Dyson’s latest flagship vacuum isn’t great – but these 2 particular innovations are genius
Dyson’s latest flagship vacuum cleaner was a big disappointment for me. You can read all about why in my Dyson V16 Piston Animal review, but it basically comes down to a new floor head that’s not fit for purpose and generally rather poor cleaning. This won’t disrupt my best Dyson vacuum rankings anytime soon.
However, aside from the changes that didn’t work, there were a few that actually worked. The first is the dust compression lever on the bin, and the second is the easy-to-replace attachment connectors. Both debuted in the V16, but neither could make up for failures elsewhere.
Crush it
I’ll start with dust compression, as it’s my favorite of the two features. A lever has been added to the bin section, and you press it to crush the dust and dirt inside the cup to clear the way for others to enter. This allows for longer cleaning periods without having to go to the trash.
This also means that the dust bin can be physically smaller while still being able to hold the same amount of debris. Reducing weight and size is a priority for comfort and flexibility, but the best cordless vacuums need to find ways to do that without compromising in other areas, and offering decent dust capacity is one of them.
When I was first shown the V16, Dyson had a display that showed compressed and uncompressed dust capacity, and the difference is huge. This was also noticeable in use: When cleaning with the V16, I was able to cover more ground than with other vacuums, and I found that dog hair seemed to compress particularly satisfyingly.
The same lever has a few other advantages. It is designed to wipe fine dust from inside the bin housing when pushed down, reducing the risk of these microparticles ending up in the mechanisms, where they can cause long-term problems. And it can also be used to throw dust out of the trash can when it needs to be emptied, so you don’t need to get in with your fingers.
Overall, this is an unusually simple and simple innovation for Dyson, but extremely useful in many ways. Full points.
change it
To create its easy-to-swap accessories, Dyson made two adjustments. First, at the top of the wand is a new red armband. You press it down and it releases the connected floor head or hair screw tool on the end. The docking sections of these accessories then automatically stay at a just-vertical angle, allowing you to insert another, all without ever having to bend down. This is another clever piece of engineering that works very well in practice.
It’s a shame that this particular upgrade was introduced on a vacuum that only has one floor head – previous flagships, the Gen5detect and V15 Detect, had one head for all floors and a soft head for hard floors, and by swapping between the two this mechanism would have really come into its own. As it stands, it’s really just the little hair screw tool you can swap out, and I’m not sure how many people use it on the end of the wand on a regular basis.
Another unfortunate consequence of changing the connection mechanism is that none of Dyson’s older tools are compatible with the V16, and vice versa. So you couldn’t, for example, take the old and better Digital Motorbar floor head and use it instead of the new All Floors Cones Sense floor head.
While I can’t categorically recommend the Dyson V16 Piston Animal, I am impressed with these two new additions. Here’s hoping they both get the chance to shine in the next flagship to join the lineup.
Look on it
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