Dyson V8 Animal Review

Features of the V8 Animal

Following the V6, the V8 is the logical and outstanding next step in the Dyson cordless family. The recent Dyson cordless models are the first vacuum cleaners to challenge traditional corded models. The V8 has more power, great filtration, and a better battery for a longer running time overall. Emptying the dust bin is much easier and the updated tools also work well. We had a hard time finding anything we did not like!

The V8 features a pistol grip with a trigger power switch, making it feel natural and comfortable to use. The balance is maintained with the batteries set under the wrist, offsetting the motor right above and the 0.57 quarts sized dust bin located in the front. At the top of the canister, you can pull out the primary filter. A secondary filter is located in the rear of the motor. According to Dyson, the filter captures particles as small as 3 microns. We found it easy to remove the filters for cleaning.

One of the most elegant features of the V8 is the ability to empty the canister directly into the trash can. Furballs from pets tend to wedge themselves between the canister and the cyclone motor. Since the vacuum is compact, be aware that the canister is understandably small and fills up quickly. There is a line on the canister that indicates when you need to empty it to not overfill it.

It’s a good thing the emptying the canister is so easy! Position the canister’s bottom over the trash bin, pull up once on the large red clip at the top of the motor housing. This will release the motor and it will slide up and out of the housing. Pull a second time and the bottom of the canister will release and flip down, dumping the contents directly into the trash. No more fishing out dusty hairballs with your fingers!

There is usually a $50 price difference between V8 Absolute and the Animal only because the Absolute comes with one extra tool, a cleaning head that features a soft roller. This tool is marvelous for hardwood floors, as its ability to remove even fine dust and debris is superb. However, the primary vacuum head also does a good job of cleaning all floor types. Hence the soft roller is not essential, especially if you are going to be mostly vacuuming carpeted areas and need to deal with pet hair.

While the Absolute has an orange extension tube, the Animal is grey. Visually, there is no other difference between the two models. The main cleaning tool, both for pet hair and general vacuuming, is a head called the Direct Drive. Due to a small motor on the inside of the brush, the head provides suction all the way across its length. It even cleans the little crevices between the edge of a carpet and the wall. Its nylon bristles are stiff and twist around the brush to beat the carpet threads and release particles of dirt and dust from the carpet. The head also has carbon filaments that enable it to pick up the fine dust off hardwood floors.

Parquet floors and other softwood floors don’t usually support the use of a rotating brush. However, in the case of the Direct Drive tool, its carbon filaments are not as long as its nylon bristles. The wheels of the head hold the bristles high enough to not scrape along the softwood floor while the carbon filaments happily whisk away minute debris.

When used on a carpet, the wheels sink down and the bristles touch it, beating into the fibers to release dirt and hair. The exceptional pivoting of the head allows for a wide range of motion and it also goes low to clean under furniture.

A nice feature of this vacuum head is that you can remove to clean it of pet hair. Turn the panel on the end of the bar and it will slide out. Putting it back in is quick and easy as well.

The Mini Motorized tool has the same simple cleaning method. Only 5.5 inches (14 cm) wide, this little tool has a motor, a footplate that can tilt, and a double row of tall nylon brushes on its brush bar. This little powerhouse attaches directly the body of the V8 and is ideal for cleaning stairs, upholstery, bedding, and vehicles.

The final tools included with the Animal are the dusting brush and the crevice tool. These are a good size and attach with a satisfying click directly onto the tube or main housing, along with all the other tools. And of course, being a cordless vacuum, a docking station and charger are included to keep your Dyson ready for any mess, hairy or not.

Battery Life

The V8 has an inbuilt battery. Our initial charge took just over four hours right out of the box. The manual cautiously keeps the full charge time at five hours. That is a long time to wait if the battery runs out midway through your vacuuming session. But that is the nature of cordless vacuums and it is usually quite a feat to exhaust the battery in one go.

In standard mode, the V8 is supposed to last 40 min. In the much stronger MAX mode, it should run for 10 min, if the tools being utilized are not motorized. In our tests, the V8 Animal indeed reached these numbers. While the MAX mode seems to deplete the battery very quickly, you only need it for short bursts.

Of course, there is variation in these figures depending on what type of flooring you clean and which tools you use. The Mini Motorized tool and Direct Drive tool draw power from the battery as well. Using either of these automatically decreases the running time. Thick pile carpets will use more battery life, as they are harder to clean and will drain the battery quicker. On standard mode, our Dyson V8 Animal lasted about 35 to 37 minutes. On the MAX mode, it only took about 10 to 12 minutes before it needed recharging. In both cases, we used the motorized tools.

For deep cleaning pet hair out of carpets and upholstery, we expect many people to stick with the MAX setting. We find 10 minutes insufficient for cleaning an entire home, but that is only if you waste the battery life. If you stick to standard mode, 35 minutes should be enough. It just takes more passes of the vacuum to collect all the pet hair wound into the carpet fibers.

One of the advantages of the trigger power switch is that when you release it, the vacuum turns off and saves on power. That means even the little moments you take your finger off the switch will save on power, which quickly adds up. Standard power switches are usually left on between vacuuming rooms. The trigger switch on the V8 helps to consolidate the limited energy it has so that you can complete your entire task. In fact, it even reduces your overall energy usage, since you are naturally more conservative with this vacuum than a corded one.

Does the V8 Animal Suit Its Name?

The suction power of all the V8 models is outstanding for cordless vacuums. It leaves nothing behind, even if you sometimes need multiple passes on carpets when cleaning pet hair in the standard power mode. Couple that with the motorized tools and you’ve got an impressive amount of cleaning power. The noise levels aren’t much different from a typical corded vacuum like the Ball Animal 2, which runs at about 75 decibels.

What happens when the V8 goes from standard to MAX power mode? The suction and airflow of the V8 gets better than a lot of corded vacuum cleaners. It’s perfect for pesky bits of pet hair that resist cleaning. Of course, it is also much louder than standard mode, moving to 85 decibels. While in MAX mode, our V8 picked up 21% more dirt on the same carpet cleaned while in standard mode.

On carpets, the Direct Drive head produces amazing results. One time we cleaned a carpet of a mix of powder and granule with a single pass of the V8. Periphery cleaning on the edges of carpets was also impressive, clearing the floor of any debris no matter at which angle we aligned the vacuum head.

The medium strength of standard mode was balanced by the power brush bar, which working in concert with each other still produced highly satisfactory cleaning results, with a lot more life left in the battery.

Having used the soft roller brush that comes with the V8 Absolute, we did regret not having it with the Animal. It is just so great for hardwood floors! Fortunately, the Direct Drive head still manages incredible cleaning results on various floor types, like tiles, parquet, and laminate. There never seems to be any need to use MAX mode when cleaning a hard floor.

The V8 and Pet Hair

Animal hair and dander is the primary reason most people are looking to buy this vacuum. In our tests, the V8 has never failed to lift fur from any carpet. Whether in standard mode or on MAX mode, the amount of pet debris collected is very effective.

As always, in order to test the V8’s ability to clean pet hair, we’ve used the vacuum in multiple real households. One of our dogs has long hairs that love to twist themselves into the fibers of our long carpet pile. Our Labrador, on the other hand, has a heavy, oily coat that sticks to everything.

Vacuuming in standard power mode cleaned our fur infested test patches in 8 to 9 seconds. On MAX mode it only took about 6 to 7 seconds to do the same. It is an amazing result and competes with the best corded, pet-specific vacuums out there.

Going to upholstered couches, we switched to the Motorized tool and gave the areas our dogs like to sit on a good sweep of the vacuum. We found the results equally impressive. Standard Mode was just the right amount of suction power, seeing as how we didn’t need to tear the fabric off the couch.

Of course, when it comes down to the cleaning ability of the V8, it isn’t relying solely on suction power. The design of each cleaning head and tool and how they are used plays a big role. Each motorized head accomplished an impressive task of removing all pet hair and debris from the carpets and furniture, and cleaning those out was also simple with their clever design.

Next, we took the Animal on a cleaning quest of hardwood floors. For this test, we used the MAX mode a lot to see what would happen. It may use more power and reduce the running time, but it also cleans more quickly.

We could literally see the hair and debris being drawn into the vacuum. The results were great, except when compared with the soft roller head that comes with the V8 Absolute, which is even better. If you don’t mind the higher budget, the Absolute is a more complete choice you might want to pick over the Animal.

The one drawback of the V8 is the size of its canister. It is rather small to begin with, and because of the excellent cleaning job, it gets full rather quickly. This is especially true of homes with very hairy pets that like to shed.

However, this is certainly no reason against the V8, because emptying the canister is so easy. Just be aware that in a 30-minute cleaning period in standard mode, there was a total of 3 trips to the garbage to empty the canister.

Vacuum on Stairs

Cleaning stairs is where corded vacuums are no fun at all, especially if they are bulky! The slim & lightweight V8, however, is a joy to use on stairs. It is not only designed to tackle large amounts of pet hair but to do so with a maneuverable head and body. The Mini Motorized head is perfect on stairs. It fits into corners and effortlessly picks up everything in its path. For wooden stairs, we recommend the Direct Drive head over the Mini to reduce the chance of scratches.

As for cleaning the smaller areas of our lives, the crevice tool and dusting brush do a great job. The bristles of the dusting brush are lengthy and supple, perfect for cleaning ceiling fans, keyboards, and various vents and shelves. The long crevice tool catches all those pesky, unsightly fur balls in corners and behind objects. It fits well underneath low objects like radiators and has some built-in air channels that keep the tool from sealing against the wall or floor due to the suction.

Is the Dyson V8 a Good Purchase?

In one word: yes. You will be happy with this vacuum cleaner. It is outstanding at picking up pet hair and the cordless, lightweight, powerful motor is skillful in cleaning everything else. This vacuum is only trumped by its sibling, the V8 Absolute, and the newer V10 (which is more expensive). This vacuum can replace a corded vacuum and do an outstanding job.

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4,617 Reviews

Dyson (214730-01) V8 Absolute Cordless Stick Vacuum Cleaner, Yellow

• Cord free. Hassle free. Powerful suction, refer user manual for instructions
• Up to 40 minute's run time when using a non-motorized tool. Suction power (Max mode): 115 AW
• Lightweight and versatile, for easy home cleaning. Instant release trigger means battery power is only used while it’s cleaning. Requires charging for 4 hours minimum before first use
• Up to 30 minutes of fade free power with the soft roller cleaner head
• Direct drive cleaner head. Up to 8 minutes of fade free power (in Max mode). Drives stiff nylon bristles into carpets to capture deep down dirt
• Whole machine HEPA filtration captures allergens and expels cleaner air than the air you breathe. Filtration: Washable lifetime filter

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Last update on 2023-05-31 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API