Numatic HVX200-22 Review

Overall Rating

Super Suction
Lightweight
Huge dust bags
Robust
Excellent price

The ordinary head is difficult to push over pile carpets due to the massive suction. But that's OK, because you've got the airobrush! The ordinary head works very well on hard floors.

I have just bought the Numatic HVX200-22 to replace my aging Dyson, which appears to have stopped sucking. Maybe as a cumulative result of losing the numerous plastic bits that have cracked off it over the years?

Anyway, the Henry. If, like me, you have been put off by using the ancient office Henry which smelled like something had died in it and had all the suction of an asthmatic hamster, be reassured. The bag and filter probably hadn't been changed since Victoria was on the throne. Your Henry won't be like that. It'll be awesome.

This is my first cylinder vac, and I am blown away by the fact that the ordinary head seems to suck from all directions and clean out all the nooks and crannies in my kitchen without recourse to the crevice tool. But once you move off a hard floor it's best to switch to the air-powered airo brush, which is just fantastic! It shifts cat hair and long human hair off an apparently Velcro carpet with ease.

It's light enough to carry upstairs without needing a lie-down afterwards, and the tube thing is long enough so that you don't have to bend double to push it around. The cable and hose are good and long, so that you can probably manage an entire floor from one plug hole.

The dust bags are cheap and huge. Not being terribly into housework, the vac doesn't get dragged out too often, and I had to empty the Dyson after every room. I have just done the whole house, and there's still plenty of room for more!

But - it is just a basic vac. You'll need to change the dust bag and filter every now and again, and it doesn't have any bells and whistles. It just vacuums really well.

It gets 5 for style because it's a red blob with a smug face, and you'll either love it or not. But it's irrelevant really. The design has been around for ages, and it is hugely popular in the industrial sector, so all parts are readily available and cheap, and I can't imagine that you'll find that it's suddenly become obsolete overnight.