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The glowing crevice cleaning head might not be the main seller of the Omni-glide, but I love it as much as the dual-cleaning head!
It seems there's just no stopping Dyson from rolling out cordless vacuum cleaners that not only look sexy, but work just a hard when performing cleaning tasks. Not long ago, I interviewed Will Kerr, head of the floor care category over at Dyson, about the new Omni-glide cordless vacuum. His description of its prowess intrigued me so much that I decided to go grab a set and try it out.
Okay, so for the TL:DR version of the review, here are some of the main differences the Omni-glide differs from the basic Dyson V10 or V11 models:
- The 'omnidirectional Fluffy head cleaner' comprises two independently rotating cleaner heads, both turning inwards at the same time, which means you are sucking up as much dirt from the surface when you are either pushing the vacuum forwards or backwards.
- Castors embedded into the base of the cleaner head also make it much easier for the head to manoeuvre around curves or sharp angles.
- The machine can lie flat and reach into narrow low corners (like under the bed or sofa).
- Unlike the cordless vacuums in the V series, the Omni-glide comes with a removable battery. You can also purchase additional batteries as a back-up, but from my experience one battery can last long enough for me to properly clean up to two standard HDB-sized bedrooms (resale flat yah, not the new BTO configurations).
- The Omni-glide is specifically designed for busy homeowners, who tend to focus on cleaning specific rooms each time. In my case, I only have time to clean the floor when I get home from work in the evenings, so instead of vacuuming the entire house I vacuum one room each day of the week.
- The Omni-glide is also geared to clean hard surfaces, such as hardwood or tiles, counter tops, desk tops, etc. It does come with a standard brush for carpets and another for cleaning areas like your mattress and sofas, but these aren't new to the brand and you can get them with other cordless vacuums from Dyson.
- ***The Omni-glide comes with a REALLY COOL crevice cleaning tool, that has a built-in LED light. OMG LOVE! Finally, the engineers heeded my yearning to see the horrid and dusty mess lurking in the corners under my study table!
So this how the Omni-glide looks when mounted on the accompanying stand. I'm not a fan of drilling into walls, so I was glad that Dyson created something presentable for homeowners to display their Dyson vacuum with pride. Let's be honest, anyone who spends money for a top-of-the-line vacuum cleaner will want to have it out in the open instead of being stowed away in a store room right. Dyson is the status symbol of cleaning equipment, just like how Louis Vuitton is the leading brand for high-end luggage. Take note though, that the stand doesn't come with the vacuum and you will have to buy it separately (they are called doks on the website).
This is how the new Omni-glide multi-directional cleaner head looks. Putting it onto the stem of the vacuum is easy, and there is a flexible neck in this head, allowing you to not just direct it forwards and backwards, but sideways as well. You wouldn't think much of it (well I didn't) until you actually try it yourself. True to its name, the vacuum actually feels like it is gliding across the floor because you need much less wrist and arm power to control the vacuum cleaner. Ergonomically, it is a lifesaver for those who have arthritis or previous wrist injuries. After 20 minutes of cleaning, my arm didn't ache like it used to when I was using larger cleaners.
This is where the magic of the Omni-glide lies. Two brush heads means you get your cleaning done twice as fast. And these brush heads do not turn only when you apply force alright, there is a driver inside the cleaner head that controls the brush heads and they both operate independently, both turning inwards. This solves the issue of times where you go over larger particles like strips of paper and the brush head misses it entirely because it is only moving in one direction. I can safely say that with the two brush heads, my cleaning time has been shortened by up to half now. My evenings are now also free-er for other things like watching my pets dirty the floor... again.
Coming to the vacuum itself, it is definitely much lighter than the cleaners in the V series. For comparison, the Dyson V11 weighs in at about 3kg, but the Omni-glide only weighs a mere 1.9kg. Because of that, the company also converted the handle with trigger button into a stick-like design. You don't need to constantly hold onto the trigger to keep the cleaner in operation, all you have to do is tap on the silver button to turn it on and start cleaning.
When it comes to bin capacity though, you can see how much smaller the bin holder of the Omni-glide is compared to the V10 (far right) and V11 (middle). The V10 has a bin volume of 0.54L, while the V11 has a bin volume of 0.76L. The Omni-glide has a bin volume of 0.19L, but as I've mentioned the Omni-glide was designed for busy homeowners to do quick clean-ups room by room, so it wasn't made for you to clean up the whole house at one go, like Dyson's larger models. That's probably why Dyson decided to create so many different versions of its cordless cleaners I suppose. Performance-wise, nothing has changed. Dyson uses the same patented hyperdymium motor capable of spinning at 105,000rpm to drive air through eight built-in cyclones to suck up the dirt. The internal five-stage filter also picks up dust as fine as 0.3 microns. That is actually similar to the smallest size of particles that can be filtered out by a N95 mask.
With a more compact body, the brush head is also shorter than those in the V series, but if you consider that there are actually two brush heads in the Omni-glide cleaner, you are actually getting a wider cleaning area.
Operation-wise, I'd give it two thumbs up because cleaning up actually felt effortless and dare I say it... enjoyable??? The new cleaner head glides across hard floors with a buttery smooth feel. I didn't have to keep going over the same twice, like I used to, and cleaning around tricky areas like round pillars and cabinet corners was a breeze.
Part of the Omni-glide's sleek and streamlined design also includes concealing the removable battery within the handle itself. One battery can last me about 20 minutes of normal use, which is more than enough for cleaning up one room but if you're kiasu, feel free to purchase an additional battery pack.
This is one the reasons why I prefer the Omni-glide to the V series, because it actually lies flat, allowing you to stick the cleaner under tight spaces like the bed or sofa.
Of course, my most favourite feature has to be the Light pipe crevice tool! The LED bulb on the edge of the tool lights up, allowing you to direct your cleaning efforts exactly where the dust is hiding in dark spaces.
If you are keen to find out more about the Omni-glide, head on to Dyson's website or have a go at trying out the device at the Dyson service centre and demo store at Capitol Singapore.
The Omni-glide retails from $649, not bad for something that can actually make me look forward to cleaning up my home.