The knockoff Milwaukee at $47 is the story of this review. It produces more
suction than any other vacuum tested at 42 inches of water — six inches more
than the genuine $129 Milwaukee — for 167 air watts overall, third in the
group. It tied for first on the flour mat, cleared the sand crevice in 26
seconds, packed away six of the seven test nuts, and did not spill a gram from
its dust bin. If you already own M18 batteries, nothing else here comes close
on value.
For maximum capability the Milwaukee and DeWalt are the two genuinely powerful
machines, at 191 and 181 air watts. The DeWalt actually cleared the sand
crevice fastest in the entire test at 10 seconds, beating the Milwaukee's 11
because its narrower inlet concentrates the airflow better. Both tied for
first on carpet, both held everything they picked up, and both are heavy —
4.6 and 5.89 lb — and loud. The Milwaukee's one-step dust bin is a real
convenience; eleven of the fourteen here need two steps.
If you have no battery platform, the $70 Black+Decker 20V is the pick. At 110
air watts it cleared the crevice in 26 seconds, matched the Ryobi and Ridgid
on carpet despite a wide inlet, holds all its contents, and has a one-step
bin. The $35 Ryobi is the budget answer for anyone with 18V ONE+ packs, though
at 93.4 dB it is punishing to use.
Two to skip. The KMM at $40 makes 24 air watts, could not lift the smallest
test nut, left 62 of 100 g of sand in the crevice after two full minutes, and
leaked sand the moment it was switched off. The $60 Shark is quieter about it
but similarly outmatched: it could not lift the smallest nut either and ran out
of time in the crevice test. And the Makita is a specific case rather than a
bad one — it moves the most air of anything here at 47.47 CFM and runs the
longest at 50 minutes, but with only 20 inches of suction it cannot dig into
carpet, and its dust bag is the most awkward to empty in the group.
