Dyson's PencilVac Review: A Handy but Limited Cordless Vacuum

Dyson vacuums have traditionally shared a similar design aesthetic over the past few years. The brand's line of powerful stick vacuums typically features a substantial handle that houses the dustbin, battery, and motor, connected to the vacuum head by a long tube. This design is not unique to Dyson, as other cordless vacuums from various brands follow a similar structure.

However, with the introduction of the PencilVac model, Dyson breaks away from this familiar design. The PencilVac Fluffycones cordless vacuum, announced last spring and initially launched in Japan and Korea last year, fits all its components into a compact 4-pound package with a slim 38-mm (1.5-inch) handle. This streamlined design comes with some trade-offs, including half the battery life of Dyson's other cordless vacuums and limited use on hard floors only.

Despite these limitations, the PencilVac has become the vacuum I reach for to manage daily debris and my cat's litter tracks. It serves as an excellent companion vacuum to a robot vac-mop that handles the bulk of the work every few days. Its lightweight design and ease of maneuverability make it as easy to use as a Swiffer broom.

I genuinely enjoy using it, and I hope this design direction becomes more prevalent in future Dyson vacuums. The PencilVac achieves its compact design by eliminating the bulky topper found on other cordless vacuums, integrating the motor, battery, and dustbin into a 38-mm-wide handle with two buttons and a small screen. Dyson accomplished this by miniaturizing the Hyperdymium motor to 28 mm while maintaining a decent level of power.

Although it's not as powerful as a traditional Dyson stick vacuum — the PencilVac offers 55 air watts, less than a quarter of the V15 Detect's power — it's sufficient for cleaning hard floors, rather than extracting dust and debris from carpets and rugs.

Photo by Igor Omilaev on Unsplash