New Vax Zoom Upright (Argos Exclusive) Review & Pics

[madabouthoovers]

Well, I had to have one in the end, and having not bought a new vac for a while I went out and bought 3 in the last few days. Having seen the new Zoom range in the Argos book, and the lovely colours they come in, I decided to go for the Pink one, as I don't have any Pink vacs yet.


Its not a bad vac and seems well made for the price paid of £69.99.


I wanted a couple of examples of budget bagless vacs for the collection and this one uses the same filtration method used in the Vax Power canister range - ie an inner cyclone that throws the dirt out into the main container.


I was also surprised that its quite quiet in use and even has a soft start motor which not many sub £100 uprights have these days.


It picks up well, but is slightly heavy to push along due to the suction power at the main head. This has a 1800W motor and 260 Air watts. I'm quite impressed with it for the price, and although the Zoom gets a few negative reviews on Argos website, I'm going to reserve judgement till its been used  few months and I've seen how often the top filter gets clogged.


 


Here it is anyway - the front view:


 

[this post was last edited: 8/9/2013-11:08]

 

[madabouthoovers]

Side view:

 

[madabouthoovers]

The base of the vac shows a good brushroll with stiff bristles which make a good job of brushing the pile, but the selector dial needs to be on the lowest setting for short pile carpets. It is no harder to push than a Turbopower or an old type Kirby without tech drive, but nevertheless it does take some effort to push when going against the pile of the carpet. Brushroll view:

[this post was last edited: 8/9/2013-07:09]

 

[madabouthoovers]

Showing the washable Hepa top filter, which is a thick sponge filter much like the Mach Air range and Power 5,6 and 7 Canister range


The dirt enters the main cylinder at the top and then gets directed into a small cyclone chamber (Primary Separator) from the bottom, where there is a perforated central suction shroud in the centre. The dirt then spins round this chamber and exits at the top of it where it gets flung out into the main canister, and out of the main airstream. Only the finer dust will get sucked into the shroud and then get captured by the top filter above the shroud. This design of separator was first seen on the Vax Power canister range, and whilst only a single cyclonic, its actually fairly effective, but not as effective as a multi-cyclone setup - meaning that the top filter will need washing more often.


The canister lid features a bypass valve that opens and makes a loud noise should the airflow be impeded to much by a clogged filter - this also helps to ensure that the motor gets some airflow for cooling and lets the user know that the filter is clogged:

[this post was last edited: 8/9/2013-11:27]

 

[hi-loswitch98]

That's the pets model which in the flesh looks really good, except I asked about it & was said that it was not that good. It looks quite cool though. Is it noisy or anything?

 

[madabouthoovers]

Here is the exhaust filter which is also a sponge filter, but a thick one that seems to silence the motor quite well. It makes a good sound and with soft start sounds like a Miele at startup:

 

[madabouthoovers]

The rear view showing the stretch hose which stretches to about 3 metres. Not bad quality and it uses the removeable handle as an extension wand. The hose locks into the end of the handle better than  the Mach air 3 models by pushing in and twisting like a bayonet fitting.


It has the standard combi crevice tool but this does not store on the vac however.


The cord is 8 Metres which is not bad for a £70 budget vac - but the cord does exit from the base and there is no cord hook on the top of the handle either, so the cord is best put round the front of the handle when in use. This is a real gripe of mine that Vax and Hoover still insist on putting the cord exit at the base of the machine instead of on the handle like Sebo and Miele do.


Of course, you can run the cable up the back and secure it on the cord hook (If the vac has one), but this means losing a metre of flex and on a machine with only 6 metres of cable this is a pain.


 


The On/Off switch is mounted on top of the bin housing and operates the main switch in the bas of the vac by means of an internal pushrod - this method is also used on the Vax Mach Air3 Agile and the Vax Mach 9 uprights.

[this post was last edited: 8/9/2013-10:55]

 

[hi-loswitch98]

Hmmmm, I do like the look of them, but am going to get a Hotpoint Cylinder first.

 

[madabouthoovers]

The pictures in the Argos book or on the website don't do it much justice - it looks really good in the flesh and the pink colour is very vivid, so its not really a good choice for a straight bloke to use lol.


The box says its for "busy mums" so this vac is clearly aimed at women, but with it being a bit on the heavy side to push along, a good many women might think that this is a drawback, and raise the head too high to make it easier to push, but then it reduces the performance.


I think the best feature is the motor soft start and gentle speed up to full power - that's gonna help preserve the carbon brushes and the motor in general.


The handle also features an extension tube in pink built into the inside of it that you pull out.


A great cleaner and very cool colour. The green one is cool too, and they also come in royal blue and in purple.


Many reviewers comment on the shoddy manufacture of the Zoom range, and this is really something that Vax will need to get sorted, or more people will not buy a Vax again. Silly things like pivot joints too stiff and quality control issues, but get a good one and this vac is recommended by me!


 


The packaging "For busy mums":

 

[hi-loswitch98]

When I first saw it I thought that it was perfect for someone who never uses the tools as they don't store on the machine, but the Argos pics look like it's been animated as they don't look real. Might add one to my collection.

 

[madabouthoovers]

Showing the power switch on top of the canister housing:

 

[madabouthoovers]

Showing the handle removed from the machine with the extension in pink inside it:

 

[madabouthoovers]

Here we see the hose cuff inserted into the handle end and secured by twisting it to engage the securing lug, so that the hose doesn't get pulled off easily like on the Vax Mach Air and Air3 range. A much better idea Vax - I'm liking it!

 

[madabouthoovers]

And here we see the whole wand and extension attached with the turbo tool on the end. A very good design this is and hats off to vax for improving the Air and air 3 design which was very poor in my opinon:

 

[madabouthoovers]

The turbo tool even has the lint pickers on it. This is the only turbo tool I have seen to include these (and I have quite a few turbo tools lol)

 

[hi-loswitch98]

Vax really have thought about this cleaner! Thanks for the pics!

 

[madabouthoovers]

I see from another thread you were thinking of getting one of these anyway - does this review help you decide? Its also no harder to push than the Turbopower multi-cyclonic ( I have one of these as well) but considerably cheaper, although its not multi-cyclonic. Even so, the top filter is the only filter you need to wash - just as in the Hoover Turbopower.

 

[hi-loswitch98]

Yes madabouthoovers this helps. I was told basically it would clog, overheat etc. as they're 2200w, but they are 1800w, & hopefully not too noisy. I would have the purple one, the reach model but it's full price now. There is the Family/Pets model which is the blue model but the price attracted it to me, the same as a reconditioned Hoover Turbo Power.

 

[turbo500]

I was told basically it would clog, overheat etc.

It will. It's still a low efficiency, direct filter cycle but cleverly covered by a plastic shroud with holes in it.

If you're going to go bagless, make sure you buy a cleaner that offers "No Loss Of Suction", such a Vax Mach, Hoover Turbo Power, Morphy Richards Lift Away and, of course, Dyson.