I Tried Dyson’s New V16 Piston Animal Cordless Vacuum — Here Are My Honest Thoughts

Looking for more ways to save? We’re tracking all the best deals on furniture, mattresses, kitchen essentials, and more in one place. Shop our complete guide to the best Labor Day sales, and check back often—we’ll be updating it with the biggest discounts throughout the holiday weekend.

Has a vacuum cleaner ever stopped working on you, and when you go to check out what’s wrong you’re met with a mass of hair tangled in the cleaning head that you have to physically cut out? It’s truly a gross experience, and it can become a regular occurrence if you’re not using the right tool. Fortunately, there are vacuum cleaners on the market dedicated to delivering anti-tangle features.

Dyson’s newest V16 Piston Animal recently hit the market, promising to be the “most powerful anti-tangle cordless vacuum.” I tested this vacuum cleaner out to see how it could handle hair from my full house of three adults, two kids, two dogs, and a cat. Here’s how it performed. 

The V16 Piston Animal features the latest technology from Dyson: a hyperdymium 900-watt motor (it can run for 70 minutes and has 315 air watts of fade-free power), a dual conical cleaner head that auto adapts to all floor types and has a built-in light to illuminate any dust, and a compressing bin that can hold up to 30 days’ worth of dust. 

What’s more, there are several different options to level up the standard Dyson V16 Piston Animal — you can get it with the submarine attachment, which is a separate wet cleaning head that removes spills from hard floors; with a floordok, a freestanding charging dock that stores up to five tools; or with the new auto-empty dok, which automatically empties your vacuum, holds up to 60 days’ worth of dust, and stores and charges your machine and all its spare tools. 

The V16 Piston Animal is considered Dyson’s most powerful anti-tangle cordless vacuum, as the dual conical cleaner head rotates, allowing it to spiral and de-tangle hair up to 25 inches long. The built-in light is also a standout feature of the cleaner head, as it illuminates hard-to-see dust particles.

Another feature worth noting is the new compressing bin, which allows you to compress down on the collected mess so you can make it more compact and be able to fill up the bin even more (up to 30 days’ worth). Additionally, the fade-free power means that it doesn’t slow down as the battery drains; it’s able to maintain the same level of suction until it shuts off. 

With a full house of five people (four of which have long hair), two dogs, and a cat — it’s fair to say that there’s a fair amount of fur and hair everywhere. We shed a lot and everywhere, which means we vacuum nearly every day, relying on a number of vacuum cleaners (dedicated bed ones, handheld ones, robot vacuums, etc.), but nothing gets as much use as our cordless vacuum cleaners. In testing the Dyson V16 Piston Animal, I’ve never once had to pause and detangle the vacuum head or need to switch to a different type of cleaner head to tackle a different floor surface. The only time I’ve had to hit pause was to move cords or objects or to compress the bin to allow for more dirt to get sucked up. The dual conical head could move through different rugs with different pile heights and floor types (like tile in the bathrooms and laminate floors everywhere else) with no issues.

I especially appreciated the built-in light, as it reminded me to slow down my vacuuming to ensure I was getting every nook and cranny. The 70-minute run time was ample time to go through every room of my two-story home, including the stairs. I made sure to test the vacuum until it reached a zero battery life to ensure the fade-free power worked — and it did; it maintained the same level of performance until it ultimately died.

Yes, if you’re in the market for a new cordless vacuum cleaner or looking to upgrade your current one to a model that’ll truly deliver anti-tangle cleaning without sacrificing power, then you’ll want the Dyson V16 Piston Animal. It features the latest Dyson technology, has a long runtime, and doesn’t leave you with a tangled cleaner head — ever. 

What’s more, with the ongoing Labor Day sales it’s worth upgrading to get the other additions like the submarine attachment (if you want a wet cleaner head) or the floordok or auto-emptying dok. The Dyson V16 Piston Animal is currently $130 off for Labor Day, and the Dyson V16 Piston Animal + Submarine is $150 off and Dyson V16 Piston Animal + floordok is $150 off.

Buy: Dyson V16 Piston Animal, $849.99 (normally $979.99)