The Dyson V8 Absolute Vacuum Really “Sucks”…Dirt Off of the Floor – Review

A few years ago, I had the pleasure of writing a similar “sucky” review like this one. It was about the Dyson DC59 Motorhead vacuum, which, when I got and used it, I quickly fell in love with (my dog even became part of the review). And yeah, I’m using that same tired and probably over-played cliche about these vacuums “sucking.” Sorry. Well this time, I’m writing about the DC59’s grown up sibling, the Dyson V8 Absolute. Like the DC59, it is lightweight and battery-powered. And they both do a great job sucking up dirt and debris and dust and hair and anything on hardwood or carpeted floors. But that is where the similarities end. Let me explain.

The Dyson V8 Absolute (on the right in the picture above) pretty much took all of the great features of the DC59 (on the left above) and improved upon them. It’s more powerful. The battery lasts longer. It’s quieter. It’s easier to clean. It’s easier to maneuver. It’s got a few more attachments. And the vacuuming power seems to be much stronger. But let’s not dwell on comparing to the past. The DC59 is great! But obviously, the V8 Absolute has made vacuuming even greater! Let’s dive a bit deeper into the Dyson V8 Absolute.

Getting to Know the Dyson V8 Absolute

We all know that vacuuming is a chore. Honestly, it’s not that much fun (it IS good exercise, though, btw). And depending on the type of vacuum you have, it may be a chore you hate or one that you just do. Even better, is if you can do it well. The V8 Absolute does it well, producing great results, and thus making it a great chore. In fact, my kids now grab the V8 Absolute because it is easy to maneuver and is lighter weight than a traditional upright vacuum. (Any way I can get my kids doing something that I’m supposed to do is a win in my book.)

Battery-Powered

The first thing that is important to note about the Dyson V8 Absolute is that it is a cord-free vacuum. It has rechargeable nickel-cobalt-aluminum batteries which are important because they don’t start fading out as they start to die. There is nothing worse than a device losing power, especially a vacuum, as the batteries run down. There is a wall charging mount that the V8 Absolute attaches to and hangs from. It’s ease to attach and detach it from the charger as well. Getting a full charge in the wall mount will take about 5 hours.

With my older cordless Dyson, I was able to vacuum all of the hard floors in my house on one charge (living room, dining room, kitchen, hallways, and bathrooms). This is on the max setting. With the Dyson V8 Absolute, I can do all of that, but am also able to get a 2 carpeted rooms as well. Also on the max setting. For me, being able to complete the tasks of a full-home vacuum using only battery power is stellar!

The reason for this additional vacuuming time in the V8 Absolute is because of these batteries. And the nice thing is, there is now a battery level indicator now on the side of the V8 Absolute. So now, I have some advanced warning before the power level gets too low to finish a job.

Powerful Motor

Another thing that was changed from previous cordless versions is the toggle switch between the regular and maximum vacuum setting. In the DC59, it was a press button. The V8 Absolute has a physical switch. Speaking about the Max Mode, the amount of sucking power has been increased from 100AW to 115AW of suction. (AW stands for Air Watts.)

In terms of sucking, the Dyson V8 Absolute doesn’t and does. It definitely doesn’t “suck” in the colloquial meaning of the word. But it DOES suck in the literal meaning of the word. The motor spins at 110,000 rpm but still while maintaining a small and lightweight form-factor. This is due to the motor being upgraded from previous versions. The V8 now boasts a 425 W motor compared to the previous generation of a 350 W. And let me tell you, having more power goes a long way in terms of getting the dust off of floors and the dirt out of carpets. There is nothing worse than still having a dirty floor after you vacuum it. The V8 Absolute doesn’t skimp on the suction power department. And the fact that the battery life is extended even with more power is a feat in engineering, I feel.

Quiet, Light & Easy to Clean

Another thing that I noticed as I was vacuuming the house was how much quieter the V8 is compared to its predecessor. Through the magic of engineering, Dyson has somehow managed to make the V8 50% quieter than previous models. Again, with more suction and more battery. It’s quite impressive.

As I mentioned, my kids often use the Dyson cordless vacuum to do their rooms. Since the V8 weighs less than 6 pounds and it easily maneuverable (as I mentioned), they can easily get into corners and (I believe) to a better job cleaning their rooms.

So, while I have talked about the power of the V8, there is another thing that Dyson has redesigned that is my opinion, is quite important. In the V8 (as well as in the DC59), you have a clear canister that holds all of the dirt. You empty it by pressing a button which opens the bottom of the collection canister. With the DC59, I often had to reach into the canister to pull out hair, thread, and wrapped up dirt to fully clean it. This has completely changed with the V8.

Now, there is something called the hygienic dirt ejector. You pull a lever to release the door of the canister but then there is also a rubber ring that scrapes remaining dirt and hair off. So, I no longer have to touch anything dirty. It took me a few tries to really understand how to do it right, but after a while, I was easily emptying the collector without having to touch anything. I believe that the collection bin is even bigger as well.

One thing to note about other vacuums. Often as the dirt accumulates in the collection bin, the vacuum strength starts to go down. This is not the case with Dyson vacuums. Even with a full bin (which I wouldn’t recommend letting get too full regardless), the suction power remains at full-strength, just like when the bin is empty.

The Extras

Ok, so we have talked about battery, weight, power, emptying, and sound. What about the extras? Well, the review model that I was given has a variety of attachments for various surfaces. I will start with the two that I use the most, specifically the hard-floor and the carpet attachments. It takes literally a second to swap the cleaning heads. (And with my DC59, I didn’t have the hard-floor attachment.)

First, the carpet attachment has a direct-drive motor (not belts to worry about) that has a hard-bristle brush that can pull dirt and human and pet hair from the carpet. I noticed with my other older vacuums that I frequently had to take out the brush and take a pair of scissors to cut out the hairs that wrapped around the brush (you want to keep the brush clear of hair in order for it to do its best work). After several weeks using the V8, it seems that I haven’t had to remove any hair from the brush. All of the hair seems to be vacuumed up completely. This was a big thing for me (especially having 4 females with long hair in my household)!

For our hardwood and kitchen floors, there is a new soft-roller cleaner specifically designed for those surfaces. It is soft (has felt covering much of the roller) that removes both debris as well as fine dust. That leaves hard floors almost “polished” without actually polishing. Again, this was an improvement for me because, in the past, I used the carpet brush to clean hard floors. What happened when I did that was that often pieces of dirt were simply flicked to another part of the room. The V8 actually vacuums that all up!

There is an assortment of other attachments. Here are all of the items that came in the box:

• Direct Drive Cleaner Head – you use this for carpets and it the primary head that I use.
• Soft Roller Cleaner Head – this is for hard surfaces like hardwood, ceramic, or linoleum floors.
• Mini Motorized Tool – this is good for sofas or perhaps seats in your car; it has brushes that are motorized.
• Combination Tool – this head is not motorized but has a wire bristle brush you can push out of the way or use for vacuuming hard to reach places.
• Crevice Tool – this is for getting into corners or edges where the other heads can reach and it produces a high-powered concentrated vacuum point.
• Soft Dusting Brush – this brush is for potentially getting bookshelves or other surfaces that require a more delicate touch (I haven’t used this yet).

You can, when using any of the heads, remove the long tube from the V8. That way, you have a very small and portable vacuum for cleaning your car or doing jobs that are off of the floor. Depending on which head you are using, the battery life could vary. The heads that are motorized will reduce the run-time more than the non-motorized ones.

Lastly, I want to talk about the filters that are built into the Dyson V8 Absolute. Like other Dysons, there are numerous filters that can be simply taken out and rinsed off to clean them. Honestly, with my other Dysons, I completely neglected cleaning those filters for a long time. When I finally did clean them, the Dysons were even more powerful. These filters are very easy to remove and you can simply wash them out and then let them dry in the sun. After 24 hours, you can just put them back in and away you go! Also, the Dyson V8 Absolute provide HEPA filtration to help eliminate dust, pollen, and other particles that could potentially cause allergies.  The V8 Absolute has two filters to clean.

The Dyson V8 Absolute retails for $599.99. On Amazon, it is currently listed as a #1 Best Seller and has a price of $547.48. (For those interested in other Dyson vacuums, visit the Dyson page which is available on Amazon.) Here is a list of all offers on Amazon for the V8 Absolute which are for new ones offering free shipping.

So, yeah, back to that whole “suck” thing. Hopefully, I drove home that point. The Dyson V8 Absolute definitely sucks…a ton of dirt and does it well. You have to think of the purchase of a Dyson V8 Absolute as a bit of an investment. I have a couple now that are several years old and are still sucking away!

Disclosure Text: I have a material connection because I received a gift, sample of a product or service, and/or monetary compensation for consideration in preparing to review the product/service and write this content. I was/am not expected to return this item or gift after my review period. All opinions within this article are my own and are typically not subject to the editorial review from any 3rd party. Also, some of the links in the post above may be “affiliate” or “advertising” links. These may be automatically created or placed by me manually. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item (sometimes but not necessarily the product or service being reviewed), I will receive a small affiliate or advertising commission. More information can be found on my About page.

HTD says: Dyson continues to innovate making household chores like vacuuming much more pleasurable and effective. The Dyson V8 Absolute brings a whole new level of powerful, cordless, lightweight vacuuming as a weapon against dirt and dust in the home.