Wyze Cordless Stick Vacuum Review: Does it Suck Enough?

POSITIVES

✓ LED Lights

See all the dust bunnies and catch 'em all

✓ Comes with attachments

Easy cleaning for multiple surfaces

✓ Price

Name brand at 150 dollars

Negatives

✓ Terrible on carpet

Requires a lot of battery power on thicker surfaces

✓ Poor battery power

Runs out of juice quick

✓ Good for small-ish homes

Not for larger spaces

Retail Price: $149.99

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Having lived with two overly shedding medium sized dogs for a little over a year now, we quickly realized the importance and urgency of having a solid quality vacuum. While I am a proud owner of the Dyson V11 Animal, it was becoming an annoyance to lug up and down the stairs multiple times a week. I’m well aware that’s a first world problem, but it was a great opportunity for us to test out another vacuum we had been eyeing as well: enter the Wyze Cordless Stick Vacuum.

Wyze made a household name for itself by producing all sorts of accessories like cameras, watches, and other affordable electronics. My intention for a secondary vacuum was not to replace my Dyson, but to alleviate the workload. Our 2,000 square foot house is made mostly of thick carpet upstairs and porcelain tiles and rugs downstairs. In all honesty, the Dyson V11 is a powerhouse and I intended for it to remain upstairs where the majority of space was carpeted and typically cluttered with dog hair and dust. There were a few items on my checklist that I focused on when buying and reviewing the Wyze vacuum. In many ways they ticked the boxes and in others, there are some room for improvement.

A Lightweight and Easily Usable Vacuum

I don’t consider myself completely out of shape, but the Dyson V11 is most definitely a workout, especially when using it against thick carpet. The Wyze Cordless Vacuum is an attractive alternative against that mold, weighing only 2.8 pounds. It’s noticeably lighter and much easier to maneuver around the floor and in tight spaces. Similar to the Dyson, it comes with various attachments so you can use it in the car or stairway too. I keep this vacuum mounted near the front entrance of our home and its minimal design is both aesthetically pleasing and matches in virtually any setting.

I was also skeptical of its ease of use. Similar to its competitors and other higher-priced vacuums, the Wyze dustbin uses just one finger to release and empty. Keep in mind that one of the reasons it’s so lightweight is because of its average sized dustbin. We typically have to empty the dustbin upstairs three times while vacuuming on carpet with the larger Dyson. Since I’ve mostly been using the Wyze vacuum on tile, I can get away with emptying it once or twice but be wary if you have a large home with lots of surface area. You can also easily remove the dust cup and filters to wash in-between uses in order to keep the vacuum clean. Perhaps one of my favorite functions is that you don’t have to keep a finger on the power button to operate the vacuum. Simply set the suction mode and get sucking. There’s also LED lights that are emitted from the brush head assist your vision in shaded or dark spaces. Not the most useful on dark floors, but still quite the neat bonus.

Is It Powerful Enough?

It was natural that I was hoping for a heavy hitter when it came to finding a vacuum in the power department. We have a Jindo mix who sheds seasonally and a Labrador mix who sheds year round. Combined with dust and debris we trek into the house and my own hair, I really needed a vacuum that was able to help me fight my constant allergies. The Wyze Cordless Stick Vacuum has two motors (one with 110,000 RPM and another with 9,500 RPM). What’s important to know is that there are three modes on this vacuum: Eco (7,000 Pa), Medium (15,000 Pa), and Turbo (24,000 Pa). To be completely frank, the Eco mode did absolutely nothing for me. Maybe if you’re looking to vacuum on a smaller surface area that is more sensitive, the Eco would work in that case. However, for flooring or tiles, I found no use out of it. We figured out that it was best to use the vacuum on Medium mode when going over tile, but needed to bump the power to Turbo when using the vacuum on rugs and carpet. I would not recommend this vacuum for those who have a lot of carpet or thick rugs. It’s simply not that great in those types of areas. While it does capture dog hair on tile pretty well, it struggles on dense floor types like rugs and will need multiple strokes. This drains the battery as you’ll be revisiting areas you’ve already rolled over. While it can get the job done, it doesn’t do it effectively. That’s a trade-off for this price point.

Not So Long-Lasting

This leads me to the next point in my review on the Wyze Cordless Stick Vacuum. The battery life sucks. Sure, if you’re using Medium mode the entire time you can probably get away with about 30 minutes of power but even vacuuming the two medium sized rugs I have downstairs on Turbo almost completely drains the battery in half the time. By the time I’m done vacuuming the rugs, I’m rushing back to Medium power to finish vacuuming the rest of the living room tile before it powers off. There’s no adaptive AI that adjusts automatically to whichever surface you’re sucking. You can purchase an additional battery pack and swap batteries, but I still think that’s a pain to do in-between cleaning. There’s definitely room here for Wyze to improve and I hope they do in their next iteration of the vacuum even at the cost of a MSRP increase. While most cordless stick vacuums don’t have fantastic battery life, the Wyze performed particularly poor in my opinion in this area.

Price Point

This review isn’t meant to compare the Dyson V11 to the Wyze Cordless Stick Vacuum at all. They are completely different price points with the V11 selling for approximately $600 USD. The Wyze vacuum retails for $150 and goes on sale throughout the year. Honestly for the price, I think it’s a solid vacuum. It won’t be the most powerful option and it has some kinks for this price segment, but if you’re looking for an all around vacuum at a reasonable price, I definitely think it's a solid competitor. I appreciated the fact that it does suck enough to get the job done, even if it took a few tries. Some of the Chinese branded products in this price range on Amazon suck much worse, both literally and figuratively.

Additional Thoughts

I’m no expert at the technology behind the vacuums themselves, but Wyze advertises a multi-step filtering feature. There’s a HEPA filter that removes 99.99% of particles and like mentioned before, it’s easy to remove and clean the filter and brush. The LED screen is clear to see and a nice touch as it adds to the overall ease of use. I mentioned the LED lights as well and it’s been a game changer when I vacuum the downstairs bathroom behind the toilet or next to the couch. While there’s opportunity for improvement, particularly in the battery department, the Wyze ticked off quite a lot in what I was looking for in as a complimentary vacuum. If you keep your expectations in check, this can be a great option for apartment dwellers or those in average-sized homes with minimal carpet as the main option. 

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