Dyson Cinetic Big Ball

I love it. It's so perfect – It designed for both hard floor and carpet which I found so useful. You can simply press the paddle to change the surface from carpet to timber/laminate. It also doesn't need vacuum bags which is the best thing about it. Show details

Don't buy into the Dyson hype – The suction levels on the vacuum are poor - refer video. On timber floors it won't pick up anything larger than a grain of rice on first sweep. I have to pick up multiple items by hand as it's faster than moving the vacuum head back and forth again and again. The on/off and cord retractor buttons seem to be fagile, however in fairness I could be… Read more

wrong. But their size and placement make it difficult to use anything but hands. When emptying the vacuum it has opened unexpectedly on multiple occasions, dumping dust on clean floors. And its quite difficult to get the bottom door of the dust receptacle to stay closed. It's truly awful!

This is one powerful vacuum cleaner! – We all have heard about Dyson and its vacuum cleaners. We have also seen them stand out with their bright colours and we know of their reputation as being at the top end of the vacuum cleaner market. Are they worth the hype? Going by the results of this particular vacuum cleaner, I would say yes. First impression of this vacuum cleaner is that it… Read more

appears very plastic. Everything is made of plastic, including the wand (or tube, depending on what some people call it) which on many other vacuum cleaners is often metal. It is, however, robust plastic that is thick but at the same time not heavy. Perhaps the only weakness is the on/off and cord retraction switches, which are relatively small lever type switches. They appear a little light in their construction giving the impression that they might one day break – you need to be aware of this and not press them too hard with your foot.

What I must say is that this vacuum cleaner has a deceivingly powerful suction. It is not until you compare it to other reputable vacuum cleaners that you realise how good it cleans. I say “deceivingly” because the turbo head is very easy to push around, giving the impression that it is not sucking as much as some other vacuum cleaners, but is actually extracting a lot of fine dust and dirt that those other vacuum cleaners cannot do. I have used the vacuum cleaner on tiled surfaces, carpets and furniture. It works great on all these surfaces, but its real point of difference is how well it can extract dust and dirt from carpets and rugs. I have made a video of the Dyson immediately following up on another good brand vacuum cleaner and the results are impressive, and makes you wonder how much dust we have been living amongst before the Dyson. The video is attached to this review.

The big ball refers to the fact that the vacuum cleaner body is mainly round – this gives it the ability to correct itself if it is dragged over – conventional vacuum cleaners have a tendency to flip over if yanked sideways or too hard, requiring you to pick it up to correct it. In all my usage of the Dyson vacuum cleaner, it has corrected itself every time, albeit, tipping over was not a common occurrence.

The vacuum cleaner does squeak a little when moved around. It also feels a little unstable/unsteady when pressing the switches – however, it only moves slightly but does not tip over.

The vacuum cleaner is a relatively simplistic unit that is plug in and go – there are no adjustable power settings like some vacuum cleaners, which to be honest, I could never be bothered with adjusting anyway. The instructions supplied with the vacuum cleaner are easy to follow, with diagrams using green ticks and red crosses. It clearly shows the main functions, how to assemble and operate the unit, how to check for blockages, how to open the turbo head and emptying the bin. It also covers the usual safety topics.

The vacuum cleaner is well thought out and practical. The standard tool attachments are located on the wand. Therefore, there is no need to keep these tools separate or have to open compartments to access them as some vacuum cleaners do. This is a great idea from Dyson as I have often misplaced the tool attachments of previous vacuum cleaners, leading to frustration and time wasting.

There are several other tool attachments provided as well – these include a hard floor attachment which replaces the turbo head attachment. Being the Animal+ package, there is also a smaller turbo head, which is great on furniture, couches, fabric on chairs and can remove hair and fur without tangling. If it does tangle it is very easy to remove – however, I have not experienced any tangles yet. There is also a pet brush attachment which consists of a wire pet brush suitable for brushing pets with a longer coat. The brush has a spring-loaded safety plate protecting the brush by allowing only enough wire brush to be exposed as needed as well as assisting in the removal of pet fur for the brush. The wire brush works well and is a great idea if you want to eliminate loose pet fur in your home resulting from pet grooming.

Dyson have thought of the little details as well. For example the plug on the cord has a plastic ring on the cord head which absorbs impact when retracting the cord – without it there is a tendency to stretch out the cord, eventually exposing the wires at the plug – a common problem I have experienced with other vacuum cleaners.

The handle also has a conveniently placed pull ring, which allows you to easily release the suction if you have pulled up a rug or curtain. The vacuum cleaner also appears to have a built-in bypass when its suction becomes stuck on something, preventing it from blowing up (or at least sound like it is going to blow up). Usage of the pull ring will release the suction in those cases anyway.

All components that detach or extend are done so by using push buttons which are all red and easily seen. All connections are good and are clearly audible with noticeable clicks.

The barrel is very easy to remove from the unit for emptying. You press one button to remove it from the unit and then only one more button to empty the barrel. Everything easily comes out of the barrel. If required, it is easy to brush away any remaining dust as the internal filter (which is metal) is very accessible. It should be noted that the barrel is clear plastic so you can see how full it is, or what it is that you may have vacuumed up by accident. There is a line on the barrel which indicates the maximum level in the barrel – this is often hard to measure against as some of the lighter particles become suspended – but because it is so easy to empty and clear, you are likely to empty it more often, rather than wait for it to fill.

The turbo head attachment is a great feature of this vacuum cleaner. Not only is it easy to push around, it can also allow the wand to lay completely flat and straight – some vacuum cleaners can lay flat but often do so with the head attachment on an angle. The versatility of the Dyson turbo head allows it to easily go under furniture, beds are other hard to reach places that often need a good clean.

The turbo head is also easily disassembled to clean out hair or other entanglements. The removal of the brush is simply done by opening the head with the turn of a large screw – there is no need for a screwdriver, as you can conveniently use a coin, key or other common household item to do so. The head is also clear so you can see whether it needs to be removed for a clean. The turbo head and hard floor attachments are hard plastic and can damage furniture, skirting and walls it hit too hard. These attachments would have benefited with some soft rubber, felt or other material for protection – perhaps something Dyson can add to its future models.

This is a great vacuum cleaner which lives up to the Dyson mantra. It is powerful, does not suffer from any loss of suction and there are no bags to buy and change. Unlike some of the other bagless vacuum cleaners out there, there are no filters that clog or need cleaning to maintain suction. What is also great is that it does not exhaust or blow out any dust or odours.

It literally does what Dyson states – that is, no loss of suction. This vacuum cleaner can extract dust and dirt that other vacuums cleaners can’t, in a well thought out and practical unit.

Just about close to perfect – UPDATE April 2023: If you encounter suction loss on this vacuum, read my update at the end. For those who are in a hurry, here is the executive summary: The Good - The suction is phenomenal. - It goes around corners easily. - Should you manage to make it fall on its side, it automatically rolls itself into the upright position again (see… Read more

video). - Emptying the barrel is amazingly easy, quick and clean (well, mostly). - There are no filters. Hence no replacing, washing or checking filters anymore. - The turbo head works really well on a relatively thick carpet. - The hard floor attachment reaches narrow (height restricted) gaps like under a couch (see video). - Attachments click on an off easily (on can be a bit of a fiddle). - The handle, extension tube and heads are pleasantly light weight. - It is quiet (for a vacuum cleaner). - Folds away neatly into a small space.

The Wishlist

Only a few minors go here: - For a right-handed person, the power button is on the wrong side of the vacuum cleaner. - Power and cord re-coil buttons are too small for easily being operated “by foot”. - I also question the durability of those buttons. (Photo attached). - Taking the turbo brush head apart for cleaning is easy enough but needs a quick release system. - Power cord could be longer.

Overall it is truly well thought through and a marvel of engineering.

If you are really interested in me rambling on about this vacuum cleaner, be my guest, read on.

+++++++++++++++++ Background:

We have a history of bad choices with vacuum cleaners I hate to admit. The pre-previous one we bought used on Gumtree and there is no nice way to say this, it was in terrible condition. We got ripped off.

After a few years using it and regretting the purchase every time we took it out of the cupboard, we decided to go for a new one. A new one, new as in not used. After plenty of research, we decided on a model that was one of the top-rated ones on Choice Magazine. It was quite a bit less expensive than the ones in the Dyson fleet and we went for it.

A few days into it though we realised that we had made yet another vacuum cleaner related mistake. The vacuum performed brilliantly on hard floors, but was absolutely pathetic, close to unusable on carpet (no matter what setting we used on the head or what suction level we chose). It had no power head (power heads have a rotating brush in them that is powered by a little electric motor) and no turbo head (the brush in a turbo head is powered by the air flow, hence turbo heads are lighter, have fewer parts that can break and don’t need to worry about getting electricity all the way to the head, but the energy to rotate the brush takes away energy from the air flow and hence reduces suction). Cleaning a slightly ticker carpet was so difficult that we decided to keep the much-hated predecessor after all and use that for carpets.

We have a small house but two huge vacuum cleaners. Neither one we like – go figure. (We actually have tree vacuum cleaners because we bought a cordless Dyson stick for quick clean-up jobs since we did not like the other two – go figure even more. That cordless Dyson by the way is a beauty, but that is for another review).

Major renovations are about to start for us and for a while now I secretly found myself planning for a new vacuum cleaner in the ‘new house’. Stroke of luck that the new Dyson arrived at our doorstep, courtesy of Productreview. I could not wait to give this one a go, we had heard and read amazing things about the Dysons (and already really liked using our Dyson stick).

+++++++++++++++++ First Things First:

First thing I noticed was that it comes with a plethora of attachments. Second thing I noticed was that the spartanic cartoon style instructions are good at explaining the blatantly obvious, but pretty much useless in explaining anything else and what all the different attachments are designed for. I am not that much a fan of attachments anyway. They are nice when you take them out of the box, you then use a few times while you are still in the honeymoon period with your new vacuum, but after a while they are banished to a lonely existence in a cupboard somewhere and they hardly ever see the light of day again.

Dyson tries to solve this by being able to attach some of the attachments to an attachment that attaches to the upper end of the handle where the handle attaches to the hose (if you manage to decipher the drawings on how to do that). Nice try, but for starters that only holds a few of the attachments and secondly adds considerable weight to the handle, exactly where it matters most – where you hold it.

+++++++++++++++++ Using it:

Once you start using the Dyson, things start to impress immediately. For a vacuum it is pleasantly quiet and I particularly like is that the high-pitched frequency in the sound earlier Dysons made is gone. That dentist drill frequency used to get to me, despite the fact that it was my neighbour who had a Dyson, not me (yes, I am weird when it comes to annoying sounds, I know that).

The suction this machine produces is impressive for sure and has enough grunt to give some of it away for powering the turbo head. Should you for some reason feel the need to reduce suction, there is a lever on the handle you can pull like a gun trigger and a little hole opens releasing some of the suction allowing you to get free of whatever curtain or other unfortunate piece you managed to get caught on.

The Turbo Brush Head works really well and can be taken apart to clean out things like long hair (I have three daughters, a wife and a cat, all with long hair. It’s just our dog and me with short hair, but both of us seem to shed a lot of our hair though (me especially as of lately …). While it is easy enough to take the turbo head apart for cleaning the brush, the process still requires a large screw driver or a coin to twist the locking mechanism. Cleaning the brush is also ok, but there are a few groves that hair gets twisted around and its hard to get it off. Its all ok as I said, but some sort of quick release system there would be great to have.

So, the carpet problem is solved for us - finally. But wait, there is more. The hard floor head is an engineering marvel. In combination with the equally ingenious handle and hose coupling to the handle, the whole assembly can duck so close to the ground that it reaches under our lounge room suite. Clearance: 7.4 cm(!).

I am starting to praise all sorts of deities out there, but mostly the engineers involved. You only appreciate how awesome this is when you realise that I will never have to take the three-piece-7-seat-all-bloody-attached-to-a-bloody-corner-piece lounge suite apart again and lift the unpleasantly heavy individual modules up while someone else takes a bloody eternity to vacuum up the last little bit of fluff that has managed to accumulate under there since the last time we did this exercise. It is great to see when engineers work on a problem and find an elegant solution. Check out the video I made of it.

Emptying all the hair and dust out is usually an unpleasant experience, let's face it. At least we have moved on from those terrible dust bags. Remember the tag line promoting the bagless vacuum cleaners? You will never have to empty or change a dust bag again – that one? Or, it does not lose suction when the bag is full, because there is no bag. That one too.

The problem I have with this kind of advertising though is that it gets interpreted by some (I have heard, via rumours, the grape vine really and it is definitely not happening in our family) as ‘great, that vacuum cleaner never has to be emptied again’. Its close, you see, but there is a slight difference.

Now that I got this little dig out of the way, let me explain that this latest evolution of the Dyson makes the emptying process about as pleasant, or better, little unpleasant as possible. The whole canister comes off with the press of a button. Then there is a single red button to press which causes the (still closed) canister to slip down by say 15 or 20 cm away from the central cone inside. Brilliant, no more stuff getting caught between the central cone and the outside wall of the canister (like on my cordless Dyson). Press that red button one more time and the bottom lid opens up and the collected hair/dust mixture comes out. No shaking, no poking with a knife or chop stick, no banging on the side, nothing. Just whoosh – done.

When done, push it all back up, push the lid closed and slide the canister back on the base unit and it slides back in place by itself, sends a confirmatory click your way and its ready for action again. Once you master that ‘press the red button twice’ routine, you sure must be in adoration of the brains working at Dyson. I attached a video showing how easy it is to detach and re-attach the dust canister.

And while I am praising the ingenuity of the design, the vacuum is cone shaped when you look at it from the top, which allows it to follow you around corners without getting caught or stuck. The best and most impressive bit however comes when you somehow manage to pull it in a weird angle and it somehow ends up on its side. Never mind, just stop pulling and watch in admiration how that little helper of yours magically rolls itself back into an upright position. I love that so much, I had to make a video of it and attach it to this review.

+++++++++++++++++ Any Improvements?

Well, my biggest gripe with the design is that for a right-handed person, the power button is on the wrong side of the vacuum cleaner. You have the cleaner on your right hand side pulling it along and should you for some reason need to quickly turn it off, it would be nice to have the power button on the left hand side of the vacuum cleaner (were you are standing) and not on the other side making you walk around. I know, it’s a little thing, but I thought I mention it. Maybe someone at Dyson reads this … So guys, swap the power button location with the cord re-coil release.

While I am at those buttons, they are too small. Let’s face it, hardly anyone bends down to operate those, you just use your foot. That leads to a lack of dexterity and a much bigger, easier to step on power button would be most welcome. I also question the durability of those buttons. They look like a break waiting to happen especially when operated “by foot”. (Photo attached). It feels like in that area the designers who make things look good outvoted the engineers who make thinks work.

Lastly, another minor point I would like to make is that I feel the power cord could be a bit longer.

+++++++++++++++++ Summary

With a distance the best vacuum I have ever owned. It is well engineered and thought through. You still have to vacuum, that chore does not go away, but with this Dyson at least you have a great product assisting you which makes it so much easier and a little less annoying a task. +++++++++++++++++

April 2023 Update:

Somehow I felt like the suction of the vacuum was not as good any more as it used to be. Turns out the comment section for this vacuum on the Dyson web site is chocker block full of people complaining about the same issue. Each one of those comments gets answered by Dyson telling the commenter to get in touch with Dyson.

So here is what happened with mine:

A loss of suction is of course hard to determine, because how do you measure the suction in the first place and how do you know that it is now less than when you bought it?

One giveaway for me was that the turbo head brush was just not spinning very fast any more. I remember it sounding like a jet engine and spinning impressively fast when the vacuum was new, and that at some stage was just not happening any more. That can of course have two totally different reasons, one being the suction having dropped, the other being the rotating brush is not freely rotating any more due to - well whatever reason (bearing, blockage ...).

Turns out in my case BOTH causes came together.

I suggest the first thing you do is check whether your suction hose has any blockage in it (as per the trouble shooting guide on the Dyson web page). Blowing through it I can promise you does not tell you whether a constraint is in the hose or not. Take the hose off on both ends and look through it. Then take the hard extension that attaches to the head and check that. Most importantly, take the hard plastic U-turn bit (where the handle is attached) and check that one out. I uploaded a picture. It is the part on the left that I am talking about.

In my case, that was the culprit. A piece of cardboard had gotten stuck in the U-turn part and a massive amount of hair and fluff had accumulated over time around that stuck cardboard. It was not easy to clean out by the way, I used a bent wire coat hanger and freed it all up.

The different was huge as you can imagine, but my turbo brush still was not spinning fast enough. Youtube to the rescue. Check out this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vxuzpi9DFIQ. If for some reason this link does not work, search for "Dyson Vacuum Turbine head Teardown and Clean".

Most importantly, read the comments in the video because they explain how to get past the point where the presenter in that video actually got stock. The part he holds at around 07:00 in the video needs to be opened further (and he did not manage to get in there). The trick is that the little cork twisty bit does in fact come off when you take the screw that is INSIDE the cork screw bit out. Look at the picture I uploaded.

Once that screw is out, you will find that a hair and dust mixture has accumulated in that bearing despite it being a sealed unit. Clean it out, put it all back together and it will all be as new.

You will need a T8 and a T10 screw driver - and admittedly, that is not in everybody's kitchen drawer.

There is always the alternative that you swing by a Dyson Service Centre (in Sydney they are in Taren Point). I have done that twice in the past and every time I was very happy with the service they gave me (free both time despite being way out of warranty). I think they also offer a pickup service, just ask.

I hope this helps solve some of the frustration I see accumulating in here. Good luck with it. Love this vacuum - again.

An amazing vacuum cleaner! – I’ve been using the “Dyson Cinetic Big Ball Animal+” vacuum cleaner, which currently retails for $749 from the Australian Dyson website (also available from many major retailers), for the least 3 weeks now. There are 4 versions of this vacuum cleaner, which start at $499 all the way to the range-topping “Absolute” at $849! For an average… Read more

Australian household, the higher-spec models do represent an awful lot of money and would not be something that I would usually consider, especially on mine and my wife’s teachers’ incomes. Well, is the Dyson really worth the money or is it just another exclusive and aspirational icon of prestige which doesn’t quite justify its hefty price tag? Read on… Upon opening and unwrapping the contents of the box, a myriad of connectors and attachments (including a smaller rotating brush head for carpeted steps, a 2-in 1 crevice/brush tool and an evil-looking animal hair vacuum brush!) fascinated me. The basic manual with its diagrams was quite easy and intuitive to follow. At least for this handy-person. The locks on the attachments’ connectors are all colour-coded in red and they engaged positively in place with a reassuring ‘click’. Releasing the locks by pressing the red tabs was easy and uneventful. My first impression of the main unit was that it was of a solid and reassuringly hefty weight. However, to me the attachments and light vacuum tubes were very light, so much so that I was concerned about the fragility of these items! I am happy to say that 3 weeks later I have grown accustomed to the lightness of the attachments, hose and tube. A positive aspect of this is that it makes the task of vacuuming an easier job – manoeuvring the vacuum head on carpets and hard flooring (with the hard floor attachment) was a light process, requiring minimal effort. The swivelling sections on the attachments and handles also allows manoeuvring the vacuum head into awkward or tight spaces a snack. The main unit moves around well and had no issues with tipping over. This machine is bagless and whilst I was happy with the thought of not needing to endlessly buy not-so-cheap original equipment disposable bags (and also doing my little bit to reduce landfill), being an asthmatic, and having not-so-pleasant experiences emptying dust waste canisters into bins many years ago during my first experience with a bagless vacuum cleaner, did play on my mind. Removal of the dust waste canister was again just a matter of depressing the red-coloured release button on the main unit and lifting the canister up. Emptying the canister itself involves depressing a red-coloured lever downwards, which releases the hinged bottom door. I held my breath (quite literally!) only to be pleasantly surprised that the dust had clumped together tightly into dense plumes which dropped straight into the bin with very little dust particles billowing around to play havoc with my asthma. Phew! Replacing the canister on to the main unit was again easily done and confirmed by that reassuring ‘click’. My primary concern was not how easy to use and how beautifully designed the unit was, but how well it functions as, you know, an actual vacuum cleaner and how well it would remove dirt matter from my carpets. For the last 5 years or so, I’ve been using my bag Miele machine which I believed to be quite remarkable in how well it cleaned my carpets (I’m one of those people how actually find vacuuming an entirely therapeutic activity!). The performance of the Dyson absolutely floored me. The rotating brush vacuum head not only aids in agitating engrained dirt and matter to be vacuumed away but it also acts to partly revive flat and dull carpet areas. The suction of the unit was staggering and the volume of dirt and matter removed from carpets after each use was incredible. I’ve attached photos of the matter emptied from the canister after vacuuming just my modestly-sized (4x6m) loungeroom – the canister had been emptied after each use. I’ve also attached a video of the machine in use and also the visible amount of matter collected from my loungeroom carpet just from that one usage! I am now truly converted, finding it amazing how well the Dyson performs in cleaning my carpets. Just several observations from my use: - Unlike my old Miele, there is no power adjustment dial – I’m not sure whether this makes any difference in actual usage. The machine works equally well on carpets of varying thicknesses and hard flooring. - Removing hair wound up around the rotating brush head was easier than I thought it would be, though I would suggest doing so after each use to avoid a big tangled mess later on. - The 2-in-1 brush/crevice tool’s design is very clever – you have a crevice tool which transforms into a brush by sliding the brush forwards. The brush bristles, however, are way too soft and, given the cost of the machine, I suggest that Dyson should include a brush with sturdier bristles for those cleaning duties which require one, such as air conditioner or heater air filters. - It would have been nice for Dyson to include an accessories box or bag to contain the various attachments. In summing up, the essential question is: Does the performance and features of the Dyson justify it’s comparatively large price tag? Personally, having a young family of 3 children under 12 years of age (and 1 cat!) means that my carpets endure quite a bit of punishment. I also suffer from asthma triggered by exposure to dust. The physical volume of matter removed by the Dyson that I have repeatedly seen with my own eyes and have emptied is a compelling and highly persuasive argument. While the purchase price is relatively high, there is a cost saving compared to bag vacuum cleaners. In my situation though, the amazing cleanliness that the Dyson leaves my carpet has changed my initial doubts about the Dyson and I am now a fan! So for me, the answer is a resounding “Absolutely!” I love the Dyson and would buy one again in a heartbeat. Highly recommended!

Great suction, but blows more away out the back, heats up room temperature and when emptying it’s had to close barrel you think is closed then try to put it back and explode creating more mess Is hard to navigate Show details

Flawed design. Dust collector opens randomly. Do not buy – The vacuum does not have many problems with suction or pickup, the motor is pretty strong. The design of the dust cylinder is completely flawed though. When I'm trying to detach it from the machine to clean, it randomly opens, spilling dust and rubbish all over the floor. A typical example of engineering solution to a problem that did not exist:… Read more

previous models had a non-opening plastic dust collector that was reliable and easy to empty. The design of this machine is fundamentally flawed; do not buy. I will be returning mine to the point of purchase.

Glyn C – I brought Dyson machine from Myer Liverpool on 14th Sept 2022. From the very next day, I noticed the collected dusts were sticked on the middle moter instead to store at the bottom of bin collector. After contacted Dyson customer, I was told to wipe the moter to avoid the issue, however the problem is not fixed. Over a year communication, Dyson… Read more

agreed to repair the machine for air leaking. They provided prepaid Australia Post voucher for returning. In last March, the repaired machine was returned, but the problem is not fixed. When I contacted Dyson again including video, Dyson advised that their technician confirmed the problem was fixed, then went silent despite I sent video to proof the problem. Dyson provides 2 years warranty but not deliver it at all. Dyson vaccum machine is not cheap, I'm expecting the good quality and customer service. Hopefully my experience would help others to think again before buying Dyson.

Dyson The worst ever – Dyson The worst ever This vacuumed is by far the hardest and the worst vacuum i have ever bought It is very hard to drag around the house /heavy to pull and to use I have wasted my well earned money buying this primitive machine I bought this 2-3 weeks ago and have struggled to use it all 3 times The lead is short and have to keep un plugging it… Read more

and plugging it in every room it reaches to do one and a bit rooms at a time Changing the tools is not easy in any way the original tube shaped hover was much better in every way this will be on ebay soon but i think it will be hard to sell even on ebay I WILL NEVER BUY A DYSONEVER AGAIN