Vax ONEPWR Edge Dual Pet & Car review

Welcome to our T3 review of the new Vax ONEPWR Edge Dual Pet & Car, a cordless upright vacuum cleaner that’s a bit different from the rest, and designed for all types of flooring (and pets, and cars).

Given that the majority of cordless vacs are of the stick variety, it’s a refreshing change to try a model that emulates the good old fashioned upright, albeit with a modern twist. I should point out at this early juncture that I’m not the biggest fan of stick vacs mostly because they are usually incapable of standing up on their own, although Shark’s chunkier units are an honourable exception to this. 

That is why, out of all the best cordless vacs I have littered about the home, the simple upright Gtech AirRam K9 is the model both my partner and I always reach for first. It’s just there, standing up on its own in the corner of the utility room, ready for action at a moment’s notice. However, you can’t use any hand tools with the Gtech because it’s just a floor cleaner, pure and simple.

So when Vax contacted me with an offer to review its latest pet-specific upright cordless vac – replete with extension hose and a set of hand tools – I jumped at the chance. Apart from Shark and Lupe, not many manufacturers make upright cordless vacs these days so it’s great to see Vax getting involved. How did I get on with it? 

Here we go…

Vax ONEPWR Edge Dual Pet & Car review: price and availability

In the UK you can buy the Vax ONEPWR Edge Dual Pet & Car for £299 at a number of online outlets, including Argos, Currys, Amazon and the Vax store, which includes a free set of extra tools. 

You won’t find the Vax name in the USA or Australia because it sells under its parent company Hoover. Your closest bet in this instance is the Hoover ONEPWR Evolve Pet which is available in the US at Walmart ($210), Amazon ($245) and Hoover ($170).

If you live in Australia, try Amazon and Godfreys where the similarly-specced Hoover ONEPWR Evolve Pet sells for A$499.

Vax ONEPWR Edge Dual Pet & Car review: design & features

I wouldn't say the new Vax ONEPWR Edge Dual Pet & Car Cordless Upright Vacuum Cleaner wins any awards for visual design but it’s better looking than some Shark models I’ve tested. On the positive side, at 5.2kgs, it feels surprisingly light when you pick it up by its dedicated handle and this is a good thing if you have stairs to negotiate.

Like many corded uprights, the Vax Edge comes with a large dust container and a concertina hose for use with the obligatory selection of hand tools, including an excellent mini motorised pet bed and car brush and an extendable detail nozzle that bends to some degree.

Heading down to the business end, this model comes with two 23.5cm rollers, one soft and velvety which strokes the floor while gathering up dust and other debris, and a stiff brush roller directly behind it that flings everything into the path of the suction tube. It’s no surprise that Vax calls this roller combination VersaClean Technology because it embraces two types of floor rollers in one unit – a soft one for hard floors and a stiff brush roller for carpets – and they both function at the same time irrespective of the floor surface.

While both rollers extend to within one centimetre of the right-hand edge, on the left-hand side they fall short by at least 2cm which means you’ll have to adjust the trajectory of your sweeping when vacuuming along skirting boards.

Moving up to the handle, the Vax Edge has four simple plastic control buttons to turn it on, select floor type and boost the power. The power button’s default mode is suction only and this is the option to use when sweeping delicate hard floors since both rollers remain inactive (this button also turns on a front LED headlight, a handy addition for vacuuming in dark areas).

Given that this is an all-floors upright, the Edge also comes with dedicated buttons for both carpet and hard floor, plus a maximum power setting which depletes the battery in about 20 minutes. In hard floor mode, both brushes spin at a moderate pace, saving battery power in the process, and in carpet mode the rotational speed ramps up so the brushes can get down to the business of beating the living daylights out of dirty carpets.

Vax ONEPWR Edge Dual Pet & Car review: vacuum performance

Vax’s VersaClean system is said to ‘pick up small and large debris, on carpets and hard floors’ and I’m inclined to agree. I tried it out on a hairy floor that was previously prepared by my two labs and three cats and it had no issues whatsoever. It collected all visible traces of hair and scattered Coco Pops with ease. Better still, the bin ejected the matted hair without me having to poke about inside the dust container with my fingers.

I was also impressed with the Vax Edge’s steering mechanism which made it really easy to negotiate obstacles, especially on hard floor. Moreover, the rollers traversed the edges of my rugs without any snagging, though they did predictably jam when I introduced them to some tassels.

Despite this vac’s low weight, I did find it harder to push around than my benchmark Gtech AirRam. Even though the centre of gravity is mostly near the floor, it required a lot more energy to get the job done though I think much of this was down to the effectiveness of the rollers and their low-slung position. But in its favour, the Vax Edge seemed to perform better than the Dyson V11 on a really deep pile carpet. Where the V11’s rollers often came to a halt, the Edge’s kept on spinning. So top marks there.

Vax ONEPWR Edge Dual Pet & Car review: battery performance

Given that today’s battery technology is so well advanced, I see no reason to use a corded vacuum cleaner anymore. This is because vacuuming with a corded machine is a burden that involves a constant wrestle with a cable that snags on everything, gets under your feet and only stretches so far before you have to move the plug from one socket to another, and so on.

Rather handily, the Vax Edge comes with two interchangeable ONEPWR batteries that amount to around 100 minutes of constant cleaning (50 minutes per battery) – a major bonus in my book. However, this is only when used in the default standard mode and not the mostly unused max mode which will drain the battery in about 20 minutes.

Vax ONEPWR Edge Dual Pet & Car review: dustbin

Where most cordless stick vacs have a dust capacity of between 500ml and 700ml, this model clocks in at a very respectable 1.5 litres. The bin’s a doddle to remove and empty, too – simply press a latch and it pops out of its housing. To empty, press another latch and all detritus is ejected into the bin. Unlike some cordless vacs, the bin is just as simple to re-engage. The washable filters are easy to clean, too, and speaking of filters, according to Vax the Edge’s filtration technology ‘captures up to 99.99% of particles down to 0.3 microns in size’ – a stat not to be sniffed at.

Vax ONEPWR Edge Dual Pet & Car review: hand tools

I’m not sure about third party sellers, but if you buy this cordless vac direct from Vax you get a free ‘Pro’ toolkit with it, in addition to the aforementioned motorised pet roller brush and extendable detail nozzle. I’m not a fan of extra tools but for the record, the free gift includes a Tech Tool for cleaning delicate items like keyboards and touch screens, a Textile Tool for upholstery, a Radiator Tool which also cleans blinds and a High Angle tool for hard to reach areas like shelves. Just be mindful that concertina hose can only stretch to about 110cm before the whole unit starts creeping towards you. 

Vax advises holding the handle of the main unit when using the hose and any of the hand tools but that could be an inconvenience if cleaning anything high above ground like shelves and worktops. It’s a shame that the hose isn’t a bit more supple, though one suspects that it may ease up a bit with regular use.

Vax ONEPWR Edge Dual Pet & Car review: verdict

The Vax Edge Dual Pet & Car is an excellent choice for anyone with a mixture of both hard and soft floors. While it isn’t the easiest cordless vac to push around, it is extremely efficient at collecting household detritus on any type of flooring, even deep pile carpet. And although it comes with a plethora of handy tools, I’m not that impressed by the length and stretchiness of the hose which restricts hand tool use in a big way. But for the price, this is a very practical alternative to a stick vac.

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