Dyson Gen5detect Absolute cordless vacuum review

Dyson told me recently in a briefing for its Airstrait that it’s better known for its hair care products than vacuum cleaners in some parts of the world. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t have a name for cordless vacuum cleaners though. Say Fitbit and people instantly think of fitness trackers and I’d say the same would be said for Dyson and its cordless cleaning sticks.

Its latest top-of-the-range model comes in the form of the Gen5detect, succeeding the excellent V15 Absolute from 2021. There’s more suction, a smarter display and the laser feature has been improved, but is it worth huge price tag? Here’s my review.

Design and build

• 3.5kg
• 0.77-litre bin
• Prussian Blue/Copper, Purple colour options

The Dyson Gen5detect looks every bit a Dyson vacuum cleaner. It’s colourful, vibrant and it has the signature clear bin that the company has long been known for. In terms of design, it’s fabulous. There’s a premium quality you don’t get from some other cordless vacuum cleaners, while the bright colours make it stand out for all the right reasons. If you’re going to put a vacuum cleaner on display in your home, you want it to look like this one.

There are two models available in terms of colour finishes – Prussian Blue/Rich Copper (which is my review unit) and Purple. The Prussian Blue/Rich Copper model has a vibrant turquoise top that covers the HEPA filtration system, while the main bulk of the head is Prussian Blue which is lovely and rich, and protects the motor within.

At the top of the clear cylinder bin – which is very easy to empty thanks to a rotary catch ejection mechanism – is a ridged copper-coloured section with a red accent running through the middle. Below the cylinder meanwhile, is where the attachment mechanism sits, allowing you to clip in any of the various attachment offerings – more on those in a minute.

The handle of the Dyson Gen5detect sits behind the cylinder bin, along with the battery, which you can charge using the wall mount or just plug in the lead if you don’t want the Gen5detect permanently on your wall. I have it wall mounted as it keeps the Gen5detect off the floor and out the way. It also means I don’t have it leaning on a wall as the Gen5detect can’t stand upright without support – something the Hoover Cordless Stick HF9 can offer. The wall bracket also means you’ll never forget to charge the Gen5detect as this happens automatically when you place it in the holder, as long as you have it connected to power of course – something to keep in mind when you’re choosing where to place it on your wall. The wall mount is slimmer than previously too, which is great for space saving, though it does mean it doesn’t have a great deal of space behind it for any additional cable like you do with the Dyson V10, for example.

In terms of operation, there’s no trigger on the Dyson Gen5detect, with a single button at the top of the device powering it on and off, positioned above the LCD display. A secondary button at the bottom of the display meanwhile, allows you to switch between the three modes: Eco, Auto, Boost. The lack of trigger is great as it means you’re not constantly having to press and hold in order to get the power and suction. Instead, all you have to do is manoeuvre the Gen5detect and keep an eye on the LCD display so it’s a very comfortable cleaning experience that lets you switch hands easily too. It’s also very light.

The Dust Detect display has been improved on the Gen5detect compared to the V15 as well. It not only displays how much time you have left in terms of battery, which you will see increase or decrease if you switch modes, but there are four bars, each representing various size dust particles – >10µm, >90µm, >180µm and >500µm. As you clean, colour coded bars appear next to each metric, starting with blue and moving through to white when each respective particle size is reduced. At the end of a clean, you’ll get a number next to each displaying how many of each particle size was sucked up – which is pretty shocking. I won’t be eating off my seemingly clean floor anytime soon, put it that way.

Attachments

• 6 attachments
• Built-in dusting and crevice tool
• Improved Fluffy Optic cleaner head

The Dyson Gen5detect comes with six attachments in the box and there are some really clever ones. I found myself using the Digital Motorbar cleaner head the most regularly. This one adapts suction power to different floors and it has hair removal vanes in the brush head to automatically de-tangle hair as you clean. I have long hair and my corded Miele Cat & Dog vacuum cleaner feels like it has more hair tangled within it after a few weeks than my head, but the Gen5detect doesn’t even retain a strand, which is great.

There’s also an improved Fluffy Optic cleaner head that illuminates microscopic dust and dirt that you can’t usually see with the naked eye on hard floors. The illumination now reaches 300mm³ and Dyson claims it will reveal two times more invisible dust than the Dyson V15. It’s pretty concerning when you use this attachment and realise how much dust – and hair if you have pets – is on your floors, so I liked this one a lot as it’s excellent for making sure your home is actually as clean as it can be, whilst also highlighting where you need to pay closer attention to.

The main pole for both the Digital Motorbar cleaner head and the Fluffy Optic cleaner head attachment also super smartly turns into a handheld at the push of a button. There is a built-in dusting and crevice tool hidden within the tube, which I found very handy as it meant I didn’t have to switch attachments just to get into a corner. You can of course take the main heads off and have the long tube, but the hidden attachment higher up is much easier to use and there’s more suction too, while the bristles on the end that you can slide up and down by pressing another button are good for skirting boards, for example.

It’s also worth mentioning that the Dyson Gen5detect – like other Dyson cordless vacuum cleaners – has signalled where there is something to press or something can be removed by using red as the colour for the buttons or sections, which is very helpful, especially in the case of the hidden attachment.

Other attachments include a couple of smaller heads – Hair Screw Tool and Combination Tool – the former of which I use for stairs and furniture, while the latter is great for cleaning the car or blinds. There’s also a Low Reach Adapter that you place in between an attachment and the bottom of the Gen5detect cylinder to help you get to harder to reach places, like under the sofa. There is quite a lot of movement without this adapter though, so you may not feel it’s necessary. I clean my home regularly without the need for it.

Performance

• Whole-machine HEPA filtration
• 135,000rpm motor, 262AW suction
• Piezo sensor

Overall, the performance of the Dyson Gen5detect is excellent. The motor, which spins at 135,000rpm is said to spin nine times faster than an F1 engine and the suction it delivers is brilliant. I haven’t felt the need to get my wired Miele vacuum cleaner out from the cupboard under the stairs since the Gen5detect graced my kitchen with its colourful presence, as it does as good a job but is significantly more convenient.

A Piezo sensor is on board the Gen5detect too, which uses acoustic sensing to count and categorise particle sizes, resulting in those bars on the display we mentioned previously. The bars rise and fall according to the volume of particles being removed and they change colour too, as we said, helping you determine when a particular area is clean. This element was particularly apparent on high piled rugs where if I kept the Gen5detect in one position, it would remain at blue for quite a while before the bar eventually turned to white and the larger particle bars reduced in number. It’s worth mentioning there is a fully-sealed whole-machine HEPA filtration system on board that has been engineered to capture 99.99 per cent of particles down to 0.1microns, including viruses and while we couldn’t test this, it’s certainly good to have right?

Intelligently, the Gen5detect enhances power when it detects a particularly dusty or dirty area, and it reduces power when it comes across a rug or doormat, for example. This all works exceptionally naturally, which is great as it means you only have to concentrate on where you want to clean, with the rest of the decisions taken out of your hands unless you want to intervene by changing the mode, for example. I used Auto mode rather than Eco or Boost predominately as I found this delivered more than enough power and gave me longer in use than Boost.

Where I noticed one issue was when I came to my door mat, which is a very low pile mat. The Dyson Gen5detect acknowledged the doormat without any issues, reducing the power and turning off the spinning within the Digital Motorbar cleaner head so it didn’t pull on the doormat too much, just as it is designed to do. However, when I returned to the tiled floor in the porch, the Digital Motorbar cleaner head didn’t return to spinning again. It still offers suction so it continues to work, but it feels strange not having the head spinning. In order to get it to spin again, I had to push the power button on and off, which was a little annoying. A similar thing happened when I used the hidden attachment, so it’s something to keep in mind.

Battery

• Eco, Auto, Boost modes
• 70 minutes battery on Eco

When it comes to battery life, the Dyson Gen5detect promises a 70-minute run time, though this is in Eco mode where the suction is slightly reduced. As I mentioned, I typically used Auto mode, which offered around 40 minutes. It depends on how big your home is as to whether you will have to recharge mid-way through cleaning, though I have a four-bedroom home and I have yet to run out of battery during a clean in the month of using the Gen5detect every day. My model is wall-mounted though, as I mentioned, which means it is fully charged every time I start a clean.

In Boost mode, the battery life reduces to around 30 minutes, though this still isn’t too bad and based on my experience, you wouldn’t need to use Boost mode for an entire clean as the Auto mode is more than sufficient. I often switch Boost on for a couple of minutes when I’m cleaning the dog bed, sofa or under the dining room table after my children’s dinner time for example, but it’s not a mode I have found that I need for an entire clean.

As you switch between the modes, the run time updates in real-time on the Gen5detect’s LCD display, which is handy as it helps you weigh up more power or longer run time, depending on what you are vacuuming. On the Dyson V10 model, for example, you pretty much have to keep your fingers crossed it doesn’t run out if you have it on Max power.

Verdict

The Dyson Gen5detect is an exceptional cordless vacuum cleaner that not only offers a lovely design, but great performance too. It’s very comfortable to use, not too heavy, and it’s smart, adapting to the environment and delivering valuable and useful feedback through the LCD display.

Battery life is good too, as is power and suction, and I loved the different attachments with the Gen5detect, especially the hidden dusting and crevice tool. The Fluffy Optic cleaner head and its improved brightness meanwhile, certainly made me consider my life choices of only vacuuming once a day.

There is no denying the Dyson Gen5detect is expensive, and I really would have liked the Digital Motorbar cleaner head to start re-spinning once it left my doormat and returned to my tiles. Aside from those points though, there’s very little to complain about with this cordless vacuum. The classic saying you get what you pay for applies here – the Dyson Gen5detect is pricey but it is an absolutely superb cordless vacuum cleaner that won’t disappoint.