New Vax Zoom Upright (Argos Exclusive) Review & Pics

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Personally speaking I think you should forward your excellent analysis to Vax. Clearly if that setting " in between " the height adjustment dial is a better match, Vax should be made aware of it so that they can add that to the next batch.

Miele's S4 series - my favourite all time Miele vacuum - had a "secret" setting of power increase between the 3rd and 4th setting, but they never gave that a proper setting of its own. I used that setting for increased suction without ever having to use the next three preset settings to the end. The S6 doesn't seem to have that though.
 
I was quite amazed at the way it does sound when in operation. When you turn it on, it starts off slowly then ramps up smoothly to full power - known as "soft start". This feature is normally only found on premium brands like Miele, who use it on most of their models. It saves wear on the motor and carbon brushes and cuts out the initial bright sparking of the brushes on the commutator, found on motors that don't use the soft start feature. On the Air3 Agile, the motor goes to full power as soon as its switched on, and you can observe 2 bright flashes from the brushes through the casing on immediate startup.


The Vax Zoom seems to sound like a flymo hover mower when running, a very different sound than I am used to for a budget vac.


Its not too loud either and quite a pleasant sound, without the high pitched scream of the Dyson DC07.


When lifting the front off the ground, you do get a rattle from the pile adjustment wheels, but otherwise its a very nice sounding vac. What also helps is that the exhaust filter is a thick round foam pad, that helps absorb motor noise, like a car exhaust silencer.


Compared to the Hoover whirlwind, this is a lot quieter. It is not as quiet as the Vax Mach Air though - you have to remember that the Mach Air uses a 1200W motor, so obviously it will run quieter. However, normally the Mach Air is much dearer to buy than the Zoom, and uses twin motors for brush and suction.


I have written my assessment on the Zoom based on the fact that it is one of the cheapest uprights that Argos sells, and for its price, its very good value.
 
Actually Steve, 'soft start' can be found on a lot of budget vacuums too - Electrolux Powerplus cylinder vacs have had them from the start when they were launched and the model I had before them, the Boss B4105 and B4111 vacuums (also sold under Swan branding in the catalogues at that point in history and in the U.S under the Eureka tag) also had soft start.

I must point out though (from my experience) that just because a vacuum cleaner has a higher motor doesn't necessarily mean it is louder. It depends on the design and what intentions the company have added as to sound proofing, or just the basic design of how the motor has been positioned. How, can for example, an Oreck XL at 350 watts sound louder than a Hoover Junior with the identical power? It has little to do with the higher power output, but more to do with the insulation and general design.

Now that my Vax Mach Air is gone and I have the Hoover Slalom in its place, I find the 1200 watt motor on the Hoover to be quieter than the Vax Mach Air. I recall that not only was the motor noisy on the Vax Mach Air (okay it had 100 watts more) but you also had to put up with the motor that drove the brush roll as well. This is far more apparent when switching the brush roll on/off and though the Slalom also features that function, it is a little bit quieter.
 
Soft start

The soft start feature is available on more cylinder vacs I agree, but on uprights, its quite rare to find, even the Sebo X4 doesn't have it, while the Miele S7 does.


Remember that many cylinder vacs have power adjustment dials, and electronic motor speed control, so are able to include soft start. The Power 6 cylinder I have also has soft start, and electronic motor speed control.


I was really talking about soft start on uprights, as the Zoom and the S7 are the only 2 uprights I have that have it fitted. All the other uprights I have start up straight away on immediate full power, the only exceptions being the Sanyo, and the Electrolux 560, which have a speed selector control.
 
Thing is though, I don't think that it matters to be honest with fixed suction machines. Granted the Miele S7 has it because it has variable suction. That would stand to reason. What is more important is that the machine itself is built well enough to sustain dust entering the motor. Whilst the Zoom is undoubtedly a budget vacuum, it remains to be seen whether it can last the duration or above expectation of say, five or more years dependent on what it is required to clean up after.

I had a fantastic "Dirt Devil" based Vax Upright Dynammite based upright - the Quick Lite V-045. I didn't expect it to last any more than 2 to 3 years. It was very noisy but did the job although had that horrid paper pleated cone filter and the vacuum cleaner itself lasted for about 10 years with three paper cone replacements before the motor started to show signs of breaking down. The motor wasn't completely sealed but it was well made despite being a cheap price to buy. Generally most were put off by the model as it was an upright only and didn't come with a hose. But then, it didn't have soft start, it was just well maintained.
 
Here's another Vax with a different colour scheme, the Power VX Pet for £69, quite good especially as it has Cord Rewind.
 
Sadly supermarkets and franchises like Currys - all those sellers can't be fully trusted. Sometimes it works in the consumers favour. Yesterday I saw a Miele "S2" parading about on the Internet on a site that showed a photo of the S8! In store if you were to order it, you could easily demand you want the product as shown or threaten to report to trading standards.
 
Hmmm.

On second thoughts, for the price point this cleaner isn't bad. I'd be interested to have one myself to see how it would perform. Same with the Zoom Cylinder models and plain White models which they call 'Naked'

How does this machine do? I'm not a big fan of Vax, but I won't purchase products that they copied form Dyson. The Zoom seems like they designed it themselves, and that's good!
 
It is good but this is single cyclone & companies like Hoover & Vax are filling in the market place with cleaners that work like a Dyson for a fraction of the price.

At least Hoover & Vax are making good Cyclonic cleaners now unlike what they were a few years ago which rely heavily on filters.

You could essentialy call a Hoover or Vax Multi Cyclonic the 'Poor Mans Dyson' bu TBH the Hoover Airvolution is really good for seperating dirt from air.

Dysons were really taking off around 1996 - like Argos said at the time; every 1 in 5 Upright sold is a Dyson so other vacuum companies felt they had to stand up to the competition. All Vacuum companies nick each others ideas such as Autosense on the Hoover Turbopower range, Panasonic borrowed that for their Icon cleaners etc.
 
But the thing is Hi-lo, Hoover aren't any better than Vax - they're still the same designs where filter dust capture is concerned, whether Hoover wants to call it Airvolution or whatever- yes, there are SOME differences of how the cyclones are arranged, but end of the day you still have 2 filters to clean or more. No surprise already that the suction on my Slalom is already shortening out because the top foam filter is really badly caked in dirt. In time we'll see - but really, having a Dyson is better on the filters - they're far more modern and don't require as much cleaning.

Also until Dyson and other bagless brands jumped on the bandwagon, as consumers we weren't really taught on how dust was captured, but rather the power and design of other elements that contributed to pick up or performance. Frankly I couldn't give a monkeys on how dirt is captured - but I do worry about what the brush roll is like or weight I have to push and pull is like.
 
I wasn't saying any different Sebo_fan about Hoover & Vax, however Vax are the No.1 Best Selling Floorcare Brand in the UK, they took over Dyson as Vax produce machines which suit all budgets & they can be bought everywhere, for example in my local TESCO has a load of Vaxes & a Few Hoovers to compare.

Say I had a Vax Zoom for example as my Daily Cleaner, I would just wash the top filter once a week or once every 2 weeks, but Vax & Hoover are just producing Bagless Machines that suit the people who can't afford a Dyson. A Dyson dosen't need as much Filter Cleaning, yes but many won't buy a Dyson if there are machines that are as good according to reviews, say on Ciao or Dooyoo for example.
 
The top filter on the Zoom does get dusty quicker than  a Dyson multi-cyclone, yes, but what great hardship is it to wash it in the sink each time the bin gets emptied and leave it to dry for 24 hours? You could even get a spare filter kit so you can still use the vac while the filter is drying. There is no hard and fast rule that says that you even have to wash it every empty - you can whack it on the inside of the bin to get rid of the dust, and maybe wash it once a month.


Either way, you are paying a very small amount of money for a nice vac, but the reason it is cheap is because you still need to help the vac out by cleaning its filter more often than on a Dyson - but for the luxury of not having to wash the filter each month, you pay 5 times more for the privilege.


Nowadays, most bagless vacs incorporate some kind of blockage relief valve, which sucks air in if the filter is clogged to a serious extent, and this makes a noise, so in effect it lets the user know there is a blockage, and allows the motor some cooling air through flow.
 
Exactly, why pay 5x more for a vacuum that you don't have to wash filters so often but I can't believe that Argos have the DC41 at £409.99 & it gets 5 star ratings!

Reviews on the DC41 people keep saying about the Long 9.4m cord, well buy a Vax Zoom & you get a longer cord, or a Hoover Turbo Power & get a 12.5m cord!

Like someone said on here - people don't want to know how a Dyson works, people just want a Vacuum that has the word 'Dyson' on it & suddenly they feel all special & that no other Vacuum compares to it. You read reviews on lots of Vacuums such as Panasonic Bagged Uprights for example & they say, 'Well after 10 years of Dyson's breaking on me...'
 
The DC41 is a VERY overpriced vacuum, I went to see one in Currys, and had a play with it. I think the handle and spine is very flimsy and pliable - because Dysons no longer use metal poles like on the DC07 and DC14, there is no strength in the spine of the cleaner and that's why its so weak. I think more of the body is made of this type of plastic now as the old type of ABS they used to use to make Dysons was brittle and fragile, but at least it was sturdy. The DC07 was a fantastically sturdy vac and very strong, but did suffer when older from plastic bits snapping off. The pre-motor filter on newer Dysons - especially the smaller ones seems to need more frequent cleaning too; on the DC07 they said clean it every 6 months, but on the DC24 I'm sure its every month, so it seems a backward step.


Dysons ARE fashion accessories, Vax Zoom's are cheap and cheerful couple of year workers. but for those who appreciate REAL quality, that lasts and lasts and lasts then its got to be a Kirby - second hand they are a bargain, and its not unusual for them to still be working after 30 years of hard work. How many Dysons could boast a 30 year life span? Yes - Kirbys are expensive too - but when you work out the cost over 20 years, and buy one second hand for say, £200 - £400, that's £20 a year, plus bags and belts and the occasional brushroll and motor carbons. This one is 32 years old and does a better job of cleaning carpets than a Dyson DC41:

madabouthoovers++8-28-2013-06-46-21.jpg
 
I was given a Kirby G4 80th Anniversary & bought a Legend II for £20 off the carboot, do agree that they WILL go the distance but I don't think I could get used to one.

I'm going to buy a Zoom, don't know which one yet but an Upright as I'm focusing on Cylinders now & just having a cheap Upright that I can use for a change.

Having a look at Dysons whenever I do go to Currys etc. they do look really poor quality, from Vax you CAN expect it if you're looking at Bottom End of their range, same with Hoover, but not from the most expensive Dyson in Argos.
 

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