The vacuum connects to the Dyson app, where you’ll find resources like how to empty the trash and wash the filter, but not much else. It may tell you how long your last vacuuming session was, but no other details. So it’s not as interesting or as informative as the data you would get from a robot vacuum cleaner.
Fluffy face
Photography: Nena Farrell
Photography: Nena Farrell
The full name of this vacuum is Dyson PencilVac Fluffycones, aptly named for the four fluffy cones inside the vacuum head. Dyson recent and previous stick vacuum cleaners all are equipped with the Fluffy Optic cleaning head for vacuuming hard floors. While both have a fluffy roller bar, the Fluffycones have a conical shape that Dyson says will detangle and remove hair rather than trapping it all around. It detangled the hair for me, but when I vacuumed up larger portions of hair on my bathroom floor (a place where many stray hairs come to die in the hands of my hairbrush, comb, and towel), it actually gathered the hair into a ball and spit it out several times before finally sucking it up into the trash can.
Video: Nena Farrell
Even though the hair results weren’t great, I loved this vacuum for sucking up the cat litter it constantly plagues my house. It did a great job with flour on my hard floors and a solid job with dry oats, but sometimes it would spill the oats instead of vacuuming them up immediately. I was even able to quickly run it across the top of my mat, but rolling back and forth on the mat stopped the cones.
The head is designed to move in almost any direction. The cones make it easy to pivot, and the bright green lights on the front and back help you spot debris you might otherwise miss. With its compact size that fits into awkward corners, the PencilVac finally allows me to vacuum up all the trash around the base of my toilet and pedestal sink. This is part of what keeps me searching for that void again and again, even after my robot vacuum cleaner cleaned the day before.
Forward momentum
Photography: Nena Farrell
Do I think this vacuum replaces Dyson’s existing cordless options? No, but Dyson has other new vacuums planned that could do this. This vacuum cleaner has a specific design for a specific use: small homes with completely hard floors. There is also an opportunity for accessibility here. This lightweight vacuum cleaner can be much easier to use for people with mobility and strength restrictions. The magnetic charging base also makes storage and access easier for a variety of people, whether they have fine motor skills issues or can’t bend over to pick up the vacuum.
