Vax Air Cordless Lift Review

Vax Air Cordless Lift cordless vacuum - quite a mouthful.  The first thing you notice about this cordless is that it looks nothing like a cordless.  Most cordless vacuums have a small form factor or are designed in a way to keep weight to a minimum.  Not the Air Cordless Lift, this thing is huge.

The reason it's so big is simple - it's a traditional upright with a battery.  I don't understand why Vax is one of the only manufacturers to attempt this - all of the competitors try to make their cordless offerings as small as possible, but because of that there is almost always a trade-off: suction and power.

Vax's Air Cordless Lift packs a big suction and feels like a traditional cordless.

Not surprisingly the Air Cordless Lift stood out in terms of performance.  We tested it on a wide range of different surfaces; from hard floors and laminate to short, medium and high pile rugs and carpets.  This thing picked up everything we put in the way. The only downside to high power and solid performance is battery life.

The powered brush bar is also one of the best we've seen.  Pet hair and debris is quickly shifted out of carpets of all types with the Cordless Lift's brush bar, and the bristles feel robust enough to last the life of the vacuum.

First off, let's look at the vacuum itself.  There's a 1 litre capacity, which is much bigger than most competitors (most cordless vacuums come in at about 0.6l capacity), so you spend less time emptying the vacuum. Like a lot of cordless vacuums the Air Cordless Lift has 2 front-facing LEDs.  

We have spoken before about how useful these are on dark floors and under furniture - the lights highlight dirt and hair that you may not ordinarily notice. There is a boost mode available that sends extra power to the motor and powered brush bar to dislodge any stubborn debris you may have in your carpet.  We're big fans of boost modes as it allows the vacuum to be used to its full power only when it is required; this saves a huge amount of battery.

Attachments are often overlooked but are actually one of the most important aspects of a vacuum cleaner, especially larger uprights like this.  The Vax Air Cordless Lift doesn't disappoint here, with the following attachments coming with it:

• 2-in-1 crevice tool (a hard edge, and a brush slider)

• A dusting tool

• An articulating brush

• An 'up-top' tool for reaching on top of cupboards and doors

• Mattress nozzle

Some of these tools, such as the crevice tool, are seen as almost standard these days - although many cordless vacuums don't come with it - but the others are actually very useful; the sort of attachments you don't miss until you've used them a few times, but then can't do without.

We have reviewed all of the Dyson V8 models, and one thing of note here is that the attachments you get here are comparable with Dyson's offering.  Dyson are known in the industry for having the best attachments, so that's quite an achievement. Lastly, the Air Cordless Lift allows you to remove the central cylinder to clean on the go too.  This is a little more cumbersome than other cordless vacuums, but it's extremely useful for cleaning the stairs and furniture.

It's not unexpected that a large and powerful cordless vacuum like the Air Cordless Lift is going to have poor battery life.  The vacuum is big and powerful, and that's a big drain on power. Vax have clearly identified this, and offers 2 batteries with it's vacuum (on certain packages/bundles).

Having said that, you still get 30 minutes from a single charge, which is more than any cordless Dyson model.  30 minutes should be more than ample time in order to vacuum your entire home.

At 5kg this thing isn't light.  In fact, it's the heaviest cordless vacuum make and one of the heaviest of all of the cordless vacuums. Don't let that put you off though, as weight isn't always a bad thing. A traditional upright vacuum like the Air Cordless Lift works by spinning a powered brush bar against the floor to dislodge debris and then suck that debris up.  

This process is more efficient when weight is applied to the brush head, as it will be able to get deeper into the carpet. The heavier the vacuum, the more weight that is applied to the head, so the better it is at dislodging the dirt and debris. It's worth noting that although this Vax is heavy it is still lighter than many traditional corded uprights.

The benchmark I always use is the upright Dyson Animal ball vacuum, which weighs 8kg.  At 5kg, the Air Cordless Lift is a lot lighter.

The only down side we found to the Air Cordless Lift is its maneuverability.  Due to its size and weight it isn't as easy to move around as the lighter and handheld alternatives such as the Vax Blade or Dyson V8.

Unfortunately there just isn't any way round that.  If you are unable to lift the vacuum or get it up and down stairs then the Air Cordless Lift probably isn't for you. We feel this is the only downside of the cordless vacuum.