I've spent 200+ hours testing vacuums and pitted a $750 Dyson against a $150 budget cordless with a matching green laser – I learned something very surprising

The mere existence of a $150 vacuum begs the question: do we need to be spending hundreds of dollars on a vacuum cleaner?

Dyson's vacuums are notoriously expensive, with high-tech features such as debris detecting green lights to help you spot hidden mess you'd otherwise miss. Dyson has a well-earned reputation of being the best, so can a cheaper vacuum with a similar feature live up to the hype at a fraction of the cost?

As a home tech editor, I've spent more than 200 hours testing 19 vacuums for Homes & Gardens. Here, I compare two of our best cordless vacuums on opposite ends of the price scale to find out once and for all whether a budget vacuum can deliver features and performance similar to its premium competition.

1. Features and usability

One aspect I couldn't praise more about the Ultenic U16 Flex is the fact that it's the only vacuum with a green laser that works to a similar degree as a Dyson. This is one of the many reasons why Dyson's flagship vacuums – the Gen5detect, V15 Detect, and the more-affordable Dyson V12 Detect Slim – are a step-up from the wider competition.

The green laser works by revealing dust that the naked eye can't see. It's a game-changer for knowing when your floors are truly clean, and once you've seen it in action, you'll realize how much debris lives on our floors without us knowing.

And the Ultenic U16 Flex – a cheap, cordless stick vacuum that's one of our best Dyson alternatives – is able to do so too. That's super impressive and, honestly, almost a reason in itself to consider buying this instead of a Dyson.

The Dyson is a little more maneuverable, and comes with smart features such as a particle counter that shows how much it's picked up from an area of the floor, effectively informing when there's nothing left to vacuum. It also will automatically adjust its suction power based on the surface you're vacuuming and how dirty it is.

You can tell that the Ultenic, featured in the video below, has taken inspiration from the Dyson design, with the same build and aesthetic just in a different color scheme. It doesn't have the smart features or floor detection of the Dyson, but it does have a flexible wand that lets you reach under furniture without straining your back as intensely, one of the hardest cleaning tasks we do.

This flexible wand feature can also be found in our favorite Shark cordless, the Shark Cordless PowerDetect, another Dyson rival. I'd be surprised if Dyson were to now introduce this feature as it might appear as if they're behind on developing their technology, so the Ultenic scores a point against them here.

The Ultenic U16 Flex is also a more lightweight vacuum at just 3.75 lbs (compared to the Dyson V15 Detect's 6.83 lbs), but this can easily be explained by the Ultenic being constructed with cheaper materials. It's one of the first things I noticed when taking it out of the box, and I wouldn't be surprised if the vacuum has a shorter lifespan.

2. Cleaning performance

Dyson's cleaning is unmatched:

We would all love if a $150 vacuum could fully outperform a $750 one but, sadly, that's not quite the case. The Ultenic U16 Flex did so well in our vacuum tests only because we compared it against its affordable price, but when compared against a big brand like Dyson, it left a lot to be desired.

The Dyson V15 Detect, filmed above and below, is one of the best vacuums we've ever tested, topped only by the even-more-expensive Dyson Gen5detect (that costs a whopping $950). In all of our tests, whether vacuuming small powders, large debris or pet hair – it was able to clear it all in a single forward-and-backward pass, even on carpet.

I wish there was more to fault it on to justify not spending that much on a vacuum cleaner, but it really is the market leader. It's one of the only cordless sticks that shares the suction power of one of the larger and heavier best upright vacuums

The Ultenic is a strong vacuum for hardwood floors but struggles when it comes to carpet. In our flour and sugar test, which works well as a proxy for dust and dead skin, the Ultenic pushed the powder around a little but vacuumed almost all of it in one pass. It left behind a fair amount of residue between the cracks but the vacuum's turbo mode helped to clear it.

This is the difference between the V15 Detect and the U16 Flex. The best Dyson vacuums completely remove all dirt in one or two passes, but the Ultenic needs more time and elbow grease to achieve the same results.

Also, as the Dyson V15 Detect has floor sensors (along with the other Dyson laser vacuums), it will automatically increase the suction power when it's needed – something you must do manually with the Ultenic.

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But it isn't just the speed at which it cleans that poses an issue for the Ultenic. Leaving behind a large amount of debris reflects an inability to deep clean carpets in general, which is essential for removing all of the dust, dirt, pet hair and common household allergens that easily get trapped within the fibers.

Over time, it's likely that an almost alarming amount of deeply-embedded mess will start to build, which could result in nasty odors, carpet damage, and having to vacuum your carpet more often than you would otherwise.

This is why I only recommend the Ultenic U16 Flex if your home has exclusively hard floors. And if that's the case, you can happily save yourself $500 on a cordless vacuum that has some notable drawbacks compared to its premium counterpart, but none that are dealbreakers.

3. Pet hair

Vacuuming pet hair is the most common issue found across all vacuum cleaners. Whether it's pulling fur out of carpet or avoiding hair from wrapping around the brushroll, all vacuum brands understand why pet hair is so hard to vacuum.

This is also why pet vacuums are so expensive. Designing a brushroll that can unwrap hair and developing suction that can extract stubborn fur requires more expensive parts and engineering, and explains why the Dyson V15 Detect is so much better-equipped to deal with pet hair than the Ultenic U16 Flex.

The V15 Detect is our best vacuum for pet hair. I tested both the Dyson and Ultenic in a busy local pet shelter, Bristol ARC, and the Dyson cleaned hard floors, low-pile carpets, thick rugs, and furniture incredibly well. It even vacuumed the trickiest spot, a high-traffic entrance mat that sees foot (and paw) traffic all day, every day, as effectively as corded, canister models from our best Miele vacuums tests that cost hundreds more.

During the two hours I spent testing these vacuums there, the Dyson's dustbin filled completely with pet hair twice, and not a single hair got trapped in the brushroll.

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In comparison, the Ultenic's performance at Bristol ARC was reminiscent of its general cleaning ability. It could vacuum pet hair from hard floors with no issues whatsoever, but it really struggled on carpet.

I'll elaborate on this further down the page, but one big bonus of the Ultenic is it's the only vacuum we've tested at Homes & Gardens with a debris-illuminating green laser similar to Dyson's. The budget vacuum's green light was amazing at revealing pet hair that I couldn't see, but it also revealed all of the hairs that it was simply unable to vacuum.

It did, however, avoid getting any hair wrapped. This is impressive from a sub-$200 vacuum, especially when you consider the Dyson is sold for $500 more, with the anti-hair wrap being one of its most touted features.

But if your home has any carpets or rugs, I wouldn't recommend the Ultenic at all. You'll most likely get frustrated at how little it can pick up on this floor type.

The Dyson also comes with a mini motorized attachment that is easily one of the best vacuum attachments for pet hair that we've ever used. When vacuuming an old dog bed, it was able to remove all the fur and dirt, then using its strong suction, it actually revived the bed to its original color and texture.

Final thoughts

Overall, the Dyson V15 Detect is absolutely the more competent vacuum cleaner. Its stronger suction is able to clear virtually any mess effortlessly, from small dust particles to stubborn pet hair, and it comes with a packed-out set of smart features that transform your cleaning experience on both hard floors and carpet.

But if your home doesn't have any carpet, the Ultenic U16 Flex will be a strong alternative vacuum at a fraction of the cost of a Dyson. It won't clean as quickly or deeply as the Dyson, but hard floors don't need the suction power that's required to clean carpets. It has the green laser and anti-hair wrap that we love from Dyson vacuums, as well as a foldable wand that adds an extra element of flexibility that the Dyson doesn't have. But if you have carpets, I wouldn't advise going for it.

You can find more detailed info in our full Dyson V15 Detect and Ultenic U16 Flex reviews. Or, find out how the best multi-surface vacuums performed in our tests for carpet-to-hardwood cleaning excellence.