Top critical review
3.0 out of 5 starsDecent bagless canister for around $100
Reviewed in the United States on July 6, 2024
I needed a vacuum while staying at a friend’s smaller 2-bedroom house for a couple weeks. They have 2 cats and their cordless was on its last legs. I needed something small and inexpensive, with a reasonably large dust bin and enough power to get cat fur out of the thick pile rug while also working well for surfaces. A battery powered model was not going to have the oomph at the price point I was looking for, and an upright wasn't going to make much sense for cleaning surfaces and hard floors, so I settled on a canister model.
Occasionally I see Miele C1’s for as low as $275-300, and if that was available when I was looking, it would have been my first choice. It's more than double the cost of this Eureka, but the convenience of a bagged model with excellent suction combined with a proven longevity it would have been a worthy splurge. But there wasn't one available anywhere near that price on short notice, so I went looking at performance reviews against what was available either nearby or with Prime delivery and I landed on this model.
I knew I wasn't going to get a powered floor brush for the rug, but I was hoping that the extra power would make up for it. I had higher hopes for the suction-driven brush attachment (I always call these "power paws") since I have had good luck with them from other manufacturers in the past (Dyson, Miele). And otherwise I was just hoping it had reasonable airflow and suction.
What it does well:
- The team at Eureka clearly studied the competition. The automatic cord rewinder, adjustable suction, top-mounted controls, and stand mode were all clearly inspired by well established canister vacuums like the Miele line; they all worked well.
- The cord rewind lever has you hold it down while the cord rewinds, which I prefer to the automatic version on the Miele if only because it provides a bit more control and guards against accidental retraction
- I appreciated that the rewind lever flips up into a handle to make it easy to carry
- The suction was reasonable out of the box, and the vacuum was moderately quiet even at full power
- The dust bin is quite reasonably sized for such a small unit; larger would be more convenient, but not at the cost of making the machine larger.
What it does not do so well:
- Emptying the bin is messy, like with most bagless models. The pre-filter is not secured to the dust bin well, so it frequently falls off when dumping the contents of the dust bin.
- The power paw (suction-driven brush attachment) is terrible. They mimic the mechanics of the Miele one so I don't know what went wrong, but it seizes up easily. Hair and fur were easily trapped around the various shafts and against bearings, causing friction. It does come apart for cleaning quite easily (tool free), but I spent more time cleaning the attachment out than I did using it.
- The vacuum lacks the suction to clean even firm woven rugs and mats without a powered brush. It's unfortunate they didn't include one with this model because it would have made all the difference.
- The cord was surprisingly short, especially if you follow the manufacturers direction not to pull it out further than the yellow marking—in practice I could only get roughly 12' from where I was plugged in when accounting for slack to avoid yanking it out of the wall.
Who is this good for?
If you're looking for a small, reasonably quiet vacuum for hard floors and surfaces that is easy to carry and affordable, I do think this is worth considering. If you have a lot of upholstered surfaces or carpets, large rooms, or want something more allergy-friendly, though, I don't think you'll be happy with this model.