Vacuum cleaner designs may be getting a little out of hand. As a dedicated vacuum reviewer (I run TechRadar's official Best Vacuums ranking), I spend a lot of time testing different models with different features, so I know which additions will make a difference to your cleaning routine and which are just unnecessary gimmicks.
Below I list the features you should prioritize when choosing a vacuum cleaner and those you can basically ignore. Here I have focused only on the features of the floor head, because extending it to the entire vacuum cleaner would be too big a topic for a single article. (Am I in too deep? Possibly.) Here's my official list of vacuum head features, ranked…
Suction head features: essential elements
An anti-tangle roller
If you live with someone who has hair, you need a head with anti-tangle features. And I don't mean Rapunzel-length locks; If you cut them with scissors instead of scissors, I would prioritize this.
In older vacuum cleaners, the hair was basically left to do its own job, which invariably meant it curled around the brush like a thick, cozy quilt of fur. After each cleaning, you will have to take the roller with scissors and cut the hair. It's not ideal.
The good news is that most modern vacuum cleaners don't have this problem: they tend to have an anti-tangle roller as standard and almost all of the ones I've tried work well. Approaches to this vary by brand, so there's nothing specific to look for beyond some sort of reference to being “anti-tangle” in the product listing.
Dyson has come up with a specific method where, in its newer vacuum cleaners, it uses tapered, cone-shaped rollers instead of straight-edged rollers. This works well but has an unfortunate side effect (which I'll cover in the next point) that means it's worth avoiding.
A straight front edge
A niche one, but don't underestimate the importance of a straight front edge on your headstock. As far as I know, the only vacuum cleaners No Having this are the newest options from Dyson, where the brand has used cone-shaped rollers and, as a result, has brought the front of the vacuum cleaner to a slight point.
An angled edge means you won't be able to position the vacuum flush with your room's baseboards, where dust often accumulates. Going sideways may solve the problem, but that is not always possible. A side note on this is that it's worth looking for a floor head that has relatively narrow perimeters, meaning the suction area can be nice and close to the edges of the rooms.
An air intake slider
If you have carpets, and especially shag carpets, in your home, look for a vacuum cleaner with an air intake adjustment slider on the floor head. If you find that your vacuum cleaner is too difficult to push over deep carpet, you can open it to allow more air to enter and facilitate vacuuming (in the original sense of the word) into the suction cavity. This can be the difference between a vacuum being suitable for carpets or not. On another type of floor, you may want to close it to further seal the suction area and increase particle collection.
Vacuum Head Features: Nice to Have
headlights
Headlights are increasingly common on vacuum cleaners, but quality and usefulness vary significantly from model to model. A good set of headlights will cast large shadows over the smallest specks of dust so you can ensure a thorough clean. They are actually for use on hard floors, but may also have limited use on carpets.
The brands with the best headlights I've tested are Dyson (included in the soft heads of vacuum cleaners like the V15 Detect and Gen5detect) and Roborock (as seen in models like the Roborock H60 Hub Ultra). Both use lime green lights that do a stellar job of illuminating the dust.
At the other end of the spectrum are standard white swamp lights, which do little more than help illuminate dirty corners. They are somewhat useful, but they are not game-changers. See Dreame R20 and Shark Detect Pro for examples.
A reverse cleaning hatch
I actually wish this were included in 'Essentials', but since it's exclusive to a Shark line (at the time of writing), it seems unfair. Basically, on their PowerDetect Wireless and PowerDetect Upright vacuum cleaners, Shark has added a flap on the back of the head that lifts up when the vacuum is pulled back.
This allows particles to pass under the head and into the suction area, rather than collecting behind the head, as they do with almost every other vacuum I've used. It's a relatively simple feature that works very well in practice and makes a big difference to how efficiently the vacuum cleaner can clean, particularly on hard floors.
Suction head features: probably unnecessary
Edge-based suction adjustment
This is another Shark exclusive, but this time it seems much more gimmicky. Several of the best Shark vacuums have an 'EdgeDetect' feature where the vacuum will apparently increase suction right on the relevant side of the head when you approach the edge of a room.
I'm a little skeptical about how this would work – is it possible to offer different levels of suction within a floor head? But even leaving that aside, it seems a bit excessive. Things like a narrow edge on the floor that can get closer to the edge of a room are much more important.
Overall, I don't think automatic suction adjustment is strictly necessary, but if you opt for this, adjusting based on floor type will make the biggest difference in your cleaning routine.
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