Re-Appearance Of The Fabulous Miele S4

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sebo_fan

sebo_fan

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 22, 2012
Messages
6,263
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Scotland, UK, member AKA ukvacfan, & Nar2
Strangely, whilst Miele have been doing re-runs of their old S700 cylinder vacs in the UK, a "new" S4213 model has appeared called "Young Style." It doesn't appear to bring anything new to the table other than Miele's bog standard all plastic suction floor head, 2000 watts, standard tools, "lava grey" colour and uses the smaller FJM bag as it always has done.

Still, to those (like me and perhaps others) it's good to see this great little Miele has reappeared, even if it is a little late in light of eco-regulations...

Prices average from £124-99 upwards.

http://www.coopelectricalshop.co.uk...inder-Cleaner-in-Lava-Grey/id-MIE-CVC-S4213-G
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I was tempted by that myself - its a good price, but I have another S8 on the way, and the Sebo K3, so couldn't justify the expense of yet another Miele for a few months at least. The S5261 is only £150 on that site as well, with is a very good deal as it has the turbo brush. They have some good prices with the Felix Royale at £208, but I cant have all of them lol


 


Also - why do they call it "young style?"
 
Well I suppose its because of its size -the S4 was the original "compact" Miele cylinder vac and was supposed to be a replacement for the hugely unpopular "Alternative" stick vac. I have had quite a few S4 cylinder vacs - they're one of my favourites from the Miele line up.

Much better built than the lousy S2 in my opinion - thus because of its size, lightweight design and smaller dust bag, it has probably been given the name "Young Style" to appeal to young buyers. I hope Miele get good sales for it - it would be a pity to see it disappear again.

Not keen on that floor head though - the older metal soleplate based ones are far more durable.
 
That's the "Fibreteq" floorhead that I got on my S6 Cat and Dog, with a brush only at the front and not the rear of the head. Its the basic cheapo head that the S2 gets as standard.


Hope they sell more of them than the "S4 Hybrid", which was grossly overpriced, much like the S8 Uniq. Only the very well off techno geeks would buy them lol


 
 
I supported Miele for the decision to build the S4 Hybrid. They emailed me years ago with a view to ask if I would test one for them and I declined as I don't tend to write reviews "on behalf of brands," but rather buy independently and review fairly.

The S4 Hybrid is a great idea in theory and could work out for any singleton or a couple who requires a conventional vacuum but then has the cordless idea of being used in a shorter cleaning session. Need any examples? Cleaning out the car in a jiffy, or cleaning in an area such as loft cleaning if you can't stretch to a mains power plug. There are plenty of reasons to why the S4 Hybrid makes sense, even if it does only offer a short cordless cleaning time. As you know though, the cost price is rather high.

I like the idea of the S4 Hybrid better than the S8 UniQ. Had Miele offered cordless power on the S8 UniQ, it would make more sense and justify the high asking prices. Added lights that give a bit of bling really isn't what I'm looking for - if I was, I'd have attached a ring of lights around the drum of my washing machine to "light up the room" each time a spin speed was selected. How annoying would that be? The added lights on the S8 UniQ certainly make the the vacuum UniQ but not all things unique are better than those that go without.
 
The Uniq is very desirable, but the things it has over the standard S8 do not justify the £250 odd extra price. For £500 it should have a power nozzle, remote control handle, like the US version, which sells for the staggering amount of 1500 dollars.


 


The problem with the Hybrid is that the batteries will be the weakest link. Look at the problems Dyson have with the DC16 which all suffered from battery failure after a few years. Rechargeable batteries generally fail after 5 years, much like car batteries, and also the weight of the vac is considerably more to lug about than a standard S4. Like the Uniq, the Hybrid had no extras like a turbo brush or mini turbo brush to justify its high price.


Roger reviewed the S8 Uniq and he was peed off that Miele only gave you a standard floorhead and nothing else, not even a remote control handle that the S8730 has.


 


US model S8 Uniq handle:


 


Sorry, but Miele need to do better if they want £500 for a canister vac. If they can give the Americans all the bells and whistles like power nozzles and full led remote handles, then they should offer it here as well.

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I think it depends on the market, Steve. Although Miele have fairly good success with their S700 Revolution that had a PN as standard in the 1990s, I don't think Miele did that well to justify PN's on TOL models in the UK. if the sales aren't there, there's no point for a brand to offer that WHEN THEY HAVE so many other models in their range.

SEBO are different as they are a much smaller brand and only make vacuums, thus they can offer the PN models if they wish.

Whilst Roger's videos are very good and always present a high standard, it isn't possible to always have the same model across every continent and one thing I love about Miele in the Uk is that at the very least, you can buy the optional tools and accessories RATHER than what U.S buyers have had to put up with for many years = specified models as standard with features as opposed to the option of having those accessories to buy singularly. Its the same with SEBO in the U.S -= they sell accessories separately but it seems to be a very selected model line up as per "added name" in Miele's case as opposed to the model numbers they use here.
 
I suppose we should be grateful that the prices of the S8 range in the UK are much less than those in the US. How can Americans justify spending 1500 dollars on a vacuum? That's £920!! The base models are more reasonable prices in the US, but still substantially more than they are here.


BUt the fact is that the options in the US are not even offered to be bought in the UK. I'd love that led handle above, its just so "wantable", but even if I was loaded, I couldn't get one from Miele UK as they are not available here. (Envy attack strikes again)!
 
Well it goes in leaps and bounds, you can't compare currency prices with likewise and expect the same.

Hoover in the U.S for example still sell the £30 to £40 odd Hoover Studio that Argos et al used to sell for years. Their price is $79 which is roughly £49. Im surprised Hoover.com are still selling those little bagged cylinder vacs. They're not bad but the ones in the U.S seem to be fitted with poorer plastics that has given the little vac such a poor feedback from owners.

Similarly, the SEBO Felix Pet is $599 on Amazon.com (£367-65), yet is £100 cheaper if going by UK prices on Amazon.co.uk (£267). These are just examples, Steve - it has little to do with mark up, but rather then currency rates. Of course there is a little mark up, but that is to be expected - all part of business.

But then I bet it is the opposite with Kirby prices in the UK compared to the U.S or even venerable Oreck.
 
The only real difference in features is the S6 has one touch cord rewind, wheareas the S4 you have to keep your foot on the rewind pedal. At the end of the day, the S6 is just a remodelled S4. Its a good price is that S4! and some say the S4 is better quality over the S6
 
The other thing is, the S4 lacks the rather stupid "behind the handle" tool storer point, so it won't catch on your cuff like the S6 can if you leave the tool storer by the hose and not behind the handle. Similar 3 tool storer just locks onto the cuff of the hose on the vacuum with the S4 only.
 

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