Upright vacuums are the preferred cleaning solution for most homes across the country. They are efficient and powerful on most surfaces, and with the accessories included you can practically use them anywhere.
And what’s even better, is their ability to stand upright with no support. This is a great advantage that applies to most models, and what it basically means is that you can easily stow it away in a cabinet or similar storage area.
The range of upright vacuums spand from compact bagless models to large bagged models and anything in between. So what are your best options?
Our top pick is the Shark Navigator Lift-Away NV352 upright vacuum. It’s reliable, durable, and comes with a lot of useful features. For more options in different categories, see our list below.
Top performing upright vacuums in review
In an effort to uncover the market of upright vacuums, we researched and reviewed more than 100 models in a collaboration with our sister site Reviuu.com.
For the sake of identifying the best upright vacuums on the market, we considered the following criteria:
- Suction power
- Versatility
- Ease of use
- Features
- Attachments
According to our research, the above factors are the ones most people consider when shopping for a new upright vacuum.
- Reliable, durable design
- Detachable canister
- Lightweight – only 12.5 pounds
What we like: The Shark Navigator Lift-Away NV352 has been on the market for a good amount of time already, which to us serves as a proof that it’s durable, reliable, and efficient.
We believe the design is what sets it apart, especially from newer models. It doesn’t feature a ton of bells and whistles, which in return keeps the price at a reasonable level, but what it also means is that you’ll get great performance without investing a fortune.
Besides the overall performance across bare floors and carpets, we believe this is the best upright vacuum because of the detachable Lift-Away canister design. With this feature you can simply detach the canister and motor from the base of the vacuum, and carry it while vacuuming your stairs, blinds, your car, and more.
According to Wirecutter, after four years of running, this upright vacuum remains their favorite pick:
This reliable, effective, easy-to-use, and reasonably priced bagless upright vacuum cleaner will work well for most people in most homes.
Liam McCabe, Wirecutter
Trade-offs: We do agree with buyers that the power cord is in an inconvenient place. It enters at the bottom of the canister, meaning that we have to somehow attach it to the handle or else we’ll step on it. Both the power cord and the hose could also be a little longer, but these issues aren’t really dealbreakers for us.
Best on a budget: Eureka PowerSpeed NEU182A
Eureka PowerSpeed NEU182A
- User friendly design
- Quite powerful
- Great capacity – 0.7 gallons
What we like: The Eureka PowerSpeed is the best upright vacuum within the affordable price range. Despite its low price you get powerful suction and an overall user friendly design, and it weighs only 10 pounds.
We appreciate the tools included too, as they enable you to vacuum anything from your furniture to crevices, blinds, cabinets and foot panels. It works well on bare floors and carpeted floors, and the capacity of the dirt bin is generous.
Weighing in at just 10 pounds it’s among the lighter upright vacuums that are easy to maneuver with.
All in all, a great affordable choice.
Here’s what Sage McHugh of The Spruce has to say about it:
Aside from the terrible noise, the Eureka Powerspeed Base is a top performer. It’s lightweight, easy to operate, and has outstanding suction power.
Sage McHugh, The Spruce
And we couldn’t agree more. It’s a great, reasonably priced upright vacuum, that does its job extremely well.
Trade-offs: Although definitely not a dealbreaker, the noise level can be quite unbearable if the vacuum is used for longer periods at a time. It can also be a little stubborn to push across a carpeted floor, simply because the vacuum sucks the front downwards. It doesn’t balance very well either, so it might take a little time to get it standing still in an upright position.
Best high-end: Dyson Ball Animal
What we like: For bare floors as well as medium to low pile carpets, you just can’t go wrong with a Dyson upright vacuum. It’s very well engineered overall, and the design grants you the ability to maneuver it easily across most surfaces.
With any Dyson vacuum you get an extensive range of accessories as well as the option to buy additional useful accessories online, and this is actually what we think makes it even better than other upright vacuums within the same price range.
The Dyson Ball Animal Upright vacuum comes with a motorized brush tool that you can use for your furniture, and it removes pet hair easily with no effort on your side.
Also worth noting is the amazing dirt bin and filtration. It collects dust and dirt and retains it inside the bin, without clogging the filter. Simply empty the dirt bin when it’s full, and there’s nothing else needed.
Trade-offs: One disadvantage of this neat, modern design is that it doesn’t allow for onboard storage of accessories. This is actually a general issue with Dyson vacuums, but fortunately something they’re slowly starting to address on their vacuums nowadays.
Because it has a motorized bristle brush on its base, it doesn’t do too well in high pile carpets where it managed to get itself stuck on multiple occasions.
Best cordless: Shark ION P50 Powered Lift-Away
Shark ION P50 Powered Lift-Away
- Extremely versatile design
- Interchangeable battery
- Detachable canister
What we like: Shark has really stepped up their game lately, when it comes to cordless upright vacuums. Although they haven’t marketed their cordless vacuums for as long as Dyson and other brands, they’ve obviously listened to buyer’s feedback and addressed some of the general flaws of cordless vacuums with the main issue being battery runtime.
So, in order to resolve this issue and offer people additional runtime, Shark designed a removable battery pack that you can interchange with a fully charged one instead of having to wait for your only battery to recharge.
Besides the interchangeable battery, we also love the design with the canister and motor located just above the base. Although it weighs 12 pounds it feels a lot lighter which is great.
Trade-offs: Because of the design, this upright vacuum doesn’t stand well on its own. It isn’t very stable, and even a soft pull at the cord would probably make it fall. It also has two motorized brushes underneath, one bristle brush for carpet and a soft brush for bare floors. The problem with this is that the bristle brush is always on, and this isn’t great when vacuuming delicate wooden floors that are prone to scratching.
What we like: The Shark Navigator DLX is a high-performance bestseller, and it’s priced extremely well for what it is. It does very well on most hard surfaces, and also manages to clean most carpets too. Although it isn’t an upright vacuum dedicated for pet hair, it does surprisingly well on this too.
According to TechGearLab, the Shark Navigator DLX is a great upright vacuum:
The Shark Navigator Deluxe is a great vacuum at an even better price. It performed well across the board and retails for less than half the cost of every model that beat it.
David Wise and Austin Palmer, TechGearLab
We wholehearted