The Dyson Ball Animal 3 Extra is the pick for best overall. It recovered 98 g
of the 100 g of sand pressed into carpet, lifted 62 g out of the half-inch
crevice, peaked at 109 inches of water column, and moved 62.9 CFM sealed while
losing the least airflow of any vacuum here once the head was unsealed — the
practical measure of how well it seals to a real floor. It also finished with
no hair wrapped around the brush roll, and carries the longest cord in the
group at 35 ft. The costs are weight and noise: at just over 17.5 lb it is the
heaviest vacuum tested and at 87.9 dB it is louder than either Shark. It also
pushed Airsoft pellets around rather than swallowing them, and trapped several
inside its detangling vanes.
The Shark Stratos costs $10 less and is close enough to make the choice
personal. It moved the most sealed airflow of the group at 63.4 CFM, reached
100 inches of water, took 60 g out of the crevice against the Dyson's 62, and
collected 96 g of sand from carpet against 98. It matched the Dyson's perfect
score on hair wrap, beat it outright on Airsoft pellets and on cleaning against
a wall, and weighs about three-quarters of a pound less. Its cord is 29 ft
rather than 35.
Below $200 the Kenmore Featherlite is the pick. It collected 92 g of sand from
carpet — more than the $160 Shark NV360, the $120 Bissell 2252 and everything
cheaper — picked up every Airsoft pellet, and was the only vacuum to earn the
best possible rating cleaning rice against a wall. It runs at 81.2 dB, puts 85%
of its head width to work, and drew 995 W against an advertised 850 W. Its
weaknesses are hair wrap around the brush roll, which was among the worst here,
and 19 g from the crevice. The Shark NV360 is the quietest vacuum in the lineup
at 80.9 dB and the more powerful of the two at 1,165 W, but it finished behind
the Kenmore Featherlite on carpet sand, Airsoft pellets and wall cleaning.
Under $100 the compromises get harder to live with: the Amazon Basics Vacuum
scattered rice across the floor and recovered 24 g of 50, and lifted just 5 g
from the crevice. And width alone is not the answer — the Bissell 2252 has the
widest brush roll here at 12 inches, but finished last on carpet at 68 g
because its airflow cannot keep up with the head.