
Fog test
The Gen5detect features high-quality seals and a HEPA post-motor filter, and so it easily passed our debris containment test. We didn’t observe any fog leaking or exhausting out of the vacuum during this test.
Gen5 filter
We do want to note here that most other Dyson vacuums also have a HEPA post-motor filter, but Gen 5 models have larger, even more restrictive filters. The Gen 5 filter has been tested to remove 99.99% of particles as small as 0.1 microns.
Older Dysons with this purple filter have only been tested to remove 99.99% of particles as small as 0.3 microns. Both of these filters are very good quality, and both of them filter extremely small particles with very high efficiency. However, the Gen 5 filter is touted by Dyson as being the better, even more efficient filter.
Hair tangling
In our long hair pickup tests, the Gen5detect’s brush roll tangled with only a single strand of 8-inch long hair, but tangled with about 50 to 60% of 14-inch long hair. Its 8-inch result is better than average, and its 14-inch result is right around average.
Weight and handling
To evaluate this vacuum’s ease of use, we think it might be helpful to compare it to its predecessor, the V15 Detect. The Gen5detect’s main body is about a half a pound heavier than the V15’s main body. Its wand is also about a third of a pound heavier because it contains an integrated brush and crevice tool. However, the difference in handling and comfort is negligible between these two Dysons. Both of them are easy to maneuver around furniture, and both of them are comfortable to hold as hand vacuums as well.
Integrated tools
Compared to the V15, the Gen5detect does add the integrated brush and crevice tool, which makes these tools easier to use than on the V15. On the V15, you have to clip the tools onto the wand to carry them with you, and you have to remove them from the clip and then install them onto the front of the vacuum to use them. With the Gen5detect, these tools are much easier to access and use.
Power button
The Gen5detect also adds a power button. You can press this button once to power on and keep the vacuum powered on; you have to keep the V15 trigger pulled to keep it powered on.
Particle meter
The Gen5detect also adds a more dynamic particle meter. The bars in the meter move left to right and right to left so you can easily tell when it’s not picking up any debris anymore. The bars on the V15 meter only go up, so you have to look at the very small count of debris and check that it stops to confirm that you’re not picking up any debris anymore.
Dust bin size
Both vacuums have exactly the same bin size, with a maximum measured capacity of 500 mL, and this is a relatively average size for a cordless vacuum.
Pros and cons
Summarizing all of the pros and cons for this vacuum, the Gen5detect has excellent airflow and suction for a cordless vacuum. It’s also able to maintain suction very well over time because its premotor filter doesn’t clog easily with fine debris. This vacuum picks up most types of debris well on carpet and hard floors with its standard cleaner head and picks up all types of debris well on hard floors with its soft roller cleaner head. It also performed very well in our carpet deep clean test and in our hard floor crevice test. It provides excellent battery life still with very good performance on medium power. We also really like its integrated brush and crevice tool and the fact that it has a power button instead of a trigger that you have to pull to keep the vacuum powered on.
The only real negative for the Gen5detect is its pickup of large debris. It struggled a bit picking up especially large debris with its standard multifloor cleaner head in our carpet stress test and in our hard floor stress test. You do have the option of switching to the soft roller cleaner head to pick up large debris better on hard floors, but you don’t have that option on carpet.
Read more: The Best Cordless Vacuum List – 6 Tiers
Recommendations – Gen5detect vs Gen5outsize
Moving on to general recommendations, we currently recommend the Dyson Gen 5 Outsize as the best cordless vacuum on the market. A big reason why we recommend it as the best vacuum is because it’s the best Dyson with all of the latest Gen 5 features, and it comes with a large oversized bin and cleaner head, which allows you to clean any particular space up to 25% faster than you can with a standard-size cleaner head. If you don’t want or need the oversized dust bin and cleaner head of the Gen 5 Outsize, the standard-size Gen5detect is an excellent alternative.
The Gen5detect has all of the same Gen 5 features as the Gen 5 Outsize. Both models have a slightly better post-motor filter than other Dysons, a slightly more responsive particle meter than other Dysons with a particle meter, an on/off button, and integrated crevice and brush tools. They both have very similar power and perform very similarly in our pickup tests. The Gen5detect is just a smaller, more compact version of the Gen 5 Outsize.
Again, our overall recommendation as the best cordless vacuum on the market is the Gen 5 Outsize. The Gen5detect is the best standard-size alternative.
