The 6 Best Upright Vacuums - Fall 2023 Reviews

The best upright vacuum we've tested is the Dyson Ball Animal 3. This bagless upright vacuum has a powerful suction motor and delivers exceptional cleaning performance on different floor types. The top-range Complete variant is only available from Dyson's website and comes with a wide assortment of attachments for handheld use, including a mini turbo brush, a multi-angle brush, and even a dedicated pet grooming tool. 

Its floorhead has three suction gate settings, letting you adapt to everything from high-pile carpet to flat surfaces like hardwood or laminate. The floorhead also features a set of plastic combs that capture long hair, preventing most of it from getting tangled in the mechanism. There's also a brushroll off switch, so you can clean hard floors without worrying about scattering large debris everywhere or easily free the vacuum if it gets stuck on thicker carpeting.

Unfortunately, build quality isn't a strong point, with a mainly plastic body that creaks and flexes slightly while in use. You'll also need to roll back its power cord manually, which is disappointing for a vacuum at this price point and can be a nuisance due to the cord's substantial length. While the Dyson vacuum's ball-shaped wheel makes it fairly maneuverable for an upright, this is still a bulky and heavy machine, and you might find it a bit of a hassle to grab from a closet and use for smaller cleaning jobs.

If you're looking for something cheaper and more portable, the Shark Stratos Upright is a good option. It shares a common design element with other Shark vacuums in its 'Lift-Away' design, which lets you pick up and carry its canister body separately from its floorhead. This makes cleaning tight spots with its wand much easier than with the Dyson Ball Animal 3. However, it doesn't perform as well as the Dyson on carpets and has a floorhead with no brushroll height adjustment, so it tends to get stuck on surfaces like shag carpeting more frequently. One of this vacuum's more unique selling points is its odor neutralization system, which works through a replaceable cartridge in its floorhead that emits a detergent-like scent as you clean.

While the Shark's attachment set isn't as varied as the Dyson's, it still comes with a miniature turbo brush, an upholstery nozzle, and a crevice tool, which will cover many of your needs. The vacuum's primary brushroll has a set of integrated fins that do a good job of preventing hair from getting wrapped around the roller, similar to the Dyson vacuum's anti-tangle combs. However, unlike the Dyson, the roller isn't removable, making cleaning it a hassle.

Check out the Shark Rotator Lift-Away ADV if you're shopping for an upright vacuum at a mid-range price point. It shares a lot in common with the newer and pricier Shark Stratos Upright, with the same reconfigurable 'Lift-Away' design that lets you pick up and carry the canister body separately from its floorhead and clean awkward spots with its hose. The ADV's maximum range of a little over 30 feet is all but identical to the Stratos and will be sufficient for cleaning fairly large areas without needing to swap outlets. However, its older DuoClean head design isn't as effective in dealing with hair wraps and doesn't deal with debris on carpets quite as effectively, with marginally softer, thinner bristles that don't provide as much surface agitation. It also doesn't have the Stratos' odor-neutralizing cartridge, though this is far from a must-have feature.

Unfortunately, this vacuum shares many of the same downsides as the Stratos. While there are two different speed settings for its brushroll, you can't change its floorhead height, and it can get bogged down on shag-pile rugs. The primary brushroll's design isn't removable either, making it hard to pull out any stuck-on debris or tangled strands of hair, though you can detach the secondary soft roller.

The Kenmore Intuition Bagged is a very solid option for something cheaper. It incurs higher ownership costs than bagless alternatives like the Shark Rotator Lift-Away ADV since you'll need to occasionally replace its disposable filters and dirtbag. However, it's even cheaper than the Shark, and since it uses dirtbags that seal in debris and has a separate HEPA filter, it offers superb filtration performance. Better yet, you can release its dirtbag from its internal compartment with the press of a single latch, so you won't dirty your hands when taking it out.

While debris pickup performance falls short of the pricier, more powerful Dyson Ball Animal 3, the Kenmore still delivers impressive overall performance on carpets and bare floors. It also has a brushroll off switch, preventing it from scattering around larger debris on hard surfaces like vinyl flooring. Additionally, like Shark's series of 'Lift-Away' upright vacuums, you can disconnect its canister from its floorhead and carry it around, making it easier to clean hard-to-reach areas with its wand.

Unfortunately, there's no way of adjusting its floorhead height, so it can easily get bogged down on plush carpeting. Its bulky dirtbag compartment also makes cleaning under tables and chairs tricky. Check out the BISSELL Pet Hair Eraser Turbo if you want something easier to maneuver on thick carpeting. However, it feels flimsier, and its bagless design is more demanding in terms of maintenance since you'll need to empty its dustbin and clean its filters regularly.

If you're looking for an upright vacuum at a budget-friendly price, consider the BISSELL PowerForce Helix. Right off the bat, it's crucial to note that this vacuum feels cheap and toy-like, even when compared to mid-range options like the Kenmore Intuition Bagged, though this isn't much of a surprise given its low price. It also does a terrible job of sealing fine allergens. Still, if all you're after is strong debris pickup at as low a price as possible, it's worth a look.

Performance on carpeted surfaces is great, as it easily clears solid material and pet hair away. Its five-level brushroll height adjustment feature is rare for a vacuum at this price point and lets you adapt to different lengths of carpet if you're having trouble pushing it around.
 Unfortunately, there's no brushroll off switch, so be careful when cleaning around obstructions like rug tassels, which can get wrapped around its brushroll and trapped in its floorhead quite easily. Its mainly plastic construction makes it very lightweight for a vacuum of this type. However, this does come at the cost of durability, as its plastic body creaks and flexes while in use.

Thankfully, it's easy to maintain, aside from its brushroll, which requires removing a few screws to pull it out, making it a bit of a nuisance to clear away any tangled hair. Want a budget-friendly upright with a larger dustbin? The Dirt Devil Endura Max is a good alternative, though it doesn't perform as well on carpeted floors.

The Shark Vertex Pro Powered Lift-Away is a solid option if you're looking for an upright but don't want to stay close to a power outlet. Its cordless design allows you to clean far-away areas far more easily than even uprights with a long power cord, like the Dyson Ball Animal 3, which has an operating range of nearly 40 feet. However, this comes at the cost of runtime, as it can only run for a maximum of about 40 minutes when using it in its upright configuration. Worse, you can drain its battery in as little as 10 minutes if you use it continuously in its high-power 'Boost' mode—however, that setting's intended for small, stubborn messes rather than general-duty cleaning across bigger spaces.

Like many more conventional Shark uprights, its 'Lift-Away' alternative configuration allows you to pick up and carry its canister body separately from its floorhead while cleaning tight spots with its hose. However, that's made even easier by the cordless model's more compact body. It also delivers exceptional performance on bare floors and does a great job with pet hair and other kinds of solid debris on carpets.

It's lighter and more maneuverable than most conventional uprights, but its lack of a brushroll off switch and floorhead height adjustment can cause it to get stuck on rug tassels and dense shag-pile carpeting. Despite its advertised "Self-Cleaning" design, the primary brushroll in its twin-roller floorhead collects a lot of pet hair. Worse yet, like many other Shark vacuums, the primary roller isn't removable, making it hard to clear away any stuck-on debris.