Black+Decker 12V MAX Dustbuster Handheld Vacuum review – a slim hand vacuum that's as powerful as it looks

A handheld vacuum is a great piece of kit to have around the house, to quickly reach for every time you spot a new crumbs spill or clump of pet hair.

So, in our search for the best handheld vacuums, I tested the Black+Decker 12V MAX Dustbuster – a slim, lightweight and straightforward hand vac that promises to tackle dust and large debris around the house.

I'm the home tech editor and I've spent almost 100 hours reviewing 14 vacuums for Homes & Gardens. For this Black+Decker handheld vacuum, I tested it in a local pet shelter and in my own home to get a full feel for its cleaning abilities.

Black+Decker 12V MAX Dustbuster: Specifications

Black+Decker 12V MAX Dustbuster: Unboxing and setup

The 12V MAX Dustbuster comes with two attachments, a crevice tool and dusting brush, and a charging station that houses them and the vacuum. So, minimal setup is involved, just charge up the vacuum and you're ready to go.

The 12V MAX Dustbuster doesn't have a battery life indicator, only a blue light showing if it's plugged in or not. This meant I wasn't certain when the vacuum was fully charged, so I left it on for a couple of hours initially to be safe (it's usually recommended to fully charge appliances before using them for the first time to preserve battery health). The light doesn't turn off when it's fully charged, either.

Black+Decker 12V MAX Dustbuster: Design and features

The 12V MAX Dustbuster has a slim and straightforward design. Its long handle has the on/off switch so that you can use the vacuum easily with one hand. A great feature of this vacuum is being able to pull out the intake nozzle and expand it width-ways, giving yourself a wider cleaning path when vacuuming.

The crevice tool and dusting brush can be attached by slotting them into the nozzle. There isn't a secure fastener when doing this so they can occasionally fall out when cleaning, but it isn't too much of an issue to insert them back in.

There aren't any suction modes with the 12V MAX Dustbuster, it's either on or off. Also, because of the slim design, air flows out of the vacuum quite powerfully as there isn't much room to circulate, and it's incredibly loud for its small size – up to 75 dB, which isn't far off a full-sized vacuum.

Black+Decker 12V MAX Dustbuster: Vacuuming

I tested the Black+Decker 12V MAX Dustbuster in a local pet shelter, Bristol Animal Rescue Centre, and in my own home to assess its cleaning ability in real-world conditions and on pet hair.

In short – this handheld vacuum isn't very powerful. It was able to clean up small messes on low-friction floors, but it didn't impress as an all-round cleaner.

In the pet shelter, I learned that the 12V MAX Dustbuster is mostly incapable of cleaning on carpets, rugs and upholstery. I tried to vacuum some pet hair from a soft chair, and after minutes of pushing down on each strand then trying to scrape it off, the hair hadn't moved.

The suction power is definitely there, though. On hard floors, dust and hair were pulled into the vacuum nozzle from a decent distance, showing that the vacuum is able to clean up messes – it just doesn't have the attachments to remove debris from softer fabrics. At one point, I tried to vacuum a crumb from a rug, and the vacuum just pushed it further into the fabric rather than sucking it up.

It did, however, manage to pick up a quarter cup of uncooked rice during my home tests. The rice wasn't as set into the carpet fibers as the hair and debris at the pet shelter, so if you're looking for a handheld vacuum to quickly clean up messes as and when they happen, this could still be a good option.

When cleaning countertops and baseboards, the 12V MAX Dustbuster was able to vacuum large debris from tight spaces but didn't quite pick up all of the dust.

Black+Decker 12V MAX Dustbuster: Cleaning and maintenance

You can empty the Black+Decker 12V MAX Dustbuster by twisting the dustbin and detaching it. The small blue filter pops out for you to shake off any dust or hair, then you can empty the contents of the dustbin.

The filter became clogged after testing and it's likely that cleaning the vacuum filter is something that'll need to happen regularly, as a clogged filter causes a vacuum to lose suction power.

How does the Black+Decker 12V MAX Dustbuster compare?

I tested the 12V MAX Dustbuster alongside the Black+Decker dustbuster furbuster AdvanceClean+ Pet in both the pet shelter and my own home. The dustbuster furbuster outperformed the 12V MAX Dustbuster in every way, cleaning up debris and pet hair from carpets with its motorized attachment and powerful suction.

Another of our favorite handheld vacuums is the Brigii Cordless Handheld, which has an almost identical design to the Black+Decker 12V MAX Dustbuster. They're both sold for a similar price and have similar attachments, but the Brigii has a slightly longer runtime and an easier-to-clean filter.

Black+Decker 12V MAX Dustbuster: My verdict

While the Black+Decker 12V MAX Dustbuster struggled to vacuum stubborn dirt and hair from carpets and upholstery, it worked absolutely fine on hard floors and countertops, and handled new messes on carpets well that hadn't been able to become stuck within the carpet fibers yet. So, this could be a great, affordable vacuum cleaner for quickly cleaning up new messes as they appear.

Next, consider one of the best robot vacuums to make your home cleaning even easier.