Welcome to our Dyson V15 Detect Cordless Vacuum Cleaner review. Let’s go!
Airflow & Suction
The V15’s airflow was measured at 52 CFM, and its suction was measured at 124 in of water lift. These are both well above-average results for a cordless vacuum.
Dyson V15 Detect Tests
Flour clog test
Dyson V15 Detect Cordless Vacuum Cleaner is also able to maintain high suction over time because its pre-motor filter doesn’t clog easily with fine debris. This is well demonstrated in our flower clock test, in which almost no flower deposits on its combination filter. Compare this result to that of a budget-priced cordless vacuum like the Tino A10.
The Tino’s pre-filter is covered with flour after the same test. The Dyson uses Cyclones to filter out fine debris and drops it back into its bin. The Tino doesn’t have Cyclones, so fine debris accumulates on its filters much more readily. The results of this test indicate that the Dyson is much better able to maintain suction and will require much less filter maintenance than the Tino over time. Our own real-world experience with both vacuums confirms this to be the case.
Cleaner head design
Cleaner head design is a critical factor when it comes to the pickup of surface-level debris. The V15 cleaner head features a gated design, meaning it has gates on the front that can be set to a closed, partially closed, or open position.
Most of the time, you’ll want to set the gates to the partially closed or middle position. This allows it to seal somewhat to the floor for good deep cleaning performance and also allows for reasonable performance picking up large surface-level debris.
Carpet cleaning
This setting with the cleaner head gates partially closed is shown here. Note how the V15 picks up fine debris without issue but pushes forward some large debris. We also tested the vacuum with its cleaner head gates fully open, and on this setting, it does pick up large debris slightly better, though we don’t think it’s worth a drop in deep clean performance.
Hard floor cleaning
On hard floors, the V15 actually performed better picking up larger debris than it did on carpet. Larger debris has the tendency to ride up on the front of the cleaner head on carpet as it gets pushed forward. This results in worse performance on carpet. The same debris stays at ground level on hard floors and makes its way past the cleaner head gates more easily.
On hard floors, the V15 Detect also comes with a soft roller cleaner head. With this head installed, the V15 has no trouble picking up large debris. The cleaner head also illuminates fine debris that is invisible to the naked eye. This feat is actually very helpful; you’d be surprised how much of a floor that looks clean is shown not to be clean when illuminated by the V15 soft roller cleaner head.
Overall, the V15 does well with most types of debris on carpet and hard floors. Even with its standard multifloor cleaner head, it gets excellent performance with all types of surface-level debris on hard floors with its soft roller cleaner head.
Carpet deep cleaning
Moving on to deep cleaning, the V15 picked up 80% of debris after being pushed back and forth three times over an area of carpet embedded with fine debris. This is a top-tier result, though several other cordless vacuums also hit this 80% mark during testing.
Crevice test
Another component of our hard floor testing is our crevice test, and the V15 performed very well in this test with both its standard cleaner head and its soft roller cleaner head.
Battery life
The V15 also has excellent battery life. It was tested to run for up to 22 minutes on medium suction, and on medium suction, it still provides excellent pickup performance. For example, the V15 is still able to pick up 70% of debris in our carpet deep clean test on medium versus an 80% pickup rate on high.
Fog test
Like most other Dyson models, the V15 is also able to seal in fine debris very well. We didn’t see any fog leaking or exhausting out of the vacuum during our debris containment test.
Hair tangling
In our long hair pickup tests, the V15’s brush roll tangled with only a few strands 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 & handling
When it comes to ease of use, specifically weight and handling, the V15 strikes a nice balance between the smaller and lighter Dyson V12 Detect Slim and the bulkier and heavier Outsize. The V12 is easier to handle, but it comes with a tiny dustbin. The Outsize is more difficult to handle and can get very heavy in the hand, but it comes with a massive dustbin.
Dust bin size
The V15 falls in between these two options. It still handles reasonably well, and it has a reasonably sized dust binwith a maximum measured capacity of 500 mL compared to only 150 mL for the V12 and a whopping 1,500 mL for the Outsize.
Power
One notable negative for the V15 when it comes to ease of use is its power switch. You have to hold down this red trigger to keep the vacuum on. The V12 and Gen 5 Dyson have done away with this trigger and use an on/off switch that keeps the vacuum on after a single press, like most other cordless vacuums on the market.
Back display
On the positive side of things, the V15, like the V12 and Gen 5 Dyson, shows battery life remaining in minutes and seconds. Cheaper Dysons like the V10 and V8 show battery life remaining as LEDs that light up on the battery. The V12, V15, and Gen 5 Dyson also show the size of the debris the vacuum picks up, though we didn’t find this feature very useful during testing.
Wall dock
Like all other Dysons, the V15 doesn’t stand up on its own, but it does come with a wall dock that also charges the vacuum when it’s docked. It also features accessory storage on the wall dock.
Pros and cons of Dyson V15 Detect
Summarizing the pros and cons for this vacuum, we do like the fact that the Dyson V15 Detect is very powerful with well above-average tested airflow and suction. It’s also able to maintain high suction over time because its pre-filter doesn’t clog easily with fine debris.
The V15 also picks up smaller surface-level debris very well on carpet, and it deep cleans carpet very well. It picks up smaller debris well on hard floors with its standard cleaner head and provides phenomenal performance picking up any size debris on hard floors using an included soft roller cleaner head.
The Dyson V15 Detect also has above-average battery life, still with excellent performance on medium power. And it seals in fine debris very well according to our debris containment test. On the negative side of things, the V15 does struggle a bit picking up large debris with its standard cleaner head, even with the cleaner head gate set to a fully open position. You do have the option of switching to the soft roller cleaner head on hard floors, but if you have hard floors and rugs or carpet in your home, you’ll have to manually switch back and forth between cleaner heads to clean all of the surfaces in your home with the V15.
Another negative is the vacuum’s power switch. You have to keep the V15 trigger pulled to keep the vacuum on. Newer Dysons like the V12 Detect Slim and Gen 5 models have a power switch that you only have to press once to power the vacuum on and keep it powered on.
Reference: Best cordless vacuum buying guide – What’s most important
Recommendations
Moving on to general recommendations, the Dyson V15 Detect is definitely one of the best cordless vacuums we’ve tested. The biggest difference between the V15 and cheaper Dysons like the V11 and V10 is their included cleaner heads. The V15 comes with a standard gated cleaner head, the digital motorbar cleaner head, and a soft roller cleaner head. The Fluffy optic cleaner head. While cheaper models only come with a standard non-gated cleaner head.
The motorbar cleaner head on carpet, the non-gated cleaner head does better picking up larger debris. On hard floors, it does worse than the Dyson V15 Detect’s gated cleaner head. Both heads do just fine picking up small debris overall. Let’s call it a tie between these two cleaner heads. So, the biggest benefit of the V15 is its included soft roller cleaner head. If your home primarily has hard floors, we think upgrading to the V15 with its included soft roller head is worth its higher price. Otherwise, if you have a good amount of carpet to clean in your home, we recommend a cheaper option like the V11 and sticking with its one included cleaner head to clean your whole home.
