If you’re a pet owner, then yes – you should definitely buy a Dyson V8 for its outstanding cleaning performance and superb cordless versatility. Having said that, the mechanism for ejecting the dust and detritus does work well. As you pull up on the handle, a rubber squeegee scrapes the rubbish out of the bin so it drops neatly out when the door opens. No more shaking to make sure everything’s been removed here. Dyson V8 Animal review: Verdict

Every single Dyson product has a design aesthetic that’s very appealing, and the same philosophy applies to the V8 as well.On hard floors, we did miss the Soft Roller head for its amazing cleaning and floor-polishing effect. Yet we also agreed that, had we never used the Soft Roller, the Direct Drive head still produced excellent results over parquet, laminate and riven tiles. You get a transparent 0.54L dustbin that makes up the bulk of the handheld unit, with 15 small cyclone cones arranged in a two-tier flower shape in front of it. It weighs 3.5lbs/1.6kg with no attachments, and at its heaviest, it weighs 5.6lbs/2.6kg (with the wand and main cleaning head attached). For a household vac, that’s pretty lightweight, but it’s a little on the heavier side when considering comparable handheld vacs for car cleaning.

On the plus side, the trigger style on/off switch does save power and increase actual cleaning time. This is because you’re inclined to let the trigger go as soon as you pull away from the area you’re cleaning. A standard switch might even get left on as you walk between rooms. That 7-8 minutes is all proper cleaning time. Dyson V8 Animal – How does it clean? There are some problems with the V8 Animal. The mechanism for emptying the bin is just as irritating as it is on the V8 Absolute. That is to say, it’s simple – just pull the release handle all the way up then yank it at the top of its travel to release – it just doesn’t feel particularly robust, and it doesn’t disable the motor when the bin is open either. I kept turning it on by accident while emptying it. Intentional cosmetic decoration or modification that may impact a product’s resale, refurbishment, restoration or usability will void the terms of your product’s warranty and the Dyson return policy.The V8 is an evolution of the brilliant V6 cordless vacuum cleaner, which saw cordless cleaners rival mains-powered models for the first time. The V8 built on that with more power, better filtration and a longer run-time, which is now up to 40 minutes on standard power. Along with easier emptying and updated tools, what’s not to like? You get only one built-in battery with the V8, and fresh out of the box our sample took a little over four hours to declare it was fully charged; the manual airs on the cautious side and says 5 hours. That’s going to be quite some time waiting if you run out of power mid-clean. Yet the theory is that you won’t run out of power. Dyson claims around 40 minutes’ run-time in standard power mode and around 10 minutes in MAX mode using the non-motorized detail tools. Over several tests our V8 Animal hit very close to those figures.

In standard power mode the lower suction is well countered by the powered brush bar, and the two work well to achieve decent cleaning results and long run-time. There’s no denying the extra cleaning power in MAX mode, however. We cleaned the same carpet for a second time on MAX mode and removed a further 20% volume of dirt. Fortunately, it’s a doddle to pop out the roller for cleaning – a twist of the coin-slot release plate on the left-hand side of the head and it springs out, ready to be de-gunked. A power-boosting “MAX” slider switch sits on top of the motor housing, and in front of that is a big red catch. Position the cleaner over the bin, pull the clip and the whole cyclone assembly pulls up out of the bin. As it reaches about half way out, the flap at the bottom of the bin opens to dump the contents. This is particularly handy for those with pets, as fur balls have a tenacious ability to become wedged in bagless cleaner bins between the cyclone and the bin itself. Here’s a complete list of the cleaning accessories that come with the Dyson V8 Animal, just for your reference: Arguably, this isn’t a major issue since the V8 is easy to empty – but we found that a 25-minute (standard power) cleaning session around the ground floor resulted in us having to empty the bin twice and again at the end.

The handle is broad and comfortable, even for people with small hands, and the power button – which resembles a trigger – is ergonomically placed just where your forefinger should be. Clearly, clearing up pet hairs on carpets and fabrics is more about tool and floor head design that sheer suction power. Both motorised heads are truly outstanding at pet-hair cleaning over carpets and fabrics, and the easy to remove bars make for the simplest cleaning out afterwards too. In standard mode the area was cleaned in 8-10 seconds, and on MAX power mode it was closer to 6-7 seconds. That’s a spectacularly good result, and up there with some of the very best mains-powered pet-specific vacuum cleaners.