Product: TwinClean Canister Vacuum
Designer: Electrolux
Price: $500

Rating: *Recommend

Powerful little bugger. We seem to be on vacuum manufacturer's PR lists, and we don't mind. Our latest Test Lab victim, the TwinClean Canister Vacuum, was a satisfying experience, as US vacuums seem to be catching up with Dyson...

The Twin Clean is a compact, bagless and comes with a dual HEPA filter system that cleans itself with a miraculous little shift of the filters. This is a sturdy, powerful machine that worked very well in our tests on both hard floor and carpet. Highlights include controls on the handle so you're not bending over all the time, a good bagless canister with one touch emptying and a telescoping wand.

Problems? Not too many. The price point is good, being a few hundred below the Miele (However we still find the Miele a more agile bundle and equally powerful), though we found the self cleaning HEPA a big confusing at first and the whole kit a bit heavy and - perhaps - overfeatured. The wand and floor cleaning unit itself is a big piece of hardware, that does a lot but is about as heavy as the vacuum itself.

This is a beefy little rig and while durable, could be a little simpler in our book, as opposed to feature rich. All that said, there's no doubt that this is a good vacuum and we welcome it to the ranks.

*Our Ratings:
Strong Recommend
Recommend
Weak Recommend
Don't Recommend