Dyson V7 Animal Cordless Handheld Vacuum Cleaner, Purple, Medium

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Given that Dyson’s motor is spinning at over 120,000rpm, and the machine delivers mains-like suction power on this higher setting, that’s mighty quiet. Those figures are way, way down on the previous models and make this cleaner very pleasant to use indeed. READ NEXT: Dyson V8 Absolute review: Still the best cordless vacuum? Dyson V7 Animal review: Price and competition For comparison, we measured the V8 at 75dB on Max power. As decibels are measured on a logarithmic scale, that 10dB difference is huge. That’s a significant amount of cleaning time if you consider that is actual cleaning. The trigger makes you switch off when you’re moving between rooms, straightening the cushions or answering the door. Thanks to the lithium battery and Dyson’s control electronics, you get full power right up until it cuts out too. READ NEXT: Dyson V8 Animal review: A cheaper alternative to the Cyclone V10 Dyson V7 Animal review: Performance

On normal power mode a few more passes were required to fully deep-clean the carpet, and there were noticeable grains of the heavier carpet-cleaning powder deep in the pile. A good mains cleaner (or the V7 on Max) will do a better job of deep-cleaning deeper-pile carpets, but with a little and often approach, normal power proved fine for daily dust, debris and pet-hair cleaning. On paper, at least, the new Dyson V7 cordless cleaners sit between the original V6 and the flagship V8 models. The V7 range draws much of its design from the newer V8 but is lighter, quieter and runs for longer in normal power mode. The key change is its smaller, lighter battery, and a jiggling of the suction power versus run-time ratio. The V7 Animal certainly isn’t short of tools; it has five of them plus the tube. They clip on and off the cleaner with ease, are robust, well designed and very effective at their dedicated task. The difference between the models becomes even more confusing when comparing their suction power, where the V7 is the weakest of the lot. It has 21 Airwatts on powerful mode and 100 Airwatts in max mode. By comparison, the V8 has 22 and 115, while the V6 has 28 and 100, respectively. On normal power mode, the V7’s run-time is claimed to be around 30 minutes with the powered head attached, some 5 minutes longer than the V8. The trade-off is slightly lower suction power of 21AW (airwatts) compared to the V8’s 28AW in this mode. Punch both models up to Max power and they’ll run for about 6 minutes, the V7 delivering 100AW while the V8 has 15% more at 115AW. The old V6 also delivers 100AW on Max power for around 6 minutes, but its higher 28AW on normal power means it’s good for only 20 minutes run-time. Got all that? No, me neither – so here’s a comparison table.A second pass usually secures a clean sweep and we decided for a small oats spill such as that we’d be using the Max mode anyway. Needless to say, ramp up the V7 to Max power, and the suction is fantastic and all particles were cleaned up in a single pass. As with all Dyson handheld cleaners, the power is offered in two stages – normal and Max – and is selected with a slide switch on top. Run-times for the V7 Animal are promised at 30 minutes and 6 minutes respectively.

The cyclone action tends to compress pet hair into a more compact size, allowing you to get more fluff in the bin. Plus, you can push the bin to its fill limit thanks to the pull-out core when emptying. While most over-filled bagless bins will require you to poke about to pull out compressed furballs, the V7’s emptying system always dumps its contents cleanly – even if you run it until the bin is fit to burst. As with all vacuum cleaners, you’ll need to remove and clean the filters from time to time and these are easy to access by simply pulling the pin on top. The 0.54-litre bin is extremely easy to empty, too: by simply pulling the lever at the top, the bin door flips open and the main body of the V7 motor unit slides up, pushing out dust and debris. This not only makes it easier to empty than the V6 but also makes it a breeze to remove hairs that might have become tangled inside. From the first pull of the trigger, the V7 is markedly quieter than the V8, and the pitch tone is much softer and less aggressive than the jet-engine-like V6. We measured the V7 at 61-62dB in normal power mode at arm’s length and a very reasonable 64-66dB on Max power. Of course, the Animal version on test here is only part of a lineup that also features the flagship Total Clean model and the slightly more affordable Motorhead edition.

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For cordless versatility and effective cleaning results all round, we just can’t fault the V7 Animal. So no surprise then that the V7 is properly brilliant on stairs. It handles well, cleans superbly and is quiet while doing so. We can do a large flight of awkwardly shaped carpeted steps on Max power with ease in the allotted 6 minutes if we need more serious cleaning gumption too. All the tools can be clipped directly onto the main handheld unit, or the funky purple extension tube. The clips are a work of plastic genius and feel easier to operate yet more secure than pretty much any other manufacturer’s tool-clip mechanism on the market. In addition, the clips are on the tools, rather than the tube or body, which makes removing and replacing tools with one hand easy. There really isn’t any other cordless cleaner on the market that gets even close to the Dyson V7 Animal’s cleaning power, convenience and versatility on carpeted steps. Well, okay, other than the V6 and V8. Having used the Direct Drive floorhead and the Mini Motorised Tool on previous Animal iterations of Dyson’s handhelds, we knew furball tumbleweed and pet hairs ground into the carpet didn’t stand a chance.