Converting every graded test into a first-to-last ranking, the Dyson and the Shark PowerDetect tied for first. They split the wins between them: the Shark PowerDetect took unsealed airflow at 45 CFM, suction lift at 101 inches of water column, the plastic-ball test with a clean sweep, and air filtration at 94.9% of dust removed, while the Dyson took sealed airflow at 57 CFM, carpet sand at 95 of 100 grams, and crevice sand at 59 grams against the Shark PowerDetect's 50. Both were the only two vacuums to finish the hair test with nothing wrapped around the roller — every other machine left the bulk of the hair on the brush rather than in the canister — and both earned top marks on the hard-floor rice test, where the Shark PowerDetect left nothing behind and the Dyson left three grains. The Shark PowerDetect is quieter, but it costs roughly twice what the Dyson does.
For anyone shopping on price, the $78 EUREKA PowerSpeed is the pick. It made 45 CFM sealed to the test stand, on par with the $210 Hoover, missed only two plastic balls where the $130 Shark Navigator missed 92, and cleaned rice up against a wall as well as the Dyson did. Its weaknesses are real — 62 grams of carpet sand was the lowest in the group, and it doubled the dust in the sealed chamber — but it out-performed several vacuums costing two and three times as much.
The cautionary results are worth weighing. The Hoover destroyed its own motor a minute into the filtration test, with the teardown showing the stator rubbing the rotor and cooked brushes, so its strong lift and 88 grams of carpet sand come with a serious reliability question. Filtration is the sharpest divide in the group: without a working HEPA setup, the Dirt Devil, the EUREKA Airspeed, the EUREKA PowerSpeed, and the Bissell all left the air dirtier than they found it, and the Bissell more than doubled the particle count. Crevice and edge work separated the field just as sharply, with the Dirt Devil and Shark Navigator lifting only 5 grams of sand out of a crevice against the Dyson's 59. If allergies or pet hair are the reason for the purchase, the Dyson or the Shark PowerDetect are the two machines that earn their price.