Dyson V12 Detect Slim

Best Dyson Ever for an Apartment – The Dyson v12 detect slim total clean is our 3rd Dyson stick vacuum. It is replacing our 7 yr old v6 slim which has finally died and compliments the v11 Outsize we have had for about 12 months. Good to compare with both earlier models to see what improvements have been made over those time periods. Compared to the original v6 slim, the v12 is… Read more

similar in size and weight at 2.2kg but so much more powerful. It has enough suction to also replace our very effective but cumbersome vacumaid which runs off a massive motor in the garage. Somehow Dyson are able to get seemingly equal suction of larger vacuums with this tiny, easy to maneuver unit. The biggest difference though is the technology. 3 motorized heads. One is a new motorized conical shaped vacuum head they call the “Hair Screw Tool” which is supposed to be used on furniture for picking up long human and animal hair without getting clogged. Unfortunately couldn’t test in our very short haired household but sounds promising.

Of the remaining 2 motorized heads, the star of the show is the Laser Slim Fluffy head for hard floors. Ok we thought the green laser was gimmicky until we used it. Our timber floors are apparently filthy!!! The laser picks up every bit of dust and the soft roller just glides over the floor making it so easy to truly clean an area. Like all Dyson sticks, the maneuverability of the head is so good for getting into corners and under furniture. As with our Dyson v11 outsize, the remaining motorized head is called the “Direct Drive Cleaner Head” and can be used on all floors. To be honest, with our v11 outsize, it’s the only one we use because, like the v12 version, it can be used on all floors and automatically changes the power setting when you move from thick carpet to timber to thinner rugs to tiles. We tested the v12 version and it works just as effectively, though the big difference is that the actual width of the head is smaller (30cm v11 outsize, 22cm v12 slim). So more passes to clean the same area but it is marketed for small houses and apartments so not such an issue I guess.

The biggest and most exciting difference, all Dyson users will be pleased to know after asking for this feature for years, is that it has an on/off button!! At last. All previous models had a trigger that had to be held on the whole time you were vacuuming. This may have been ok with earlier models when battery life was much shorter, but by the time the v11 came out, battery life could extend up to an hour as is also claimed for the v12 slim. That’s a long time to hold the trigger on and most reviewers complained. Dyson have listened and now you simply switch it on and switch it off with a button on top of the unit. Goodbye and good riddance trigger.

The size of the dust bin on the v12 is similar to our original v6 slim … tiny. It was never really an issue with our v6 because it was not our primary vacuum cleaner. The v12 though filled the bin very quickly which may be more to do with the current state of our floors, but with the extra suction and extended battery life, you would be hard pressed to get through even a small house or most large apartments without having to empty the bin a couple of times. My son borrowed it to vacuum under beds at his house and said he had to empty it several times, though the vacuum he owns could not ever get under the beds so I imagine plenty of dust there to collect there.

Data displayed on the LCD screen tells you how many particles of each size of dust you are picking up. Apparently dust mites, fleas, sand, skin flakes all have a specific size. So if you have 2 million 180um particles displayed in a nice pink bar on the graph, you know you have a massive dust mite problem. Not a feature I’d really use but may be useful for asthmatics. I do use the LCD display to monitor battery life (time left displayed in minutes) and to switch between eco, auto and max power. The other huge improvement over the v6 but also on the v11 is the easy way it empties into your rubbish bin by simply pulling the red lever on the canister which opens and empties with gravity and a shake.

So my wife loves this little unit. It is so light and easy to vacuum high cornices (something the heavier v11 outsize makes more difficult) and under low furniture. Much easier for me to use the myriad of attachments in the car as well. It has all the power and even more features than our v11 outsize. Having said that, we would definitely stick with the outsize for our full vacuum of the house because of its larger bin and head size (you hardly ever have to empty that thing even after a couple of complete house vacuums) but if we lived in a unit this would definitely be the choice.

Stop the press!!! My wife says that although the on/off button is a great improvement, instead of on top why couldn’t they make the trigger dual purpose ie: on/off of for long vacuums and hold it on for short sweeps around the kitchen after meal preps?

So I tried to attach 3 short videos showing the v12 slim used with the all purpose vacuum head, the bin and how quickly it fills and the soft hard surface head with laser. The Product Review site only allowed for one YouTube video to be uploaded unfortunately.

Good vacuum choice for small to medium space – This is the first Dyson product I have had the opportunity to use and my initial thoughts even when it was still in the opened box was that this was made with quality in mind. Right from the word go even the packaging was impressive with cardboard being the main material used to protect the product in transit. I was surprised that only a very… Read more ·  1

limited 'quick start' information sheet was in the box along with a note to say a User Manual was available on the internet. The rationale from the manufacturer for this was to save resources but that is only true if the end user reads the manual online, otherwise it is necessary to print out a 13 page A4 document. In my case I chose the paper copy as there was a lot of product and maintenance information to take in and it was easier to have a hands on manual to refer too.

Using the vacuum cleaner: I was able to use the Dyson v12 detect slim on a variety of floors such as fine pile carpet, long pile carpet, vinyl flooring, ceramic tiles, and in the laundry on a bare concrete floor. I also tried it on the carpet in the cabin of a motor vehicle and also used the variety of brush attachments on window sills and channels in the aluminum window frames.

Also I tried the soft dusting brush on things like a computer keyboard, controls set on a printer and on the console switch assembly in the motor vehicle. This worked okay but took a bit of time to collect all the very fine dust.

The battery recharged in about 3-4 hrs so if the space to be cleaned is substantial it's possible a second battery could be required to get the work done immediately or space the cleaning out over a couple of days.

Direct Drive Cleaner Head - This is the main utility foot and can be used on soft and hard floor covering without need to make any adjustment when going from one type of flooring to another. To operate the vacuum cleaner in eco mode [lowest power setting] it worked well when only light duty cleaning was required. This power mode gives the longest runtime and the LCD display indicated from a fully charged battery around 50 minutes for cleaning before recharging was required.

The auto power mode applies when the cleaning heads are connected and adjusts the power as is required but this reduces the possible run time to clean before requiring a recharge.

I used this foot on a long pile carpet in a bedroom. The carpet has been installed for decades and is cleaned regularly. This foot, especially using it in boost power mode, drew out particles long since hidden and quickly filled the bin. Using the vacuum in boost mode reduced the run time to a few minutes so it's not possible to do the entire house on this setting without a few additional batteries or constant recharging.

But the boost mode is ideal for hard to clean spots that the other modes can't shift.

Laser Slim Fluffy Cleaner Head - As the name suggests this foot has a laser that illuminates the floor ahead and reveals fine dust particles on hard floors and covering. I used it on the ceramic tiled floor in the bathroom and on the vinyl floor in the kitchen and its low angle to the floor does highlight the dust. This would be particularly useful in darker areas. There is an on/off switch to control the laser. It's there probably to conserve power or maybe for safety but I just left it switched on.

Hair Screw Tool - I tried this out on the lounge coverings but as there are no pets in the house, hair was to a minimum on these surfaces. I tried it on the floor of the vehicle as it had a fair bit of dead grass from foot traffic and it worked reasonably well, although it was limited, as the floor in the vehicle is not flat so the suction varied. But it did a fair primary clean before using the stubborn dirt brush to finish off.

Clearing Blockages and Cleaning the vacuum cleaner: The Dust Bin - It's emptied with the wand removed by pushing a red release control forward and the door flips open as the bin slides over the filter. This action helps the filter to self clean. If an obstruction is stuck in this area another lever allows for the bin to fully disengage from the cleaner to allow access to the blockage.

A secondary filter is located surrounding the LCD screen and with a twist it can be removed from the vacuum cleaner but still housed in the purple retainer. This filter can be washed in flowing warm water and after thorough drying reattached to the machine in reverse order.

Laser Slim Fluffy Cleaner Head - To clean this attachment the brush bar needs to be fully disengaged from the foot. The end cap also needs removal from the brush bar before rinsing the bar under flowing warm water. The end cap should not be washed and it's a pull off - push on action to remove it from the bar. It can be a bit fiddly to line things up for reassembly but once it's tried it can be done without too much trouble.

Direct Drive Cleaner Head and Hair Screw Tool - Similar to the Laser Fluffy Slim Head these can be disassembled to clear blockages and for general maintenance but they are not to be immersed or washed under flowing water. I managed to get these apart and reassembled at least once to see how it's done.

Wall Dock and Charging: I installed the wall dock/caddy in a utility cupboard with enough room for the vacuum cleaner to hang vertically in place with the wand and a foot attached.

The plug from the power adapter was a bit fiddly to install in the wall dock as it tends to float about a bit before a plastic retainer is snapped into place to hold it upright. This orientation is so the vacuum cleaner can be hung in the wall dock from the top entry and then engage the adapter power plug located at the base of the wall dock. A blue LED indicates that the battery is under charge and goes out when charging is complete.

The wall dock also serves as a tool caddy for two attachments/tools. Another two attachments/tools can be stored in the wand clip and they therefore travel on the wand with the cleaner around the house/unit/office.

Room for Improvement: 1. I think the power switch could be relocated so that holding the vacuum cleaner and powering on and off could be done with the one hand.

2. An additional shorter wand would be good addition to the kit when using the various attachments/tools in some applications as the bulk of the main body of the vacuum prevents access in tight spaces when using these items. Also a short flexible hose/wand would allow access for cleaning the top of pelmets and under the seats and control pedals in vehicles, for example.

3. Probably not an issue in modern houses but in a 1960s house the Direct Drive Cleaner head jammed a bit under the kitchen cupboard doors as the kick-boards are not as high as the ones in contemporary kitchens. This doesn't apply to the Laser Slim Fluffy foot as it has a lower profile.

Summary: Over-all I was satisfied with the vacuum cleaner and could tell it was a well crafted appliance and it moves with little effort across various types of floors and floor coverings.

The positive way the attachments engaged/disengaged onto the wand and the wand to the main body made it a pleasure to use. No more fighting to get parts together and apart.

This appliance probably wouldn't fully replace large capacity vacuum cleaners in a large house but it would cover a residential unit, small business premises and a small to medium house adequately. But because it's slim the dust bin holds less and that means more trips to empty its contents if there is a lot of heavy cleaning required.

The particle detection facility may be important to others but I generally wouldn't use this data other than to see that it is cleaning thoroughly.

It is essential to read the users manual to understand what to expect from using and maintaining this vacuum cleaner. The built in alert system is a good idea to say when to clean the filter and when there is a blockage.

Some may find some of the maintenance of the appliance and it's attachments a little fiddly or cumbersome and a full 24 hour drying period is recommended before using washed parts which could slow things down unless you have a spare filter on hand.

Small and Agile – This little model is good for smaller jobs around the house. The barrel is slim as the model name suggests, needs emptying more often and the battery lasts somewhat less than the larger V11 model I've used although, it's just as versatile and powerful. I wasn't able to make hyperlinks so you'll have to highlight the link text, right click then… Read more

click "Go To" which should then take you to the YouTube video I put up, this worked for me... I can only include one clip in the review.

The particulate indicator, while purporting to show the size of the stuff you're picking up, I found to be a little gimmicky and somewhat unnecessary (since it becomes evident by seeing what's collecting in the barrel). It also tells you when the filter needs replacing, although the filter is washable in warm soapy water. The barrel is easy and simple to empty (as you'll see here https://youtu.be/UGdgsYjvPhE ) and seems to be easier to pull apart to clean thoroughly, as is the brush head attachments. Sorry, I didn't show that. It has an on/off button instead of a trigger switch. This is probably better for those who have trouble holding a trigger in, while doing the vacuuming. It includes 3 power modes (Eco, Auto & boost) and I found the Auto mode to be sufficient for almost everything. This is mainly since the Boost mode only gives around 10 minutes of usage with the carpet power head, as the battery hasn't the same capacity as the bigger version of the V11. But this adds to the light weight design, making it good for smaller jobs. I have a small home with carpeted and vinyl floors and it makes it through the job on Auto mode, with minimal left to do the edges with the nooks attachment. I found the static dusting-brush attachments to be a little redundant unless using the Boost mode, but that's me. Although, the power brush head attachments are superb. The tangle free small power brush head is just that...Tangle free. I used it on the dogs beds as you'll see in this clip https://youtu.be/wDUnNfnSC6M I also put it through it's paces on my workbench (couldn't show that clip due to my rego plate showing) so you'll have to trust me, it is tangle free and hardy and is actually better than the standard one which comes with other models.

The hard floor power brush head with laser light is useful in dim areas, as in this clip https://youtu.be/MIKQssxcsaE (ignore the paint flecks on the floor, the flooring needs replacing) but you'll see in the attached "after" pic below, it works well collecting cat hair and dust. Yes, that's what was collected just during the video time! I initially thought the laser part of the hard floor power head was a gimmick, and while it may not be really obvious in my video, I was surprised at how visible it makes the finer particles. (like I said, there's paint flecks on my floor which make it look as though it's not picking up anything - but this is deceiving).

The carpet brush power head is superb in it's design as it's very maneuverable & efficient also. I went over the shag pile rugs outside, which the dogs like to lounge on, with an air driven brush head on my Bosch 240v vac, then followed with the V12 as a comparison (a before and after as it were). You'll see what was left behind (in the attached clip & you'll notice I accidentally tapped the brush head on the concrete, which helps to show how robust the Dyson V12 is!) I do hope it lasts longer than my washing machine did outside of warranty as I've already had it repaired twice. Seriously though, it is a well made machine. Not many drawbacks other than what I've mentioned already! This is the 1st time I've included videos in a review so apologies if my video links are troublesome and for the terrible editing etc. since I had to learn on the hop and open a YouTube account etc. while submitting this. Peace Out,

Dyson V12 Detect Slim Total Clean – In Depth Review of the Dyson V12 Detect Slim Total Clean. Model SKU: 368697-01 RRP: $1,199.00 AUD. Where to buy: Available from Dyson Australia online store, and all good home electrical appliances retail stores/online stores. In The Box: * Laser Slim Fluffy cleaner head. * Direct drive cleaner head. * Wall Mount Docking station. * Mini… Read more

soft dusting brush. * Stubborn dirt brush * Crevice Tool. * Hair Screw Tool. * Wand storage clip. * Combination Tool.

Specifications:

* Cyclone technology * 11 Cyclones. * Bin volume - 0.35L. * Filtration * Whole-machine filtration * Cleaner head * Laser Slim Fluffy™ cleaner head * Direct drive cleaner head. * Height - 123.4cm * Length - 25.2cm * Width - 25cm.

Pros:

• Hyperdymium Motor. • On/Off button. • Slim Fluffy + Laser. • Piezo Sensor. • Great cleaning performance. • Convenience. • Ease of use. • Many tools/accessories. • LCD displays real time results. • Light weight

Cons: 

• Dust Canister size. • Expensive price. • Short battery life (33 minutes) • No Floor Charging Docking Station - Only a wall charger docking station is included.

    Weight:    A light weight of just 2.2kg.  Lighter than my V11 Absolute Extra of 3.09kg.  Much easier to hold the V12 overhead for cleaning split system air conditioning mounted on the wall. Less arm and shoulder fatigue from lifting. Better weight for using as a handheld device too for car cleaning, bed cleaning etc.      Dust Canister Bin volume:    Capacity 0.35L  Considering this model has a focus on hair/pets hair, with the hair screw tool, very surprised that the maximum capacity level of this model is very disappointing.      Charging:  Charge time - 4 hrs.    Would have much preferred Dyson to have (considered) included the floor stand charging docking station in the box, because the wall mounted docking station is of no use to me unfortunately. I’m unable to drill & put screws into the walls in my home.    The wall mounted docking station is not going to be any good for people who rent, or live in caravans or some other type of accommodation such as mobile homes, because oftentimes drilling holes into rental property walls etc is an issue.  This really is something that Dyson has not considered to be of importance it seems.    I honestly feel this shouldn’t be overlooked for the V12 Detect Slim.  I’m going to be leaning the V12 Detect Slim against the wall or kitchen bench to charge as I’ve been doing with the Dyson V11 Absolute Extra.    Important fact: frustrated that I was unable to locate the floor docking station for the V12 in the accessories tab on the Dyson Australia website. Not available for purchase any more?      Battery life:    A quick vacuum of the kitchen floor and living room twist pile carpet delivered 33 minutes of use on a single full charge.  Has not lasted 60 minutes unfortunately. Perhaps my unit has a slightly faulty battery as far as charging. I’m unsure. Feel let down by this.      Accessories- Tools:    The V12 accessories/tools do not fit with the V11, so are incompatible if you own the V11 as well.      Noise Level:    Reasonably quiet. Much quieter than my Miele barrel vacuum cleaner.      Cleaning Performance:    On/Off button now included instead of the previous trigger style of running and stopping the machine. Which is a huge improvement. Excellent! In my opinion this V12 Detect Slim has more efficient cleaning with less pass overs compared with my V11 Absolute Extra. So much so, that I was pleasantly surprised and thought to myself WOW what a difference this model is.      Note of comparison:    The V11 is an excellent vacuum cleaner but does require more pass overs compared with the new V12 to suck up long fluffy white pet hairs and fluff off of my charcoal coloured twist pile carpeting.  Hair Screw tool is amazing and an absolutely must have!! Love it.  New, On/Off Button vs Previous Trigger Action Function.     Summary:    If you’re looking for a versatile, convenient rechargeable cordless stick type vacuum cleaner that has exceptional results, is light enough for overhead cleaning, and the price point is acceptable for your budget, then I do recommend considering buying the Dyson Detect Slim Total Clean.  You will not be disappointed with its weight, good looks and great cleaning results.    Please check out the video and photos that I have included for you here with my review.    Thank You & I truly hope that my review and included video will be informative and helpful for your next vacuum cleaner purchase decision making.          * Feedback for Dyson:    Please include the floor docking station with all models as a standard inclusion in the product box.  It’s something I feel should be included with purchase of all models of the vacuum cleaners.    Also, Would love the hair screw tool made into a larger head for on floor cleaning throughout the entire home.    Perhaps Dyson would consider making this newest hair screw option into an additional larger regular vacuum cleaner head for the V12 Detect Slim Total Clean and other models too?  An accessory soon perhaps, to purchase online?    Better still, it is definitely something that would be perfect for replacing the current standard vacuum cleaner head, hopefully made available for ALL models in future & updated models as a standard  vacuuming head included next time.

No longer ‘Loving my Dyson V12’ – See part 2 after 12 months Part 1. Light weight and easy to maneuver .. has great suction .. easy to clean and makes vacuuming tiles to carpet a breeze. Part 2. 12 months on battery needed replacement luckily still under warranty but I was shocked it lasted only a year and also even after thoroughly looking after masses of dust collects in small filter and clogs even if you empty and clean after each use.. Show details

A surprisingly versatile vacuum, but high price, lack of key accessories, and small bin may be issues – DYSON “V12 DETECT SLIM TOTAL CLEAN” STICK VACUUM REVIEW PLEASE NOTE: This is an in-depth review. I have tried to pack as much information as possible to make you an informed potential buyer. If you want a review that’s “short and sweet”, there are shorter reviews. Before you read this one, make yourself a beverage and a snack, get comfortable,… Read more ·  2

and give yourself the time to read it through. I have answered some questions here, that no other review seen has (at the time of writing). It will take less time to read than it would take you to find most of this information yourself. The reviewed Dyson V12 Stick vacuum costs roughly $1200, and I hope that I can help you to avoid disappointment before spending that much (or perhaps more).

I can’t use italics, bold, various heading sizes on the Product Review site, so I use caps lock for emphasis and headings, not yelling. Please consider this when reading. :~)

DISCLAIMER:

This is an Ambassadorial Review, meaning that I was sent this vacuum for free in exchange for an in-depth review. Now while I get to keep this product, I don’t get any other payments or “consideration” from it. The Ambassador Program just allows in-depth reviewers (like me), to write about products that they wouldn’t have otherwise. As always, I’ll talk about the things I like, dislike, concerns, areas for improvement, and who this vacuum might (and might not) suit.

THE OVERVIEW: (Don’t worry, I’ll go into increasing amounts of detail, use the headings to skip to the bits you like).

The Dyson V12 “Detect Slim Total Clean” (RRP: $1199) is the cordless stick vacuum kit I’m reviewing.

There were FOUR stick vacuum kits released at the same time by Dyson, (two kits for the V12, and two kits for the V15) they all use the same heads, so there's a lot of overlap here.

There is the “V12 Detect Slim Absolute Extra” kit, (RRP $1249 or $50 more than the “Total Clean” kit I have). It comes with a free-standing “Grab and go dok” (apparently that’s the spelling of Dock in Dyson).

The only advantage it has over the “Total Clean” kit, is that the kit includes a free-standing…. err… stand that can be put anywhere. You don’t have to mount the charging dock to the wall, so that might be good for people who are renting. The vacuums, the accessories, and everything else are IDENTICAL, but my “Total Clean” kit doesn’t come with that stand.

Apparently, the “Absolute Extra” kits (with the free standing dock) are only available from the Dyson web site. So don’t expect it to be in your local retailer or alternative online store.

I’m not going to lie, the V12 works really well, and is light weight, even for a stick vacuum. It’s very easy to manoeuvre, can clean really deeply or does “a light dusting” when needed. It’s actually a highly versatile cleaning tool, but only if you think about how you use it.

Both the V12 and V15 are, by my reckoning, light weight. Compared to our upright Electrolux, corded vacuum, either is positively “feather weight”.

I’ve never owned a stick vacuum before, so I was REALLY surprised by how quickly the bin fills up. The 350mL volume of the bin is TINY and will REQUIRE many emptying runs (which are quick to do, say… 30 seconds each time). The V15 bin is twice the size, and since I’ve filled the V12 in as little as 20 seconds with kitchen spills, I suspect it would only take me 45 seconds at most to fill a V15 at the same rate. But that’s an “extreme” example. Moral to this story: “Keep a bin close by”… for any stick vacuum. Well… maybe not the Outsize, which DWARFS the V12 capacity with its 1.9L bin. That said, on clean floors where the pets have not shed their entire coat… you might get a room or two done before you have to empty the tiny V12 bin. I don’t want to “make a mountain out of a mole hill”, but it does slow you down a little. Which offsets some of the benefits of a light weight and manoeuvrable vacuum.

While the decreased size is a drawback in some ways, it also allows the unit to be noticeably lighter than the V15. If you have a small place (or vacuum your place in stages), if you have limited strength, or simply do a lot of “higher up” dusting with your vacuum (High shelves, light fittings, blinds, etc), the similar reach, yet lighter V12 will work best for you. If you have a bigger place, (perhaps preferring to vacuum in one big hit), are reasonably strong, or you mostly worry about your flooring, then the V15 may suit you best. Both work very well. In fact, in my local Harvey Norman, a Dyson representative showed me both in action, and I couldn’t tell the difference.

Please understand, you don’t have to be a body builder to handle either the V12 or V15, but with a hour+ runtime on the Eco power setting, that’s a LONG time to be waving a 3kg (or even a 2kg) weight around in pseudo Tai Chi poses… or not. :-)

The V12 Specs:

- Bin Size: 0.35 L - Weight: 2.2 kg - Length: 123.4 cm - Width: 25 cm - Height: 25 cm

The V15 Specs:

- Bin Size: 0.77 L - Weight: 3 kg - Length: 126 cm - Width: 25 cm - Height: 25 cm

STUFF YOU SHOULD KNOW BEFORE PURCHASING:

- The Dyson Australia site is plagued with issues, the search function isn’t always reliable, and doesn’t always make your life easier. If you’re looking for parts or accessories for the V12, please try this link:

https://www.dyson.com.au/dyson/parts/step3/id/1027/

- I can say from personal experience, that Dyson’s “scheduled delivery” option doesn’t always meet their deadline… despite the fact that you pay for the privilege. Since my order has gone in, they’ve removed the “next day delivery” option I used, and now Dyson has given themselves a few business days leeway… which isn’t helpful if you’re in the last two days of you review period, and you’ve waited 28 days for them to get the V12 parts listed on their online shop. Now to be fair, MOST of my items arrived as expected. However, in line with Murphy’s Law, the most important bit… (a second battery) did NOT arrive on time. It’s literally going to be delivered “some time” on the last day. Why Dyson couldn’t stick ALL the parts in one parcel, I don’t know.

- Both the V12 and V15 models use the same head/tool connectors as most of the earlier V7, V8, Cyclone V10, and V11 models. So you CAN re-use your non-powered heads and other attachments from other Dyson stick vacuum models if you have them. (Powered heads from older models have not been tested, because I don’t own any).

- Despite the fact that this part is NOT labelled as “compatible”, the flexible extension hose truly IS compatible. As such, I STRONGLY recommend that you buy the Dyson Extension Hose (Part number: 967764-02) with your vacuum, as it is NOT included in any V12/V15 kit, and WILL make your life much easier with things like the dusting heads and crevice tools. NOTE: The flexible hose CANNOT run the powered heads (e.g. “Fluffy” laser head, the “Hair Screw” hair removal head, and of course, the “Direct Drive” motorised carpet head). Unlike the rigid pipe, that Dyson calls “the wand”, the flexible hose has no wires to pass the power through), but I can’t imagine why you’d ever want a setup like that in the first place. So that’s not an issue. The flex hose is generally priced between $25-$39 at many retailers.

- Dyson Batteries are proprietary and MODEL SPECIFIC. You can’t use a V6-V11 battery to power a V12, so you CANNOT use older batteries. I also have NOT found any “off brand” alternatives ANYWHERE at the time of writing. Similarly, the only place to get them at the moment is Dyson Australia’s online shop.

- You only get ONE battery with any of these kits. While the ECO run times may be impressive, the Boost mode sucks the battery dry in under 7 minutes AT MOST (less with powered heads). Consider getting a second battery, even though, at the time of writing they’re $250. (Part number: 965470-01).

- The HEPA filter is easy to clean in the videos, but I can say from experience, that in the rainy, bitter Canberra winter, the 24 hour “drying time” is optimistic. If you’re using the vacuum regularly… I’d humbly recommend getting a second filter from Dyson ($35), which is HALF the price at other online sellers. (Part number: 971517-01)

- The laser in the “Fluffy” hard surface head, isn’t a gimmick. In fact, it’s actually really handy to see the bits you (or your Roomba) have missed. So if you’ve got people with allergies, Asthma, or other issues/priorities where cleanliness is key, consider going for the V12 or V15 models over the previous models that do not have the “Detection laser”. Note: The laser ONLY works on hard surfaces… it does NOT do well on carpets.

ONCE YOU GET YOUR V12… The fun begins …. Or just the vacuuming… I suppose vacuuming could be fun… somehow…. Maybe less painful?….

THE PACKAGING:

The box was surprisingly sleek… even for a stick vacuum. It measured 800mm (L) x 275mm (W) x 155mm (H), and conveniently labelled as 5.55Kg in “gross weight”. Please note, that the retail box came in a brown box/sleeve that added a few millimetres in all dimensions, and brought the weight up to just under 6Kg.

This thing was packed in like Tetris. Each component was in individually shaped cardboard boxes. (No polystyrene at all) So the charger, the wall mount dock, the motor head/handle, a rigid pipe (they call “the wand”), and multiple head attachments were all protected, but packed in in like sardines… I doubt I’d remember how to put them back if I had to repack it.

WHATS IN THE BOX:

- Vacuum motor/trigger/dust bin assembly. From now on, I’m going to call it the “device”, “vacuum”, or “V12”. - 1x battery (pre attached, but easily removable by a “click in” port.. not too dissimilar from cordless drills) - 1x power adaptor/charger. - 1x Wall mount/dock (insert charger cable into this to complete) - Some screws/plug to attach charging station to the wall. - 1x rigid pipe, (Dyson calls this the “wand”) - 1x Wand clip (not exactly well explained), but used for storing spare attachments ON the V12 as you use it. - 1x “Laser slim fluffy” cleaner head. This has a laser that highlights dust/dirt on the floor so you don’t miss spots. It’s for hard floors. - 1x “Direct drive cleaner head”. For carpets. - 1x “Combination tool” - Wide nozzle and soft brush head (you can switch) for dusting and cleaning. - 1x “Crevice tool” - The usual narrow nozzle for hard to reach places. - 1x “Hair screw tool” - This is really interesting, as the conical brush and cleaning comb stops long hair from building up in the head, as it would on the “Direct drive cleaner head”. - 1x Soft dusting brush for delicate surfaces. - 1x Stubborn dirt brush… useful for car interiors, with stiffer brush bristles.

ASSEMBLY:

It’s pretty clear where the motor is, clip the head directly to the device itself, or attach via the long rigid pipe/tube (Dyson calls it the “wand”) attachment. The battery and filter is already installed. In short, you have everything you need to get started. However, you should probably charge the battery first.

The wall mounted dock is probably the most difficult part.. and that’s still pretty easy. You just need to pay attention to where the cable is running, and you should start by positioning the plug end first, then running the cable through the designated channels in the dock.

Now I’m the kind of guy who reads the documentation and this is what I found….

LET’S TALK ABOUT DOCUMENTATION… WARNING RANT IMMINENT:

Once you open the box, there’s a narrow slip of COLOUR printed paper that says “to reduce our environmental impact, we’ve put the manual online”. This slip of paper has a QR code that frankly…. DIDN’T WORK on the day of delivery. (It has since been fixed). Letters outlining “Environmental impacts” is strange and somewhat ironic, because there’s ANOTHER fold out pamphlet outlining how to mount the charging station to the wall. There’s YET ANOTHER paper quick setup guide, and then the “piece de resistance” is the fact that they put the safety warnings in a large, heavy-ish weighed A4 SIZED paper booklet with 12 pages, enclosed in an A4 sized envelope. But STILL no hard copy of the manual? Are you KIDDING me?

You might be wondering “Why is that important?”

Because the ENTIRE online manual is only 13 pages, not a lot of information by any metric, and yet they have SEVERAL BLANK PAGES in the warning booklet, that could have contained most of the manual there. Similarly, why have the envelope at all? Environmental concerns <cue scoff here>. I suppose it’s better than plastic bags for the manual, but not by much.

In short, not everyone wants to have to look the manual up on a $1200 vacuum, and the failure of the QR code was NOT a good first impression. I know the videos on the Dyson Australia site show how to care for each and every head (when the videos become available) but what if your customers are of an older persuasion, or have little tech prowess, or Internet access? Dyson, I know you want to be innovative, and it’s good to have multimedia options for the technologically inclined, but foisting the printing costs to your customers after forking over $1200 bucks is pretty sad… and I know several Dyson owners who live in a farm and DON’T have great Internet access. Downloading a 42MB manual may be trivial to most, but if you are a retiree on a farm that has no mobile coverage because you’re in a valley, and you’re 60Kms out of town.. well these users are completely out of luck.

Dyson, having looked through all the documentation carefully, I’ve come to the conclusion that to put it bluntly, this device, while reasonably intuitive, is not THAT intuitive, particularly from a maintenance perspective. New users should have a hard copy manual included, period. You’d have a greater environmental impact if you didn’t put a brown cardboard box around your retail box, not just in saved trees, but the carbon created by shipping it.

Put all the information a user might need in 1 booklet, skip the numerous loose page/pamphlets, and save the envelope too.

<cue deep breath and hopping off my soap box now>.

ADJUSTING SETTINGS ON THE V12 VIA THE SETUP MENU:

There are two buttons on the V12. There’s the On/Off button on the top, and the button on the back end, below the screen. I’m going to call it the “end button”

The end button does most things, and its function depends on the context you use it, and how long it’s pushed.

Charging? Once the V12 is on the charge, tapping the button once shows the battery’s charge level in 5% increments. (For example: 85% full)

Tapping the button when on AND off (and not charging) switches between Low (Eco), Med (Auto) and High (Boost) speeds.

Is the vacuum off? (But at least somewhat charged) Press and HOLD the end button to enter the setup menu. Tap to scroll through the options, and hold to select the desired setting. Press the power button at any time to start vacuuming.

There aren’t many settings to adjust, but they are:

1. Language Selection (Default: English) 2. Turn screen and audible maintenance alerts on/off (Default: On) 3. Turn the particle count on/off (Default: On) 4. Set the Motor sensitivity to either low, medium or high. (Default: Medium). In Auto (or Med) the motor uses the particle count to adjust the motor speed. If you find that the motor isn’t adjusting quickly enough, adjust to high, or if you feel that the motor is switching too frequently, you may want to drop the sensitivity to low.

I run on the default settings for the most part.

THE "RUN DOWN" OF MY SITUATION & TEST RESULTS

We live in a 3 bedroom, two storey home, of roughly 220 square metres. We have renovated…. partially, and have pretty much every type of flooring imaginable, including the ever challenging carpeted stairs. We have long haired pets, long haired humans, and the shortest hair length Is my own shoulder length hair. Tumble weeds of fur and dust bunnies are the least of our problems. We also have many visiting family members, their kids, pets, and other "weapons of mess creation".

We’re also avid foodies, and our kitchen floor has had every conceivable food prep, cheese making, bread baking, pastry making, food preserving, spice smoking, tea mixing mess you can imagine.

There’s also a workshop, loads of mess there… because it wouldn’t be a workshop without some hard-earned mess.

We have a food forest, so we’re constantly traipsing in with fruit debris on our feet, mud, clippings, pets bringing in anything that’s caught in their fur.

Bottom line, a day off from cleaning results in seemingly unrecoverable levels of filth being generated.

So that’s us in a nutshell, onto the V12 review!

THE DYSON V12 DETECT SLIM TOTAL CLEAN:

This is a sleek, light weight, cordless vacuum. It is also small. I had absolutely NO idea that it would fill up so fast or so often. I have been known to empty the bin 6 times in less than half an hour. You almost HAVE to do your vacuuming in stages, both as a result of the bin emptying, and run time limitations.

The sheer range of included vacuum heads and tools ARE impressive, but adding a flexible extension hose makes many passive (non-powered) heads MUCH more useful. (That’s another $30) Frankly, I’d have swapped out the soft brush tool for the flexible hose because the “Combination tool” has a soft brush option.

Filter cleaning, easy to do in general, but the REALLY fine debris does make it through to the filter. Ultra fine grades of flour and bentonite clay powder are things you REALLY want to shake out, vacuum out, brush out BEFORE you wash the filter with water. Otherwise you’ll block up your filter…. permanently. However, most households don’t have to worry about that.

Dyson recommends you clean the filter REALLY regularly. As in, at LEAST once a month. It’s simple to do and takes less than a minute with normal debris (household dust etc). That said, even if everything goes well, the filters can take longer than 24 hours to dry properly in wet and wintery conditions. I’d recommend buying a second filter so you can keep going when you need to.

I can see how most people will survive on one battery, but I really want two for frantic, larger scale cleaning… typically when the “In laws” have given me a heads up, that they’re most of the way to our home already, and I’m alone with the pets to help me.. tidy up… by shedding everywhere.

HEADS UP! HOW WELL DOES EACH ATTACHMENT CLEAN?

There are a lot of attachments, where you can use the long “Wand” for standard floor vacuuming (or reaching high places). Alternatively, connect them directly to the V12 for more of a hand vacuum/Dust Buster experience.

Let’s start with the passive heads/tools. Crevice tool, stubborn (stiff brush) head, soft brush head, combination tool, and crevice tool.

While you CAN use these heads for a variety of different purposes, the rigidity of the setup is probably one of the most limiting features of any standard V12 or V15 Kit. There is not one flexible link in the entire apparatus. Sure, it works on open spaces, but for those “hard to reach” places, a flexible hose would help get the angles you need, or go around corners, or stretch out that little bit more when needed. In short, pretty much all the time.

Brushed heads….

I find the bristles on any/all brushes (the non-powered, non-rotating bristles), regardless of how stiff or soft they are, a little frustrating. The bristles create such a poor seal, that the head does not get enough suction on anything BUT boost mode if you’re trying to lift up anything heavier than dust. In fact, when dusting, any dust bunnies seem more likely to get stuck in the bristles than enter the vacuum. That said, they do work well for lighter less clumped dust. I find the softer brushes particularly useful on bookshelves, skirting boards, picture frames and speaker grilles, if used with care.

The “Stubborn dirt” head is something I don’t use a lot, because I have never believed that a vacuum is a substitute for a scrubbing brush, but it is handy to remove compressed dirt from sliding door tracks.

Non-bristled, non powered heads….

I have tried to use this as a hand-held vacuum to suck up some sugar/salt/peppercorns from the floor, but the bare plastic pipes like the crevice tool and combination tool, only work at specific angles, relative to the surface being vacuumed. If you don’t have the right angle and approach, even boost won’t help. In fact, I experienced times where the exhaust flows from the V12 were blowing the mess around BEFORE I could get the nozzle close to vacuum it up. In that sense, this vacuum can spread mess instead of cleaning it up. Using a flexible head allowed me to redirect the exhaust airflow away from the mess while approaching the mess with the nozzle. So once again, I think it’s an additional accessory that helps a LOT.

Speaking of spreading mess, let’s talk about the fluffy, laser head that’s designed for hard floors.

Powered head 1: The “Fluffy”/Laser hard surface head….

If I push forward on the fluffy head, it vacuums as normal. If I pull back across the floor over debris, the spinning brush can flick the mess backwards, so it operates somewhat like a temperamental broom, instead of sucking the bits up. Believe it or not, after some practice, I’ve learned to use this to good effect, but this was a bit of an issue learned “the hard way” when broken glass shards were flung over a metre (along the floor) toward my bare feet.

The “Laser” is, basically, a glorified mess highlighting torch. The laser itself detects nothing, but it DOES show, in almost horrific detail where you’ve missed, and how other vacuuming attempts aren’t as clean as you might imagine. In bright indoor light (not direct sunlight) the laser IS less visible, but I find it works pretty well for me, even on white tiles. Where it truly excels though, is in dim conditions on dark floors. The lasers will show every excruciatingly small piece of fluff, and give your place a real “Matrix/Tron” look… if dust was a luminescent green. (I’ve included images, check them out).

I thought the laser would be a gimmick but it is actually handy. We have other vacuums in the house, and now we’re starting to use the Dyson as the metric by which other vacuums (and vacuuming attempts) are being judged. Dyson has got to love that!

Maintaining the “fluffy brush” in the laser head is surprisingly simple, and gets far fewer tangles than other similar brush heads. I uremoved the brush from the head, pulled off the two hairs that were wrapped around the brush, pulled out the hairs around the axle/motor in the head (still a relatively small amount), then washed the brush head under cold water as instructed by the Dyson video. Total time to clean, maybe 4 minutes. Drying time… a day.

The “Fluffy” head is the quietest of the powered heads. My theory is that the fluffy spinning brush might actually absorb some of the noise itself.

The laser head, combined with the particle counter on the V12, might be a source of concern (or obsession) for some. I want to make it absolutely clear, that while it’s great to see where to vacuum next, and how much is being sucked up, I want to (gently) remind you that it’s JUST a vacuum cleaner. It’s not going to provide a “clean room” result (the kind used in industry for research, pharmaceutical manufacturing, etc). The V12 is going to help reduce the mess considerably, but you have to keep expectations grounded in reality. Dyson has often confused many customers by hyping up their products without explicit explanations. It’s not necessarily misleading, but people who don’t know the details often believe the products do more than they actually do… simply because it has loads of features, the premium price tag, and “It’s Dyson”. You dear reader, are doing research, so you’re less likely to be caught out.

Powered head 2: The “Hair Screw”.

The next amazing V12 related innovation, NOT seen in previous models is the “Hair screw”. In short, it is scarily effective, (I call it the “Conical Buzz Cutter” since it shears a prodigious amount from my fur and hair infused surfaces). The head is so easy to clean. Now I usually dread cleaning the brush heads, but I’ve done carpeted stairs, blankets, yoga pillows, upholstery, pet beds. The only thing that it hasn’t handled is a rug with faux fur so long it’s probably 7-10cm long. In this case, the head motor stops, and even once removed from the fur rug, the motor won’t start up again, until the V12 is turned off and on again.

Maintenance on the hair screw is a little non-intuitive, as the cover came off in an angle I didn’t expect. Then it’s a matter of removing any tangled hair from there and reassembling. I found the instructional video online lacking, as it showed the person struggling to put it together, then it suddenly cuts to the scene where it was fully reassembled. (WHAT!? How can you skip that key step?) I figured it out though… eventually… which was all of 5 minutes later.

Let’s finish with the last of the powered heads. The “direct drive” carpet head.

In short, it works like every other carpet head, only with less clogging, easier maintenance, and a surprisingly deep carpet clean. Interestingly, it also works pretty well on hard surfaces too if you you have larger debris to pick up. My partner has often solely operated with this head and set the V12 to Auto. It shifts the power, depending on whether it’s on carpet or harder surfaces.

Personally, I think there are times that it’s better to use the hair screw on carpets for a particularly deep clean. However, the larger widths of the both the direct drive and fluffy laser heads will clean a greater area in a short amount of time.

All the powered heads work surprisingly well in their specialty areas, and the direct drive works on both hard and soft surfaces better than some vacuums. However, the fluffy head is so soft, I can dust walls, and de-cobweb my walls, projector screen and ceilings so easily. The V12s weight and reach makes it easy.

That said, this is one case where the lighter weight of the V12 works against it, because the carpet head works well, but it works BETTER and more deeply if you push the head into any thick carpet. Suddenly my bin will start filling with the ingrained dirt, and the carpets become more vibrant… I’m not saying that it’s miraculous, but I found it to be noticeable. This carpet is 17 years old, and to my knowledge has never been professionally cleaned. We’ve been meaning to get it replaced so… yeah… not the cleanest.

What about a BARE WAND?

Anyone who has ever vacuumed has used the pipe alone (no head) to reach into corners, run along edges, pick up larger debris, etc, etc. I think it’s OK, but this is a battery powered vacuum, that uses the heads to optimise the available suction. Without those heads, I wouldn’t say the V12 is amazing, but it will pick up lighter debris.

GOING BEYOND THE BASICS: Additional attachments that are sold separately.

I’ve already discussed why I think a flexible extension head is a fantastic addition to the kit. It improves the usefulness of other heads, avoids problems, and can make the vacuuming less cumbersome and much more pleasant, which helps those with limited mobility the most. The price is just $30, so I think it makes the $1200 kit far more useful.

The Dyson “Up Top” Adaptor…(Part number: 971431-01)

If you are shorter, (or just too short for the task at hand) this puts a more rigid yet still somewhat adjustable bend to your heads. It’s for reaching high places at specific angles, without the “floppiness” of the flexible extension hose (that really needs you to use both hands) when the far end is out of reach.

It works phenomenally well in a lot of situations… particularly when you need to get “up and over” something (like chandeliers), or “around the side” of something. Again, it is worth the (yet another) $30…but like the flexible extension hose, it does NOT work with powered heads, but they have .

So you know that the V12 cleans well if used correctly, there’s lots of heads that work well, and you can make it better with additional attachments. Now here are the nitty-gritty details like run times and noise levels.

MANAGING RUN TIME EXPECTATIONS… BECAUSE THEY AREN’T SO “CUT AND DRY”:

Honestly, for a lot of everyday tasks, the run time on the V12 is very good, but you shouldn’t expect miracles. You don’t have the sheer unending torrent of mains power, so you HAVE to choose between duration and power in many situations.

The V12 has some significant power improvements over many older models. It is for this reason that each generation of Dyson vacuum has a unique battery that cannot be swapped with other models. It also means that the V12’s battery is the most expensive at the time of writing. (Jun 2021).

The handy “run time remaining” clock….

It may shock you, that the count down is NOT accurate to the second as it might suggest. I’ve seen it immediately drop from 2:12 to 1:55 WITHOUT the digits in between. This happens when one of the battery sensors detects a change, and the V12 recalculates. It’s not all bad though, I found that in many cases you get 1-2 MINUTES more in real time use than the initial timer suggests.

Speaking of inaccuracies, don’t assume that the information on the Dyson site is universally accurate. To call it a guide line… is probably closer, and real world results are subject to frequent change.

A lot of people think there’s three settings, and thus three “ballpark” run times. But there’s a lot to consider.. more than most might think.

Temperature matters…

Run times are significantly impacted by temperature. Colder temperatures influence battery chemistry, and cause shorter run times on a given charge. On some of my trials, I’ve found that a battery with a starting temperature of 14 Celsius, (just 4 degrees less than the recommended minimum), running on boost, can shave about 90 seconds to 2 minutes off the expected run time. This is despite the rapid rate at which the battery heats up. Interestingly, on multiple runs when “starting cold”, Boost mode tends to stop the unit with 20-25% power remaining, so your run time becomes even shorter. In these cases, I’m lucky to get 4 minutes of actual use.

Remember how I said the battery warms up “rapidly”… even starting at 14 Celsius, by the end of a 4 minute Boost run, the battery is likely to be 45-55 Celsius when "drained". Before I recharge, I let the battery cool down for an hour or so. This is much longer than the 5 mins Dyson recommends for the lower power settings. This is much less of an issue with Eco & Mid power levels, as the battery barely warms up on Eco (7 degrees), with only a modest increase on Auto (12 degrees), so I stick to the recommended 5 mins in these cases.

Testing note:

I’ve tried to bring our cold house up to the minimum recommended temperature of 18-20 Celsius to ensure a fair assessment. Of course, warmer temperatures may extend the run times further, but I’m trying to limit my environmental impact. :-)

Heads matter….

It mightn’t surprise you that using a motorised/laser installed head uses more power than a non-powered head like ”the crevice tool”. What most of my fellow reviewers HAVEN’T mentioned, is different power heads (e.g. fluffy, hair screw, and direct drive carpet heads) use differing amounts of power, (tested with a near zero load) and thus each have a differing impact on run times. They also have an impact on noise levels too… but we’ll get to that.

In order, from least power used to most power hungry (or longest run time to shortest) heads are:

1. Any passive head (including/excluding bare wand, or even no wand or head, the difference is minimal). So the “Crevice tool”, “Combination tool”, “Soft dusting brush” and “Stubborn dirt brush” and bare wand will offer the longest run times. The exception is when using the flexible extension hose and “Up top” adaptors, as they tend to put additional “drag” on the airflow so run times are a little shorter in these cases.

2. The “Laser slim fluffy head”. This reduces Eco run times by over 10 minutes, and is the least draining of the power heads. The laser uses so little energy, the difference on run times, on or off, is negligible.

3. The “Hair screw tool”/Conical “Buzz Cutter”. If you lose 10-13 minutes with the laser head, you’ll lose another minute or two on Eco. Total impact around 12-15 minutes less run time.

4. The “Direct Drive Carpet Cleaner”. The most power hungry of the heads, and quite rightly so, since it is, in effect, a bigger hair screw tool. You’ll probably lose another 5 minutes or so more than the Hair Screw Tool. Total impact; about 20 minutes less run time.

I’ll include a lovely graph showing Mode Vs. Head Choice on run times. Because I know you’ll likely prefer graphs over tables of numbers.

Modes matter…. The most:

Eco REALLY draws out the longevity of any single charge, so it usually offers 20 minutes more than “Medium/Auto” (if Auto doesn’t use boost very much). Put another way, Mid/Auto (if not taxed much at all) reduces run time by 20 minutes, compared to Eco.

The disparity between Eco and Boost is HUGE. If you use a passive head (no power) then Boost reduces the run time from 73 minutes to 7. (66 minute loss). Powered heads, because their eco times are significantly shorter to begin with, lose about 45 minutes… still leaving 4-7 minutes of actual run time.

Variability of “Auto”…

Auto is honestly a hard one to “nail down” conclusive results for. It might spend more time in boost in one test than another, and I have no control over that… unless I turn the sensitivity to low and run in a clean room. Which wouldn’t be a realistic test. That said, I’ve lightened its load as much as possible, so it rarely “ramped up” during the tests.

CHARGING:

Officially, the site says that a complete charge can take up to 4.5 hours, but I find that a complete charge (empty to full) is usually done in roughly 2 hours and 46 minutes on average (At 18-20 Celsius, over the 46 charges timed so far). I suspect that the charging time will change as the battery ages, and of course, the temperature shifts up or down. In any case, any partial charges seem to take a proportional amount of the full 2hr 46m average. So if 25% of the full charge remains in the battery, it’ll generally take 75% of the average full recharge time to “top up”…. which is 2 hours, 4 minutes and 30 seconds. A 50% charge really does seem to hover around the proportional 83 mins. A 25% “top up” seems to take about 42.5 mins…. At least on a newish battery.

Different ways to charge:

You can charge the battery without the V12 or plastic dock attached by plugging the adaptor directly into the battery. You’ll get the pulsing blue lights to indicate that it’s charging, then they turn off entirely when it’s full. If you’re really worried about “how charged” it is, then you can connect the V12 to the battery while it charges, and push the button under the screen to find out the current percentage (usually in 5% increments).

Of course, you can run the charging cable into the dock as intended, then charge the battery by itself, or with the V12 attached. There's no difference.

Now here comes the bit I find somewhat unhelpful…

Users are supposed to let the V12 “cool down” for five minutes before putting the unit back on the charge. Now for lighter cleans, I actually forget to do this. The unusual shape of stick vacuums in general means there’s often no NICE way to set it down it as you wait. Sometimes I lean in against a wall, or on a chair/table/bed. As a user, when I’m done vacuuming, I’m immediately tempted to put it back in the dock. If I turned the charger off and put the V12 in the dock, I sometimes forget to turn it back on. More likely though, I put it down, and do something else, completely forgetting to put the V12 on dock (let alone the charge) again. <cue semi-routine forehead slap and groan each time here>

Things get even worse for a “boost” run…. Even in a room at 18 degrees Celsius… let me explain:

If you are really hammering the battery on “Boost” from a full charge to the time it goes flat, 5 minutes is NOT enough time to cool down. The battery frequently hits 45-55 Celsius (and it’d be worse in warmer conditions). Think about that for a minute, that’s a 30 degree shift in under 7 minutes. I know of ovens that are slower to heat up than this. No wonder Dyson doesn’t recommend using boost.. if you want the battery to last…. Boost is not the way to go.

For the (truly necessary) cool down after “Boost”, I like to bring it down to reasonable ambient temperature before I recharge it, so I generally wait anywhere between 50-70 minutes for it to hit 20 Celsius again. Needless to say, this has significantly slowed my testing and general use at times. I’m averaging 2-3 charges per day, and that’s a pretty extreme test for any battery of this type. I’d like to say that my ordered second battery was amongst my other ordered parts…. but it wasn't.

Notes about the battery and thermal behaviour…

I’ve found that the hottest parts of the battery are the central area of bottom, and the connectors. So don’t assume that it’s cool because the sides are “cool enough”. There can be a 10 degree (or more) difference between one section of the battery and another… and that’s something that definitely needs monitoring.

EXPECTED LIFE SPAN OF A DYSON BATTERY:

How you use it, and charge it will obviously impact how long a battery remains functional. It seems that they’re designed to last about 3 years… but your mileage may vary… a lot. Remember that the battery IS covered for two years. After that, you can expect some performance loss.

Now with a little research, I found that there’s an alleged (and infamous) quote by the founder of Dyson (James Dyson) that promises a mere 20% reduction in battery performance after 15 YEARS of regular use. I’m sorry, but I just don’t believe that. It makes certain assumptions, requires caveats, and conditions. If it were true, the warranty would be… 15 years… or at least 10… but alas… it’s not.

Back to planet Earth….

Dyson states that their batteries will operate best in temperatures from 18-28 degrees Celsius. When using batteries in lower temperatures, you should expect shorter run times as the battery chemistry will become less efficient. I have included ambient air temperatures in my test results for reference.

NOTE: In fact the battery will not charge, nor will the V12 RUN in temperatures below 5 degrees. This is common in Lithium based batteries. Warm it up and it’ll start working again. I guess Dyson hasn't sold well in Siberia.

Operating the V12 in sweltering heat waves run the risk of fire and explosions…. (The nature of a Lithium based battery) so I’d avoid vacuuming on really hot days too… unless you have air conditioning.

Dyson explicitly says that you should avoid using Boost as much as possible, as the strain on the battery will shorten its working lifespan. That doesn’t surprise me, and IS in line with my experience with this and other batteries. My last few “Boost” tests, seem to be shorter despite similar conditions.

WHERE TO PUT THINGS?… THE CHARGING DOCK:

If you have a drawer or cupboard, then obviously you’re fine… however if you’re like most people… those heads can take a surprising amount of space, don’t stack nicely, they’re often left around the place, forgotten in cleaning frenzy induced haze, the cat has “played with it” all the way down the corridor, from where you “took a break”.

The wall mounted dock can hold two heads. The wand clip can hold two heads natively (or three if you have the flex/extending hose), and of course, you can have one head connected to the V12… but you have more heads than you have space for in the basic kit. Dyson sells a wall mounted rack, but I couldn’t find one on the Dyson Australia site at the time of writing. eBay sells several versions that hold three heads for around $15. For those with access to a 3D printer, simply search “Dyson” on Thingiverse (or equivalent) for pre-made models you can print out… or a second wand clip if you want. :-) I’ve been considering making a double decker wand clip.. but I’m not sure how useful it would be.

Truthfully, I haven’t mounted my dock on the wall…. But I’m starting to think a little mobile solution that allows me to:

1. Empty the bin, without walking from one end of the house to another. 2. Provide a nice stand/place to “cool the V12 down”, without fear of it falling over, creating a trip hazard, etc. 3. Has some storage for my various accessories…

This might be something I can build on my next free weekend. Hmm.. but that won’t be soon. Sigh.

HOW NOISY IS THE V12?

Well, one of my cats doesn’t care if it’s on “Eco mode”, and a power head is NOT being used. Other reviewers describe it as a conversational hum, dominated by the sound of air rushing through the vacuum. Terms like “Whooshing”… I found quite amusing if somewhat non-specific as “Whooshing” can match or even exceed the motor’s noisiness. As you’d expect, noise levels increase noticeably on Boost, even more so with a powered head.

So if you’re wondering, teething toddlers with trouble sleeping are NOT going to like impromptu vacuuming one bit. :-) Unless there’s about 10 metres of distance and at least one closed door between the vacuum and them.

Disclaimer: No children or pets were harmed or intentionally tormented by this test. Inconvenienced… on the other hand… well… it was unavoidable. ;~)

The V12 is surprisingly quiet, (for a vacuum). It cleans very well. There are MANY vacuums that are noisier, and clean less well. I suppose that’s to be expected of a Dyson though. Perhaps Dyson is a victim of its own success? We expect more, afterall.

I tested noise levels fairly extensively, both in a small carpeted room, and a larger, open plan tiled room usually at a distance of 1.5 metres. (The personal space I give anyone operating any sort of machinery). There are numerous ways to measure sound. I’ve chosen Sound Pressure Levels (SPL) with an A-Weight average, as this is closer to perceived noise, and excludes low frequencies that may exist in the environment, but are NOT caused by the V12.

That said, there’s the noise caused by the vacuum itself, then there’s the “incidental” associated noise created by pushing your vacuum head over tiles, moving furniture, rubbing along skirting boards, cleaning curtain rods, and the horrified screams as cobwebs drift down onto your better half as you test the “Up top adaptor”, oblivious to the fact that they’re nearby. I've tried to eliminate as much "incidental" noise as possible, so it may be a little louder in real use.

SPL is measured in Decibels (dB). For every 10dB added, the noise level doubles. You might know that, or you may have fallen asleep in that high school science class. I would never judge... much.

You’ll see a lot of my average readings fall between 50db and 70dB. That, said, many of my “Max” readings may go as high as 90dB when I’m dusting down large, resonating book shelves, Gyprock walls, or door frames. Sound travels much better through solids than air, and this is reflected in much louder readings.

What’s the worst case scenario in V12 noise levels?

The difference between my low 50db and max 90 dB IS significant (relatively speaking). Since there are four lots of 10 Decibels between 50 and 90, noise levels over that range have doubled four times. Consequently, 90dB is SIXTEEN times louder than 50db.

If you’re starting to panic, please note that 50 decibels is “Hushed conversation”, 60 is conversational levels of noise. 70dB is the volume of a car driving by at 5 metres distance. 80dB is a busy road. 90 is a typical hair dryer on “high” setting, held near your head. Long term exposure at 90dB may cause damage, but it’s still a decent distance from the 120-130dB pain threshold of human hearing. That’s all for today’s science lesson. No tests or homework will be given.

Power Level Vs. Choice of Head & the Impact on Noise…

Not sure whether or not vacuuming will be too loud, but still need to do some cleaning? Perhaps choosing the right mix of power level and vacuum head will help. If you can’t do ALL the cleaning, perhaps doing the quieter bits will be ok.

Obviously lower power settings will reduce the noise. Unsurprising, but less obviously, the more power a head will use, the noisier the vacuum will be. So you can (to a point) reduce noise based on the head/tool combination you’re using.

Head choice in increasing loudness (generally):

1. Any passive (non powered) head, using the wand or not… or using the wand by itself, you decide. 2. Fluffy/Laser powered head, used for hard surfaces. (I think the fluffy roller actually absorbs some of the increased noise). 3. “Hair screw” powered hair removal tool. (larger and more rattly than the fluffy head) 4. “Direct drive” powered carpet head. A larger and noisier version of the “Hair screw”.

Here are my readings of power and head choice in an average-sized bedroom, with carpeted floors. I’ve ranked them from most quiet to loudest combinations (SPL - “A weighted” average):

1. ECO mode with any passive head, with wand, or no wand: 53.9 dB 2. ECO mode with “Fluffy”/Laser power head: 55.8 dB 3. MID / Auto mode with any passive head, wand/no wand: 57.7 dB 4. MID / Auto mode with “Fluffy”/Laser power head: 58.9 dB 5. ECO mode with “Hair screw” power head: 61.9 dB 6. MID / Auto mode with “Hair screw” power head: 63.1 dB 7. ECO mode with “Direct drive” carpet head: 66.2 dB 8. MID / Auto mode with “Direct drive” carpet head: 66.8 dB 9. Boost mode with any passive head, with wand, or no wand: 67.6 dB 10. Boost mode with “Fluffy”/Laser power head: 69.3 dB 11. Boost mode with “Hair screw” power head: 72.2 dB 12. Boost mode with “Direct Drive” carpet head: 72.7 dB

(I have a graph included in my image collection, have a look)

Location, Location, Location (and the effect on noise levels).

While the small room size may help encourage sound to bounce around my test bedroom, there’s a lot of soft furnishings (bed, carpet, curtains, wardrobe, human and pets) absorbing noise and lowering my recorded measurements. Harder surfaced, smaller rooms like bathrooms and tiled hallways have huge reverb capacity and would have the highest measured noise levels if the source was of equal volume. Larger rooms, are generally perceived as “more quiet” and become even more so when adorned with soft furnishings like living rooms. Dining areas with hard surfaces, but larger sizes, might fall somewhere between the two extremes.

That’s room acoustics in a nutshell….

In short, where you vacuum can have a profound impact on how loud your vacuuming is. The only way I could ensure that my measurements were consistent is that I ensured that the room was the same, the distances were the same, and relative positions were identical (or as close to it as possible) in each test. I can only provide you a guide for what my situation was like, as your place may be considerably different.

ARE WE DONE YET? Nearly!

SUMMING IT UP WITH QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS:

Initial price: 70%

There are a lot of stick vacuums. It’s definitely fair to say that this is one of the most expensive models on the market today. $1200 is going to exclude a lot of people. Since this model was only JUST released, there is almost NO variation on price, regardless of where you shop. Is this vacuuming job SO much better than a $400 Xiaomi Dreame I use for spills at work? I’m sorry, but the answer…. not to me. If I were to buy a stick vacuum, I’d probably limit it to $500, and I’d probably be happy with that. For this reason, I’m deducting 15%.

The lack of a flexible hose attachment, and “up top” adaptors make the included attachments less useful and the kit as a whole, and less enjoyable to use. Adding an additional $58 to an already expensive kit. I’m deducting a further 5% here for the default kit.

Some will say I should put this in the “ongoing costs” section, but I feel that there are a number of people who would find a second battery an almost essential addition. Increasing the costs an additional $249. For people like this, the combined total is $1507. I’m sorry, but that’s another 10% deduction.

Ongoing costs: 80% (for a stick vac) 50% in the context of “all vacuums”.

Now I know the initial battery is included in the kit price. You should get two years of free use in the worst case scenario. (Any less time, it’s replaced under warranty, and any more time, is going to reduce the average monthly cost). Thinking of it as a form of “depreciation” may help, or if you’re considering adding a second battery, the upkeep of that battery.

If a battery costs $249, and lasts two years. That’s a price of $124.50 per year, or roughly $10.38 per month. So not that different to a basic Netflix subscription. Obviously, if you have two batteries, and use the vacuum heavily, then that doubles the ongoing costs.

Another consideration is the HEPA filter. They cost $35, and I’m not entirely sure how long they last. I guess it depends on how regularly you clean the filter. I’m going to assume that they last 12 months, so that’s another $2.92 per month.

Assuming you don’t need to replace broken bits and you have no other costs, that’s about $13.29 month (or a $159.50) to keep the battery going (worst case scenario). Add annual filter replacement. Now that’s pretty darn close to the “deluxe” Netflix subscription each month. It’s not going to be much to wealthy Dyson fans, but if you’re on the fence about switching to Dyson, and are “stretching” just to buy the unit… perhaps Dyson isn’t for you.

That means, you could buy a NICE corded vacuum every 4 years with JUST the ongoing costs…. or buy a new (cheaper) stick vacuum entirely with the ongoing costs.

I’ve been going through my vacuum receipts… and I’ve found that the COMBINED ongoing cost in the last 7 years for all THREE of my corded vacuums, has been $338.51 (admittedly using off-brand filters in bulk, to no noticeable difference in performance). That’s just $48.35 a year or just $4.03 per month. That’s $1.34 per vacuum each month. This V12, by comparison costs almost as much per MONTH as my other machines do per YEAR. At 9.9x the monthly cost (in a worst case scenario) Even if we assume the Dyson battery lasts FIVE years (who knows, some might), that difference, it’s a lot. Especially with many people struggling at the moment.

Suddenly, the Dyson V12, looks a little less wonderful. You pay HEAVILY for the convenience of a Dyson cordless vacuum, and I know how wonderfully easy it is to use, but REAL comparative costs need to be evaluated. If I consider it “good for a cordless vacuum”, then I’d probably give it 80%, citing a 20% reduction for higher than average battery price. If I were to put it in the context of “all vacuums” then I’m afraid, the HUGE disparity in the maintenance costs weigh on me and I’d reduce it by 50%, contrasting the fact that some people need the lightest vacuum possible, so the battery tech has to be very good, so that has inherent value, and the fact that since it’s a Dyson product, should you really be surprised you are charged for the brand, even if it’s name-brand spare parts?

Quality: 90%

I feel there’s a lot of higher-quality parts in this unit. The battery alone has more sensors and management technology in it, improving safety, and providing amazing run times. I haven’t noticed any major degradation over time, but some of my boost test results are trending downwards somewhat, skewing average run times. In fairness, I’ve probably vacuumed so much in the last month, that it would exceed the annual vacuuming of most homes.

The components and attachments are... for the most part are well made, and have survived my month of thrashing them. I’ve noticed some scratching in the clear bits on my motorised heads, so it’s not quite as clear/see-through as it once was. There are times when things don’t quite close up the way I’d like, or come free as easily, and there’s a “little wobble” in some of the joints that probably shouldn’t be there. These things are usually easily fixed. However, there’s room for improvement, and they seem to be “niggling things” that are scattered throughout the collected parts. 10% deduction.

The heads, brushes, and attachments are sturdy and reliable. However, the powered heads are in general substantially better than most other vacuums.

Design: 95%

There’s a lot to like about this unit. I love the powered heads, and what each brings to the user. Things I didn’t even think were useful…. are.

It’s light weight, takes a beating, is simple to use, and cleans well if you use it with a minimal amount of thought. Cleaning technique plays a part, I really want complete, one-handed operation, and I find the button positioning “less than ideal” because of that desire. Some slightly more thoughtful consideration for the exhaust ports (and the wind direction) would be nice too.

I really like that there are available, replaceable parts, Even the seals that enable airflow across the articulating joint of heads are individually replaceable for a reasonable (for Dyson) price.

Ease of Use: 95%

Charge it up, select your power mode, and turn it on. Menu is a little cumbersome to use if you want to adjust the V12, but it’s not terrible.. I’m almost surprised they haven’t included a touch screen yet.

The Auto mode works well when transitioning between hard surfaces to carpets. The “remaining time” is accurate enough to make meaningful decisions like “can I squeeze this room in on the remaining charge”. I’m not sure how useful the particle counters are.

The heads are SO MUCH EASIER to maintain than other vacuums. The “Hair Screw”, AMAZING, The laser head, REALLY HANDY, and so easy to clean. The carpet head can be cleaned out in under 3 minutes.

The filters, can be cleaned (usually) in two minutes flat, (although 24 hour drying times can slow you down).

The bin empties very easily. (Although I still prefer to take the entire bin off and give it a shake, it takes an additional 10 seconds, and cleans the vacuum out more effectively, which helps make the most of the charge and filter.

Versatility: 85%

It has sucked up frozen peas, spices, flour, dust, dirt, gravel, grass clippings, sawdust, and fur without issue. The power levels allow you to adjust to your tastes, noise requirements, and the choice of heads is impressive. You can dust, brush, and vacuum any surface you care to name. That said, the lack of flexible extension hoses and other adaptors would make this kit more useful. I’m deducting 15% for that.

While the V12 can do a lot, it’s definitely better at some things than others. That leads me to….

Effectiveness: 90%

If you learn how to choose the right head + power level, and use it appropriately, then this vacuum does very well. It would enable people of limited strength or mobility to do their own vacuuming. The V12 really does do a deep clean when needed, more so than my corded vacuums. As a secondary vacuum, I’d give it 95%, but as a stand alone tool, there are times that there are easier ways to clean messes.

I have deducted 10% as I find that using it to clean up table tops as a “Dust Buster” isn’t effective unless I use boost. Which of course, is a mode that Dyson discourages. Perhaps shorter bristles will make the brushes a little more efficient? There’s room for improvement here.

Warranty: 40%

It’s hard to judge a warranty that I’ve never needed to test, that said….

Two years.. on a $1200 machine, is only twice the legal minimum. Most vacuums, match this warranty, even when they cost as little as $280. Now, after some research, I must acknowledge that Dyson’s battery warranty IS twice the 12 month period of some other manufacturers, but the machine itself is marketed (and priced) at such a markup, I expect to see some longer commitment to the customer.

It would have taken a 3 year warranty at LEAST to get 60%, a 5 year warranty to get 80%. It’s like Dyson says “We’re the best, and we charge like a beast for our products, but we don’t think they’ll last any longer than a significantly cheaper product”.

I’d also have liked to see some sort of recycling programme, and a “try a new battery, if it doesn’t solve the problem, send it back free of charge for a full refund”.

I gave this same rating to the Dyson HP04 air purifier, for similar reasons back in 2019. At least Dyson is clear about the 2 year warranty. But this was offset by the even higher price of the V12 Kit.

Support/Documentation: 65%

I’ve already had a rant about this. My experience was worse than what you’d get now, as many of the access issues on the Dyson site have been (at least partially) fixed up over the month I’ve been doing this review. I seems unfair to judge them on past performance when they’ve made some effort to improve.

The online manual, does cover a lot to it too. That said, the numerous slips of paper, booklet, pamphlets, AND ENVELOPE could have easily been condensed into one useful document, that INCLUDED a hard copy of the manual. Don’t cite “environmental impacts” that’s utter codswallop, and unhelpful to offline households. Deducting 25%

There are still issues with the Dyson Australia site, and it bothers me that these products are released in stores all over the country, but Dyson can’t even get the right model to be listed on the V12 page…. sigh. They needed to have their site completely running, fact checked, and tested MONTHS ago. Deducting 15%

Dyson, need a site auditor? I’m available!

I’m going to include this in this section, and that is the online store. The search function for parts and accessories seems to be as likely to send to you the wrong parts that look ALMOST right.

When it comes to delivery, I paid for next day delivery, and didn’t get everything. Does it still count as “Next day” if I’m still waiting for the most important part? Should I ask for my $10 surcharge back? I’m sorry Dyson, but 3/4 delivered packages delivered on time, isn’t on time. Deducting 20%

I really like the short, to the point, online videos, showing how to do everything with the V12. Multimedia is important, and so helpful in showing details, even if your videos aren’t perfect. I’m rewarding you +25%.

TOTAL SCORE:

As a stick vacuum, available in 2021. 710/900 = 78%

As any vacuum, noting the high ongoing costs. 680/900 = 75%

Ignoring my (perhaps irrational) need for a commensurate price/warranty ratio: 670/800 = 83.75%

Ignoring my warranty and support/documentation criticisms (maybe they’re good enough for you) : 605/700 = 86.42%

CONCLUSION:

The V12 is a quality item. It performs well and will suit a lot of people. How you choose to value the various aspects of the V12 will no doubt be different to my own. So I’ve created a few options, eliminating some of my most critical assessments, because maybe you don’t even read the manual, or have never needed to claim anything on warranty. Perhaps you don’t care that a stick vacuum costs more to run each month than a corded model, because you just don’t want to be tethered anymore. I get that.

Anyway, I hope this helps when shopping for a stick vac. I’ve found the experience to be quite a lesson, both in revealing my preconceived notions of how it works, and for the most part, I’ve been pleasantly surprised. That said, the fact that I’m writing the last few sentences of my review, and prodigal spare battery has just arrived, is a testament that Dyson is not perfect.

Please look at my uploaded images, they’ll show some condensed results in noise levels and run times. Proof of concept (apparently some adaptors ARE compatible with the V12), what heads produce the most noise, or shorten the run times the most. Other images show how well the hair screw works and how little was actually stuck around the conical brush after a big clean. There’s some illustrated problems with the Dyson site (that may not be entirely fixed) and and images showing how the laser is actually helpful in differing conditions.

I thank the good folks at Product Review and Dyson for supplying me with a much nicer stick vac than I’d have ever bought myself, and I hope my rants about the Dyson site lead to further improvements.

Love the improved features on this Dyson! It's a very efficient little vacuum cleaner – This is an Ambassador Review but I promise you that any review I write, it is my honest opinion. And I loved this Dyson cordless vacuum cleaner! If anyone knows their way around vacuum cleaners, I do. I’ve been cleaning my own home for 4 decades and I’ve done housecleaning for others. You name any type of vacuum cleaner, I have probably tried it.… Read more

If I were reading reviews about vacuum cleaners I’d probably want to know the following things and I presume you do too.

1. How well it cleans This one cleans really well. It comes with several attachments and different heads. The one feature you may have seen in the ads on TV is the green laser light. I have taken a photo of it in a slightly darkened room on dark flooring to show what it is like. I deliberately moved my husband's chair and vacuumed under it as I knew the dog had been there so there is plenty of dust to see. The laser certainly shows it all up. It’s embarrassing really how dirty it looked, but you’ll be pleased to know the rest of the house isn't this grubby. I'll include a photo though to show you. It was especially embarrassing as I had a guest. You can turn the laser off and the other attachments don’t have this feature. I suggest you turn it off when you are vacuuming in front of guests. On the display panel, it also shows what size dust particles you are picking up, from smaller to larger. For the OCD among us that may be a boon but for me, I don’t care what size they are as long as the vacuum picks them up, so that wasn’t a feature I see myself using a lot. Because it is a cordless vacuum, it needs to be charged but I am happy to say the charge lasts really well with no loss of suction. You’ll probably get about 18 minutes out of it, maybe longer, but it depends on the surface you are vacuuming. I was especially impressed by the attachments. Any surface you have, you're covered, from hard flooring, carpet and even a special attachment for hair.

2. How easy is it to set up and use. Will it get into the corners and under furniture? Very easy to set up but then again, I already have a Dyson V11 Outsize and I have used other Dysons so I am already familiar with them. Seriously though, they aren’t hard even for the technologically challenged (me). This one is super easy. I was astounded at just how flexible it is. You can twist it every which way and also get it down flat to go under furniture. Also, it is a dream to change vacuum cleaner heads mid clean, they come apart easily and smoothly. In this regard, it beats my Dyson V11 which can be a bit sticky to pull apart at times. And one big change which I just love. This vacuum comes with a push button to stop and start it. No longer do you have to hold down the trigger as you vacuum. If you have kids or grandkids who want to help, this will be a boon, believe you me. I love it for myself too. It's a nice big red button, you can't miss it.

The V12 Detect Slim is very light. My sister in law zoomed around with it last weekend when she was here and she loved it, she preferred it to the heavier Outsize I have. She mentioned that it would be easy to use the attachments to vacuum around the ceiling etc as it was much lighter to hold up. Another change which I really appreciated is that you no longer have to choose a setting such as low/medium/high for vacuuming. The vacuum cleaner does it automatically. As it goes over a dustier patch (Hello, under the chair) you can hear it rev up. At the end of the clean it is a breeze to empty. 3. How sturdy it is and whether it is likely to last and give value for money. It seems very sturdy to me, quite solidly made. I’ve only had it a month but I do have the V11 that is over 12 months old and that has never missed a beat, is brilliant at cleaning and still has strong suction so I don’t see that this newer model would be any different. I anticipate it should last several years without trouble.

Any pros and cons The pros: -No cord. For me, this makes a HUGE difference in that I am more inclined to use it when I know I can just grab it and quickly go anywhere in the house, as opposed to dragging out a vacuum cleaner that needs plugging in here and then somewhere else. It also means you haven’t got cords tangling or doubling over (think of those ducted vacuum system hoses) causing the suction to suddenly fall off. I love cordless! -It does a good job of vacuuming and is easy to manouvre and that is really the bottom line with any vac. Some vacuum cleaners can be so hard to move over carpet but not this one.

The Cons -This isn’t about the vacuum cleaner as such but I felt quite disgruntled that in a product of this quality and cost, there was not at the very least a sheet in the box that outlined the contents and what they were best used for. Ideally, a small user manual would be nice. I'm including a photo of all the bits and pieces you get in the pack. Yes, I am perfectly capable of looking it all up online on their website but even a sheet of paper with the link to the web address and information that videos were available to watch would be useful. As it is, the manual has what I consider important information about cleaning the filters and so on. I like to store manuals near the product for easy reference. With this, you’ll need to download it and print it off yourself. -The size of the barrel for collecting dirt. This vacuum cleaner is called slim for a reason. The barrel is quite small. It fills up quickly or at least in my family room it does, as I have 2 dogs that shed. That second photo of the dust collected was taken after I vacuumed under the chairs. In my opinion, this vacuum is ideal for anyone in an apartment or unit or anyone who wants it primarily for certain spaces eg hard floor areas only. It will serve you well. If you have a larger home though and want to do the whole house, you may need to consider a Dyson model with a larger barrel. Any buyers will need to decide for themselves if they want a lovely light barrel that may need to be emptied more regularly or if they would rather go to a bigger model that will hold more but will be quite a bit heavier. Because of the lack of inclusion of a manual and the small size of the canister to collect the dirt, I did consider giving it 4 stars but I think it does deserve the 5. It cleans very well and is ideal for the market it was made for, which is presumably for small homes or people wanting it mainly for particular areas. And for those of us who are getting a bit older, it is also much, much easier to use. If you’re thinking of giving a Dyson V12 detect Slim to an elderly relative, they will love you for it. It’s a great little vacuum cleaner.

If you suffer cleaning related OCD stay away – This is a huge upgrade from my V6 Animal that has served well for the last 5 or so years, with up to 3 times the run time and 50% more suction. The product is very well packaged in recyclable materials, and this must have taken a lot of thought in itself due the irregular shape of the machine and all its attachments. Included documentation mostly… Read more

pertains to safety information and a brief quick start guide. For the complete instruction manual head to: https://www.dyson.com.au/products/vacuum-cleaners/stick-vacuums/dyson-v12-detect-slim/owners-guide#user-manual. You will also find a very thorough online guide here that includes short video guides and FAQs. The full manual or online guide is needed as the quick start guide does not include anything on maintenance, such as cleaning the filter, disassembling and cleaning of attachments or display warnings.

The V12 comes with two cleaner heads, the Laser Slim Fluffy for hard floors with its headlining laser beam to reveal dust and a direct drive head for all floor types including carpet. Charger, dock, crevice and combination tools, soft dusting and stubborn dirt brushes, wand clip and the new hair screw tool complete the inclusions. The latter is a funny looking thing being conical spiral in shape with the end of the brush bar open. The idea is long hairs will spiral their way to the open end to be sucked up into the bin without getting tangled around the brush bar.

The complete unit is light, has a comfortable grip is and easy to manoeuvre for floor vacuuming. It’s probably a touch too heavy for extended periods of one handed high reach cleaning. I found myself using two hands anyway, not only to for lift but also stability as there a bit of unwieldiness if using the tools attached to the wand. This model ditches the trigger and has a single on/off button control. Pro, you no longer do you need to continuously hold the trigger during vacuuming though the con is potentially lower battery life as the machine will operate if your just moving something but not actively vacuuming. Personally, I rather the single power button control and have noted many reviews of other Dyson models despise the trigger.

There are three power settings – Eco, Auto/Med and Boost accessed through the selection button below the LCD display. For most situations I used the former two and you do get at least 60 minutes of operation on Eco. Like before Boost mode gives 6 minutes of max suction where needed. Auto mode works for motorised attachments and will revert to Med for all the others. In Auto mode when high levels of dust are detected by the on board piezo sensor, the suction is automatically increased and then drops once dust levels reduce. I found it accurately detected dustier spaces and is definitely handy as you don’t need to worry about power settings. After a full charge and set to Eco stated run time was over 70 minutes. Compared to this setting, Auto/Med knocked off about 28 minutes of operation. Using the Fluffy head seems to give about 8 more minutes of operation on hard floors over the direct drive. Noise level is low for a vacuum for what is an inherently noisy device. Mode, time remaining in minutes and seconds and warnings are clearly displayed on the LCD screen. The low battery warning is accompanied by the power pulsing on and off 3 times. There is a limited range of system settings adjustable via the selection button which is convoluted and clumsy. Thankfully, these shouldn’t need changing often if at all from the default.

After one hour of charging from 0%, battery level indicated 45% and a full charge took 2h50m which is excellent and much better than expected, my old V6 seems to take at least 6 with its smaller battery. During charging a press of the selection button will display the current battery level in 5% increments. The battery is swappable and extras are available for purchase separately for a hefty $249, extending run time up to a potential 120 minutes if you want to launch into a vacuuming frenzy.

The Laser Slim Fluffy head comes equipped with a built in laser to highlight dust on hard floors that would otherwise be invisible to the naked eye. Its eye safe and green as human eyes are more sensitive to green light than any other colour says Dyson. It does work and give you the odd OMG moment and may or may not turn you into a dust hunter. It also helps to illuminate dim areas which is handy in itself. Bright ambient daylight, not direct sunlight, will significantly reduce the effectiveness of the laser and you might want to vac at another time if you get into dust spotting. This head was excellent for my wooden floors being very soft protecting the finish yet having no trouble are handling dust, dirt and larger debris. The carbon fibre bristles do not stick out directly as you would expect and sit more flush against the bar. They also face backwards to the direction of rotation which I guess means they do not drive deep into gaps and joins.

The high torque cleaner is very effective on carpet and negates the need to change heads mid clean. As with the V6 I notice the bin fills much more quickly cleaning carpet as many actual carpet fibres and fuzz are sucked into the bin. You can definitely see actual dirt though and I think the cleaning performance is actually amazing. I imagine the brush bar has a lot to do with this. Just like a classic upright was vastly superior to a barrel on carpet due to it powered brush roller. Although not slimline, the articulation of the high torque cleaner is superior to Fluffy and can move through 180 degrees. This was the head of choice for getting under the sofa and my buffet which has very narrow access where I put the vac as parallel to the floor as possible and on its side (battery facing to side not the floor) and crank the head 180. This head is also excellent for car mats. If there is one criticism of the cleaner heads it’s the small missed zone along skirting boards.

The tools work as expected the combo tool being the most used and upgraded from V6 with longer bristles. I don’t have pets and no one in my house has long hair so wasn’t able to test the Hair Screw tool for its anti-tangle effectiveness for hair tangles. I did test it with pieces of yarn and it did work most of the time. Sometimes longer yarn would embed into the bristles staying tangled. This head worked well on car seats though overall I favour a corded vac for car cleaning as car carpet needs serious suction for a prolonged period. Including a flexi hose would also be beneficial as the main body gets in the way when trying to access nooks and crannies of a car cabin.

The piezo sensor is used to provide real time dust collection data, displaying the count across 4 size groupings of particulate ranging from less than 10 microns to over 500 on the LCD. You need to refer to the guides about the kinds of particulate that are within in each group as the graph is sorted by size. But it sort of goes, from left to right: - allergens & pollen, mould spores, dust mites then bigger bits. Allergens and pollen, those with a size of 10 microns and under, always registered the highest counts. Where the reading for this group shows millions of particles, the reading for bigger bits, particles above 500 microns, may be under 100 for relatively clean floors. According to the marketing material ‘bigger bits’ are the size of sugar or fleas. I vacuumed a section floor and then placed 5 or so sugar crystals in this area vacuumed again and the count went up by over 50. Is a single crystal being smashed into smaller pieces? Who knows how accurate this is. Whether you find this information useful is up to you. Standard filtration is 99.9% removal of particles down to 0.3 microns and the filter is very easy to remove and replace. A HEPA equipped model is available exclusively from Dyson if you want the best in filtration.

The 350ml bin is big enough for my small apartment but does fill fast if cleaning the carpeted bedroom and living room rug. People with larger homes and aren’t after a lighter more compact machine are probably better off looking at the V15 with its bigger 770ml bin. The no touch bin emptying mostly was. If a jam was encountered closing and opening the bin again usually dislodged the load. Maintenance tasks seem straight forward with both the filter and Fluffy roller brush being washable. If you suffer OCD stay away. You can vac in the morning be out or at work all day and the laser will highlight your floors are dusty again if used in the evening. You soon learn there seems to a ‘natural’ ambient level of dust that is inevitable no matter how clean you are. Overall, the laser dust detect was appreciated as your cleaning is more focused. The biggest neg and reason for docking half a star is price. It’s very expensive and probably over budget for many. At this price HEPA filtration and a flexible hose attachment should be standard. Finally, the whole unit is far less creaky and wobbly in hand than the V6 giving a higher quality feel for a much more polished experience. And it is polished, fulfilling its intended purpose superbly.

Bye-bye barrel, barrel bye-bye! – Like many, I live in a small flat, and have employed a combination of Dyson DC29 barrel and DC34 handheld to keep my floors – half carpet, half tile – clean for several years. Schlepping the barrel about with its unwieldy cables and pipes has been such a chore that, to be honest, I’d let the vacuuming slide a bit. That the handheld was next to… Read more

useless – six-minute battery life on a good day (woo!) - not helping.

So, time for a change. People I trust have told me that stick vacs have come a long way in the years since I bought that lacklustre handheld, and here's my chance to find out. Am I converted? Short answer, yes.

Dyson’s V12 comes packed beautifully by an apparent 'Tetris' champion, with more accessories than I’d ever thought possible for one vacuum (see picture). Three main heads, a very handy screw-mounted dock, plus a selection of bits and bobs for crevices and suchlike (and holders to keep them tidy with). One of those heads is a weird angled thingy that’s basically for those blessed with longhaired pets, so in this pup-less abode it’s stayed unused. The other two, however, have been super-handy.

The first head features a laser beam (for the sake of not offending, I didn’t refer to it in Dr. Evil-speak, but it was my gleeful first reaction upon powering it up). This green light shows up all the dust on your hard surfaces. Lots of it. I think the idea is that you can tell which areas need more vac attention, although I tend to just clean everything every time. I use the remaining head for carpets, and it does a bang-up job of extracting even deep down dirt.

The V12 is the first vacuum that I’ve encountered with a built-in screen – I guess they’ve perfected the sucking, so now it’s time to add more bells and whistles. It tells you quantities of four various types of crud that you have sucked up via a bar graph – gimmick! – but it is handy for advising what percentage of battery life remains, as well as whether you’re in ‘eco’, ‘medium’ or the insane ‘boost’ mode (although to be honest the last one’s pretty obvious without the screen providing clarification).

A much-appreciated feature is the presence of an on/off button, rather than a trigger that needs constant holding down. Love it! Not just that, but the V12 makes the most wonderful “PYEOO!” sound when you turn it off, reminiscent of classic ‘50s sci-fi movies. Hey, it’s the little things!

Battery life – especially after the DC34 experience – was a big concern for me, however even after a super-thorough clean of all rooms (on medium setting) I’m usually left with ~70 per cent charge, so I’d wager that even if you have a larger place than me, you won’t be left wanting for juice to power a total cleaning run.

Beyond the accessories and the niceties, ultimately the crucial thing is whether the V12 works at sucking up crud from both my carpeted and tiled areas. It truly excels in that department, which brings me to the only two quibbles that I can think of. Firstly, due to portability – pull off the tube and it becomes a super-handy handheld vac for spot messes (also brilliant for keeping the car clean) – the gunk collecting bin isn’t overly large, meaning frequent emptying. Secondly, there’s an art to that – my first attempt at opening the dust canister sent a foof cloud of filth all over the place. Lesson learned – be gentle with it. After several uses it has loosened enough or, alternatively, I’ve become less heavy-handed.

Those two old Dysons? They’re heading to new homes, as the V12 does everything that I need, and a whole lot better than either of them ever did. I’m also vacuuming the flat much more frequently, as it only takes a few minutes without all of that cable faffing. What a machine!