We tested a Dyson vacuum cleaner for 22 thousand. It offers technologies that make cleaning fun

If someone tells you that cleaning can be fun, you probably won’t believe them. But when you have a machine in your hand that looks like something from a sci-fi movie, shines a green laser-like beam on your path and also monitors how big particles you are vacuuming so that you know that it is really clean, cleaning can become fun state. Dyson vacuum cleaners from the British brand offer all of this and add the most important thing – in addition to various technological gadgets, they also vacuum very well. Now Dyson has its most powerful model to date, called the Gen5detect, which we tested to see if its price tag was justified. It makes many people’s heads spin.

Dyson Gen5detect costs almost twenty-two thousand crowns. For some, it will be a ridiculous amount for a vacuum cleaner. On the other hand, even phones for 40,000 or cars for several million will find their buyers. In short, it’s about priorities and preferences, and if we’re talking about the Dyson brand, if we really can’t find something with it, it’s cheap products. The British company founded in 1991 by the inventor James Dyson, however, gives customers the most modern technologies and gadgets that they often do not find in other products on the market. And it also applies to the Gen5detect model.

I myself have been a satisfied user of the Dyson V12 Detect Slim vacuum cleaner for several years, which is still available and costs around fifteen thousand. I used to wonder if it was too much of an investment, but now I know it wasn’t. Once Dyson absorbs you and suits you, you probably won’t even look at another brand. That’s why I was interested in what the new model, which I had the opportunity to test, would bring. The most essential and most interesting in terms of technology and functions remains, to which Dyson has added a few more gadgets and increased the performance and battery life, which many users will appreciate. But what exactly can a wireless vacuum cleaner for almost twenty-two thousand?

At first glance, it is a “good old” vacuum cleaner from Dyson, which focused mainly on improving details or performance. The equipment includes two large cleaning heads, which will probably be used most often. The first floor nozzle is called Fluffy Optic, it is made of soft woven nylon and antistatic carbon fiber and you can use it on hard floors. Its biggest trick is that it emits a green beam of light that lets you see what you’re vacuuming—every speck of dust, in fact. And that’s what brings the fun element to cleaning, because you’ll want to have every bit of your floor vacuumed. In addition, at least at the beginning, you will be horrified when you see how much dust is actually lying on it.

In the Gen5detect model, Dyson has improved the green beam a bit to detect twice as much otherwise invisible dust. It’s exactly the function that you can do without in other vacuum cleaners, but when you have it, you don’t want to clean without it. You can tell when you put on a second floor nozzle called the Digital Motorbar, which houses a polycarbonate anti-tangle comb that automatically removes hair and lint from the rotating brush. In addition to floors, in my experience, it can also handle carpets, from which it also removes cat hair very well. Its only downside is that it doesn’t have the aforementioned green beam. However, with any nozzle or attachment, you have information about the state of the cleaned surface thanks to the display.

Dyson Gen5detect offers a piezoelectric sensor that counts particles and determines their size, fifteen thousand times per second. On a simple graph, you can see how much dirt there is on the floor or other surface that is being cleaned. The smaller the particles, the better. This again brings a playful element to cleaning, but even more useful is that the vacuum cleaner can adapt its performance thanks to a sophisticated sensor.

Gen5detect has three performance levels. In addition to the standard mode, it also offers Boost, which is designed for more intensive one-time cleaning, and Eco mode, in which the power will be reduced, but the battery life will be longer. The automatic mode then adjusts the power according to how you are currently vacuuming the dirty surface. So most of the time Dyson Gen5detect is in standard and quieter mode, and when you hit a dirtier spot, it switches to higher power. And he is really recognizable.

Dyson mentions a suction power of 280 airwatts in the box, and a significant increase can be felt even against the older V12 Slim model. The same carpet full of cat hair can be cleaned by Gen5detect with even greater ease and speed. It should last up to 70 minutes on a single charge. But this only applies when you vacuum in Eco mode. For normal cleaning, when you will probably change the power and use even the highest one, you will get about 40 to 50 minutes. Charging then takes around three hours.

Compared to previous generations, the larger battery is a nice improvement, when I no longer have to worry about not having time to clean the apartment on one charge. However, there is one more significant negative associated with higher endurance, which the Dyson Gen5detect carries with it. The weight of 3.5 kilograms is certainly not negligible, and the extra 1,300 grams is really noticeable against the V12 Slim model. For classic vacuuming, when you drive the nozzle across the floor, it’s not so bad, but if you want to handle the Gen5detect more and use it only as a manual vacuum cleaner, you have to expect that it will wear out.

Otherwise, the Dyson is ready for manual use. The package includes three types of accessories. The nozzle with a conical brush can handle hair from the couch, dog bed or car seat, and it also works so that the hair itself does not get caught in it. The combined nozzle offers a wide slot and a brush, which is handy when you need to quickly switch between classic vacuuming and dusting. What is new is the built-in crevice and dust tube, which Dyson has integrated directly into the body of the Gen5detect model and which is therefore quickly accessible immediately after removing the main rod. For the first time, the company also deployed HEPA filtration.

On the other hand, a well-known and very functional part of the vacuum cleaner is the contactless emptying of the basket, when thanks to the ejection mechanism you simply empty the entire contents of the container. You don’t have to deal with any bags, thanks to the transparent container you always have an overview of the filling. Since the entire Dyson Gen5detect has become thicker and heavier, this basket is also larger compared to previous models. The aforementioned HEPA filter or the roller from the floor nozzle are also washable, so maintenance is easy and there is no need to buy anything extra to operate the vacuum cleaner. After all, this is de facto desirable for a product for 21,690 crowns.

So is it worth buying a vacuum cleaner with such a high price? Clearly, if you’re looking for an affordable cordless vacuum, the Gen5detect isn’t for you. But if you want excellent suction power combined with very handy technologies and gadgets, thanks to which a boring activity can at least occasionally become a little fun, then the latest vacuum cleaner from Dyson should at least be on the short list. If you’re already familiar with the brand, Gen5detect can be a welcome upgrade as it takes proven and popular capabilities to the next level. But I would definitely recommend trying it out somewhere and trying it out. Compared to other and cheaper models, even from Dyson itself, the change in weight is really noticeable.