Dyson V8 Animal review: Is it better than Shark?
WANT to take the hassle out of hoovering? Come with us as we put a cordless model to the test in our Dyson V8 Animal review.
Promising up to 40 minutes of powerful suction, the Dyson V8 Animal is engineered for homes with pets – ideal if you're constantly dealing with cat and dog hair all over your carpet.
Along with de-tangling technology, it's also low-noise, comes with a selection of multi-purpose cleaner heads and tools, plus even includes a docking station for easy wall-mounting: tick, tick, tick.
It also changes to a handheld in one click, making it perfect for cleaning stairs or your car.
But is it as good as it seems? And more importantly: is it worth the price tag? I put it to the test myself to find out – here's how I got on.
Dyson V8 Animal, £297
Pros
- Powerful
- Looks good
- Light and manoeuvrable
- Plenty of attachments
- Wall bracket for hanging storage
Cons
- Trigger has to be held down for use, which gets uncomfortable
- Doesn't fold down for storage
- Battery doesn't last long on the boost setting
Dyson V8 Animal: out the box
As with all Dyson tech, the V8 Animal is a stylish bit of kit.
If you’ve never owned a Dyson before, there’s always a bit of a ‘wow’ factor when you stick the machine together for the first time and power it up.
I don’t think anyone else in the cordless market has designed a vacuum cleaner that looks this good.
Included with the V8 Animal, you get a good number of attachments including your standard vacuum head, a narrow crevice tool and a reach-under attachment which bends the stick in half if you want to reach under your sofa without getting on your hands and knees.
Whether you’re using the Dyson to clean your car or your carpet, you’ll find the correct attachment included as standard.
You also get a wall mounting bracket so you can tuck your V8 away in a corner or a cupboard (you’ll want to mount this near a plug socket so you can charge your vacuum at the same time).
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Dyson V8 Animal, £297
Dyson V8 Animal: performance
I’ve been using the Shark IZ201UK around the house for the last few months, and there seems to be a noticeable difference in power when you start using the Dyson V8 Animal.
If you're interested, here's the Shark IZ201UK anti-hair wrap vacuum review.
The Shark certainly isn’t lacking, but the Dyson really feels like it’s trying to pull your carpet from the floor, so without testing it in a lab, I’d bet the V8 has a bit more suction on tap.
The Dyson is impressively light and easily manoeuvrable, even when you’re cleaning in awkward spots.
And the option to boost the power means you’re not going to miss a speck of dirt on the floor during a thorough cleaning.
Dyson V8 Animal, £297
Dyson V8 Animal: battery life
The Dyson V8 Animal reckons it will go for 40 minutes between charges, which seems about right.
Because it runs off a trigger in the handle, you’re less likely to lose battery life while you think about which room you’re going to tackle next.
Your run-time will be substantially reduced if you’re using the boost feature, but I didn’t find I needed to turn that on very often for standard cleaning and think that’s probably more necessary for tougher assignments such as the crevices of a car or furniture.
Like most stick vacuums, you’ll be waiting a while for your battery to charge (about 5 hours for a full charge).
Dyson V8 Animal, £297
Where can I buy Dyson vacuum cleaners in the UK?
You can purchase Dyson vacuum cleaners from various online retailers in the UK – as well as from Dyson itself.
The brand consistently comes out on top for its range of vacuum cleaners, whether you're looking for something cordless, want to try a robot vacuum cleaner or are shopping for a traditional upright model.
Saying that, it's easy to get overwhelmed by the options – but luckily there's a handy tool on the Dyson website that will help you choose the right vacuum based on factors like the size of your home, the kind of cleaning you want to do and your floor type.
Ready to shop? Here's a selection of places we recommend:
Is there an alternative to the Dyson V8 Animal?
There are lots of alternatives to the Dyson V8 Animal – including the Dyson V12 Detect Slim Absolute vacuum, which is the latest version in the series. The running time has increased from 40 minutes up to an impressive 60 minutes and there's now a de-tangling motorbar cleaner head which 'automatically de-tangles hair as you clean.'
Over in our best cordless vacuum cleaners tried and tested round-up, our reviewers were really impressed by the Shark Stratos IZ400UK which proved to be the perfect vacuum cleaner for a medium-sized flat. When stored away, it takes up minimal space – so there's no need for a wall or a floor stand.
Elsewhere, the V15 Detect Absolute boasts cutting-edge cleaning technology including a laser that shows up dust, making it a worthy investment.
However, if you've not got £699.99 to splash on a cordless vacuum cleaner (understandable!) it's worth checking out the Prosenic i10 Cordless Vacuum Cleaner with VBoost which is a great alternative at just £159.
Dyson V8 Animal: the verdict
While I managed to find a couple of things I wasn’t a massive fan of with the Dyson V8 Animal, the truth is, I'm nitpicking a bit.
The V8 impresses on a number of levels: it’s powerful, good-looking and light enough to use as a handheld vacuum as well as a floor cleaner.
If this is where you choose to go with your money, you won’t be disappointed.
Before I started, I wondered how it would stack up against my regular vacuum, the Shark IZ201UK and I reckon which one is ‘better’ comes down to personal preference.
With the Shark, I love the anti-hair wrap technology, something that Dyson will surely look to mimic in its future models, which massively reduces the amount of hair you find wrapped around your floor roller.
For those of us who can’t drill holes in our walls, the Shark is easier to store and I like that you don’t have to weld your finger to the trigger for the duration of your cleaning.
But the Dyson V8 Animal seems more powerful than the Shark to me and it’s a fair bit lighter too (about 1.5kg, which isn’t a small difference).
If you like your vacuums light, powerful and good-looking, you won’t go far wrong with the Dyson V8 Animal.
Dyson V8 Animal, £297