Cordless Hoover upright doesn't cut it for carpets

Shop for a hand or stick vacuum, and you're more likely to find a battery-powered model than a corded one, and cordless stick vacs even seem to have an advantage over plug-ins in Consumer Reports' tests of small vacuums. But when it comes to running a full-size vacuum off a battery, the $300 Hoover Air Cordless BH50140 is another indication that the technology still has a long way to go.

The bagless Hoover isn't without charm. Even when equipped with one of its two included lithium-ion batteries, the unit weighs a mere 10 pounds, making it one of the lightest full-size vacuums we've tested. As a result, its handling score—how easy it is to push, pull, and carry—was among the best. We also found it superb at cleaning bare floors, as with most uprights, and picking up pet hair. Features you might appreciate include a removable cleaning wand, battery-life indicator, and rinsable filter.

Yet it's deep-cleaning carpets that brings out a vacuum's full capability, and it's there that the Hoover let us down despite the company's claim that it can "lift and remove deep down embedded dirt with three channels of suction." Worse, the vacuum had scant airflow for its included tools, and in our emissions test it spewed out much of what it picked up.

This isn't the first cordless upright that's claimed to be as powerful as a full-size, corded vacuum. The Gtech AirRam, $350, which Slate called "the Tesla of vacuum cleaners," didn't exactly go the distance in our tough tests. On bare floors, it did great, and handling the roughly 8-pound unit was impressive. But it was mediocre at deep-cleaning carpets, worse for pet-hair pickup, and on the noisy side—like most corded vacuums.

The challenge of balancing deep-cleaning power for carpets and the common desire for a lightweight vacuum is why you don't often see such vacuums at the top of our Ratings. Still, our picks for uprights include models that come close to satisfying both criteria including the bagged Hoover WindTunnel Max UH30600, $180, and Hoover WindTunnel T-Series Pet UH30310, $150, both 17 pounds, and the Sebo Felix Premium, $600, which weighs 16 pounds. Among bagless uprights, the Dyson DC65 Animal, $600, and Shark Rotator Professional Lift-Away NV501, $260, weigh 17 pounds each.  At 14 pounds, the Shark Navigator Lift-Away NV352, $200, is the lightest upright vacuum we recommend.

In the market for a new vacuum? Check out our buying guide for vacuums before diving into our Ratings of almost 140 vacuums of all shapes, sizes, and weights.

—Ed Perratore (@EdPerratore on Twitter)