Get visible cleaning results with a cordless vacuum that'll keep rogue dust bunnies and hair tumbleweeds from gathering on your hard floors.
Without the restrictions of a corded vacuum, you can tackle the dirt in all areas of your home with a gadget that's easy to carry and store, with cleaning results Kim and Aggie would be proud of.
From crumbs on the kitchen laminate, dirt between the floorboards, or hidden dust under your furniture, the best cordless vacuums will crack down on your hard floor debris with care.
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What to consider for a cordless vacuum for hardwood floors
Lightweight and compact
A cordless vacuum is fantastic for offering an excellent clean that's easy to manoeuvre around your home. Not to mention, a compact and lightweight vacuum is great for storing away. Especially as it moves from one room to another and ensures you won't inflict any stress or wear and tear on your flooring. This is particularly good for hardwood floors that require extra, gentle care from scratches.
Brush attachments
Different vacuum cleaners come with different brush attachments including crevice and upholstery nozzles, attachable hoses, motorised tools, detachable handheld vacuums and pet tools. For instance, a home more prone to pet hair build-up and mess might require something more specialised to fulfil the job.
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Running time
Due to the fact that your vacuum cleaner is going to be running on rechargeable battery power, you're going to have to make sure you pick a hoover that has enough running time for you to vacuum your space. For example, if you're cleaning large spaces, or you often do a full house clean at once, you'll want a higher running time to tackle the job. However, smaller spaces and more agile cleaning will work fine on lower running times.
Headlights
This is an added bonus worth considering on a vacuum cleaner. Some vacuums come with headlights so you can clearly see under furniture and in dark corners, illuminating the hidden dust so you know you've picked everything up. A handy feature that's worth considering for maximising your cleaning routine.
10 best cordless vacuums for dust-busting hard floors
1. Vax ONEPWR Blade 3 Pet Cordless Vacuum Cleaner with Motorised Pet Tool
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Best cordless vacuum for pet hair
VAX Blade 3 Pet provides multi-surface cleaning performance with no loss of suction, ensuring optimal pick up on all floor surfaces. Even if you don't have a pet, this cordless vacuum is guaranteed to pick up tough dirt.
Bagged or bagless? Bagless
Capacity: 0.6L
Weight: 3.1kg
Running time: 40mins
Recharging time: 2.5hrs, multiple batteries so no waiting around
Tools: Motorised pet tool for compact cleaning and multiple surfaces
Variable speeds: 3 x power modes
Other features: Dustvault 3 stage filtration, antimicrobial brushbar, LED headlights, no loss of suction, 3-year warranty
2. Bosch BCH86HYGGB Serie 6 Athlet ProHygiene Cordless Vacuum Cleaner
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Best cordless vacuum for a deep clean
With a longer running time than some other vacuum models on this list, this would be suited to a home with more hard floors than carpets. The nozzle brush roll is designed to powerfully pick up dirt, even in the crevices between tiles and floorboards.
Bagged or bagless? Bagless
Capacity: 0.9L
Weight: 3kg
Running time: 1hr
Recharging time: 6hrs
Tools: Motorised brush head and ultra allergy filter
Variable speeds: 3 x performance levels for normal, difficult and stubborn cleaning
Other features: Sensor control technology, LED signals for filter cleaning, motorised all floor high power brush.
3. Dyson V11 Absolute Cordless Vacuum Cleaner
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Best cordless vacuum for all floors
Dyson vacuums come with extra soft, woven nylon roller cleaner heads for expert hard floor cleaning. Gentle on delicate hard floors but tough on dirt, this vacuum will work wonders all over your home picking up large crumbs and dust all at once - it's suitable for all flooring types from hard floor and laminate to deep pile and woollen carpets.
Bagged or bagless? Bagless
Capacity: 0.76L
Weight: 3.05kg
Running time: 12mins-1hr, depending on settings
Recharging time: 4.5hrs
Tools: Detachable handheld included, crevice nozzle, dusting brush, turbo brush, pet tool and combination floor nozzle
Variable speeds: Normal and power boost mode
Other features: Motorised and adjustable floor head between carpets and hard floors, washable filter, HEPA filter, wall-mountable docking station, low battery indicator, LCD screen display, sensor technology, 2-year warranty
4. Dyson V7 Absolute Cordless Vacuum Cleaner
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Best cordless vacuum for small spaces
This Dyson is a great alternative to the V11 if you're looking for a vacuum with a lower price tag. It is able to do most that the V11 model, missing only the sensor tech and having a reduced running time. It still includes the extra soft roller cleaner head that's renowned for hard floor cleaner and so this could be an affordable alternative if you have smaller spaces to clean in your home.
Bagged or bagless? Bagless
Capacity: 0.54L
Weight: 2.2kg
Running time: 6mins-30mins, depending on settings
Recharging time: 3.5hrs
Tools: Detachable handheld included, crevice nozzle, dusting brush, turbo brush, pet tool and combination floor nozzle
Variable speeds: Normal and power boost mode• Other features: Motorised floor head, washable filter, HEPA filter, wall-mountable docking station, low battery indicator, 2-year warranty
5. Shark DuoClean Anti Hair Wrap ICZ160UKT Cordless Vacuum Cleaner with Powered Lift-Away and TruePet

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Best cordless vacuum for lifting hair
With Shark's DuoClean technology, you can move from room to room, cleaning carpets and hard floors without stopping to switch heads. Working as the main competitor to Dyson, this vacuum has a soft brush roll too that makes direct contact with hard floor surfaces, pulling in dirt and fine dust, while the bristle bar cleans deep into carpets to pull up embedded pet hair and other debris.
Bagged or bagless? Bagless
Capacity: 0.6L
Weight: 5.5kg
Running time: 50mins without use of TruePet motorised hair removal tool
Recharging time: 3.5hrs
Tools: TruePet motorised hair removal tool, dusting brush, crevice and upholstery tool
Variable speeds: Normal and power boost mode
Other features: DuoClean technology Anti Hair Wrap technology, LED headlights, Anti-Allergen Complete Seal with HEPA filter, Powered Lift Away which allows the canister to detach from the wand, clip-on accessory holder, battery charging cradle, 5-year guarantee included
6. Shark Anti Hair Wrap Cordless Upright Vacuum Cleaner with Powered Lift-Away (Twin Battery) ICZ160UKBT

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Best anti-allergen cordless vacuum
Again, like the Dyson vacuums, we have a more affordable option that delivers the same with just some minor tweaks. The only major change for this model compared to the more expensive version is that it doesn't have the handheld motorised hair removal tool. If you don't have a pet or are only looking to focus your vacuuming on your hard floors or carpets, this is the vacuum to choose to help save on cost.
Bagged or bagless? Bagless
Capacity: 0.6L
Weight: 5.5kg
Running time: 50mins
Recharging time: 3.5hrs
Tools: Dusting brush, crevice and upholstery tool
Variable speeds: Normal and power boost mode
Other features: DuoClean technology Anti Hair Wrap technology, LED headlights, Anti-Allergen Complete Seal with HEPA filter, Powered Lift Away which allows the canister to detach from the wand, clip-on accessory holder, battery charging cradle, 5-year guarantee included
7. Hoover 500 Amazon Exclusive 3in1 Dual Battery Cordless Vacuum

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Best lightweight cordless vacuum
Despite being recommended for use on all surfaces, we still think this is a great option for hard floors with such a lightweight piece of kit. Agile and lightweight, the Hoover 500 has a Flat&Drive nozzle that reclines flat and swivels 180 degrees, gliding under your sofa or around table legs with ease. It includes onboard tool storage, runs up to 50 minutes on floors, and is a 3-in-1: clean floors, high reach, or set as a handheld.
Bagged or bagless? Bagless
Capacity: 0.45L
Weight: 2.2kg
Running time: 50mins on floors
Recharging time: 6hrs
Tools: Integrated Crevice Tool/2in1 Dusting Brush, Upholstery Tool
Variable speeds: Turbo for 8 minutes of boosted performance
Other features: Two batteries included, rotating brush bar, Flat&Drive nozzle, converts to handheld, compact storage, 80dB noise level, wall mount, Amazon Exclusive colour.
8. Bosch BCS612GB Serie 6 Unlimited ProHome Cordless Vacuum Cleaner
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Best compact cordless vacuum
The Bosch ProHome comes with the latest brushless motor technology making this compact digital motor powerful, reliable and emission-free. Combined with the specially developed AllFloor Power Brush, this guarantees effective cleaning on all kinds of floors from hardwood to laminate and carpet.
Bagged or bagless? Bagless
Capacity: 0.3L
Weight: 2.3kg
Running time: 30mins per battery
Recharging time: 4hrs
Tools: Crevice tool, flexible crevice tool, 2-in-1 upholstery and dusting brush
Variable speeds: Normal and power boost mode
Other features: Cartridge filter with Pure Air membrane and hygienic filter, 2 lithium batteries, AllFloor Power Brush, 2-year guarantee included
9. Black + Decker PowerSeries Extreme BHFEV362D-GB Cordless Vacuum Cleaner

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Best reliable cordless vacuum
One of our writers has a Black + Decker cordless vacuum which they have been using on hard floors exclusively for years. The vacuum is suitable for carpets, hard floors, laminate or tile and the power beater bar picks up more dirt, while ensuring almost no hair will get tangled as you clean. Easy to empty and reliable.
Bagged or bagless? Bagless
Capacity: 0.75L
Weight: 3.6kg
Running time: 78mins
Recharging time: 5hrs
Tools: Detachable handheld unit, crevice tool with flip out brush
Variable speeds: Normal and power boost mode
Other features: Twist and clean pleated filter, wall mounting dock, battery charge indicator, floorhead LED light, 4-in-1 functionality, 2-year guarantee included
10. Gtech Mk2 AirRam Cordless Upright Vacuum Cleaner

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Recommended
The AirRam by Gtech is a highly-rated and convenient cordless vacuum cleaner that is specially designed to switch effortlessly between hard floors, laminates, carpets and rugs. Its pending patented AIRLOC system is great at picking up dirt, fine dust and even larger objects. It also has a powerful rotating brush bar with a clean eject dirt system making it extremely easy to empty. Not to mention it's lightweight to push around and easy to assemble.
Capacity: 0.8L
Weight: 3.3kg
Running time: 40mins depending on the setting used
Recharging time: 4hrs
Tools: N/A
Variable speeds: N/A
Other features: Low battery indicator, washable filter and motorised floor head that drives bristles in to carpet to remove ground-in dirt, 2-year guarantee included
Our verdict for the best cordless vacuum for hard floors
While we think these are all fantastic options for your hard floors at home, we like the Dyson and Shark vacuum cleaners, which have soft brush roll technology not only to clean all floor types but to gently and effectively target dirt on hard floors.
The more expensive options pack a punch if you're looking for a vacuum that'll clean everything and if you often find upholstery dirt or pet hair to be a constant battle. However, the cheaper models still offer the best features that'll get your floors looking spick-and-span at a more affordable price.