Why Dyson's new PencilVac is perfect for apartment living

When I first heard about the Dyson PencilVac, I had mixed thoughts.

While I was impressed that Dyson had made something so compact, it didn't exactly scream 'cleaning machine'. It's slim, a little short, and has just 30 minutes of fade-free power.

However, I live in an apartment, so 30 minutes of cleaning time should be enough to clean my floors. Here's how it went when I tested it out.

NOTE: Prices are accurate at time of publishing.

Dyson PencilVac

$949 on Dyson

The PencilVac's best features

The PencilVac is Dyson's slimmest vacuum at just 4cm wide in diameter. It doesn't have a dustbin; the debris collects in the tube of the vacuum in a top-loading air compression bin. This means it's slow to fill, and easy to empty, but more on that later.

The head is made up of four conical brush bars called Fluffycones, which slim down towards the edges. Their design helps prevent hair tangling around the bars, but I did notice a fair bit of dog hair stuck in the centre.

The vaguely hexagonal shape of the head makes it easy to move into corners and right along wall edges. It glides backwards and forwards, and is super easy to maneuver, given just how light the design is.

However, my favourite feature is the green LED light, which illuminates your path as you vacuum, both in front and behind, allowing you to monitor your cleaning progress.

How did it go?

In my apartment, the PencilVac was up against my cattle dog, who sheds so much I'm amazed he still has a coat.

However, I hadn't noticed just how much hair was on my light-coloured oak floors until the PencilVac's bright green light illuminated it. While it was good to chart my vacuuming progress, I often wondered if I'd rather not know how dirty the floors actually were.

This mountain of dog hair sits across a two-bedroom floor plan, with an en-suite and a main bathroom. The worst spots for hidden dog hair are underneath the built-in desk and the dining room table, but the PencilVac's maneuverability and power mean this was suddenly relatively easy to get to. It actually flattens down to 95mm in height to get into those small spaces. However, that PencilVac's maneuverability is relentless, and it often seemed like I'd never get through all that hair – especially on just half an hour of power.

Despite this, the vacuum did pretty well, as you can see, especially when it came to vacuuming the rug in my living room.

Emptying the PencilVac

To empty the vacuum, you remove the head and use the red connecting button on the body of the vacuum to push out the debris.

It comes out of the vacuum compacted, so you don't get any clouds of dust that you'd get from a bag or bin you need to shake out. The debris stays quite compacted and fits easily into the bin.

The one con

I live right by the beach, so sand is a regular occurrence on my floors.

Somehow, the sand and grit were vacuumed up and collected in the plastic tube behind the air-compacting bin, rather than inside it. Since only the top half opens up, the debris is actually stuck in there. I'm not sure how to get it out.

This may not be an issue for homes without sandy floors, but it was something that hoodwinked me as I wondered how to remove it.

It's definitely not a lot of debris, and it doesn't seem to be increasing each time I use it. I'd just be wary if I were using it in summer when there's more sand about.

Is it worth it?

The main pro of the PencilVac is just how easy it is to grab and use.

Until I tested the PencilVac, I was using an older model that sits in my cupboard in three separate pieces because it won't fit anywhere else. Taking it out, connecting it, pulling out the cord and then moving it to different power points throughout the house while cleaning is one arduous process and one I don't get around to as frequently as I should.

However, the ease of use when it comes to the PencilVac means I can stay on top of the vacuuming, so the mountains of dog hair now remain in check. The 30-minute runtime is just enough to get through the apartment, and the charging dock doesn't take up much space, either.

Sure the $949 price tag feels like a lot for something as small as this. However, I wouldn't buy a vacuum without the LED lighting now, so if that's the cost for clear vision of my progress, plus all the other top-tier features that come with buying a Dyson, I'd happily pay the price.

If the 30-minute battery life is not for you. Check out these options for a bit more time.

Dyson V15 Detect Absolute Vacuum

Was $1449, now $995

Dyson Cyclone V10 Vacuum

Was $1099, now $597

Dyson V11 Advanced Vacuum

Was $1199, now $699

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