Best handheld vacuum 2024: for deep cleaning in tight corners

A handheld vacuum isn't a household essential, but it might make cleaning a whole lot easier. With the best handheld vacuum, you can clear up small spills and stains in seconds, and reach those awkward spots between the seats or under the bed with ease.

As a product tester, I've worked with some of the world's best vacuums. Don't get me wrong: these handheld vacuums can't compete for coverage or capacity, but their small size and narrow nozzles makes it easier to clean stairs, car seats, and all sorts of upholstery. 

Some of the best handheld vacuums feature flexible wands or rotating nozzles to dig up deep dirt. There are wet and dry vacuums to tackle small-scale spills, as well as pet hair vacuums with in-built odor erasers. With so much on the market, it's easy to feel spoiled for choice. 

That's where I come in. I've narrowed it down to the six best handheld vacuums for every cleaning occasion. I've assessed each vacuum on the basis of power, performance, capacity, and the all-important price.

The quick list

If you've already got your eye on a handheld vacuum, you can use our navigation menu to skip straight to that section. If you'd rather take stock of your options, browse the best handheld vacuums below. 

Best handheld vacuums 2024

Full disclosure: I haven't personally tested each and every one of these handheld vacuums. My cleaning closet only has so much space. Where I haven't been able to get my hands on a product, I've scoured the specifications and read countless customer reviews to make sure I'm recommending the best handheld vacuums.

The best handheld vacuum overall

The Black + Decker Pivot Vac is the best handheld vacuum on the market. Packing 20V of power, it can dig up deep dirt from carpet, wood, and linoleum floors, as well as upholstery. This mini model weighs just three pounds, so it should be easy to hold up high and reach down low to clean awkward spaces.

What sets this handheld vacuum apart is the pivot function. When you flip a switch, you release the nozzle to rotate up to 200 degrees to clean the ideal angle for your space. The Black + Decker Pivot Vac features a runtime of 15 minutes, which is a long time for a little vacuum, and boasts a 15oz. capacity to pick up dust and debris.

For a small appliance, the Black + Decker Pivot Vac takes up an awful lot of space. Once you've finished cleaning, you need to store the vacuum in its charging base. If you can't hide it in your cleaning closet, you'll need to tuck it in the corner of your laundry room. It's a bit of an eyesore, all black body and gray plastic, which is unlikely to blend with the rest of your decor. 

If you can look past appearances, you'll find a lot to like about the Black + Decker Pivot Vac. For performance across carpet, wood, and linoleum floors, it just can't matched.

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The best handheld vacuum for flexibility

Black + Decker vacuums have all sorts of special features. Where the first vac could pivot, this Flex Vac can stretch from floor to ceiling for a thorough deep clean, thanks to the four-foot flexible hose.

Good news for pet owners: the Black + Decker Flex Vac comes with a pet hair brush to dig up fur from carpets, stairs, and other upholstery. Inside the machine is a three-stage filtration system which traps odors to keep your home smelling fresh. This vacuum would be ideal for use in a dog bed or crate for the car.

For a handheld vacuum, the Black + Decker Flex Vac is rather unwieldy. You'd need to hold it with both hands to support the base and direct the flexible hose. Weighing a little more than five pounds, it's a fairly heavy weight to lift over your head or stretch out to the side. 

With that said, the Flex Vac folds up nice and small and proves easy to store on counters or inside closets. It's hard to believe that such a compact vacuum could be so capacious on the inside. 

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The best mini handheld vacuum

When I picture a handheld vacuum, this is the sort of thing I see. The Shark WandVac is long and lean, the sort of thing that you could actually hold in one hand and wave across dust and debris. It comes with a special charging station for compact storage on counters or inside cabinets. 

The Shark WandVac is small but mighty, with powerful suction on carpets, linoleum and hard wood floors. Accessories include a multi-surface pet tool with a tapered nozzle to pick up hair from carpets and upholstery without damaging the fabric. 

There's also a detachable dust cup for easy emptying. And you'll need to empty a lot: this handheld vacuum has a limited capacity of just 2.6 oz. A few customers have complained about the position of the button that detaches the dust cup. Apparently, it's easy to press by accident. This sort of design flaw wouldn't be a dealbreaker for me, but it could get irritating, fast.

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The best handheld vacuum for pet hair

The Bissell Pet Hair Eraser boasts tens of thousands of five-star ratings on Amazon and I can understand why. For a little vacuum, it's pretty capacious, and picks up pet hair from carpet, hard wood, and linoleum floors alike. 

There are a smattering of more mixed reviews across the site. One customer acknowledged the extra-long runtime of the Bissell Pet Hair Eraser, but complained that it takes so long to charge. 

Once you've run it down to zero, you'll have to wait eight hours for the vacuum to power all the way back up. You couldn't clean twice in one day, though you could charge overnight to clean first thing in the morning.

The Bissell Pet Hair Eraser might test your patience, but when it's good, it's good. Weighing just three pounds, it's light to lift and carry from room to room, while the narrow nozzle can reach into corners and along sideboards. 

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The best wet and dry handheld vacuum

Whether you've got a wet or dry spill on carpet, linoleum, or hard wood floors, you should be able to get it out with the Black + Decker Spillbuster. This handheld vacuum can clear up anything from dried mud to pet mess. 

If you haven't used a wet dry vacuum before, it might take you a minute to get your head around the three step cleaning process. Once you've worked out where all the buttons are, and when to press each one, you should be able to suck up solid debris and spray stains using the in-built formula dispenser. All that's left to do is scrub.

If you're reading this article, the chances are that you like to keep things clean, but you'd rather not get your hands dirty. You'll be pleased to hear that the Black + Decker Spillbuster is easy to wash and dry. Most of the parts are dishwasher-safe, and the collection bowl opens all the way out so that you can get your sponge right in there.

My biggest complaint concerns the battery. A 15 minute runtime is pretty good for a handheld vacuum, but customers claim it takes at least eight or nine hours to charge. It's not the sort of thing that you could pick up and put down at leisure, even though quick, convenient cleaning is the entire point of a handheld vacuum. 

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The best handheld vacuum for the car

Right now, the ThisWorx Car Vacuum Cleaner is the number one best-selling vacuum on Amazon. Not just the best-selling handheld vacuum, but the best-selling vacuum, period. This little machine boasts hundreds of thousands of five-star reviews, and it'll only set you back about $30. 

If you spend a lot of time in your car, you'll know how much dust and dirt can accrue in such a small space. The ThisWorx Car Vacuum Cleaner is designed to pick up car-specific spills and stains, including sand from the beach and pet hair from the dog crate. 

This handheld vacuum features specialized cleaning attachments, including a flathead brush for serious scrubbing and a brush nozzle for increased suction. Once you're finished cleaning, you can fold up the ThisWorx Car Vacuum Cleaner and pop it in your trunk, ready for the next session. 

Just one thing: you won't be able to clean on the go. Where every other vacuum on this list is cordless, the ThisWorx Car Vacuum Cleaner is strung from a 16-foot cord. You'll need to park your car close to a power socket to make the most of this machine.

How we test vacuums

We've written an entire article about how we test vacuums. If you don't have time to read the whole thing, here are the highlights. 

We test vacuums in our standardized test studio, which features sections of carpet, linoleum, and hardwood floors. Carpet is hard to clean, since dirt clings to the long fabric fibers. Linoleum is easier to clean, but shows up stains and smudges, while dirt tends to get trapped in the cracks between wood floorboards. The best vacuum will excel across all floor areas, while others might be suited to some surfaces more than others. 

For our first test, we scatter flour and sugar across the floor. These little flakes make good substitutes for dust and dead skin. The best vacuum will suck up the flour and sugar without pushing it into the cracks and corners of the floor. Next, we scatter cereal to see how the vacuum handles larger debris. A poor-quality vacuum will just push the cereal around the floor or crush it beneath the wheels. Finally, we scatter hair extensions. This is the strangest test, but it's the perfect parallel for dropped hairs and pet fur in the home. Some of the best vacuums feature anti-tangle brush rolls to save you picking out the hairs from between the rollers. 

Handheld vacuums are subjected to all the same tests as standard size cleaners. We also take a few design features into account. We consider the size and shape of the handheld vacuum and assess its suitability for cleaning tight corners and narrow nooks. We also feel the weight of the handheld vacuum and determine how it would feel to hold up high to clean cobwebs or stretch under sofas to dig up dirt. 

Meet the team

Alex David

Alex got his start in product testing at the iconic Good Housekeeping Institute. His first ever review was of a vacuum cleaner. Since then, he's spent countless hours in our dedicated test studio, cleaning the same squares of carpet, linoleum, and hardwood floor with some of the world's best vacuums. 

Emilia Hitching

Emilia is one of our eCommerce editors. She spends her days scouting out the lowest prices on the hottest products. Every two weeks, she puts in a shift in the test studio, where she's worked with some of the world's best vacuums.

Handheld vacuum FAQs

Are handheld vacuums worth it?

I think so. Handheld vacuums aren't as powerful, nor as capacious, as a full-sized cleaner, but they aren't supposed to be. They're designed for quick, deep cleans in tight corners. The best handheld vacuum would make a quick and easy upgrade to your cleaning routine, and it shouldn't set you back more than $100. 

If you spend a lot of time in your car, it will inevitably accrue dust, dirt, and debris. You couldn't reach it with an ordinary vacuum, but a handheld cleaner could suck it right up. Similarly, if you spend a lot of time on the sofa, eating and drinking, it's bound to pick up spills and stains that can only be treated with a handheld vacuum.

Which is the most powerful handheld vacuum?

The Black + Decker Max Pivot is the most powerful handheld vacuum, with 20V of suction power: the highest of any vacuum on this list. This handheld vacuum works hard and fast to dig up dirt from all angles. Word to the wise: all that cleaning drains the battery. The Black + Decker Max Pivot features a limited runtime of around 12 minutes. That's enough time to clear up smaller spills, but not to clean several spaces in the same session. 

Final thoughts

Once you've invested in one of the best handheld vacuums, it's important to take good care of it. It's worth learning how to clean a vacuum to improve suction and clear the air.

You might have made it all the way to the end of this article and realized that what you want isn't a handheld vacuum, but a robot vacuum. The best robot vacuums are short and slim enough to clean under beds and couches, and smart enough to do all the hard work for you.