Hoover Air Steerable

[niclonnic]

I bought this new vacuum for my mom as a Valentine's Day gift. It's normally $170, but Amazon had it on sale for $99, so I went ahead and surprised her with it. This Hoover is replacing her Dyson DC07 Animal, which doesn't clean well and is just bulky, heavy and loud. As a result, I'm getting the Dyson back.

First impressions: This is an AMAZING vacuum!

Pros:

1. Very lightweight (14 lbs.) and easy to push!

2. Swivel steering makes vacuuming a lot smoother and easier.

3. Quiet! Even the brushroll motor has a pleasant sound to it.

4. Multi-cyclonic! The multi-cyclonic system consists of a large, low-efficiency cyclone, along with 7 smaller, high-efficiency cyclones, bringing the grand total to 8 cyclones. This allows for POWERFUL suction!

5. Phenomenal carpet cleaning performance! The WindTunnel 3 technology works exactly as claimed; the 3 channels of suction at the head, combined with the powerful brushroll, do a great job of removing deep down, embedded dirt. You can FEEL the brushroll getting into the carpet.

6. Does a great job of grooming the carpet!

7. Nice, long hose and wand. It comes with a combination dusting brush/crevice tool as its only attachment.

Cons:

1. The hose and attachments are inconvenient to use. To use the hose, you have to pull the connector out of its holster, flip down the nearby door and slide the hose into that door until it clicks. Once you're done, disconnect the hose and put it back in its holster. Not the best for people who use attachments often.

2. The 2-in-1 tool is another limitation if you use attachments a lot. It would be nice if it came with a stair/upholstery tool.

3. Dirt cup is small, but that's to be expected on a vacuum of this size. Pieces of lint and fluff tend to get stuck in it, which'll have to be pulled out by hand.

4. Vacuum does not work on area rugs because the super-strong suction chokes and snags on them.

5. Brushroll tangles easily, but not as bad as a clutched Dyson. A Phillips screwdriver is needed to remove 4 screws in order to gain access to the brushroll.

6. No headlight, but that's no big deal.

I was very pleasantly surprised by this machine! What do you think?

 

[bagintheback]

Keep the brushroll and filters clean and it will be a good vac. I see these at Goodwills all the time clogged with seized brushrolls, which is too bad since they're great vacuums. The ones I've fixed up have been some of the best cleaning Hoovers I've used since TTI took over. Take care of it and it will take care of you.

 

[huskyvacs]

I seen one on eBay for $25 + free shipping with a broken belt back in November and I waited too long and I missed out, someone bought it last month. It looks like a nice vacuum though!

Hoover seems to be hit and miss on their vacuums today, some are good ones and some are lemons. This one does look like a nice one.

Did you see in the manual if it says it can do hard floors?

 

[suckolux]

I think these started life as a Vax, had an early one.

 

[niclonnic]

@bagintheback Thanks for the info! I forgot to mention that the filtration on this vacuum is excellent. It has not aggravated anybody's allergies so far. The multi-cyclonic technology only lets a tiny amount of dust get to the pre-motor filter.

@huskyvacs I agree, this is a nice vacuum. Yes, it can do hard floors; the brushroll can be turned off with the push of a button. The vacuum also has non-marring wheels, so it won't mar or scratch hard floors.

One thing I really like is that the vacuum has a nice, low profile, so it can actually get under furniture, unlike most Dysons.

The one thing I'm concerned about is that the plastic parts may break easily, based off my past Hoover experiences. Has anybody had this happen with this particular vacuum?

 

[huskyvacs]

Not with this specific vacuum, but I had a 2016 Hoover Windtunnel I bought that when I went to put the extension hose back onto the snap holder, the piece broke in half!

Like soda cans being made with super thin aluminum that you can crack open just by squeezing the can, they are making vacuums with thinner and thinner plastic to save money and be more "eco friendly". This results in them being more and more susceptible to damage because the plastic cannot take as much flexing and bending. You could throw a baseball at a 1990's era Hoover and not damage it, as the plastic is hard as steel.

With modern vacs, you just have to not be so rough with them, and then not be so surprised if something does break. They want it to break, so you go out and buy another one and they make money twice as fast. You also have people that think paying $80 for a vacuum is cheap (as you have people like Dyson making $300+ vacuums) so they have no trouble going out and buying the same vacuum again just to have it break again, and the cycle just keeps repeating.

 

[suckolux]

I liked mine pretty well but it did feel a bit fragile, was careful for sure

 

[crazykirbydude]

A few years ago, my grandmother bought a Hoover Air Lift brand new for $300, and not two years later, the power nozzle cuts off and on. The construction feels really cheap, the whole vacuum is poorly designed, and the multi cyclonic system isn't efficient at all. Hoover definitely isn't the company they used to be.

 

[mike811]

I had the Vax Air Steerable and I was fool enough to sell it.
pros and cons (in my opinion)
+ very easy, light and ergonomic to use
+ good value for the money
+ multi cyclone system works well
+ cyclone system is easy to take apart for cleaning
+ goes under the low furniture
+ good hepa filtration
+ works well also on the hard floors
- build quality is a bit weak
- not enough power for long pile carpets

One possible issue to check if you get one of these. Make sure that the cyclone center tube seals well on to the bottom of the bin.
If it leaks the pre motor filter gets dirty very quickly.
I had that issue, but it was easy to fix.

 

[gottahaveahoove]

I have one of these

new in box. Perhaps one day, I'll take it out during one of my mini meets. Especially if I got another one. One to use, one to keep as a 'museum' item.