Sebo Felix Navy

The Sebo Felix Navy is a compact upright vacuum cleaner designed for owners who want something which is smaller than the X range of uprights but by no means any less easier to use. Quiet and compact I was initially surprised to find that with ownership of the commercial Dart upright, the Felix version is just as good, if not better.The Felix takes the place of our old X1 vacuum that has gone to a bigger home with more carpets and less furniture to get around. Sometimes my parent's home was like a Demolition Derby! But whereas the X range of uprights are true upright vacuums in their own blueprint, the Felix on design, is a combination of vacuum using the basis of a cylinder vacuum with a built in handle, variable suction control and a separate timed electric powered motor head to qualify for its upright design. The Felix is made of tough PVC plastics and metal, just like the bigger X range of upright vacuums, and its latest design from Sebo means softer edged plastics and a feel of general quality which lasts. The Felix is environmentally friendly conscious with its maximum w When tested against the Dyson Slim DC14, which is a newer model than the Sebo Felix on size, the Dyson DC14 did appear smaller thus making my decision harder to justify. So I researched and found some surprising results. Sebo size has been given in closed brackets: The DC14 comes in at a height of 111cm (Sebo Felix height 104cm), a width of 30cm (Sebo Felix width 31cm) and a diameter of 41.5cm (Sebo Felix diameter 38cm). I'd have never thought that the DC14 was bigger than the Felix although the Dyson has washable filters and half of the Felix's dirt capacity (1.7litres). When tested side by side, I found that the Felix won on the impressive lack of motor noise, versatility, less weight and lighter increased steering on the basis of its pivotal neck getting around corners than the Slim's slightly stiffer but bigger neck hinge. Despite their latest claim of their model being compact, the Felix is physically smaller by its design outright against Dyson's best efforts whilst also being a lot more user-design friendly. I don't mind paying out for bags if my ears aren't subjected to what sounds like a mini jet taking off...Like the commercial version of the Sebo Dart, the Felix uses the same timed electronic floor head that has a guidance system built into it. Sebo have fitted a four-height control dial for the consumer to choose which height they feel they need when it comes to precise carpet & floor care. There is perhaps some logic to Sebo's madness which becomes methodical when in use: if you have different flooring in your home the Felix can be adjusted to any flooring to suit ensuring each time that the brushes actually hit the floor, lessening the actual brush wear and also maintaining Sebo's iconic gliding reputation. The Felix is very light to push and pull across any surface which maintains the memory of our old X1 but the X1 struggled on bathroom mats which the Felix does not. The X1 takes a few seconds for its floor head to rest on carpets due to its electronic hydraulics; the Felix doesn't have this added facility so the power and brush can be used immediately.Over the X1 and the Dart, the Felix has an a stop activation button which stops the brush from rolling on hard flooring and whilst Sebo have never fitted any beater bars on their roller brush, it is of extra benefit to have this device added - it is easy to do either by pressing it manually or just stepping on it - to stop the brush rolling on delicate surfaces or the bug bear of most carpet tasks; the dreaded rubber lined bathroom mats where traditional uprights snag and pressure exerted on the motor results in a burning rubber smell and a still brush. On the Felix however the suction can also be reduced from 1000 watts to 1300 watts via its slide on, switch on slide bar located right at the top of the handle. When the brush roll is stopped and the suction is reduced, I found cleaning bathroom rugs and mats has never been easier. Flick the rotary dial to number 4 on the floor head, and the with the motor re-activated, stepping on the rug to keep it in place, the Felix will brush up any dirt collected easily - without the fear of a belt being broken in the process.The reason to how the Felix copes is down to the electronic floor head - it's a design that is included on Sebo's older C3 and K3 cylinder vacuums. By applying an electric brake internally and if anything gets caught up in the floor head, the orange icon on the floor head will flash permanently with the brush turned off until the Felix can be restarted again. No thermal cut out on any other vacuum is as fast, efficient or as clever as that on a Sebo upright - and the Felix is no exception. Like the X range, the Felix (and Dart) both has the same trapdoor located on the base that can be opened and viewed easily if there is a clog. Flipping the floor head on its side, or taking it off from the main body via its lock mechanism means that access to the main brush can be removed via its lock button on the side of its "L" shaped brush corner. Once that is removed the entire brush roll can be pulled outwards. Once anything that is caught is removed, the brush roll just slides back in, twist and lock onto the flywheel and the door pushed back on until its locks into place. Against the X upright, the Felix has edge suction channels on both sides of its floor head.Having the 180 pivotal bottom neck means that the Felix (and Dart) can be swivelled around corners and up and down skirting boards far more easily and quicker than the normal sawing action on traditional uprights. And because the floor head is thinner the Felix can get under low furniture until it is stopped by the thicker diameter of its main bin area. Whereas a traditional upright employs the use of its owner to shift chairs out of the way or bash up a leg anxiously, the Felix can be angled from its handle to move left or right whilst the floor head turns at the same angle. Cleaning under the dinning table has never been easier and the Felix literally flies up helped along by its pivotal head that can lock into position if the handle is made to get the Felix back into its straight position; I've read that some reviewers/owners feel that this is a downside, but if no actual lock is used then the handle would swing down after use and crash to the bottom - the fact that it locks means that after use the Felix can be stored away easily. The handle and neck also position downwards without the need to step on the pedal release twice, a fact that Oreck owners will sympathise with without the need to find the pedal and press it down again when flat to the floor cleaning is required. Apart from the electronic brush head, Sebo also include another floor head, which is for hard wooden or delicate floors. Although to many Sebo owners the Parquet brush is standard on machines such the K1 Komfort, the Felix has an improved design called the "Parquet Deluxe" which is better built and has two removable strips of horsehair bristles for cleaning as well as which both strips of brush hair float up and down in use on floors to ensure everything gets picked up first time. I have noticed improvement on this floor head over my old Parquet brush particularly in the way it moves and in this respect the additional advantage of being able to remove the brushes for cleaning.I do however find that unlike the Dart which has fixed suction all the time, the Felix is better at maintaining a lighter gliding factor and a lower vibration of brushes coming through the handle due to its variable power. Increase the suction all the way and the Felix feels like it is stuck to the floor due to all that suction, but strangely not pushing consumers the need to exercise a ploughing technique. Moving the Felix around frees up a lot of time wasted with the more traditional push in, push out, push forward, push back principles used with uprights. A green light on the floor head shines continually to show that the floor head has been activated.A flap just below the top of the bin at the front reveals the next trick on the Felix and sadly isn't available on the Dart; a height adjustable handle. Pulling the flap outwards (and Sebo have marked it well as to how to do it and what it does) allows the handle to be unlocked and can be adjusted in three stepped positions from very low, medium or the tallest height. There is however a downside to this. In the highest position I felt that the handle feels slightly weak, probably because there is no more to its spine when it's at its most extended. Compared to the Dart's fixed handle which can never be adjusted, the Felix's spine feel strongest when it is set at the medium height although there is never a feeling that the thick metal neck will break off if the handle is set at the highest position; it just doesn't feel as strong as the lower positions available.When the floor heads are removed by pushing a lock button at the bottom, the Felix reveals another surprise; its total weight with floor head added is around 6.7 kg and feels similar to my Dart commercial upright (remembering that both are nearly identical save on a limited specification where the Dart is concerned) but at 5kg, the Felix is very light to lift around aided by its short hose which snap fits down one side and tools on the spine neck of the handle can be taken off for above the floor cleaning. In this exercise, everything is together with the Felix - the cord points are located on the back of the vacuum which means if you change up to hand held option, everything bar the floor head comes with you. Against the Dart's fixed handle, the Felix's handle can then be pushed back down into the main body that creates a more portable machine on width and total length. The Felix is fitted with a 9.5 metre cord that is bigger on length than most upright vacuums supply. No need for an extension cable then! When in cylinder mode, the Felix does reveal some weaknesses - it's short hose for example can stretch as far as you go, but without the long crevice tool attached, you may need to travel up more stairs holding onto the body of the Felix. The T shaped upholstery tool is great for cleaning on car seats - just like the X model from where this tool originates from, the T shape tool has a removable brush line so that you don't necessarily get the "line streaks" that some upholstery brushes leave behind on velour or cloth car seats. Generally the Felix is great for anyone who has a small amount of stairs in a small to medium-small home. For bigger homes you may need an extra 6 metre extension hose, one of which I picked up from EBay at the cost of £9-99 instead of Sebo's full £15 asking price. The Felix is an incredible vacuum to maintain with its filters and bags. The bin door is at top; it can be opened simply by flipping up the catch; the bag can be taken out and sealed straight away since the seals are now located on the bags themselves. New bag can then literally be dropped in and the bin door closed over - if the flap doesn't lock then the bag hasn't been put in properly only needing instant alignment with its coil lock and the lid falls over onto the top. From the two months of ownership, the Felix is still on its original 3.5 litre top fill dust bag and it is nearly full judging by its weight, but the bag fill indicator has yet to agree that the bag is completely filled up and until it shows me its full orangey ness, the bag can still keep going!The main motor filter carries the same principle, having to be changed after every 16 lots of paper bags have been used. A simple carry handle allows owners to line the bottom of the bin with the filter, push down until it locks into place; to remove, find the foldable handle, lift up and dispose of. Easy! Cost of replacement ranges from £5-95 to £7-95.The other main filter surrounds the main body of the Felix and looks for the most to be the same soft bag designs that graced Hoover Junior and Senior models for the best part of forty odd years. Only that it isn't a soft bag; it's a soft lycra cotton-mix cover which acts as Sebo's electrostatic filter which sums up the S Class grade filtration system which equal HEPA/High Efficiency Particulate Air filters and all Felix machines have been awarded with the Seal of Approval by the British Allergy Foundation. Removing the cover for the main filter is easy to do by unlocking two plastic bracelets which sit at the top and bottom of the cover; after these are taken off, a new cover (after being bought) can be placed back on, folding the sides down into their bend channels and then fitting the braces back on; it is an eye catching if not novel design because Sebo make three different kinds of colourful colours of which you can customize your Felix; red/orange, dark Navy blue and a colour tartan stripe I adore which is made up of cream and dark reddish patches - Chavs up and down the country may well aspire to the Felix because of this tartan as it is similar in look to Burberry; however they may baulk at the asking price of the total vacuum although replacement covers can cost between £5-95 and £7-95. I still have my original blue cover but my mum likes the beige colour and it seems to go well with the Sebo "Navy" model when the Navy cover is removed.Over most traditional upright vacuums the Sebo Felix remains to be a very compact, ultra powerful and versatile upright vacuum cleaner and has a long list of cost optional accessories available. Just like their principles of recycling, Sebo's lengthy list of cost optional tools and hoses from their X range can also be used on the Felix, which means shopping around for additional tools has never been cheaper - particularly if you use EBay. For me, the X upright is still the best upright vacuum on the market, but it has been usurped by this latest Sebo on the grounds that although the Felix is smaller on dirt capacity and total weight, it has a better cleaning versatility because of its changeable heads and the change over to cylinder vacuum function only. Yes, whilst there are conceivable downsides such as the fact owners will need to buy bags and filters, it means less dirt to people in an age when there are so many skin and breathing allergies brought on by household & environment pollution. In this instance I know I can trust my lungs with Sebo - along with everything else in terms of creating a machine that again, just does what it says.