After I talked about to my colleague that Dyson was saying a brand new, ultra-slim vacuum, he mentioned: “All the pieces goes ultra-thin”. He was referring, after all, to the brand new Samsung Galaxy Edge and the upcoming Apple iPhone 17 Air, anticipated to be launched in September.
And because the most tech-y of the house tech manufacturers, maybe it’s no shock that Dyson is getting in on the act. When there’s nowhere else to innovate, slimming a product down provides it a design refresh and a degree of distinction from rivals. Plus, there’s a brand new set of challenges for product engineers to unravel – an space through which Dyson excels.
The ultra-slender PencilVac will likely be obtainable from subsequent 12 months. As but, there’s no worth or exact launch date confirmed, however right here’s what we find out about Dyson’s upcoming mannequin, which is full of brand-new options.
What’s the PencilVac?
The PencilVac is the brainchild of founder James Dyson, who mentioned: “I’ve lengthy needed to make a vacuum of solely 38mm diameter (the identical as my newest hair dryer, the Supersonic r).”
Powering it’s the model’s tiny however highly effective 28mm digital Hyperdymium motor, which spins at 140,000RPM, and it’s this innovation that has allowed the model to construct the world’s slimmest vacuum.
The PencilVac is an ultra-light (1.8kg), slender (38mm extensive) laborious flooring vacuum cleaner that’s simply manoeuvrable and designed to slide into small areas.
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It cleans utilizing 4 fluffy conical rollers (which Dyson has sweetly named Fluffycones) fastened on two curler bars, which spin in reverse instructions, in order that the cleaner glides – and cleans – in two instructions.
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Why purchase the PencilVac?
Briefly, as a result of it’s so mild and straightforward to make use of.
This isn’t Dyson’s first try at a light-weight, slender vacuum cleaner. Not solely did it launch the mini V12 Detect Slim, however earlier than that, there was the Omni-Glide, which has loads in widespread with the brand new mannequin. Because the identify suggests, it was a light-weight (1.8kg), multidirectional ground cleaner.
The Omni-Glide didn’t take off and is now discontinued – though you’ll be able to nonetheless purchase it from a couple of retailers (one is Donaghy Bros, for £179.99). However I preferred it loads after I examined it.
What was so nice in regards to the Omni-Glide is how straightforward it made vacuuming. It might get into troublesome spots, swivel round chair legs and, just like the PencilVac, it might lie flat to get proper beneath sofas.
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But it surely did have points, together with a tiny bin that clogged simply. This can be a downside that the PencilVac seeks to repair with a redesigned dustbin.
The PencilVac’s conical cones are designed to eject hair from the comb bar when you’re cleansing. That ought to imply there’s no want to chop away lengthy hair wrapped round it. Nonetheless, we did spot the tiny wheels on the bottom and you probably have pets, these will get snarled up with pet fur.
The PencilVac has a couple of different useful options. It’s designed to wash proper to the sting of a room and it has twin lights – back and front – to light up mud and hair.
It’s additionally geared up with an LCD display that reveals the remaining run time (in minutes) and its energy setting. For extra data on battery life, assist with the filter and upkeep alerts, you’ll have the ability to join it to the MyDyson app.
Yep, that makes it Dyson’s first linked vacuum, however its smarts are restricted to these easy features. Don’t anticipate it to do what the brand new Samsung Bespoke Jet AI does, which incorporates alerting you to the very fact your cellphone is ringing.
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What are the disadvantages of a mannequin like this?
As with every slimmed-down piece of tech, one of many key limitations will likely be battery life, just because it could actually solely accommodate a small battery. Within the case of the PencilVac, it’ll have as much as half-hour of working time – however that’ll be on the bottom (eco) setting. As but, we don’t know all of the specifics, however usually, this implies you’ll solely get 5 minutes of vacuuming time on the utmost energy mode.
After this you’ll must cost it for 4 hours. Nonetheless, it does have the choice of a detachable, swappable battery, and two gives you as much as 60 minutes of use.
One other drawback is its tiny 0.08L dustbin dimension. (By means of comparability, Dyson’s flagship Gen5detect has 0.75L.) Regardless that it has a mud compressing system to maximise bin capability, you’ll nonetheless must empty it frequently. Nonetheless, the brand-new mud separation system ought to assist it to retain robust suction because it fills up.
And regardless of the syringe-style, no-touch mechanism which opens the bin, and cleans the perimeters as you empty it, we predict the bin remains to be prone to get clogged. It appears inevitable because it’s so slender. Plus, you’ll must take away the floorhead each time.
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Lastly, it’s for laborious flooring solely, so you’ll need a second vacuum you probably have carpeted areas in your house – and even you probably have a bigger house. That being mentioned, it does include two useful equipment: the hairscrew software, which you need to use on rugs and fabric, and a rotating combi-crevice software, good for tight and troublesome spots. So it’ll be helpful on greater than flooring.
We’ll replace this text as we discover out in regards to the PencilVac’s launch date and pricing. Within the meantime, you’ll be able to examine it to the very best Dyson cordless vacuums, and our high suggestions for the very best vacuum cleaner general.