With two dogs, a cat, three kids and a very busy life, it’s safe to say that I need a really decent vacuum cleaner that will pick up all the detritus of everyday life quickly and efficiently. I equally desire a vacuum that will get our home environment clean, hygienic and healthy, without requiring too much time or effort. I want something with good suction to pick up all the pet hair and dust and kids’ crumbs, something that’s easy to manoeuvre, and something that will last for years to justify the price tag.
For this review, Dyson gifted me their new Dyson Cinetic Big Ball Vacuum. I actually already have a Dyson I received as a wedding present, so, after almost 8 years, I am ready for another. Our old Dyson has worn well, but we have just laid new flooring in our home and I have been using a Dyson stick vacuum cleaner for spot cleaning and avoiding the use of the old vacuum. In other words, I was thrilled to try this new one out! Here are my test results, followed by my in-depth review with all the info you need to know about this machine.
The test
I let our house remain un-vacuumed for one week. Who am I kidding?! I am doing quite well if I vacuum once a week, mainly because I don’t have time. Our dogs wander in and out, thanks to an ongoing renovation, and they often sneak in at night to sleep (aka Master 9 sneaking them in). The dog below is Henry. Our other dog, Winston, (who was not willing to go near the vacuum) is a long haired retriever. We also have a 19 year old cat. To add to the mess, we have 3 kids, one of whom has a sandpit-based playground at school (which any parent will tell you means sand inside your home. All the time. Even if you do your best to try and prevent it!).
Pets Vs Dyson Cinetic Big Ball
This is Henry. He is a 70kg Bullmastiff. Henry is pretty scared of vacuums, so it was a miracle I got this shot.
The Test Results
This is what came out of my house after one week. BLEUGH! This was after one session of vacuuming, and the Dyson Cinetic Big Ball was not quite full (but very nearly).
The in-depth review
My favourite bit of the new Dyson
I know the hero of the Dyson Cinetic Big Ball is their cool space-age looking spinning head for plush carpets, and – don’t get me wrong – it was good. However, what really stood out for me was their hard floor vacuuming head. Anyone with hard floors would know that the problem with most hard floor vacuum heads is their inability to pick up little crumbs with ease. Instead, what tends to happen is that the vacuum becomes a broom and you end up having to lift it up to gather then collected results. The Dyson Cinetic Big Ball does not do that! It is literally a one sweep action and – BOOM – done! I can’t actually express how much easier this makes my life, especially when you are not a massive fan of cleaning and you have a home full of bamboo floors that require a daily vacuum. I also appreciate the ability for all the heads to be able to go under beds and furniture almost in a horizontal limbo sort of fashion. I have never had a vacuum that has been able to do this.
So what is the Dyson Cinetic Big Ball?
The Dyson Cintetic Big Ball is a bag-less, cyclonic, barrel vacuum cleaner. According to Dyson, it is ‘the only vacuum with no maintenance and no loss of suction’, which is a pretty big claim to make, but is based on real technology. What it comes down to is the unique Cinetic cyclone technology that Dyson have developed, which creates super powerful sucking, as well as no dust clogs, so that you never have to wash or replace filters. It’s also engineered to easily clean all floor types, so it’s a versatile cleaning tool.
The Dyson Cinetic Big Ball range features the following models:
- Dyson Cinetic Big Ball Multi Floor
- Dyson Cinetic Big Ball Allergy
- Dyson Cinetic Big Ball Animal
- Dyson Cinetic Big Ball Animal Pro
The Dyson Cinetic Big Ball Animal Pro
The Big Ball Animal Pro is the model that I got to try out. According to Dyson, this model is ‘For animals, allergies and tough tasks’. Which sounded perfect for what I need at home.
With the Animal Pro model, you get the following features:
- The Big Ball vacuum cleaner
- A carbon fibre turbine floor tool
- A combination tool for specific jobs
- A reach-under tool for hard to reach spots
- A carbon fibre soft dusting brush
- A stair tool to make cleaning stairs super easy
- A swivel head floor tool that is slimline for getting into nooks and crannies
- A tangle-free turbine tool for no more hair tangles in the head
What does ‘Cinetic’ mean?
There are quite a few cyclonic vacuums on the market now, but Dyson is the only brand with ‘Cinetic’ cyclone technology. This refers to the quickly vibrating tips on each of the vacuum’s small and powerful cyclones. The way the tips move means that even tiny particles get spun off, so that dust can’t build up in the cyclones and block the air flow and reduce suction. It also means that, with no dust clogs, you don’t have to clean a filter. Actually, I think pretty much every other type of vacuum cleaner requires you to clean the filter of dust clogs, so it’s great not to have to do that! It also means that you never lose suction due to a build-up on the filter, so that’s another great bonus!
How is the technology better for health and hygiene?
Since the Dyson Cinetic Big Ball vacuum features Dyson’s most efficient cyclone, it collects not only dirt and dust but also microscopic particles. That’s great news for anyone with allergies (and anyone preferring to breathe clean air in general!), as it not only cleans the floors but also filters the air so that it’s cleaner and healthier to breathe!
What’s so special about the ‘big ball’?
The main body of the vacuum is literally a big ball, which rolls and pivots as you pull the cleaner along. The rotation of the ball means that the vacuum is easy to steer and it doesn’t snag when you go around corners or pass by furniture.
One of the best things about the ball though is that it makes the vacuum self-righting, so if it does happen to tip over (as most barrel vacuum cleaners often do) you can just keep going and it picks itself back up!
How about the cleaning?
I found this vacuum to be really impressive in the amount of dirt it managed to pick up. In the test, the suction was one of the most outstanding features that I noticed. You can literally see and hear how powerful this machine is. Which means you pick up way more dirt than with other vacuum cleaners, even on floors that on the surface seem to look clean.
The main head of the Animal Pro is known as a ‘carbon fibre turbine tool’, which is a spinning head that can be used on every floor type. In fact, it can detect the floor type below and it automatically adjusts its height to suit each! The head has two textures — a fibre filament to pick up fine dust, as well as bristles to reach down to ground-in dirt. That’s pretty perfect for my house, and you could see by how much dirt it collected from even a small area that it was really getting everything.
What are the other key features?
There are also some other features that I think make this particular vacuum cleaner stand out from the others on the market.
The new canister for this vacuum cleaner has a really high capacity (I believe it’s 33% bigger than the previous versions of Dyson Cinetic barrel vacuums). So that’s great for not having to empty as often, and also great for the huge volume of dirt that this vacuum somehow manages to pick up. The canister can also be easily emptied at the press of a button, which releases the dirt straight out and into your bin. It’s great not having to touch the dirt and it’s obviously a lot more hygienic.
Another great feature is the long wand, which I found was great for reaching under furniture and up into high places (think cleaning under sofas and getting rid of cobwebs on the ceiling). The wand also features an articulated handle, so it’s easy to twist and turn to get to hard to reach places.
I also found that this vacuum was able to get up really close along walls so that it didn’t leave a line of dust or pet hair at the edges, which I sometimes found with my other vacuum.
The Dyson Cinetic Big Ball Vacuum — Overall verdict
After using this vacuum, I realised just how much extra dirt there was in my house that I hadn’t noticed before and that I’d thought my old cleaner was picking up (I guess my house was dirtier than I thought!). So I think the big win for me is that, in the same time and with the same amount of effort as using my old vacuum cleaner, I can use this one and know my house is way cleaner and more hygienic for the whole family. RRP for the Dyson Cinetic Big Ball Vacuum is $999
Join the conversation