Miele Triflex HX2 Pro cordless vacuum review – a premium cleaner with almost flawless performance, but a few snags holding it back

The Miele Triflex HX2 Pro is the most expensive model available in Miele's lineup of cordless vacuum cleaners. The Triflex HX2, the vacuum itself, is available in a few different versions with varying sets of attachments, but the 'Pro' is the top-of-the-line with every attachment available.

I'm Homes & Gardens' home tech editor and my team of product testers and I have reviewed 60 of the world's best vacuum cleaners. Here, I put the Miele Triflex HX2 through its paces to find out if it's worth the steep price tag.

I tested the Triflex HX2 Pro in my own home, in our dedicated test center, and in a local pet shelter to see how well it handles pet hair and busy messes.

Miele Triflex HX2 Pro: Specifications

Miele Triflex HX2 Pro: Unboxing and setup

The Miele Triflex HX2 Pro is the full package, the most comprehensive cordless vacuum bundle that Miele currently sells. They only have two cordless vacuums the Miele Duoflex and the Miele Triflex – and the Triflex HX2 Pro is the edition that includes every available attachment and an additional battery.

You get a crevice tool, dusting brush, XXL upholstery tool, additional battery, battery charging tray, wall mount, and main floorhead. The vacuum also comes with two additional brushrolls: one for hard floors and one for delicate carpets.

If you don't need the full set, you can find more affordable Miele Triflex options that cost up to $100s less.

The only setup required is to assemble the vacuum cleaner to the wand and floorhead, and charge the battery fully before use (which can take up to four hours).

Miele Triflex HX2 Pro: Design and features

The main USP of the Miele Triflex is its three-in-one configuration. Usually, the best cordless vacuums can be taken apart and reassembled with and without the wand to switch between full-sized and handheld vacuuming. But the Miele Triflex can also move its main vacuum unit from the handle to the floorhead, for when you need to vacuum under furniture or above the head.

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This is a cool feature, and one I haven't seen before in a vacuum. But truthfully, I didn't see any real benefit to it other than the vacuum being able to stand up by itself when attached to the bottom. I found the parts to be quite stiff to take apart and reassemble, and there are six steps to take each time you want to switch between configurations which is not a quick task.

Also, this vacuum is heavy (8lbs – heavier than almost all other cordless vacs we've tested), so it's a struggle to vacuum above your head in either configuration. There's also only a slight difference in maneuverability; for the most part, it works pretty much the same either way.

The Triflex can detect what surface you're vacuuming and adjust the suction power automatically. So, when you pass onto carpet or an area rug, it'll up the power to be able to properly clean, then preserve the battery life on hard floors where high suction power isn't as important. This puts the vacuum in the running for the best multi-surface vacuums and the best vacuums for carpet.

The floorhead itself is also multi-surface, with brushes that are designed to pull dirt out of carpets while also being safe enough for the delicate surfaces of floors like wood and tile. The best vacuums for hardwood floors need to have gentle brushes for this exact reason.

I love that, when vacuuming, the floorhead seems to completely suction itself to the floor for total coverage. It also cleans itself as it vacuums, which is a claim I've seen in plenty of other vacuums but never experienced to this effect. As you'll see below, we use flour as part of our vacuum tests partly as a visual test, and it typically gets caught in the vacuum's parts, but the Triflex managed to clear all of it from the floorhead by itself. It also has LED headlights which, while not as illuminating as the green laser in the best Dyson vacuums, help to reveal what's on the floor.

I found that the vacuum wasn't very flexible when turning. Unlike other vacuums I've used it tilts as you turn, rather than actually rotating at the floorhead. This means you're limited in how well you can maneuver.

Also, importantly, the HEPA filter exceeds official standards with a 99.999% dust retention capacity, making it one of the best HEPA vacuums for allergies we've tested at H&G.

Miele Triflex HX2 Pro: Flour and sugar tests

I tested the Miele Triflex HX2 Pro using flour and sugar in our dedicated test center, as flour and sugar are great visual tests and proxies for dust and dead skin.

The Miele Triflex HX2 vacuumed better than maybe all of the 19 vacuums I've tested for H&G. In this test, flour and sugar always gets stuck between the wooden panels, and only the best vacuums are able to pick up the residue after another pass or two. But the Miele Triflex HX2 vacuumed everything in a single pass, on wood, linoleum and carpet with no trace left behind.

Miele Triflex HX2 Pro: Pantry tests

I tested cereal and lentils with the Miele Triflex HX2 to assess its performance vacuuming larger debris and typical household messes.

The performance was varied with the larger food items. On carpets, it crushed down the cereal and vacuumed everything like an absolute powerhouse. But on wood and linoleum, the lack of friction meant that cereal was getting flung around, unable to be crushed down to be vacuumed. I had to repeatedly lift and lower the vacuum onto each piece to get it all.

This can be avoided by removing the floorhead and vacuuming with just the intake nozzle.

Miele Triflex HX2 Pro: Pet hair tests

I tested the Miele Triflex HX2 Pro in a local pet shelter, Bristol ARC, to see how well it can handle pet hair and the dirt from areas with high foot traffic.

On eco mode, the vacuum had no problem vacuuming all the hair from the pet shelter's hard floors. The LED lights were helpful to see exactly where the strands were and to be able to check if anything had been left behind.

When I moved onto the entrance barrier matting, which sees people walk in and out all day, the vacuum automatically adjusted to the carpet setting in about two seconds (which is slower than other models I've tested like the Dyson V12 Detect Slim). It couldn’t pick up most of the hair on eco mode, max mode picked up more but some stubborn hairs remained. This is common for this area as the material is so coarse and high-friction, so the performance was decent.

When vacuuming medium-pile carpet the performance was impressive, clearing every visible pet hair from the carpet in around six passes. The light was helpful too to see where was dirtier, which is rare as vacuum headlights aren't typically too helpful on carpet.

Luckily, the brushroll is anti-tangle, and at no point did any hair become wrapped inside.

Miele Triflex HX2 Pro: Cleaning and maintenance

All of the non-motorized parts are detachable and washable, and you can take apart the electrical parts for more thorough dry cleaning (we recommend cleaning your vacuum regularly to maintain its efficacy).

When it comes to storage, the Miele Triflex can stand up by itself when assembled in the configuration with the vacuum at the bottom. This makes life much easier when finding the right spot for it as it can just sit unattended in the corner of your room, without leaning on walls and potentially scratching them. It also means you can leave it out allowing you to vacuum more often.

Miele Triflex HX2 Pro: My verdict

The Miele Triflex HX2 Pro is an excellent vacuum cleaner in terms of cleaning power. It performed better than any other I've tested on fine powders, and cleaned large debris well on carpets and had relatively decent pet hair pickup.

My only gripe is the price. For more than $1,000, this vacuum shouldn't really have any faults, but it's heavy, not very flexible, and has a 3-in-1 configuration claim that doesn't achieve a whole lot.

I'd recommend opting for one of the more affordable Triflex models, like the Miele Triflex HX2 for $749 or the Miele Triflex HX2 Flash for $789. You can save up to $300 by limiting the set of attachments you get.

Or, for a similar price to the HX2 Pro I'd recommend the Dyson Gen5detect. It is, in every way except for the steep price, the best vacuum cleaner we've ever tested, and it doesn't share any of the drawbacks of the HX2 Pro.

Next, check out our guide to the best vacuums for pet hair to really clean up after your pets.