The 8 Best Upright Vacuums of 2023, Tested and Reviewed
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Of the nearly 300 vacuums we’ve tested, we think these are the best for cleaning all floor types.
Real Simple / Henry Wortock
Whether your home has hardwood floors, tile, deep-pile carpet, or a bit of everything, an upright vacuum makes it easy to keep it all clean. But with so many options available on the market, choosing the right one for your home can be a difficult decision.
To help you avoid decision paralysis, we’ve tested nearly 300 vacuums to date in our Lab as well as in our homes. Each one has been evaluated on its effectiveness, maneuverability, ease of emptying, noise level, setup (including attachments), and overall value. For expertise on choosing an upright vacuum, we consulted Tim Jankowski, President of Aladdin's Cleaning & Restoration.
When buying an upright vacuum, it’s important to first consider the type of flooring you have in your home, according to Tim Jankowski, President of Aladdin's Cleaning & Restoration. “Some vacuums are great for carpet, but don't have a good setting for wood or tile floors,” he explains. If you’ve got both carpet and hard floors, you’ll want a vacuum that allows you to adjust the suction power according to the floor style. With hardwood floors especially, you’ll want to make sure your upright has special features or attachments with padded edges to reduce scratching.
Best Overall Upright Vacuum: Shark NV360 Navigator Lift-Away Deluxe Upright Vacuum
Who it’s for: Anyone looking for a reliable upright vacuum that’s effective on all floor types, as well as corners and edges.
Who it isn’t for: Pet owners might find they have to clear out the roller brush often.
The Shark brand has long been synonymous with high-quality vacuums, and this model is no different. We love that the NV360 has a lift-away component that makes it easier to clean stairs and other hard-to-reach places. Unless you enjoy lugging a heavy upright upstairs, we think you will, too.
This vacuum has excellent suction on hard floors, carpets, and upholstery. We tried the hose on the stairs and made quick work of dust and debris, especially on the grouted floor. It picked up hair quickly on both medium-pile and high-pile carpets, though we found it more difficult to push on the deep-pile carpet. We tried the crevice tool and upholstery brush on the chair and found it did a great job of removing all debris and hair, but we did notice that hair got stuck to the roller brush, especially after vacuuming deep-pile carpet.
This vacuum was very easy to assemble; the three main parts clicked together with no trouble. We found the noise level to be what you'd expect from a vacuum, though having a conversation would be difficult when the roller setting is engaged. We also found it easy to maneuver, especially around the edges, which is not something that every upright vac can do easily. Overall, this is a fantastic standard upright that’s more affordable than other models but is still highly functional.
Price at time of publish: $220
Product Details:
Weight: 15.96 pounds
Cord Length: 25 feet
Dustbin Capacity: 0.9 quart
Real Simple / Henry Wortock
Best Budget Upright Vacuum: Hoover Complete Performance Bagged Upright Vacuum Cleaner
Who it’s for: People looking for a lightweight and budget-friendly vacuum that can quickly clean up small messes.
Who it isn’t for: Those looking for a more lightweight upright vacuum.
Dirt and debris were no match for the strong suction power of this vacuum. There are different suction settings for bare floors and carpets, so you can move from surface to surface with ease. It was effective in cleaning both floors, and we were impressed to see that it also cleaned up an upholstered chair in just two passes.
We liked that it came mostly assembled, and it was intuitive to put everything else in its place.
The attachments that do come with the vacuum are quite useful, like a crevice attachment that makes it easy to get crumbs out of the corners of chairs and sofas. There's a rubber upholstery brush, too, and we were impressed that no hair got stuck on it.
It's easy to navigate this upright vacuum on the floor, but it is a bit heavy to lift, which will make cleaning stairs a bigger chore since there's no attachment for the stairs. Still, for its effectiveness, we’re glad to take the arm workout. There's a release button that makes it easy to swap out the bag, though it can be tricky and a bit messy to remove a full one. Still, it’s a small hassle for such an excellent vacuum overall, and at this price tag, we think it’s an excellent value, too.
Price at time of publish: $155
Product Details:
Weight: 22.5 pounds
Cord Length: 25 feet
Dustbin Capacity: Not listed
Real Simple / Dera Burreson
Best Upright Vacuum for Hardwood: Dyson Ball Animal 3 Extra
Who it’s for: Anyone who needs a hardwood-friendly vacuum with an extra-long vacuum cord.
Who it isn’t for: Those looking for a more budget-friendly vacuum.
We found this vacuum to be extremely effective on all surfaces, but it especially stood out on hardwood. It has a range of settings depending on the height of the carpet pile, though we found the high-pile setting also worked well on hard floors. And pet owners, rejoice! This Dyson uses different suction technology instead of a roller brush, so you won’t have to worry about removing any hair that gets stuck—it all gets sucked up into the rather roomy dust bin. For us, that’s well worth the higher price tag.
The Dyson Ball Animal 3 Extra excels in picking up debris in just a few passes, although we saw in some instances that it splits up larger pieces of debris. Another pass of the vacuum is all it takes, though if you’ve got an attachment hooked up, you might find you’ll have to “chase” it around the floor. The attachments are rather intuitive, though there weren’t any explanations on which might be best used for what function.
It maneuvered well around corners and furniture, though in its upright mode it’s hard to get corners clean. The attachments, however, save the day. The hose and wand did feel stiff, but will likely loosen up with additional usage. Finally, the extra long cord makes it easy to cover lots of floor area.
Price at time of publish: $500
Product Details:
Weight: 17.3 pounds
Cord Length: 35 feet
Dustbin Capacity: 1.7 liter
Real Simple / Dera Burreson
Best Upright Vacuum for Carpet: Shark NV501 Rotator Professional Lift-Away Upright Vacuum
Who it’s for: Those with wall-to-wall carpet or area rugs who need a vacuum with strong suction.
Who it isn’t for: People looking for a sleeker vacuum.
We didn't need the instructions to set this vacuum up—that's how easy and intuitive it was to get everything clicked into place, even though it comes with several attachments. The lift-away option makes it easier to clean stairs and other tight spaces, and we liked that we were able to use just the handle of the attachment or the entire wand depending on cleaning needs as well as comfort level. We used the crevice tool on the stairs and found it to be effective if not time-consuming.
Though it is bulky, it's easy to maneuver around furniture legs, thanks to a pivoting head that makes it easy to navigate curves. It is harder to get under furniture, but you can always use an attachment instead. This is a loud but smooth-running vacuum; no worries about any harsh grinding from the motor as you might experience with other models.
We really liked that you can adjust the suction settings, so if you've got multiple floor surfaces in your home, you'll find that it's easy to transition to each one—although we found that this vacuum performed the best on carpet. We found that you didn't have to adjust the suction when moving between carpets of different types of pile. If you do have hard floors, you can turn off the brush roller when vacuuming hard surfaces, so you don't have to worry about blowing debris and dust around. Don't worry if you forget to switch settings, though—there’s very minimal kickback if you use the brush roller on the hard floor by mistake.
Price at time of publish: $300
Product Details:
Weight: 15.5 pounds
Cord Length: 30 feet
Dustbin Capacity: 0.88 quarts
Real Simple / Henry Wortock
Best Upright Vacuum for Pet Hair: Hoover MAXLife Elite Swivel XL Pet Upright Vacuum
Who it’s for: Pet owners looking for a vacuum that has a large canister and cleans up pet hair easily.
Who it isn’t for: People looking for a vacuum that’s very easy to maneuver.
Pet parents have particular needs when it comes to buying a vacuum. As much as those fur babies are adorable, their hair gets everywhere. That’s where this Hoover comes in handy. We liked how you can switch suction settings with just the turn of the knob to go easily from deep-pile carpet to hardwood floor. There are settings for low carpet and medium carpet, but we found that we didn’t really need to distinguish between the two for the vacuum to be effective.
The setup ultimately was not difficult, though the instructions were a bit confusing at first. However, we liked how the attachments fit snugly onto the vacuum, so there’s no worry about losing any. We found this vacuum to be rather heavy to move, especially on the carpet. It does have a pivoting handle and a swivel head that we found loosened up a bit more with use.
The attachments picked up debris well. They were especially effective on upholstery, thanks to the tube attachment and crevice tool which made it easy to get into hard-to-reach spots. The dust cup is rather large and doesn’t need frequent emptying, but it’s easy to do when it does. We were very impressed that no hair got stuck in the brush roller. We won’t lie, though—this vacuum is LOUD. Perhaps the noise will make your fur babies leave the room so you can clean, and if so, consider it a bonus feature!
Price at time of publish: $190
Product Details:
Weight: 16 pounds
Cord Length: 30 feet
Dustbin Capacity: 3 liters
Best Cordless Upright Vacuum: Hoover Onepwr Evolve Pet Cordless Vacuum
Who it’s for: Those who want a powerful yet lightweight vacuum that doesn’t have to be plugged in.
Who it isn’t for: People who want a vacuum with attachments.
We were impressed by this small but mighty vacuum. At less than nine pounds, it's super lightweight, plus we liked how the swivel head made it even easier to maneuver around and under furniture. Setup is easy; you just snap the pieces together. It's also easy to empty the canister and remove the filter, and pet parents especially will like that there’s a pet odor filter.
It picked up kibble and hair on the carpet very well, though it did struggle and needed several passes for hair on the tile floor. But if you've got mainly carpet in your home, this is the tool to have around for quick pickups. This vacuum isn't the loudest we've used, but the noise level does decrease when you turn off the brush feature. However, this is the most useful part of the vacuum, so it's likely you'll want to keep it on. There was some hair that caught on the brush roll, but this is to be expected.
We loved that there was no cord to tether us to an outlet during cleaning, and we were impressed with the battery's power. This vac might seem pricey given its size and lack of attachments, but it has good suction on both carpet and bare floor—just touch a button to change the setting. It’s also very portable, so it’s perfect for smaller spaces or if you just don't want to lug around a large vacuum.
Price at time of publish: $210
Product Details:
Weight: 8.6 pounds
Cord Length: N/A
Dustbin Capacity: 1 liter
Real Simple / Dera Burreson
Best Quiet Upright Vacuum: Shark NV151 Navigator Swivel Pro Complete Upright Vacuum
Who it’s for: Anyone who likes a powerful upright vac that won’t wake the neighborhood.
Who it isn’t for: Anyone who doesn’t need multiple attachments.
We know what you’re thinking: a quiet vacuum? But this model from Shark made us believers. You can definitely still carry on a conversation while you’re cleaning. We also like that there are adjustable suction settings for floor type, and they’re both quite effective. On the hard floor setting, we found it removed debris in under a minute.
The hand vac feature makes stairs, especially the edges, easy to clean. Hair was picked up easily on the carpet, but it was more difficult on hard floors—we found it gets stuck under the vacuum and on the roller rather than getting sucked up. Still, it worked very well with hair and other debris on the rug (even deep pile) and upholstery. All the attachments—pet, crevice, and upholstery—are effective and easy to use.
We found the vacuum to be a bit tall and bottom-heavy, so there is a bit of a learning curve to maneuvering it around your space. This will make it a chore when carrying it up the stairs, but we do like the hand vac and the attachments for getting it into harder-to-reach spots. There’s no problem moving the vacuum up over the edge of an area rug to the hard floor, and it’s easy to change the setting to adjust the suction power for both.
Price at time of publish: $200
Product Details:
Weight: 13.1 pounds
Cord Length: 25 feet
Dustbin Capacity: 0.87 quarts
Real Simple / Henry Wortock
Best Wet & Dry Upright Vacuum: Roborock Dyad Pro Wet and Dry Vacuum Cleaner
Who it’s for: Those looking for an appliance that will do double duty.
Who it isn’t for: People who don’t want a vacuum with lots of features, like an app.
This vacuum is indeed effective in cleaning up both wet and dry messes. We were most impressed that it could actually do both at the same time, making it an especially good choice for cleaning up kitchen messes. In fact, there didn’t seem to be anything this vacuum couldn’t handle. This vac is especially good on tile floors; it took around a minute to pick up everything, though we took time for another pass to be more thorough. We liked that most of the spills took just one pass to clean up, though egg yolk (understandably) needed a bit more TLC.
There's a bit of a learning curve with emptying the debris container, but we didn't get our hands dirty once. It has a self-cleaning function, though you can wash it out with soap and a sponge in the sink rather easily, too. It comes with an app, but we found it difficult to connect. We used the audio feature instead and liked how it “talked” us through any troubleshooting during cleaning.
This vac is powerful, so you might feel it pull a bit as you use it, but we still found it easy to swivel and maneuver. It's easy to navigate around chair legs, though it did have a bit of trouble with wheeled furniture. We found that the battery power stayed strong throughout the entire test, and there was plenty of juice still left when we were finished. It is one of the pricier vacs on our list, but for the double duty it does on wet and dry messes, we think it’s worth it.
Price at time of publish: $450
Product Details:
Weight: 10 pounds
Cord Length: N/A
Dustbin Capacity: 900 mL (clean tank) and 770 mL (dirty tank)
Final Verdict
We found the Shark NV360 Navigator Lift-Away Deluxe Upright Vacuum to be the best option for most people, thanks to the impressive suction power and ease of use on both carpets and hard floors. We especially liked the lift-away feature that allows you to get into hard-to-reach spots without having to maneuver the entire vacuum. And with a relatively affordable price tag, we think it’s well worth the money.
Our Testing Process
We have tested nearly 300 different vacuums, both in our Lab and in our homes. When testing upright vacuums specifically, we evaluated each model based on its effectiveness on various floor types and upholstery, along with maneuverability, noise level, simplicity of setup, ease of emptying of the dust bin, and overall value.
First, we timed how long it took to get the vacuum assembled and ready to use, starting from the moment we opened the box. We considered how simple this process was, and whether the provided instructions were clear. We also took note of any storage for the attachments. Then, we used a decibel reader to measure the noise output of each vacuum on both low and high settings.
Next, we conducted our effectiveness tests. We first put together a mixture of Cheerios, orzo, and coffee grounds, and then spread that mixture on grouted tile, hardwood, medium-pile carpet, and high-pile carpet. We used each vacuum on each floor type for one minute (we timed it!) and determined how much debris each vacuum cleaned up. We then repeated this process, but instead of debris we used wig hair. After the hair test, we took a look at each vacuum’s brush roll for signs of hair tangling.
Next was our maneuverability test, during which we put together another debris mixture and spread it around our makeshift living room layout. We then timed how long it took to fully vacuum up all of the debris, considering how easy it was to navigate furniture and other obstacles. We then moved onto our upholstery test, where we used each vacuum’s attachments to clean debris off of an upholstered chair. Finally, we emptied each vacuum and took note of how difficult the process was.
After in-house testing, our testers took the vacuums home for further testing in the real world. We are still collecting data from our long-term testing and will update this piece accordingly with new information and insights.
Real Simple / Dera Burreson
How to Shop for Upright Vacuums Like a Pro
Floor Type Compatibility
“Think about the type of flooring you have,” says Tim Jankowski, President of Aladdin's Cleaning & Restoration. “If you have different types of flooring in different rooms of your home, you will want to think about a model that has [suction level] adjustments or even attachments to be effective.” It’s important to have variable suction power so you’re not blowing around dust and debris on hard floors instead of sucking it up. He also notes that you should be particularly careful in choosing an upright vacuum that’s gentle on hardwood floors to avoid scratching.
Dustbin Capacity
A larger dustbin is always a desirable quality for a vacuum because you won’t have to empty it as often. However, a vacuum’s performance tends to lag as the dustbin fills up, so you’ll want to empty it regularly regardless of size. Aside from capacity, you’ll want to make sure the dustbin is easy to open and empty so you don’t have a larger mess on your hands—or the floor—than when you started.
Cord Length
The longer the cord, the further a vacuum’s reach. You’ll note that most of the corded vacuums on our list are at least 25 feet long, so you’ll be able to cover a lot of ground without having to unplug and find a closer outlet. If a long cord seems unwieldy, know that vacuums are typically designed with a cord caddy, which makes it easy to coil up a long cord and keep it tidy. Of course, a cordless vacuum won’t keep you tethered to any electrical outlet, but you will have to plug it in between uses to recharge the battery.
Real Simple / Dera Burreson
Weight
Upright vacuums are powerful, but they can be rather heavy. Perhaps you’ll enjoy the extra arm workout while you vacuum, but you’ll want to look for more lightweight models, especially if you’ll be using yours to clean stairs. Extension hoses and other attachments can help make heavier vacuums less unwieldy, but if you truly want a lightweight upright vacuum, opt for a cordless model like the Hoover ONEPWR Evolve Pet Cordless Vacuum, which weighs under one pound.
Attachments
Attachments like extension hoses and brushes are always handy because they extend an upright vacuum’s reach and capabilities. Trying to get the dust out of tight corners? Attach the crevice tool. Need to clean crumbs or pet hair from your couch? Attach the upholstery or pet hair brush. Of course, attachments are only useful if they actually meet your household’s cleaning needs, so purchase accordingly and know that sometimes simple is best.
More Upright Vacuums to Consider
Kenmore Elite 31150 Pet-Friendly Upright Vacuum: Though this was a quieter vacuum than others, we found that it’s quite heavy and doesn’t maneuver very well around furniture legs. The vacuum head itself is large and doesn’t swivel, so the attachments become a necessity rather than a nice-to-have feature.
Shark AZ2002 Vertex Lift-Away Upright Vacuum: Though we are not shy in professing our love for the Shark brand, this model was super heavy, and its self-propelled design made it difficult to pull in a backward motion. On the grout floor, it sprayed the debris instead of picking it up.
Questions You Might Ask
What are the pros and cons of an upright vacuum?
When one thinks in terms of traditional vacuums, upright vacuums likely come to mind. They offer strong suction power and are relatively easy to maneuver, especially those with variable suction settings that allow you to transition from carpet to hard floor with the flick of a switch.
That said, upright vacuums can be bulky and heavy, making them hard to navigate underneath furniture and especially up and down stairs. Attachments and extension hoses, however, can help extend the reach of upright vacs into hard-to-reach places and soft surfaces, like upholstery. Some uprights are cordless and weigh much less than their corded counterparts. Ultimately, the best type of vacuum for your needs depends on the size of your space and the extent of your everyday messes, as parents of small humans and/or pets can likely attest.
Real Simple / Dera Burreson
What is the lifespan of an upright vacuum?
Mileage will vary for all household appliances depending on how much you use them and how well you maintain them. “You want your vacuum to last longer than five years,” says Jankowski. He suggests looking for features that will help you maintain it more easily, like an automatic detangler, which he says is a must-have for pet owners. “This will help you avoid belt damage from pet hair being caught in the rollers,” he explains.
How much should you expect to spend on an upright vacuum?
“Vacuums are very much a ‘you get what you pay for’ product,” says Jankowski. “Cheap upright vacuums are usually not going to last very long, and you will be buying a new one every couple of years.” He notes that while Dyson and Shark can be a bit pricey depending on the model you purchase, they tend to last long. We agree, and that’s why you’ll see vacuums from both brands on our list.
Take Our Word for It
This article was written by Barbara Bellesi Zito, a freelance lifestyle writer based in Staten Island, NY. To compile this list of best upright vacuums, she utilized testing insights from our various Lab and real world tests, plus researched products from top brands while considering factors like floor type compatibility, ease of use, and available attachments. For expert advice on what consumers should know when purchasing upright vacuums, she consulted Tim Jankowski, President of Aladdin's Cleaning & Restoration in Lapeer, MI.
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