Best lightweight vacuums 2024 – easy-to-carry cordless and upright vacuums that don't sacrifice on cleaning power

Once upon a time, almost every vacuum was a hefty machine, and the difficulty of lugging a heavy vacuum up and down the stairs is a task many of us are familiar with, particularly those with limited mobility.

But now, the best vacuums span all sorts of designs, including lightweight upright vacs and even lighter cordless sticks that are smaller, easier to carry, and more powerful than ever. They're designed to be intuitive and user-friendly too, to fit the uncomplicated nature of our cleaning needs.

I'm Homes & Gardens' home tech editor, and my product testing team and I have reviewed 53 vacuums of all types. Out of the lightest models we've tested, these are the only four you need to consider, for any budget.

The best lightweight vacuum cleaners in 2024

These are the best-on-test lightweight vacuums at a glance. Click the navigation links to take you to each product or keep scrolling for the full guide.

The best lightweight cordless vacuum

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The V12 Detect Slim is the smallest, lightest and most affordable vacuum in Dyson's range of Detect vacuums. Including the Dyson V15 Detect and the Dyson Gen5detect, these are the three best Dyson vacuums ever released.

I've tested 12 vacuums for H&G and the Dyson V12 Detect Slim is the one I use in my own home. With such a compact design, I continue to be surprised at how strong its suction power is, and in the six months I've been using it, I've never had to go over the floor twice to clean anything up.

Dyson's Detect vacuums come with the signature green laser that reveals invisible dust. I can confirm that this is no gimmick. In fact, using the V12 Detect Slim has taught me how much dust exists on our floors without us knowing, as the laser reveals what the naked eye can't see.

It also detects what's on your floors and responds with the optimal suction power. If you move onto carpet, or a particularly dusty area, the V12 will automatically up the suction power to clean more effectively. When vacuuming moderate mess on hard floors, the suction power is lowered again to preserve battery life.

A screen shows each individual particle size that it's picked up, counting up to the millions. While this isn't exactly essential, this does give useful insight into the dirtier areas of your home and easily shows when there's nothing left to vacuum. This is helpful when vacuuming upholstery or mattresses where the mess isn't visible.

It also comes with two main floorheads: the FluffyOptic and the Motorbar. The FluffyOptic has the green laser and a soft brushroll for effective cleaning of super-fine particles on hard floors, while the Motorbar has anti-tangle veins that have never once had hair wrapped around them in the entire time I've used it. It's better suited to carpets but works across all surfaces.

Bottom line – this is an incredibly powerful and intuitive appliance, and it's packaged into a lightweight, small, and easy-to-use design that you can hold above your head with total ease. It's about as heavy as a bag of flour.

Read more in my full Dyson V12 Detect Slim review.

The best budget lightweight cordless vacuum

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It's very rare for me to recommend any cordless vacuum cleaner under $200. Usually, cheap budget options leave such a noticeable amount of mess after cleaning that you end up having to buy another vacuum shortly after.

But the only brand that I've found to produce good-quality vacuums at a sweet price is Ultenic. I recently tested the Ultenic U16 Flex and was truly impressed by its cleaning performance considering it costs just $149.99. Sure, it's not as good as the best cordless vacuums, but it's hard to find better value-for-money than this.

It's also one of the lightest vacuums we've ever reviewed at just 3.75 lbs. That's about as heavy as a large watermelon. It arrived densely packed into a package no bigger than a shoe box, and as I unpacked it I could feel that each individual component was lightweight. It might not feel as premium as other vacuums but it's a big win for anybody avoiding anything heavy.

You can tell that this is designed as a Dyson alternative with similar aesthetics and features. But surprisingly, it's the only non-Dyson vacuum I've tested that's managed to (almost) recreate the efficacy of the green laser. When testing it in a local pet shelter it revealed pet hair that I couldn't otherwise see, and when using it in our test center, it illuminated dust and flour that I couldn't see before.

The suction power is impressive for the price. Especially on hard floors, the U16 Flex managed to clean debris small and large with ease, even rivaling the performance of other Shark and Miele vacuums I've tested. It struggled a bit with carpets, gaps between wood panels, and edges and corners, but the vacuum's boost mode helps to finish the job.

It also has a flexible wand, just like the Shark Cordless PowerDetect, one of our favorite cordless vacuums. It's powered using a trigger, but unlike the Dyson V15 Detect, the trigger works with an on switch, which is a big help to avoid straining your finger for the entirety of your cleaning session.

As it's a budget vacuum, it's not constructed with the best-quality materials (and it came with a lot of plastic packaging), which is to be expected, but the vacuum might not last for as many years as our other top choices. It's still a seriously impressive budget vacuum that's lighter and more powerful than any other at this price point.

The full Ultenic U16 Flex review is coming soon.

The best lightweight upright vacuum

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An upright vacuum with serious cleaning power is never going to be as light as a cordless stick. But as most of the best upright vacuums weigh in at around 17-20 lbs, the Shark Stratos's 16.71 lbs is certainly on the lighter side.

Plus, like many of the best Shark vacuums, the Stratos has a feature called 'Lift-Away.' This enables you to remove a detachable pod from the main vacuum carrier, allowing you to move around the house with more mobility and ease, while carrying a much lighter weight. It's particularly useful on stairs, baseboards and cars.

The Shark Stratos is years old now but continues to be one of the most powerful upright vacuums we've tested at H&G. Our expert tester Camryn was 'honestly shocked' at its performance, filling the vacuum's dustbin with dog hair and dirt from just a single pass over a 9' x 6' area rug.

It also has Shark's classic odor-neutralizer. As the air passes through the vacuum when cleaning, it feeds through an odor-neutralizing puck that leaves a fresh scent around the house. This can make all the difference for homes with pets.

Its performance is just as strong across carpets and hard floors thanks to a dual-brushroll floorhead. The soft brushroll helps to pick up fine particles from hard floors while the bristled brushroll can dig into carpets.

Until Shark released the recent Shark POWERDETECT with floor detection and responsive suction power, the Shark Stratos was our number one pick for the best upright vacuum.

Read more in our full Shark Stratos review.

The best budget lightweight upright vacuum

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The Shark Rotator Pet Lift-Away weighs just 14.34 lbs, making it the lightest upright vacuum we've tested. This comes with a sacrifice in power (960 watts compared to the Stratos' 1416), but this is to be expected as the Rotator is now one of Shark's oldest models.

It retails for just $299.99. You can almost treat it as a cheaper and lighter version of the Shark Stratos. It carries many of the same features like an odor-neutralizer, dual brushrolls and a lift-away feature, but the Rotator's lift-away is unfortunately not powered, so demands more effort from you to lift it out from its main carriage.

Still, its cleaning ability isn't to be ignored. 'On its carpet mode, the vacuum has powerful suction, and its stiff brushroll pulled lots of dog hair, dirt, and dust out of the rugs in my living and dining rooms,' shared tester Camryn. 'Despite the suction, it was still easy to push around on the medium-pile carpet, and I like that you can adjust the suction further using the slider on the vacuum’s handle.'

'I was even more impressed by its performance on hard floors. My dogs and partner often track small rocks, clumps of dirt, and leaves inside, and the vacuum had no problem sucking up the larger debris,' Camryn added.

It also comes with a two-foot hose and a set of attachments for other cleaning tasks around the house. Its best is the anti-allergen dusting brush that swivels to get the right angle, and it’s lined with fuzzy bristles that trap fine dust particles.

It isn't the best upright we've ever tested, and for the same price you can buy the Dyson Ball Animal 3 or Shark POWERDETECT which are both stronger cleaners. But it's easily the lightest upright vacuum at this price and a capable one nonetheless.

Read more in our full Shark Rotator Pet Lift-Away review.

How to choose a lightweight vacuum cleaner

In addition to knowing how to choose the right vacuum cleaner for your home, choosing the best lightweight vacuum involves understanding typical power/weight ratios.

Cordless and upright vacuums are the two most common types. Cordless vacuums are the popular choice these days because they take up less space, grant you more freedom around the house, and can be taken apart to switch to handheld cleaning or to better use any of the attachments.

Naturally, they're the most lightweight vacuum cleaner you can find. They're usually made of just a handheld vacuum component, a wand, and a floorhead or attachment at the end. As you've seen in this guide, they can be as light as 3.75 lbs as is the case with the Ultenic U16 Flex.

But cordless vacuums aren't nearly as powerful as upright vacuums. As upright vacs are unrestricted by battery power, they can reach a much higher wattage to pass a stronger airflow through the appliance, which is why they're typically the best vacuums for carpet, or for busy homes with kids and pets.

So, think about your home's needs. If you have a lot of soft flooring, high foot traffic and many mess-creators in your home, it might not be the smartest move to go for a cordless vacuum, even if it is much lighter. Instead, a lighter upright vacuum could be the better option, and those with Shark's Lift-Away feature can make cleaning much easier.

If your home isn't too big and has a lot of hard floors, a cordless vacuum is perfect. I have one in my own home and it's all I need.

When shopping for a new vacuum cleaner, consult our vacuum jargon buster to know the ins and outs of all the confusing terms.

How we test vacuums

At Homes & Gardens, we will only include vacuums in our buying guides which we have had personal, hands-on experience and full testing of. You can learn more about the process in our detailed guide about how we test vacuums. We want to vouch for every product we feature, so that you can trust us to be truthful and critical, where necessary.

My team of experienced product testers and I test vacuums on different floor types, as well as conducting household challenges over a number of weeks. We test them in our standardized test center and in our own homes (and sometimes in a local pet shelter), to learn how they fare against set substances and real-world conditions.

We always assess their weight, maneuverability, suction power, dustbin capacity and battery life. We look for how well all of the attachments work, and how well they perform across carpet, linoleum and hardwood flooring.

We also find out how easy they are to clean, taking note of how easily we can take them apart, clean the parts, and reassemble them. This is a vital factor when considering the longevity of a vacuum cleaner.

Meet the team

Dan Fauzi

I am the home tech editor and cover vacuum cleaners on a near-daily basis. So far, I've spent 40+ hours testing 12 vacuums for Homes & Gardens, including the Dyson V12 Detect Slim and Ultenic U16 Flex in this guide.

Camryn Rabideau

Camryn is a seasoned product tester of eight years who's reviewed more than 50 vacuums, including the Shark Stratos and Rotator in this guide.

FAQs

How many pounds is a lightweight vacuum?

Anything below 7 lbs for a cordless vacuum and below 17 lbs for an upright vacuum can be considered lightweight. A heavy vacuum cleaner can affect how often you vacuum, and considering that many new, lightweight models can match the cleaning power of hefty machines, there's no reason why you should be using a vacuum cleaner that's too difficult to carry upstairs.

What is the best lightweight vacuum for seniors?

The Dyson V12 Detect Slim is an excellent choice with its 5 lbs weight, easy-to-use controls, automatic suction power adjustment and anti-tangle brushroll. It may require more emptying than other vacuums due to its smaller size, but otherwise there's very little admin involved. You can even install a wall dock to quickly place it to charge between uses.

Not found what you're looking for? Consider one of the best vacuums for pet hair, or the best robot vacuums instead for hands-off cleaning.