Dyson V15 Detect review: Is stick vacuum cleaner worth the eye-watering price?

Dyson has pulled out all the stops with its latest stick vacuum cleaner, including a laser beam. But is it worth the jaw-dropping price tag?

REVIEW: Dyson V15 Detect Total Clean

A vacuum with a frickin’ laser beam attached to its head! That’s right – Dyson is pulling out all the stops with its latest stick vacuum releases including the V15 Detect Absolute Extra and the V15 Detect Total Clean, the latter of which I have had a hands-on with.

V15 Detect Total Clean Features

The V15 Detect Total Clean is one of the most powerful vacuums that Dyson has released and it includes some epic new features such as a slim fluffy head with a laser, a new large anti-tangle brush bar vacuum head, a dust sensor and LCD screen.

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There is no excuse for missing even the smallest spot of dirt. Picture: Supplied

I have to say that the laser head, with a familiar fluffy brush, is just awesome. Although it seems gimmicky, it really does make microscopic dust more visible to the eye and, while shocking, it’s super helpful to see how much dust is actually on my floor. Pair this with the new LCD screen and dust sensor and the vacuum will actually identify and count dust particles that it’s picking up in real time.

Identify dust particles and dust mites

The vacuum can differentiate what it picks up into four categories – pollen, microscopic dust and skin flakes, dust mites and fine sand and larger particles the size of sugar or fleas. While you’re cleaning you get a reading on how much is being picked up in each category.

It’s really cool but I do find the vacuum’s bar graphs and micron readings are confusing at a glance. Instead of reading the micron size to distinguish what particles are being picked up it would be great to have graphic icons for each category, ie. a cartoon flea icon.

I suppose I might get used to knowing which category is which at a glance, but more importantly, at least I can see the numbers of particles decreasing the more I vacuum – letting me know how many times I should go over an area until it’s super clean.

I’m generally a little on the lazy side when it comes to vacuuming but now that I can see more dust built up – thanks to the laser and particle measurements – I’ve been much more inclined to vacuum more thoroughly and frequently.

The view of the floor doesn’t look so bad without the laser. Picture: Supplied

The dirty reality of your floors. Picture Supplied

Anti-tangle brush head

Equally, I enjoy the anti-tangle brush bar that can give a really deep clean on carpets and hard floors. It’s a really large and versatile vacuum head and when the vacuum is on boost mode it really picks up dust and hairs (seemingly out of nowhere).

I keep deep cleaning my house with this and I’m constantly shocked at how much stuff it picks up. I’ve always loved Dyson stick vacuums but this particular attachment takes the cake as hair tangling in the vacuum has been a constant problem in my household. This attachment picked up so much hair that the furball was the size of a small creature – yet none of it stayed in the brush head. I am blown away.

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Where did all the hair come from? Picture: Supplied

V15 Detect Total Clean Battery Life

The battery life on this vacuum is pretty impressive. It offers up to 60 minutes of power (in eco mode on hard floors) and tells you how much battery life you have in real time. There are three power modes – eco, auto and boost – that all affect the amount of battery life you’ll get. Eco is true to the name and will save some power, auto will adjust the intensity of the suction based on the surface that is being vacuumed and boost is the most powerful suction, which costs a lot of battery life.

Using the vacuum on auto mode seems to be a nice healthy in between, that is still very effective at cleaning. Occasionally, while on auto mode, I switch to boost mode for a couple of minutes here and there to do a deep clean of my rugs. When I do this I get around 30 minutes of battery life. If you were to only use the V15 detect on boost mode though you’d likely only get around 15 minutes of battery. Best part of all is you get a warning, with more time to vacuum, before the battery runs out entirely and the vacuum shuts down.

Accessories

The V15 comes with a surprising amount of accessories such as small motorised hair screw tool (anti-tangle head) for handheld cleaning of things like mattresses or couches (that is also great for items covered in pet hair), and many other brush heads and slimline heads that are perfect for corners or cleaning the car.

You also get a wall mount for the vacuum so it can be hung up and stowed out of the way. The vacuum’s battery can also be completely removed, which means you can buy multiple batteries for this vacuum which you could swap in and out to extend the V15’s vacuuming time.

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Price

This all sounds so fantastic until you get to the price though as the V15 detect total clean comes in at $1399. I think the price is a little out of reach for the average consumer but I do have to say, it’s my favourite vacuum that I’ve ever used and I love the innovative tech that’s part of this device. I honestly don’t think I can ever go back to using a vacuum without Dyson’s anti-tangle head either and if you have pets or long hair (or long-haired housemates) you will understand how this kind of feature is practically priceless. The price is high but it’s pretty well worth it.

Elly Awesome is an Aussie tech and lifestyle vlogger | @ellyawwesome | YouTube